Writing better e learning scripts
Presentation by Cammy Bean on writing better e-learning scripts
The 8 Best Free Moodle Plugins for Corporate Trainers - Capterra Blog
Customized reporting, integration with WebEx or Adobe Connect, gamification, Tin Can, and more.
Women in the eLearning Field: Was Your Father a Programmer? by Mark Lassoff : Learning Solutions Magazine
Issues of gender discrimination in the e-learning field (and tech as a whole)
Creating a Slider in Captivate 8 – An Experiment
Create a slider with rollovers and advanced actions in Cp8, similar to the Storyline 2 slider. Also includes the failed first attempt and explains why it didn't quite work as desired. Purchasing the Infosemantics slider component widget would be faster, but it's nice to see how it would be possible.
Jennifer Valley: Free (or Cheaper) Tool and Resources for eLearning (February 2015)
Inexpensive or free tools and resources for animation, audio, graphics, course development, and more
3 Ways to Take Your Freelance Instructional Design Full-Time – Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed
Tips from an ID two months after moving to full time as a freelancer. I do think a portfolio is critical, especially for those just starting in the field or changing from another career. Having an active online presence and continuous learning are also great tips.
How to Prepare Subject Matter Experts to Review Content
This is quite similar to my own approach. I don't have as much trouble with SMEs noting grammatical errors as this author, but setting expectations like this does help get more substantive and helpful feedback.
I Came, I Saw, I Learned...: Adobe Captivate: Troubleshooting LMS Woes
Tips for troubleshooting Captivate with an LMS
Estimating Infographic – Write Spot
Time estimates for e-learning and technical documentation, including some breakdowns for creating storyboards and tips on how to adjust estimates for short e-learning. The infographic is available as one long graphic or a 4-page PDF.
How Long Does eLearning Take to Develop?
An explanation of the variables affecting the time to create e-learning, including considerations of actual time versus elapsed time (i.e., how long you're sitting around waiting for the SME to get back to you).
Freelance Advice Round-Up #1 – Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed
Make Captivate HTML5 Work in Firefox
When Captivate publishes HTML5, it doesn't work in Firefox. Captivate exports only MP3 audio, and Firefox only plays OGGs. This post provides some tweaks for the Javascript to get rid of the error message and look for OGG versions of the file when needed. You have to create both versions of the audio files.
How to remove browser warning message in HTML 5... | Adobe Community
Suggestions on how to remove the browser warning message in Firefox for Captivate HTML5
Brian’s Must-Read Books | Train Like A Champion
Books on e-learning, visual design, training evaluation, learning research, presentation skills and change management. A brief summary is included for each book listed.
The State of Authoring Tools: Where We've Been, Where We're Going by Joe Ganci : Learning Solutions Magazine
Joe Ganci explains the history of e-learning tools from Plato to the current day.
How to Fix E-Learning Course Content & Graphic Design
Tips for how to clean up e-learning design. This is mostly about visual design including picking images, fonts, color schemes, and using grids. A few tips on cleaning up content are included, but that topic could be a whole series of posts.
RELOAD Project
This is an older tool and doesn't look like it's being maintained anymore (the last news update is from 2008), but it appears to be able to repackage SCORM packages. Might be worth testing if you have SCORM packages created in software you don't otherwise have access to.
3 quick tips for strong scenarios
Tips from Cathy Moore on writing scenarios:
- Put dialog in quotation marks.
- Ask, "Why aren't they doing it?"
- Branching? Start with the end in mind.
Expert Tips for Writing Great E-Learning Conference Proposals
How to write proposals with a better chance of being accepted
How To Create A Money-Making Online Course - Forbes
This isn't about instructional design--it's for SMEs who want to create courses on Udemy to share their expertise. I like the comparison used that creating a 2-3 hour online course takes about as much time as writing a book; that's a good metaphor, at least for an audience of experts with knowledge to sell.
Update: Where to Find Freelance Instructional Design Gigs - Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed
Ashley explains how her methods for finding clients have changed now that she's been freelancing longer.
How Do You Show Conversations in E-Learning?
Samples of different styles for conversations (comic book, text message, interactive conversations, pull quotes, etc.) Read the comments for additional examples. Most of the samples are in Storyline, but you could do similar actions in any tool.
12 ID Books
Connie Malamed's list of books, with everything from quick reads to graduate level textbooks. Several of these books are new to me.
Replay (slide) Button - Captivate blog
Two methods for creating replay buttons in Captivate. I have needed this before and never come up with as elegant a solution as Lieve offers here.
E-learning by Tracy Parish | ZEEF
Large collection of free tools and resources in many categories
Nuts and Bolts: Read Up! by Jane Bozarth : Learning Solutions Magazine
Even if you don't have a degree in instructional design (and maybe especially if you don't), you can improve your skills by reading deeply in more academic literature. Jane Bozarth shares some recommendations for authors to start with and strategies for finding sources.
You may find something that surprises or unsettles
you. Or you may find something that confirms what you believe with data and not
just some anecdotes or gut feelings. Some time spent here will help you move
past “I think” or “it feels right” to “evidence shows.”
Tips from L&D pro Jane Bozarth
Lots of gems from Jane Bozarth here about elearning, instructional design, meaningful interactivity and engagement, social learning, PLNs, and more. This is a very quotable interview.
To “get” from a PLN you need to “give.”
I think that we are getting the idea of more interactivity, of more engaging real stuff, not just making it spin and zoom and move. And I think the authoring tools that have made that easier have certainly helped people understand that learners need to actually get their hands on the content in some way.
<p>You do not blame the hammer because the house fell down. It’s the person using the tool. It’s really about effective design. You can do fabulous stuff with PowerPoint. You can do dreadful stuff with PowerPoint. You can do dreadful stuff no matter the tool.</p>
<p>In PowerPoint you can actually build nice little branching scenarios and reveals. You can make choices. You can do interactivity. There’s a lot of stuff that I think people just don’t take the time to learn.</p>
CpExtra Online Help | Infosemantics Pty Ltd
Documentation for the CpExtra widget that provides additional variables and options for HTML5 Captivate courses
Learning at the Speed of Life
CSAP review
Adapt Learning
Open source tool for creating responsive HTML5 elearning. SCORM compliant.