While many vendors rush to create mobile applications, Lectora® has quietly led the way with a foundation built around what would emerge as mobile. While many vendors struggle to shed their "Flash" skins and claim open-ness, Lectora quietly embraced "open" from the get-go. Lectora was designed to be flexible, and in essence, was an HTML and HTML5 code generator. The beauty of code-generators is that they have powerful foundations but shield average, non-highly technical users from the fear of coding. And yet, the power is still there for the more advanced users that want and desire it. In Lectora® Inspire 12.1, the latest iteration, Trivantis continues to improve and make the tool even easier than it has ever been. Lectora was long known as a "difficult" tool to learn; however, the team at Trivantis is sending out a clear signal that "difficult" is an adjective that describes many other bug-ridden tools, but not Lectora. Vendors are scrambling to make their tools easier with PowerPoint-like user interfaces that soften the learning curve for the new users. Starting with Version 11, Lectora has done the same by making its UI look much more like PowerPoint with ribbon menus. While I’m not the biggest fan of what Microsoft has dumped on us design-wise, I do see the value for many users in minimizing their learning curves… In 12.1, Lectora improves upon the PowerPoint experience and goes way beyond in many ways. Trivantis now includes the very well-received and liked content library from the eLearning Brothers and makes it easier than ever to insert content directly from their massive library into your Lectora title. This feature alone saves a ton of time for beleaguered instructional designers that have the responsibility of being UI designers, graphic artists, writers, interaction builders, and game designers. Did anyone ever notice how many hats IDs wear? Gone is Flypaper™ from Lectora Inspire, replaced by the eLearning Brothers content libraries and Interaction Builder. Camtasia® for Lectora and Snagit® are still there to handle screen recordings and captures, video and audio editing, and more. Lectora has always had one of the most intuitive navigation schemes of any eLearning authoring tool, and I’d say it’s the best one out there. While others may be more "visual" in nature, Lectora sports a book metaphor with chapters, sections, and pages. This approach is instantly understood by instructional designers and architects, authors, scriptwriters, and more. You can see the outline of your course or the Slide view, which shows the content as you would with PowerPoint slide thumbnails. The slide outline shows you every object on a slide and makes it very easy to make changes as needed. Moving chapters, sections, and pages around is also quite easy to re-organize a course. There are shape tools, as well as something I find extremely useful—grids and guides with snap-to alignment. It’s a small thing, but very powerful and easy to use—just like in Photoshop! Lectora also supports text style sheets like CSS. You can define text styles, and tools are provided to make global changes to text as needed. These tools save more time in development than you can imagine, trust me! There are two flavors of Lectora. One is desktop based and the other, Lectora® Online, is browser-based and hosted online. They are almost exactly the same and can provide single or multiple authors the power and flexibility needed to work alone or in a collaborative team environment. Other things are not so obvious but huge pluses for Lectora users. These include: 1. A brand new Community that is more interactive, dynamic, and helpful than ever before 2. Tight integration with CourseMill® or CourseMill® Wave and all other learning management systems that support SCORM or AICC 3. Third-party developer integration for tools like BranchTrack from www.branchtrack.com for scenario-based training 4. Responsive templates which were shown recently at the 2015 Lectora User Conference and are coming soon I’m so excited about the potential for Lectora moving forward that I’ve created a new video broadcast/podcast called "LectoraLive! Your Inside Track into Lectora." We’ll be doing interviews with Trivantis staff and leaders in the Lectora community. We’ll also be offering a large set of tips, tricks, and tutorials to make everyone’s learning of Lectora easier than it’s ever been. And no, we’re not getting paid to do this by anyone! Lectora Inspire 12.1 is a strong step forward for Lectora users both old and new. It’s the right tool at the right time in an industry that demands easy tools that don’t sacrifice power and are solidly tested for performance and lack of bugs. Download a free 30-day trial of Lectora Inspire to check out all the new features in 12.1 for yourself. Editor’s Note: Rick Zanotti is the founder of Relate, a professional training and media development firm. Rick runs a number of leading industry broadcasts, including eLearnChat. He’s an experienced IT and training pro, broadcaster, avid reader, collie lover, writer, and martial artist. Here at Trivantis, we’re big fans of Rick’s work, and we were thrilled when he generously agreed to review Lectora Inspire 12.1 and share his thoughts with our blog readers. And we didn’t even have to bribe him with candy, money, or free puppies—possibly because he already has two adorable dogs of his own! The post Lectora Inspire 12.1 Review by Rick Zanotti appeared first on Trivantis e-Learning.

As part of the 2014 Teaching with Technology Institute at Northern Illinois University, I led a breakout session for faculty where we explored creating a course wiki.  We looked at both 3rd party wiki tools as well as integrated course wikis within the learning management system (Blackboard), using a sandbox wiki on Jottit. The following are links to the resources and I shared regarding wikis during this session: What is a Wiki? Collaborative website where all participants have equal ability to make change to content Key features: Easy to use History of contributions Ability to revert to previous versions Why Wikis in Higher Education? Facilitate constructivist approaches to learning Equal "voice" for all participants Students retain access to constructed knowledge after course ends Can be public or private Easy to use; no advanced programming skills needed View and contribute from any Internet connection Uses of Wikis E-portfolios Group collaborations Soliciting input from others Presentations …any collaborative content creation activity! Wiki Activity Ideas Brainstorming of ideas Outlining text materials Drafting weekly summaries of instructional content Collecting bibliography of supplemental resources Creating interactive glossary of key terms …the list goes on, limited only by your imagination! Sample Wikis Blackboard Tips Wiki Course Wiki - EDT 6020 Spring 2010 Team Wiki Template - EDTC 6536 - wiki template developed by Jason Rhode for team project, with separate pages created for each team member and project milestones Emerging Technologies Wiki - wiki by Alec Couros containing useful information on digital literacies & emerging educational technologies HornLab - NIU Chemistry Professor Jim Horn’s wiki Free Wiki Tools Wiki Tools - directory of 30+ free wiki tools compiled by Jane Hart, Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies DokuWiki - open source wiki software which can be installed on your own web server Jottit - wiki tool that makes getting a website as easy as filling out a textbox MediaWiki - open source wiki software that powers Wikipedia WikiMatrix - compare multiple available wiki tools Wikispaces Selecting the Right Wiki Tool Does you institution already offer and/or support a wiki tool? Is free hosting available? Is a "WYSIWYG" (What You See Is What You Get) editor built into the wiki? Is special "wiki markup" needed for advanced editing? How long with the wiki be available to students? Can pages be made either public or private? Can other files be uploaded & stored with wiki pages? Can other media elements be embedded in wiki pages? (e.g. videos, spreadsheets, calendars, etc.) How well does the wiki tool integrate with other online services? How stable is the wiki hosting provider? Wiki Resources Wikis in Plain English 7 Things You Should Know About Wikis Tips on Developing a Wiki Community 6 Steps to a Better Wiki Experience STOLEN principle for using wikis educationally How Wikis Streamline Student Collaboration Projects Blackboard Wikis Quick Guide (NIU) Tips for Teaching with Wikis Decide whether to use single wiki for class or multiple wikis (e.g. each group) Provide suggested organizational structure or create empty pages (recommended) Customize navigation for easy access (ie: links to pages) Create sub-pages within hierarchical structure Tips for Designing Wiki Activities Specify clear purpose for use of wiki Provide expectations and structure for contributions Allow time for students to become familiar with the wiki tool (e.g. make contributions to individual page) Include instructions for use and/or links where students can find more information (e.g. screencast instructions) Wiki Issues and Limitations Authorization of users (ie: users must have a login to the wiki tool) Monitoring for inappropriate user Risks to allowing manipulation of site data Structuring initial content and pages can be a challenge How one accesses information, navigates, creates links, etc. must be addressed early Represents collective perspective Blackboard Wikis vs. 3rd Party Wikis   Blackboard Wikis 3rd Party Wikis Access Only registered students and instructor can access in Bb course Can be made available for anyone to access publicly without a Bb login Availability Available to students and instructor for duration of course Available to students, instructor, and potentially others after course ends History History of changes tracked and can easily be compared, reverted back to History of changes tracked and can easily be compared, reverted back to Integration Can be easily graded using interactive Bb rubric and feedback securely provided to students in Grade Center No integration for grading in Bb Security Student-created content is secure and only available for other students in the course to view Depends on the wiki tool selected Support Support offered by Blackboard support personnel Depends on the wiki tool selected

Who’s winning the eLearning development race? Are you in the lead—or are your deadlines beating you? As any time-crunched eLearning developer knows, deadlines can be a formidable opponent. Meet your new running coach: Lectora® Course Starters. What’s a Course Starter? Oh, just a beautiful designed, cohesive course template that the eLearning Brothers kindly made, so you don’t have to. Need a safety-themed course? A corporate background and style? It’s all in your Course Starter. And if you have Lectora® Inspire 12.1, you can access ALL the eLearning Brothers Lectora Course Starters right inside Lectora. Here’s how to use Course Starters in Lectora: Ready, Set, Course Starters! Get a Head Start in Your eLearning Race. Don’t have Lectora Inspire 12.1? Try a 30-day free trial. Subscribe to the Everything eLearning Blog for more how-tos, news and resources. The post Want a Head Start? Course Starters Are the Way to Go! appeared first on Trivantis e-Learning.

Want to create engaging, interactive learning? The beauty of Lectora® is that it’s incredibly easy to do so! And the release of Lectora® Inspire 12.1 and our partnership with the eLearning Brothers has made it even easier than ever. You can now access the eLearning Brothers Interaction Builder directly inside the Lectora Inspire interface. Check out this video to see how easy it is to add an interactive game in your eLearning course! Brother Bryce’s Best Lectora Interaction Builder Basics Subscribe to the Everything eLearning Blog for more eLearning examples, how-tos and free resources. The post The Basics of Building Interactions appeared first on Trivantis e-Learning.

Want to add games to your eLearning course? The new Lectora® Inspire 12.1 with eLearning Brothers Awesomeness makes that easy. The eLearning Brothers Lectora Template library is now built right inside Lectora Inspire, which makes it easy to insert a game template into your Lectora course! Brother Bryce at the eLearning Brothers explains how to add games to a Lectora project with Lectora Inspire 12.1 in a short video tutorial. Watch the video here: How to Use Games in Your Lectora 12.1 eLearning Project. To try Lectora Inspire 12.1 for yourself, sign up for a free 30-day trial. Subscribe to the Everything eLearning Blog for more how-to posts, news, and resources. The post Crash Course: Add Games to Your eLearning Course appeared first on Trivantis e-Learning.

via LeanForward Asynchronous eLearning Advantages: Greater Accessibility Save Time and Boost Productivity Minimize Disruption to Workflow Scalability Eliminate Travel Costs Simplified Training Documentation Personalization Consistency Free Up Instructor Time What additional advantages do you see for asynchronous online learning that you’d recommend adding to this list? Leave a comment with your thoughts!

Live chat Liz here, with answers to your most commonly-asked questions about the eLearning Brothers Awesomeness built inside Lectora® Inspire! Since the release of Lectora Inspire 12.1, we’ve heard a lot of excitement about this new feature for our Inspire users, but as with anything new there are questions too. On the live chat I hear a LOT of them. Here’s a recap of everything you need to know about how to access your eLearning Brothers account, what is included in your license of Inspire, and what you can choose to add on. How do I access eLearning Brothers content inside my license of Inspire? The eLearning Brothers Lectora Template Library, Cutout People, and Interaction Builder are all integrated into Inspire. You will only need to log in once before you can start downloading. You can find the login screen in Lectora in the Lectora Tools menu, located in the sliding library menu on the right. You will also access these features on this sliding screen, or on the tools ribbon under "Inspire Tools." How do I get my login credentials to access eLearning Brothers content? eLearning Brothers sends out user information via email to eligible users. Your username will be your email address, and your password is included on your setup email. If you have not received this information with your full version of Lectora Inspire, please contact your account rep or stop by the live chat for assistance. If you already have a subscription account of any kind with eLearning Brothers, your login credentials will not change. If you are using a different email for communication with Trivantis than you are with eLearning Brothers, just notify your account rep that you would like to link your Lectora account to your existing eLearning Brothers account. If I already have a subscription to the eLearning Brothers Template Library, do I need to keep it? Many of our clients already subscribe to eLearning Brothers services, and who can blame them? Now that the templates are integrated into Inspire, all Inspire users are gaining access to the Lectora Template Library. This is a curated library with templates and course starters made just for Lectora and Camtasia®. Renewal of the Lectora Template Library is included in your annual Inspire maintenance. eLearning Brothers also offers their full template library, which includes templates and course starters for a range of other tools you or your developers may use, including PowerPoint. If you are currently using the full template library, or if you would like to start, ask your account rep about how you as an Inspire user can add this on at a reduced cost! How do I access the eLearning Brothers Stock Assets Library? The eLearning Brothers Stock Assets Library includes photos, video, and audio you can download and import into your courses. While this subscription is not included in your Inspire maintenance, it is accessible from the Lectora Tools menu in Inspire. You can add Stock Assets Library access to your existing account and manage your subscription through Trivantis with your regular renewals. Contact your account rep today for a demo and pricing structure! But I’m a Lectora Publisher user. How do I get in on this deal? For a limited time, we’re offering our Lectora® Publisher users the chance to upgrade to Inspire for $595. This will get you access not only to eLearning Brothers content AND the integration with Lectora, but also to full versions of Camtasia screen recording software and Snagit® screen capture and image editing tool. This tool bundle is a total value of $1,100, making this upgrade a serious value. You can buy now in our online store. Our academic and government clients may qualify for special pricing on this upgrade. Give us a call at 877-929-0188 to find out more. Where can I learn more about these tools? eLearning Brothers has an impressive library of how-to videos and support topics. You can see the ones that relate to your tools at lectora.elearningbrothers.com. You can also check out these great articles on the Everything eLearning Blog: • Engagement Made Easy with eLearning Scenarios and Characters • Crash Course: Add Games to Your eLearning Course • The Basics of Building Interactions • Want a Head Start? Course Starters Are the Way to Go! • Making Magic: Tabbed Interactions in Lectora • Page Layouts: the Foundation for eLearning Masterpieces Subscribe to the Everything eLearning Blog for more how-to articles, free resources, and more. The post Everything you wanted to know about the awesome eLearning Brothers Tools, but were afraid to ask. appeared first on Trivantis e-Learning.

I’d like to introduce you to a whole new world today—shining, shimmering, splendid, and full of eLearning goodness. The new Trivantis Community is open for business! Connect with other users by posting discussions, share your Lectora® and Lectora® Online content, or browse the Knowledge Base for resources like webinars, articles, and video tutorials. You can even earn badges by being an active member and helping your fellow Lectora and CourseMill® users. • To get started, go to community.trivantis.com and set up your account. • If you already have an account on the existing community forum, your username will stay the same. You’ll just need to reset your password to log in. Check your inbox today for more instructions on switching to the new site. • Don’t already have an account? No problem! It’s easy to sign up. The Trivantis Community is a place you can learn and grow with other users so that you can build inspiring, amazing eLearning. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us at community@trivantis.com. We can’t wait to see you there! Of course, don’t forget to subscribe and keep reading your favorite blog for all the best eLearning resources, product updates and more. The post The New Trivantis Community: Everything You Need for eLearning—All in One Place appeared first on Trivantis e-Learning.

The quality of an instructional design is often gauged on three things: effectiveness, efficiency, and cost. Here are 5 rules that will help you achieve a high-quality instructional design: It must begin with an end in mind. It must be student-centered. It is refined through continuous assessment and improvement. It follows a well-defined system. It considers the big picture. Source: info.shiftlearning.com, via e-Learning Infographics What additional rules would you add for high-quality instructional design? Leave a comment with your ideas!

Trivantis is full of excitement this month with our new community, the 2015 Lectora® User Conference, and eLearning Brothers integration with Lectora Inspire. The articles we picked for you this month include eLearning games, microlearning, how-to tips for Lectora® Inspire 12.1, and updates on the latest news at Trivantis. 1. Lectora Inspire 12.1 Review by Rick Zanotti Rick Zanotti reviews the new Lectora Inspire 12.1 authoring tool, calling it "the right tool at the right time in an industry that demands easy tools that don’t sacrifice power." 2. The New Trivantis Community: Everything You Need for eLearning—All in One Place Connect with other users, share your Lectora and Lectora® Online content, or browse the Knowledge Base for resources like webinars, articles, and video tutorials in the new Trivantis Community! 3. Trivantis and eLearning Brothers Team Up to Rock the eLearning Industry In this article from Learning Solutions Magazine, Trivantis and eLearning Brothers announce Lectora Inspire 12.1 with built-in eLearning Brothers Awesomeness. 4. Is Microlearning The Solution You Need? Connie Malamed, the eLearning Coach, gets a closer look at bite-sized learning in this article about the microlearning strategy. 5. Ready, Set, Course Starters! Get a Head Start in Your eLearning Race. Learn how to use the Lectora Inspire 12.1 integration with eLearning Brothers Course Starters to save time in your eLearning development. 6. 4 Tips for eLearning Review and Collaboration Get tips for reviewing your eLearning course with your development team or external reviewers, subject matter experts, and course pilot participants. 7. Level Up with eLearning Games Games are everywhere. Learn tips in this article for adding games to your eLearning courses. 8. Virtually There: Defining the Modern Learner Experience This article discusses the modern classroom, including learning environments today and when modern learning takes place. 9. Future Highlights: 2015 Lectora User Conference Recap See highlights from the Find the Future LUC 2015 at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee. 10. Everything you wanted to know about the awesome eLearning Brothers Tools, but were afraid to ask. Live Chat Liz answers your most commonly-asked questions about the eLearning Brothers Awesomeness built inside Lectora Inspire. Subscribe to the Everything eLearning Blog for more eLearning news, trends, and Lectora tips. The post The Best of eLearning in May 2015 appeared first on Trivantis e-Learning.