6 Factors To Consider When You Choose Between Catalog eLearning Courses And Custom eLearning Courses   The oldest eLearning dilemma: custom or off the shelf? Sometimes it is difficult to decide. Both customized and pre-built eLearning courses have benefits and drawbacks, and unless your selection process is not carefully planned, you might end up with a product that may neither suit your needs, nor the ones of your eLearning audience. In this article, I'll share 6 top tips that will make your decision making process as easy as it gets. Decide whether you need custom or catalog eLearning courses.  The first thing you need to do, when deciding which type of eLearning course is right for you, is make sure that you know exactly what custom and catalog eLearning courses can offer you, as well as what they can’t. Some of the advantages of custom eLearning courses are that they can meet your audience’s unique needs, they do not require user licenses, they can be easily modified and you have complete ownership of the product. On the other hand, they are usually quite expensive, they take long to create, and they require high design and development skills. With respect to catalog eLearning courses, keep in mind that they are ready to use, they are relatively cheap and they require very few internal resources. In addition they are ideal for providing generic eLearning content. On the other hand, catalogue eLearning courses haven´t been designed to meet the unique needs of your organization, so they do not address specific goals of yours and, therefore, you might always run the risk they might provide you with irrelevant information. Your final decision on whether to opt for custom or catalog eLearning courses should be based on the particular needs of your organization and your available budget. Have a clear idea of expectations and desired results of the eLearning course. Before you start looking for a custom eLearning course provider, it’s important to have a clear sense of what you hope to achieve with the custom or catalog eLearning course. Prior to conducting your search for the best catalog eLearning course you should identify your learning or performance goals and objectives. Which skills do your learners need to develop? What key pieces of information do they need to take away from the eLearning experience? Formulate a list of learning objectives, goals, and desired outcomes, so that you can find the vendor that is going to offer you an end result that doesn’t fall short of expectations. Discuss these with any potential providers to check if they have a ready-made eLearning course that meets your requirements or if they can accommodate any special requests that you may have in order to develop a custom one. This will also give you an opportunity to get a more accurate quote, as they will be aware of any and all elements you need to include in your custom eLearning course design. Understand the needs of your audience. This is particularly crucial; before you deliver any eLearning experience, whether customized or pre-built, you must know your eLearning audience. If not, you cannot be sure whether the decision you are making is right or not. Analyze your audience by taking into account their ages, their backgrounds, their learning needs, their learning abilities, and their attitudes toward eLearning. Find out as much as possible about their background, expectations and how much they already know about the subject matter. By doing so, you have the chance to choose an eLearning course that meets their needs, without being redundant or too challenging. Furthermore, you should not just assume that every member of your audience is tech-savvy or net-savvy. Learners have their own technical requirements or limitations, as well as their own learning preferences. Determine if it has the features and activities your learners need. If there is a confusing mixture of different preferences, needs and prerequisites, you will need to make sure that either you decide to develop a custom eLearning course or to choose a ready-made eLearning course from catalog, all of your learners will be able to relate to it and to acquire the knowledge you are offering them.  While some catalog eLearning courses are solely content-based, others may include an abundance of interactive eLements. When assigning the development of a custom eLearning course or choosing the ideal eLearning course from a catalog, you will need to decide which features it must have and what specific eLearning activities you think might best suit your audience. Would they benefit from an eLearning course that includes a wide range of branching scenarios and simulations, or should you opt for an eLearning course that contains more text and visual presentations? Participate in the online course yourself to see if the layout and instructional design is in-line with your goals, and to determine if its individual components are suitable for all members of your audience. Choose eLearning courses that are effective.  No matter what your decision, both custom and catalog eLearning courses must be effective, and thus, they must offer your audience an immersive and impactful eLearning experience. But what does "effective" mean? It goes without saying: engaging, meaningful, memorable, and motivating. Whether you choose a custom or a catalog eLearning course, you need to make sure that it engages your learners by making them feel they can relate to it and that their learning has practical application in real life; after all, it is quite difficult for one to be interested in something that is not relevant to their personal or professional lives. Furthermore, whatever type of eLearning course you choose, it must be designed to help your audience to retain the knowledge you are offering; otherwise, the entire eLearning experience will be useless. Finally, it needs to motivate them to learn, develop their skill sets, modify their behaviors, or improve their performance. Having these factors in mind when deciding whether to choose between custom and catalog eLearning courses, the decision process will be much easier for you. Choose eLearning courses that are easy to use. Accessibility is a very important factor that you should take into consideration when choosing the right eLearning course, whether custom or catalog. In order for your learners to be able to participate in your eLearning course anytime and anywhere, it needs to be mobile and tablet friendly. The easier it is for your audience to access your online course, the more likely it is for them to engage in their eLearning experience. Furthermore, make sure that your eLearning course is concise, updated, it downloads quickly, and its navigation system is simple and functional; you don’t want your learners to waste their valuable time trying to figure out how to navigate within your eLearning course and platform. Choose the right eLearning course provider. Finding the eLearning provider to develop or help you to select from catalog the ideal eLearning course for your audience does not have to involve costly trial-and-error. Whether you choose a custom or a catalog eLearning course, have a close look at what your provider is able to offer you. Do they have a reputation for handling customer concerns promptly and professionally? Do they have a reliable customer support system? Can you immediately find them if a problem occurs? Ask about the support services they provide, as well as whether such services are included in their fee or additional costs are involved. In addition, check the list of vendors available and take advice from other customers who have used their eLearning products, whether customized or off the shelf and research each vendor’s experience and qualifications. Interview providers on your short list and look for online reviews from past clients to gauge their experience levels. This can help you to determine if they have the specific qualifications you are looking for, as well as, if they have worked on similar eLearning projects in the past. Take a look at their eLearning portfolio and ask if they have online examples they can show you. If you believe that the vendor has the necessary skills or experience to take on your project, you may want to request that they design a sample of the eLearning course, or a thorough outline and layout that gives you a clear indication of what they have in mind for your custom online course. Last but not least, feel free to ask for references from those who can share their experiences having worked with the provider in the past. Focus only on the top rated solutions and read carefully any shared experiences, appraisals, critiques, complains or comments, so that you can get a complete picture of whether a specific provider is a valuable and reliable option for your organization. This way, you will be able to get an insight of your providers' available options and thus make a well informed decision. Now that you know what to look for when you choose custom and catalog eLearning courses, you may be interested in learning how you can use them to impact as more online learners as possible. Read the article 6 Tips To Design eLearning Courses That Appeal To A Wider eLearning Audience and find out how you can further expand your eLearning market reach. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

As Quincy Jones once remarked, "I’ve always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, "Ain’t that the truth." That said, Edu-fun Friday is a series devoted to adding some humor to the lives of teachers who visit this blog. After all, there’s nothing better than ending the week on a positive note! Plus, do we have the best topics to provide us with some comic relief or what? My dog deleted it! Just what we need—another excuse regarding why students don’t complete their homework. Help us!

Welcome to today’s blog post. Every day, learning professionals try to find new ways to engage learners and make trainings more interesting to them. In this process, the current generation of learners stands as the most challenging target audiences. I’ve tried to understand the needs and tastes of these learners and had come out with an idea that can take our training programs a step closer to them. I had enquired quite a number of people about their likes and dislikes on current learning trends. Many of them expressed a common point that these courses lack personalization. I didn’t immediately understand what they meant. But, after going through some more details, here I am writing this post about how to add a personalization element to your course and make them believe that the course has been tailored specifically to suit their taste. What does personalization mean?  About twenty colleagues of mine use the same mobile phone that I use. But at any point of time, if you place all our mobiles on a table and ask us to identify our phones, at least 90% of us will pick the right ones. This is because even though the devices looked the same when they came out of the box, we personalized them according to our taste with components such as cases, wallpapers, themes, etc. We like to personalize everything we own,be it our wallets, shoes, cars or even our houses. This generates a great bonding and keeps us always connected our belongings. Yes! E-learning can be personalized and it can be a Wow Factor:  People gave me a weird look when I first talked about bringing personalization to eLearning. The myth is that eLearning courses cannot be designed specific to each learner. All learners see the same screens, go through the same media elements and attempt the same assessments to test their understanding. This is not true. The world’s best products came into existence only from what once were looked at as crazy ideas. Here’s one such idea that can change the way we are looking at eLearning courses today. In a software context, personalization usually refers to the user customizing the look and feel, sometimes the behavior of the software according to his requirements. An eLearning course is also a software application, isn’t it? So, what kind of personalization can we add to our courses? One good example would be to allow the learner to select the view mode of his choice. Some people like to view the content along with the menu and other components visible whereas some like to view it full screen. Another example would be to ask your young learners to select a theme during the launch of the course which reflects on the look and feel of the GUI throughout. This is an interesting way of capturing their attention. Incoming Personalized Assessments!! You can also use personalization during assessments. Everyone likes Avatars these days. People like to create their own digital avatars and play with them. We too can take benefit of this concept. When the course starts, we can display a few avatars to the learner and ask him to select one. This avatar will be used during the assessments to display whether he is right or wrong. For example, if the learner is wrong, the avatar comes in with a sad face saying "Let me try once again". This makes him feel involved in the course. Personalization is one strategy that’s helping many top companies reach their users easily and eLearning is no exception. What are your views on this? Please leave your comments in the comments section below. Related PostsFive Elements of Motivation for Games in E-LearningWhat, Why, and How to Use Avatars in E-learning Courses?How Effective is it to Use Gaming Interactivities in E-learning?

Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Prepare, Script, Audio This Camtasia Studio 8 tutorial provides information about what users can do before they actually start recording to set themselves up for a successful, quality screencast. Specifically, it covers cleaning up your desktop, writing a script, and using a USB microphone to get good audio. 0:10 - Clean up your computer 0:55 - Write a script 1:25 - Do a practice run 1:45 - Record the best audio possible 2:10 - Recap of tips 2:15 - Proceed to next tutorial The post Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Prepare, Script, Audio appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

What eLearning Designers Should Learn From Trainers A traditional trainer creates some kind of magic. In the stage of a training room the trainer has a vast portfolio of activities (training methods) which can be used to engage, motivate, make trainees curious, create "aha" moments, let trainees be together, etc. Skillful trainers dynamically mix and match all of these methods to deliver training goals - so the traditional training rarely looks the same as every training group is different. The problem with typical eLearning courses is that they don't have such dynamics as workshops. eLearning providers usually offer static material for self-learning. Instead of magic, trainees are given a set of screens with a [Next] button. Very often we forget that both the trainee and the eLearner are the same person - with the same abilities, motivations, attitudes. They expect to be provided with a learning experience of the same "power". Traditional training and eLearning don't have to be founded on the same principles - but they both have to be magical. How to bring moments of magic to the eLearning course? Let's discuss 8 ideas. They will not cover all possibilities (e.g. I will not elaborate on games which is a quite obvious mechanism of building magic) - I would rather focus on these which are usually neglected. 1. Support of trainees During traditional training a trainee is supported on various levels. He/she can count on the support from the trainer, from the co-learners, from the manager (mentor). The eLearner was used to be left by themselves. Withing eLearning processes we should support eLearners. We can provide to them ways of communication with a subject matter expert; we can provide to them channels of remote interaction with a trainer. We can explain things. We can connect a trainee with a trainer or a mentor. eLearning courses don't have to leave the eLearner alone with a computer - they should build communication bridges between these who don't know and these who know. We also have to provide a very good feedback to all learning moments. This feedback could be delivered not only automatically (by interactive mechanisms of the eLearning course) but personally (by a trainer or a mentor) as well. 2. Learning with people During traditional training people interact with each other. They discuss, share ideas, socialize. A typical eLearning course doesn't provide such important forms of building competencies. eLearning space gives many possibilities of reinforcing peer-to-peer learning. OK - it is hard to introduce discussion to the eLearning course but we can open such a discussion environment just outside of it (eg. in the eLearning platform). We can create a community of practice environment and give the eLearner a task to use it with a defined learning goal. Such a task, as well as participation in the threaded discussion, should be evaluated by a trainer and a feedback should be given to make these mechanisms as effective as possible (Support of Trainees rule). 3. Time Traditional learning gives trainees time - time to reflect, time to discuss, time to practice, etc. eLearning courses very rarely give time. eLearners usually have strict deadlines and they are expected by their managers to consume as little time as possible to click through the eLearning course. Let's give eLearners time. While designing the eLearning process we have to provide the time for reflection between eLearning modules. We also have to provide the time within every single eLearning module. We can suggest a time for reflection on a certain topic; we can suggest to write or draw something, or maybe to create a mind-map. We can suggest to stop the eLearning course for a moment and ask a colleague for a 3-minute discussion. It will not only give the eLearner the time, but it will also connect him/her with other people (Learning with People rule). 4. Experiments One of the most important elements of training adults is giving them a chance to experiment (Kolb's Cycle). Such experiments are often part of traditional training. This approach could also be used in the eLearning space. It will create a truly engaging learning environment. We can let people experiment by simulating things in the eLearning course. We can provide soft-skills training by letting eLearners play roles. Let's make them experience simulated situations - with a difficult client, with a layed-off employee, or with a very assertive colleague. Such experiments should be concluded with a very good feedback (Support of Trainees rule) building space for a good reflection (Time rule). 5. Emotions A skillful trainer brings a lot of great emotions to the training room. Well-prepared eLearning courses should provide them as well. People like to hear stories. A trainer is aware of such a need and tells a lot of stories, summarizes cases and his/her experiences, tells anecdotes. While designing eLearning courses we should use these learning forms as well. We can use texts to tell stories, we can visualize them with pictures or drawings (digital storytelling), we can use movies, etc. Emotions are also being built by using metaphors. They not only create vivid, emotional pictures in trainees' minds, but also effectively encode information in their brains. Emotions are also being created by the deliberate use of multimedia (visuals, pictures, narrations, etc). 6. Learning by doing According to the 70:20:10 theory, the majority of our competencies is being built by doing things. eLearning solutions could be also used to support this model of learning. The eLearning course itself gives only a limited number of such possibilities. Of course we can use simulations and role plays (Experiments rule) in it - but as eLearning designers we have much more chances to reinforce learning by doing outside of the course. We can use implementation tasks (tasks to be done in the workplace and support implementation of a new competence), we can recommend to deliver a project (personally or as a team), we can recommend to practice new competencies with a set of proposed experiments concluded with a self-reflection (Experiments and Time rule). 7. Kinesthetics Many people like to play with things. Such kinesthetic needs are easily met in the training room - trainees can play with a workbook, doodle in their notepad, create mind-maps, take notes, play with a pencil. An eLearning course gives some kind of a kinesthetic experience (we can click, interact with objects, solve quizzes, etc.), but usually it is a closed sandbox providing a limited number of routine activities. As eLearning course designers we can open the space of kinesthetic experiences. eLearners, during the eLearning process, shouldn't be limited by a space of a computer or a monitor. On the last screen of an eLearning course we can suggest to prepare a mind-map about the learning module and save it for future reference. In the product course we can recommend to design an infographic about its specification. Or to prepare notes about the course and discuss them with a colleague or supervisor (Learning with People rule). 8. Teamwork People feel motivated by working and learning with other people. Such a motivation is being heavily used by a trainer during a workshop - trainees compete or cooperate with each other while being engaged in various tasks and challenges. How to transfer this idea to the eLearning world where eLearners usually consume eLearning content individually? Well - new technologies bring new opportunities here. We can open a shared workspace environment and ask eLearners to deliberately use it with a goal of creating something. We can provide team assignments - ask eLearners to gather in teams and to prepare a project (Learning by Doing rule). Rules of these activities should be communicated within the eLearning course, but located outside of it. Such a teamwork could be gamified and should be evaluated by a trainer or mentor (Support of Trainees rule). This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

First impressions are usually the last impressions. This saying holds good for the description you give for your eLearning course. Typically, a course description is shown on the launch page of your eLearning course. The main aim of your course description is to provide your learners with an overview of the course; what it is all about, and what to expect from the eLearning course? As instructional designers, we are so engaged with the course and its content that we fail to realize the importance of the very first page of the course. In this post, we will have a look at a few ways to write better eLearning course descriptions. The Wrong: Writing broad or too many descriptions that covers everything in the course; if you try to fit everything about your course in the description, you’re most likely to confuse your learner than impress the learner. Take a look at the example of a course description that goes all over the place. The Right: Be precise, and focus on describing the global learning outcome and not the activities in the course. A good course description emphasizes on the end behavior and not the course content. Have a look at an example of a clear-cut course description. The Wrong: Write course descriptions that focus on the designer or training manager; most course descriptions tend to be a monologue by the instructional designer or the training manager. A course description is not about what the training material or instructional designer can provide, but about what the learner can do after taking the course. Have a look at a course description written from the instructor’s point of view. The Right: The course description is like your sales pitch to the learner. Take this, and you will learn that! A great course description clearly states what kind of behavior or performance is expected of the learner. The description focuses exclusively on the learner and not the trainer. Below is an example of a learner-centric course description. The first page of your course should motivate the learner to take up the course and learn something new! What do you think? Related Posts3 Interesting Ways to Design Elearning Intro Pages - InfographicApplication of Learning Cycle in Designing E-Learning CoursesThe E-learning Design Checklist - An Infographic

My theory is that age is just a number, so quite frankly I don’t really fret too much about it. But when I happened across this nifty graphic on Twitter the other day, I was definitely interested in knowing if I act my digital age. And now I bet you are probably wondering the same! Well, now you can find out the answer to one of life’s burning questions from The World According to Mr. N infographic, which calculates a person’s digital age according to the social media addiction you may have. Check out the image shown below to determine how technology habits can say a lot about who you just might be! Warning: Get ready to say "yikes" to yourself. Just sayin’… Click here for a full screen version of this interesting image. A shout out to Darin Nakakihara, a fifth grade teacher from Laguna Niguel, CA, for giving me the thumbs up to use his creation on my blog. It’s been great to connect with you on Twitter. (Don’t worry—neither one of us has an abnormally high opinion of ourselves.) And in case you might be wondering—I was hoping for the "Hipster" label, but after reading that description, I can honestly say I’m glad I don’t really use Instagram all that much! I’m also happy to report that I’m not a Friendster junkie either. However, I must get back to my endless searches for cool music on iTunes. I wonder what age bracket that obsession places me in—ha!

Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Record Your Screen This Camtasia Studio 8 tutorial provides information about how users can record their screens. Specifically, it covers the following topics: 0:05 - The editor 0:15 - The recorder 0:40 - Recording webcam and/or audio 1:00 - Choosing an audio input 1:05 - Recording system audio 1:25 - Testing audio levels 1:30 - Stage your screen for recording 1:50 - Download the sample script 1:55 - Recording: F9 2:10 - Stop recording: F10 2:15 - Preview your recording The post Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Record Your Screen appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. - Nelson Mandela The online training medium is used extensively by multinational companies to train their staff members. According to a report released by IBIS Capital, 41.7% of global Fortune 500 companies use eLearning tools to equip their personnel with the needed knowledge and skills. Many companies deliver online courses in English, and this often leads to poor learning as international employees who do not speak English find it hard to comprehend the courses. So, it is important that organizations render their courses into the native languages of their people. Here is an infographic that lists 3 proven tips to translate eLearning courses in quick time, at low cost. Hope you find this post interesting. How do you translate your eLearning courses? We’d love to know. Related Posts3 Things to Consider while Translating Your E-learning Course - An InfographicE-learning Courses That Need to be Translated - An InfographicWhy Outsource Your E-learning Translations - An Infographic

ICHL 2015 purpose is to bring together researchers and developers from education and computer science to advance the research of hybrid learning. The term ‘Hybrid Learning’ is undoubtedly a New Frontier in Education as neither the virtual nor the physical resources alone can provide the best teaching and learning environment. Intuitively, Hybrid Learning provides a way forward for educators who are interested in helping students to learn. Educators could ultimately create learning experiences to compensate for the shortcomings of, or at least to complement, conventional face-2-face teaching. ICHL 2015 will include keynote addresses, paper presentations, and tutorial sections. The 2015 International Conference on Hybrid Learning (ICHL 2015) will be held at the Central China Normal University in Wuhan (China) on July 27-29, 2015. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.