If your professional world is e-learning design you probably know...Atsumi - industry's most iconic character. During DevLearn 2015 Atsumi attracted plenty of visitors to Articulate's booth. No wonder the next e-learning challenge was about to create Atsumi related demo. When I first read what the challenge was I knew I'll go for one of the most classic games/interaction: spot the difference. Idea was simple, entertaining and easy to create. All I had to do was to modify a picture of Atsumi and

There are around 283 million results for a "badge" according to Google, but I'm going to focus on digital badges which are kind of confirmation of skills, progression, accomplishment or quality that can be earned online. No wonder we often use badges in e-learning courses as visual reward of user's activity.   I've analysed hundreds of badges for creating this PowerPoint freebie (zip format) and noticed a typical badge consists of 4 elements:   - plate (mostly it's a circle, modified rectangle

  All around the globe we are witnessing a transition towards collaborative learning. Our idea of collaborative learning arises from problem-based, case-based learning, team work, discussions, and other ways in which student is an active part in the learning process. Communities, also known as the wave of the future, are one of the top three most important components of e-Learning portals.  This post will tell you about the ten tips for using collaboration tools in e-Learning. The benefits of collaborative learning are immense. It lets the learners gain from the experience of their peers and help them acquire and retain information in a more involved and engaged way. Therefore collaboration tools deserve special attention as an e-learning professional. But how do you use them? The first requirement is to put focus on usability and accessibility when making the choice of collaboration tools for your eLearning course. In addition, you should also consider how the collaboration tool will serve your learning goals. In ideal conditions, your collaboration tool should be user friendly and can be accessed from a number of smart devices, which includes mobile phones and tablets. In order to motivate learners for using collaboration tools, the learners must always be made aware of the benefits associated with them. Without this awareness they won’t see any real value in using collaboration tools. If there are any current activities in your eLearning course that can go through some improvisation using the collaboration tools then do so. Whenever you perform any collaborative activity, it is necessary to understand that smooth working depends on the clarity of instructions and objectives.  As an instructor, you need to explain the purpose of the activity, and other necessary instructions should be delivered in a very clear and concise manner. Instructors should perform activities which are relevant and specific to the topic. Stuffing these activities with general information will make students lose interest and get bored. Infuse life in the activities through improving engagement, and relate with real life examples will invoke a much better response from the students. Choosing the right tools for Online Collaboration Tools For ensuring the best e-learning, it’s necessary to choose the best online collaboration tools. Here are some of the best tools that enable smooth collaboration amongst learners: MindMeister This is a web based tool that makes it possible for groups to do planning or brainstorming during the early phases of collaboration. It offers mind map, various templates, SWOT analysis and project planning for collaborating during the course of a project as per the nature of their assignment. With live chat feature, it can offer direct and fast communication. You can also use MindMeister asynchronously.  ProofHub ProofHub is an online collaboration software that helps organizations improve communication and collaboration among distantly located members in learning projects. Using the features of ProofHub, one can communicate through group chat, raise issues and these get resolved without wasting much time. This rapid communication ensures that all the members are at the same page in a learning project. Sharing of files, documents and information becomes an effortless affair with ProofHub. Through Notes functionality, group members can collaborate and write some amazing content together. Sharing of ideas becomes very easy with ProofHub. The software takes care of the mobile world as it lets you connect with your projects on the go from their mobile. This way missing or delaying of tasks can be significantly reduced. SlideRocket SlideRocket deserves special mention as it lets people create attractive and engaging presentations through its web based tools and features that can be accessed from anywhere. A single document can be accessed and modified by different members in a learning group. These random URL can be generated against each document which can be be submitted to an instructor for easy viewing. All multimedia features can be embedded in a presentation. You can pull data in real time from Google Spreadsheets, Twitter live feeds and Yahoo. It also offers you analytics feature which helps measure a presentation’s effectiveness. You can find through analytics about the audience who viewed it and their actions that followed.   Google Docs Google Docs is one of the most popular and common online collaboration tools available today.  Whether you want to create documents, powerpoint presentations or spreadsheets, Google Docs offer all these facilities. Due to its always connected feature, one can write, edit, and collaborate upon these documents from any remote location at any time and from various devices. Google docs automatically save the changes being made to the documents and it also keeps the previous versions of the doc in case you want to revert back. By referring revision history of a document, its old versions can be seen and can be sorted by date. Chat and commenting options are also there. E learning is the order of the day and it’s going to grow in a bigger way in the future. The benefits are not limited to students. It’s advantages extend to a larger section of society, including the working population. Job oriented courses help you acquire new skills that make you more employable.  If you want to be a significant part of this revolution then effective online collaboration is the key to it. The article is written by: Saurabh Tyagi is a career author with niche in the upcoming technologies like Edtech, Big Data and Social Media. His article range from general career advice to expert opinion like the one above. These resources are useful for all sorts of professionals right from those searching for resume samples for freshers to experienced professionals at higher level. The post Online Collaboration in E-learning: Tips and Tools appeared first on Fedena Blog.

Teachers & Educators in the present fast-paced, ever evolving world of communication are presented with a plethora of options which might sometimes be overwhelming. To reduce the efforts of teachers in learning a new form of communication, we give you some of the most effective ways of using the most modern form of communication, Twitter. Share this Image On Your Site <p><strong>Please include attribution to http://www.fedena.com/ with this graphic.</strong></p><br /><br /><br /><br /> <p><a href=’http://www.fedena.com/blog/2015/05/26-effective-ways-use-twitter-teachers-educators.html’><img src=’http://www.fedena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Final-Optimized.png’ alt=’26 Effective Ways to use Twitter for Teachers & Educators’ width=’1000′ border=’0′ /></a></p><br /><br /><br /><br /> <p> The post 26 Effective Ways to use Twitter for Teachers & Educators appeared first on Fedena Blog.

  We are excited to announce our latest release, Fedena 3.4.3.   Here’s a quick summary of some of the features coming to all our customers. Major Features Your SMS settings now come as a package   Fedena clients can now create and assign SMS packages to individual institutions. Each package will consist of two things. One, the SMS provider details such as the service provider name, message limit, package validity, etc. Two, the SMS configuration settings which includes the parameters and their appropriate values. From the account panel, Fedena clients can then easily manage and track the SMS usage by their institutions.   Track your transactions by reference number   For every fee transaction created in Fedena, you can now provide a reference number based on the payment mode. You can then use this number to track and search for transaction details.   Search and print fee receipts   The new page "Fee Receipts" in the Finance module will list all the receipts for payments made by employees, students, and guest users against fee collections. Equipped with Quick search and Advanced search functionality, you can quickly search and print fee receipts.   CCE Reports - Batch-wise Student Report   This new report will help you to generate the ‘Basic type’ CCE report in PDF format for all students of a batch at the same time. The report will include the grades obtained by the students in both scholastic areas and co-scholastic areas. Enhancements Track student fee payment details   From a student’s profile, Students, Parents, and Employees can now easily keep track of the fees the student has paid and is due to pay in the current batch as well as previous batches.   Timetable - Now even more functional and aesthetic   One of the major enhancements made to the Timetable module is the ability to assign more than one teacher to a period.   Something we think teachers are going to love is how clear and easy it is to read their timetables. And for the teachers and students who love to print their timetables, we have added a little print button.   Printable fee receipts   For every fee transaction created in Fedena, full or partial, a fee receipt is created. Now each fee receipt can be printed on a newly designed layout.   CCE reports now a little more flexible   Additional filters have been added to the Student-wise Report and Consolidated Report to give you more control.   So there it is, Fedena 3.4.3. We’re eager to hear from you! Write to us at info@fedena.com and let us know your thoughts, questions, and feedback. The post Our latest release is here, Fedena 3.4.3! appeared first on Fedena Blog.

    Australia has always been a popular destination for tourists and students equally. Studying in Australia is surely not an inexpensive option; but when it comes to world class education, Australia is a hotspot. Below find the top cities for higher education in Australia that attracts thousands of students from all over the world.   Sydney: Sydney, known as the city of fireworks, is also the financial and economic hub of Australia. It’s equally ideal for students looking out for cities for higher education in Australia with its very good quality of living.Sydney’s famous higher institutions for education include the University of New South Wales, University of Western Sydney, University of Sydney, the University of Technology and Macquarie University. With wide variety of culture to offer, Sydney is surely a hotspot for students from around the world.   Melbourne: Melbourne boasts a very strong diverse student’s community along with being named as cultural capital of the country. Quite a number of famous universities makes the city one of the most popular cities for higher education in the world. Surely, University of Melbourne and Monash University to be mentioned. Other includes Deakin University, Victoria University, RMIT University, La Trobe University and Swinburne University of Technology. Alongside, its scenic natural landscape, exciting nightlife and good weather attracts students to the city.   Canberra: Both University of Canberra and Australian National University are counted among top 100 universities in the world. This capital city of Australia boasts a good and diverse student community and also a high level of employability among graduates, thus, making it one of the most sought after cities for higher education to not just Australians, but non-Australians as well!   Brisbane: Due to its close proximity to the Gold Coast, Brisbane is a popular tourist destination. Students, too, flock to Brisbane to study at some of the best universities like the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University. As one of the popular cities for higher education in Australia, Brisbane has a lot to offer- amazing weather, beautiful beaches, nightlife; thus, a likeable city for global students.   Adelaide: Adelaide is known for its low cost of living, as compared to other big cities of Australia. A dynamic cultural diversity to look out for, Adelaide is home to the very famous University of Adelaide. Also present are University of South Australia and Finders University for higher education.   The post Top Cities for Higher Education in Australia appeared first on Fedena Blog.

    College is the time when every student should look forward to curve out a better future. Apart from studying, the student life in college can be made more productive with a lot of other activities - things that can help you enhance your skills and add some experience for the job life that awaits you post college. These are some of the few things that can be productive for your student life:   Travel or Study Abroad: To make the most of your college student life, you can opt for studying abroad. In that way, you have a good chance to broaden your perspective and finish your studies as well. Choosing a university overseas might add those extra costs to your wallet, but it’s surely going to be one new experience of student life that you must have. If not for the entire course, you can still opt for field trips or get your tuition transferred to a school in another city, linked with your university.   Opt for an internship: Internships give you a real work experience. A student life in college is incomplete if you don’t gain real-work experience in your field of study. Hence, opting for an internship is a smart idea to increase your employability chances after college. Internship can be a full-time or part-time or even a work-from-home experience; choose the one that’ll give you maximum exposure to the job you are aiming for.   Explore research opportunities: Research opportunities bring you ways to make the most of your student life and college education. Join a research program that requires you to do surveys and interviews. In short, grab the opportunity to do get experiences in works like data collection, analysis, report generation, etc.   Learn a language: Other than your subject of study at college, make your student life at college more exciting and learn new things- a new language preferably. You never know when learning a foreign language can be of great help to you post graduation. Many companies look out for graduates who are fluent in more than one international language, a language other than English maybe.   Enjoy student fests and network! College is the time when you can actually do a lot of networking, meet and connect with new people with similar passion and interest as yours. Student life at college is less exciting if you don’t attend college fests, club meets, group activities which can also serve as the meeting spots for networking.   Getting a real idea about how your goals are shaping up is always an added advantage. And college is the best time where you can add those effort towards your goal.   The post Things to do for a Productive Student Life in College appeared first on Fedena Blog.

  We all know by now, how technology is changing the way education is imparted. In fact, not just classroom technology that has been revolutionised by education, management of institution too, is not lagging behind. Fading are those days when all administrative records were maintained in sheets by a personnel. Technology has come up with smarter and more effective ways to manage your education institution. And Fedena, for the last six years have been trying to revolutionise the way institutions are managed all over the world.   As a part of our effort to help Fedena customers to use technology in their institution to boost productivity, team Fedena had launched ‘Rewarding the Top Fedena User’ program. In this, we had invited all Fedena SaaS clients to be a part of it. The program received a good amount of response and institutions who have agreed upon their participation, have been included in the program.     Find below the list of top 10 Fedena users at the end of August 2015:     We will be coming out with the list of Top 10 Fedena users again at the end of September. Stay tuned to check out who tops the list!   The post Rewarding the Top Fedena User’: Top 10 Fedena Users as of End of August 2015! appeared first on Fedena Blog.

  The benefits of audiobooks have been quite eminent to learners who have learning disabilities, for quite sometime now. On the other hand, audiobooks can actually be a smarter alternative to reading books- something that many people have started considering old-fashioned with the advent of technology. The surge in the past few years on the popularity of audiobooks played in iPods and other listening gadgets, itself stands witness to how the benefits of audiobooks are taking the joy of reading books to the next level.   So far, use of audiobooks in education have been concentrated to helping students with impairments or students who learn any second-language. But, it can actually be of much use to all students. Let’s see what are the benefits of audiobooks:   Many audiobooks come with a narration by the authors themselves. In that case, the mood or emotion attached to each phase of the story is best expressed by the writers themselves. Definitely, an additional help for students of literature to study moods and other nuances hiding in between lines.   Pronunciation is surely one of the benefits of audiobooks that can’t be ignored. Reading an audiobook brings out all possibilities of pronouncing words. Students looking forward to learning proper pronunciation of words can make the most of it.   Moreover, the convenience with which one can listen to an audiobook is noteworthy. Plugging in earphones, listening to a chapter and writing down notes simultaneously sounds so much easier than reading the text and write. Storing an audiobook is equally easy with all those mobile devices; using it is simpler; anytime, anywhere.   Various studies have been carried out in different points of time that have proved that students can grasp and remember a short story when they listen rather than the time they read it.   When we say benefits of audiobooks are more prominent than that of reading a textbook, it definitely depends on the kind of book or the subject that’s transformed into an audiobook. When the topic of reading is difficult, perhaps, reading the topic through pages is more welcoming as it allows the reader to refer to surrounding text for reference. Likewise, different students have different level of understanding a text. For some, an audiobook may be too fast to learn from; while others might not be comfortable using the audio devices and prefer the easy accessibility of books.   The cost factors plays a huge role in the lack of usage of audiobooks in education institutions. Most schools still run short of budget for these kind of purchases. Hence, the availability is still in the lower numbers in school libraries. Reading through books is better or listening to an audiobook? The question varies with each individual student and their learning capacity. Still, audiobooks has a lot to offer, if the possibilities of learning are explored well. The post Benefits of Audiobooks in Education appeared first on Fedena Blog.

  Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the New Delhi-based public interest group, is conducting the Green Schools Programme (GSP). This programme has been running for past eight years and 2500+ schools across India have carried out a rigorous audit on environmental practices within their premises, following a set of guidelines outlined in CSE’s Green Schools Audit Manual.   GSP aims to kindle the spirit of environment conservation among school students. Our programme seeks to foster environmental literacy by moving beyond theories and textbooks and focus on "doing". The programme helps schools to audit the use of natural resources, provides them the methodology to assess themselves as environmental managers and plug the identified gaps.   The audit allows the students to understand what is taught in the classroom better, with emphasis on teamwork and collaboration. For example, Measuring of garbage collected (Maths); Composting Methods (Biology); Narrative report (proficiency in English); Online submission (computer application); Waste Management Campaign (Civics/ Social Studies), etc.   The audit is open for registration and you can submit your report by Oct 31. Register at http://www.greenschoolsprogramme.org/registration/ and become a Green School*. Help us spread the green message through your students so they can be adequately prepared for the future they will inherit from us.   The collected reports will set benchmarks for environmental practices in schools which can be used by your school for further improvements. You can access the performance dashboard in March, which will enable you to compare your performance, year on year.   Following the GSP audit, a Delhi school introduced solar panels resulting in 12% decrease in electricity billing. Another school (in Chhattisgarh) increased the amount of waste water they reuse from 9000 litres to 22,240 litres. These are just a few examples from a long list of benefits that the participating schools got from GSP.   *A Green School is a resource-efficient building - one which uses less water, optimizes energy efficiency, generates less waste, catches and recycles water and provides healthier space for its occupants, as compared to a conventional building.   For any queries related to the programme, please contact Ranjita at ranjita@cseindia.org, or call at +91-9871825346     The post Participate in Green Schools Programme and Take your First step towards a Greener Future appeared first on Fedena Blog.