Adobe Captivate 8 Tutorial: Creating Quizzes with Adobe Captivate 8 This Adobe Captivate 8 tutorial presents how to create a quiz in Adobe Captivate 8. The post Adobe Captivate 8 Tutorial: Creating Quizzes with Adobe Captivate 8 appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

Investment in training and employee capability development is higher than it has ever been. In 2014, spending on corporate training reached an estimated $70 billion in the U.S. alone. Considering how much money and resources companies are committing to training, shouldn’t they be doing everything they can to justify doing it? Why should we measure Corporate training? We all know that employees need training right? They need it in order to be able to do their jobs with confidence and efficiency. That’s common knowledge, so why would we need to measure anything? Without closely monitoring the performance of your employees, how can you really determine how well employees how much progress they make following their training and what level of impact their training has had on productivity, profitability and the success of the organization as a whole? What exactly should we be measuring? There are a whole range of metrics that can be generated by Learning and Development teams to determine the impact of training on an organization. Some of your key metrics should include: Increased sales Are there signs of an increase in sales since you deployed your training? Seek out ways that tie increasing sales directly to training such as monitoring employee workloads and productivity. Reduced costs One of the main metrics used to prove the value of training by many organizations is cost savings. You should be looking at how training affects the operational costs of the organization. Increased employee retention Increased retention rates are generally a good indication of employee satisfaction. If staff receive training, it gives them confidence and improved ability to do their jobs. This can often leads to a better employee retention rate. Measuring Corporate Training Performance: 4 Important Considerations  Determine what the business is already measuring If you haven’t already been tracking, analyzing and evaluating how training performs in your organization, now is the time to start. Begin by assessing what areas of the business are already being measured and determine how you can add to this through measuring training impact. Most likely, sales and ROI are the main focus of your organization in terms of evidence of success. Consider how the business is measuring these things and see if you can apply a similar model to training. It shouldn’t be too difficult to do this - cost savings, increased productivity and sales, as highlighted earlier, are some of the main KPIs you can get from training. Complete performance reviews and impact assessment At a basic level, this is one of the best ways to determine the impact that training has on a business. It may not tell you how it has affected ROI or sales directly, but monitoring the performance of individual employees and departments through performance reviews and assessing their skills and ability will tell you a lot. Doing this should help you answer a key question - how has their training affected the quality of their work? If you can tie performance improvement to training, there is a strong case to be made that training has resulted in more confident and capable employees. This leads to increased efficiency and productivity which in turn leads to higher sales and good ROI. Utilize control groups A control group is a group used as a standard of comparison in a controlled experiment. Using control groups is an excellent way of proving how valuable something can be. They can be particularly useful in piloting a training program, highlighting the value of training in terms of employee skills development, etc. For example, if training on a new production process is required by three production lines in a large manufacturing firm, training could be provided to just two of the three groups with the third group not receiving any training initially. The Learning and Development function would monitor the teams who received training for a 2-3 month period and compare their performance against the team that received no training. The results of this could be used to establish how much the work of the trained teams improved and thus determine the overall benefit of the training program by comparison with the investment made to develop it. Evaluate and improve existing Learning and Development processes Perhaps you already have a strategy for measuring training? Ask yourself, just how effective is it? Does it provide me with enough data I can use to justify our investment in training? Are there other ways to highlight the benefits of training to management which could result in them increasing the budget for training in the next financial year? Quite often, we implement strategies and processes to help us doing things more effectively. But once they are in place, we neglect them and forget that there are always new ways to improve them. Once you have a process of measuring training, each year you should review it carefully. Perform an Learning and Development needs analysis. Organizations grow, develop and change over time and the process you have for measuring training, like any other, should adapt to changes and growing needs within the business. Deploying training programs in your organization because you believe they are necessary is fine. But always be prepared to back up and support what you believe with results and KPIs. The saying "proof of the pudding is in the eating" truly applies here. Training staff is one thing. But actually proving the value that training adds in terms of employee skills development, cost savings, increased sales and ROI and performance improvement of teams across your organization should be your top priority. For further perspectives on this topic, read 3 Ways to Measure Training Effectiveness and learn more about how you can apply measurement techniques to your business. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Audio - Cleaning Up Mistakes This Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial covers the following topics: 1:30 - Silencing mistakes 2:05 - Transitioning in and out of silence 3:05 - Adjusting the volume of a single phrase 3:35 - Creating new audio points The post Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Audio - Cleaning Up Mistakes appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

Recently, a client asked us to add a message from its CEO, which included an image, to all courses implemented by them. The content (message) was too heavy to fit on the screen, and the only option is to add a scrolling panel, so that learners can scroll to read the content. The client accepted the scrolling option, but asked us to match the color of the scrolling panel with the interface. We don’t have a default option in Articulate Storyline, for this. The only thing we can do is customize. In this post, I would like to share the steps to add a custom scrolling panel for which you can add the required color to match with the interface (GUI). Step 1: Create your eLearning course, as per the requirement. Step 2: Develop a HTML page with your contentand a scrolling object. Format itusing CSS, as shown in the screenshot below. Make sure to save the HTML file as index.html. Step 3: Go to the Insert tab and select theWeb Object option to insert index.html file. Step 4: In the window opened, paste the location of index.html file. You can even browse for its location. Step 5: Adjust the size and position ofthe Web Object on the screen. You can even placea portion of the Web Object off the stage. However, the output remains the same. Step 6: Publish the eLearning course and check the output. For WebKit browsers (Chrome and Safari) For IE These are the 6 simple steps to add custom scrollbars in Articulate Storyline. Hope you find this post useful. Do share your views. Related PostsRapid E-learning through Storyline Tool: 5 Infographics Sharing Key FeaturesHow to Combine Your Adobe Captivate Projects Into Single Course?7 Steps to Create Custom Invalid Answer Pop-ups in Articulate Storyline

Adobe Captivate 8 Tutorial: Bringing your PPT into Adobe Captivate 8 This Adobe Captivate 8 tutorial presents how to create PPT-based courses in Adobe Captivate 8. The post Adobe Captivate 8 Tutorial: Bringing your PPT into Adobe Captivate 8 appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

As an eLearning professional, you know that translating online courses is important if your organization is operating worldwide. Employees expect to be trained in their native languages as it makes comprehension of the learning content easier. While translating your eLearning courses, you need to avoid some common mistakes, to deliver error-free multilingual courses. Here is an info-graphic which shares 7 of these. Have anything to say? Please do share! Related PostsHow You Can Get First-Rate Translations of Online CoursesBest Practices for Translation of E-learning Courses [Infographic]3 Things That Destroy Your E-learning Translations

Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Working with Music This Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial covers the following topics: 0:50 - Finding music 1:10 - Previewing music 1:45 - Adding music to the timeline 2:35 - Transitioning the volume level 3:40 - Fading music out The post Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Working with Music appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

Instructional Designer Salaries: 5 Common Misconceptions That Instructional Designers Involved In The eLearning Industry Should Be Aware Of Instructional designer salaries may differ greatly, depending on the professional’s experience level, training, specialty, and a number of other factors. In this article, you’ll discover some of the most common misconceptions about instructional designer salaries, as well as the truths behind them. Flying solo will lead to a higher salary. One of the biggest misconceptions about the instructional design field is that tackling all of the tasks on your own will lead to a larger payout. Many instructional design freelancers try to tackle everything, becoming graphic designers and subject matter experts all-in-one, thinking that this will increase their salary by saving on outsourcing costs. However, the simple truth is that enlisting the aid of an eLearning team can actually result in a higher salary. This is due to the fact that you can complete tasks more efficiently and effectively, which means more satisfied clients and faster turnaround times. If you work for an eLearning firm, managers commonly get paid more than their subordinates and get to explore different facets of the eLearning industry.  Also, bear in mind that becoming a freelancer has its fair share of trials and tribulations, as you will have to handle every aspect of the business. It is rewarding, but requires some hard work in order to get a sizable salary. You don’t need an instructional design degree to earn more as an ID professional. Earning an instructional design degree may require an investment of both time and effort, but it may just pay off in the end. While instructional designer salaries can greatly vary based upon a variety of different factors, eLearning professionals who do pursue a higher education degree typically earn more than those who do not. According to the 2015 Global eLearning Salary & Compensation Report released by The eLearning Guild, which featured the responses of 5,127 of their members [3], individuals who hold an instructional design doctorate degree have a salary that is almost 24% higher than the United States average [3].  There are even certain positions, such as those in the higher education sector, where eLearning professionals must a hold an instructional design Masters or Doctorate degree to obtain a position. Also, it’s important to bear in mind that it’s not just about the degree itself, but what you learn as you are pursuing that degree. Developing specific skill sets, learning about new technologies and eLearning authoring tools, as well as exploring different instructional design theories and principles can all lead to a higher paying position. Location has nothing to do with how much you make as an Instructional Designer. Due to the fact that much of your work is done online and, even group collaboration can be done via project management platforms and video conferencing tools, many believe that it doesn’t really matter the place you are located. However, even in this industry, it’s all about location. According to The eLearning Guild’s 2015 Global eLearning Salary & Compensation Report, Australian eLearning professionals have the highest salary with an average high of $105,510 per year [2], while those in India earn the least, starting from $29,236 [2]. In the United States, eLearning professionals working in the San Francisco metro area have an average salary of $101,410 a year, while those working in Detroit earned an average annual salary of $65,249 [1]. The amount of hours you may be expected to work can also vary from location to location. For example, eLearning professionals in India work 45.88 full-time work hours per week, on average, while those in Canada work 42.63 hours a week [3]. Being a jack-of-all-trades means that you’ll earn a higher eLearning salary. While it’s always a good idea to learn as much as possible about a variety of different learning management systems, eLearning authoring tools, and instructional design models, being a jack-of-all-trades doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be earning a higher paycheck. In fact, choosing a specialty can often lead a more substantial salary each year. For example, if you opt to work as an eLearning consultant for a healthcare company, you may have the potential to earn more than someone who has yet to identify their niche. Being a generalist when you first start out is often the best way to go, as it gives you the opportunity to determine your key strengths and interests, but it may be wise, and more lucrative, to choose a specialty once you find your footing. Instructional designers in the private sector have the highest paying positions. Instructional Design professionals who create and sell their own eLearning courses or work in the private sector can earn a great living, but they usually aren’t the highest paid in the eLearning  industry. Instructional designer salaries can differ significantly in any sector, as the employer, job duties, and the experience of the eLearning professional all help to determine the yearly pay. However, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the highest paid eLearning professionals are those who are in federal government settings, with average earnings of $87,790 per year [1]. Professionals who work in the consulting sector also earn about 23.9% more than the global average, while those who are in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries have salaries 26% higher than the average global instructional designer salaries [2]. eLearning freelancers can earn high salaries, as well, depending on their weekly work hours, marketing knowledge, and a number of other factors. If you’re considering an instructional design career it’s wise to know exactly what to expect. Hopefully, the truth behind these common misconceptions can help you in your decision-making process and give you a clear picture of what you’re getting into before pursuing this rewarding career path. Earning an Instructional Design degree can help increase salary figures and lead to more job opportunities. Read the article Why Do You Need An Instructional Design Degree? to learn the many reasons why you may want to pursue a degree in this ever-evolving field. Last, but not least, if you’re new to the world of Instructional Design and would like to know more about how to get started, the article How To Get Started As An Instructional Designer delves in the necessary skills and hiring process for instructional design professionals. References: The Average Salaries of Instructional Designers The eLearning Guild Releases 2015 Global eLearning Salary & Compensation Report 2015 Global eLearning Salary & Compensation Report Infographic This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

iPad - a device that has revolutionized the corporate world. According to the Mac Observer, 94% of Fortune 500 companies are either testing or using this device from Apple. The widespread usage of iPads has resulted in the opening of new vistas in online training. The iPad is an information powerhouse, and various features of this tablet computing device go a long way in delivering high quality training to the "mobile" workforce. Today, we will see how to design a winning course for the iPad. Before you embark on designing an iPad-compatible eLearning course, it is very important to find answers to the following questions. What is the relevance of the learning content delivered on iPads? What are the devices on which the online course will be delivered? What is the bandwidth available? How does the organization intend to use the capabilities of the iPad to deliver contextual learning? What are the security measures in place, to deal with theft or loss of these devices? What is the relevance of the learning content delivered on iPads? It is important that you have a clear idea of what you intend to deliver to your learners using iPads. This is necessary to ensure that the content delivered on your learners’ iPads is relevant to their needs. You need to structure the online training modules in such a manner that they help your people to enhance their performance. For example, a washing machine manufacturer can divide a comprehensive 30-minute online course on one of its products into six 5-minute learning nuggets, each covering a specific part. A mechanic, who needs information about the drain pump of the washing machine, can access it quickly and easily on his iPad, without having to go through the entire half-hour course. What are the devices on which the online course will be delivered? If you wish to use a course on multiple devices, including iPad, then you need to make sure that the course is consistent in its appearance, functionality and interactions on all devices. It is important to prevent problems of incompatibility, with multiple operating systems and browsers, to deliver good learning experiences. You can consider publishing your course to HTML5, which is platform-agnostic. For more information on developing courses that are accessible on all devices, visit this article on multi-device compatibility. What is the bandwidth available? In cases where the bandwidth is low, it is advisable to deliver the online training through native iOS apps. A native app "sits on the iPad", and the user needs an Internet connection only to download the app and install it. Once the app is installed, it can be accessed offline. On the other hand, if the available bandwidth is high, you can use web apps which can be used through the browser of the iPad. To know more about native apps and web apps, check out this excellent blog. How does the organization intend to use the capabilities of the iPad to deliver contextual learning? The iPad has a plethora of networking and other features which help provide excellent contextual learning. Consider this scenario. A salesman of a washing machine company is meeting with a prospective customer in Rockaway Beach neighborhood in Queens, New York. The customer asks the salesman whether any of his neighbors have purchased the washing machines of the latter’s firm. The salesman, using the geo-location feature of his iPad, gets the required information. This makes a good impression on the product and the customer buys the washing machine. The tablets from Apple can also be used to provide contextual support to service technicians. Volkswagen, a leading German automobile manufacturer, uses an augmented reality iPad app to provide assistance to repair technicians working on its XL1 concept car. Check out this excellent video to see how this app works. Many companies are also using iPad apps which can read Quick Response (QR) codes to provide their field personnel with the required information. For instance, a large pharmaceutical company provides its sales personnel with quick reference guides containing QR codes. A medical representative can quickly scan the QR code with his iPad and access a short clip containing the features of a drug. What are the security measures in place, to deal with theft or loss of these devices? It is very important to ensure the security of your confidential data, when you impart training though iPads. Data encryption coupled with password-driven login can be used to secure critical organizational information when web-based training (WBT) is imparted through iPads. However, issues could crop up when you use apps to deliver training. The learning material is downloaded into the iPad and as a result, the loss of the device could mean the loss of sensitive data. Screen locks, auto-timeouts and access restricted by passwords are to a certain extent helpful in securing your company’s information. You can also use the device management and application management features of iPads to protect information from falling into wrong hands. For more information on the security of data stored in iPads, check out the security features in iPad. You may also like to refer to guide to iPad security and MDM in the Enterprise - Page 1 and Page 2. Thus, the right answers to these questions help design highly effective training using iPads. Hope you find this post informative. Do share your views. Related PostsE-learning for Telecommunication IndustryHow Can You Harness the Training Potential of iPads? Making E-learning Courses Mobile: 5 Aspects to Consider - An Infographic

Adobe Captivate 8 Tutorial: Creating a Software Simulation with Adobe Captivate 8 This Adobe Captivate 8 tutorial presents how to create a software simulation in Adobe Captivate 8. The post Adobe Captivate 8 Tutorial: Creating a Software Simulation with Adobe Captivate 8 appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

According to the Mac Observer, 94 percent of the Fortune 500 companies are either testing or deploying iPads for various business purposes. It also reported that nearly 70 percent of the Global 500 companies are testing or deploying these devices. Many organizations are looking to deliver training to their employees through these gadgets. Let us now see how these incredible tablets from Apple can be used to deliver effective training to your workforce. 1. Comfortable access to eBooks E-books can be used to deliver training, in the form of job aids, product manuals, user guides, etc. IPads are the best devices to access eBooks anytime, anywhere. Their large screens are ideal for reading eBooks for longer periods of time. 2. Excellent training through presentations Media-rich presentations can be used as brochures, product catalogs, induction training materials, etc. IPads are considered the best devices to deliver training through multimedia presentations. The multi-touch user interface of iPads is very user-friendly. This interface, combined with the large screen size, empowers the user with a wide range of interactions. 3. Effective use of gamified learning Games are highly effective tools to impart training as they help employees overcome resistance to training activities and actively engage in them. IPads’ multi-touch screens make them the best fit for delivering gamified learning. 4. Experiential learning through high quality simulations Simulations refer to the imitation of the operation of real world processes that can be used to provide experiential learning. In the training world, they are extensively used for training on the usage of tools, equipment, complex technical processes and software applications. The hardware capabilities of iPads have made them the preferred choice to provide simulation-based training. 5. Enhanced engagement through videos  This highly popular medium is used extensively to deliver training because it is very effective in generating and sustaining learner interest. The iPad is the ultimate device to watch videos. Their large, high resolution LED backlight screens provide high quality viewing experiences. Also, the powerful built-in speakers produce high quality sound. Thus, we see that iPads can be used to impart high quality training to your workforce. Do you want to add some more points to this? Please do so. Related PostsAssessment Strategy for M-learningBest Practices for Developing M-learning Courses - An InfographicWhy and How to Make Your Courses Compatible to HTML5?

Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Speech to Text This Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial covers the following topics: 00:10 - Selecting audio 00:35 - Voice training 1:45 - Viewing Captions 2:10 - Editing Captions The post Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Speech to Text appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

You must have seen many magicians use a wand while performing their tricks. It seems to be the source of their magic. It makes us feel they can do anything and everything with that wand. So, we call it a magic wand. Similarly, Articulate Storyline provides us with a magic wand. Usually, eLearning developers are asked to create highly interactive eLearning courses, but are given very short deadlines. We all know that creating different interactivities involves writing lengthy action scripts and it takes a lot of time. But Articulate Storyline’s magic wand makes it very easy to create different interactivities without even the basic knowledge of action scripting. All you need to have is the knowledge of this simple magic wand, and you are all set to create highly interactive courses. Wondering what that magic wand is? The magic wand of Articulate Storyline is the Trigger Wizard. This wizard helps us create triggers or actions with its built-in options, minimizing the development time of different interactivities without writing even a single line of action script. It makes a Herculean task so easy, just like the magician lifts a heavy elephant into the air easily with his magic wand. In this blog, we will explore the options of the trigger wizard. The screenshot above displays how a basic trigger wizard looks. It consists of drop-down menus which help in creatinga trigger. These drop-down menus change, depending upon the selectionyou make in certain menus. The only two drop-down menus that would not change are Action and When. Let us understand these drop-down menus. Action In this drop-down menu, you have 21 Actions to choose from. In Storyline 2, with its new features, you have 26 Actions to choose from. These actions are divided into 6 categories: Common, Media, Interaction, Course, More and Quiz. As I mentioned earlier, depending upon the action you choose, the other drop-down menus change. For example, if you select the "Show layer",the next menu displays the list of layers you have on the slide and asks you to choose the layer that you want to display. If you choose "Adjust variable",the next menu displays the list of variables you have in the course and asks you to choose the variable you want to adjust. But, if you choose "Restart course" or "Exit course",the next menu directly asks you when to restart/exit the course. With self-explanatory actions, the drop-down menu appears as shown in the below screenshot. When The next important drop-down menu is When. From this menu, you have to select the event when the action has to be performed. Again, based on the event, you choose the next drop-down menu change. For example, if you choose "User clicks",the next menudisplays the list of all the objects and player buttons you have on the slide and asks you to choose the object that you want the learner to click. If you choose "Media completes",the next menudisplays the list of media you have on the slide and asks you to choose the media on whose completion you want the action to be executed. This is how the trigger wizard helps you create a trigger. You can create any interactivity with the help of this wizard. But there is more to it - Conditioning. To know more about conditioning while creating triggers, stay tuned to my blogs. Related PostsRapid E-learning through Storyline Tool: 5 Infographics Sharing Key Features4 Types of Triggers in Articulate Storyline to Develop Interactive E-learning CoursesHow to Combine Your Adobe Captivate Projects Into Single Course?

If you don’t know, learn. If you already know, apply. If you know and have applied, improve. -Anonymous It is a well-known fact that effective sales training plays a key role in the success of today’s organizations. Companies launch new products rapidly to survive in a competitive market. To be successful in a growing market, a sales person should have good knowledge on his company’s products as well as its competitor’s products. But, how will an organization know that the product released by it is an excellent product? How can sales people be trained effectively? How can organizations ensure that their sales personnel are equipped with the needed knowledge and skills to meet the challenges posed by a dynamic world of business? Well, organizations need to focus on a few key topics in their sales training programs. Here is the info-graphic which shares the topics you need to cover in your sales training program. Hope you find this info-graphic informative. Do you have anything to say? Please do share. Related PostsE-learning to Improve Sales Revenue6 Tips for Effective Sales Training - An InfographicWhy do You Need to Go Beyond ‘E-learning Development Cost Per Hour’?

Adobe Captivate 8 Tutorial: Common JavaScript Interface in Adobe Captivate 8 This Adobe Captivate 8 tutorial presents you the common JavaScript platform for SWF and HTML5 in Adobe Captivate 8. The post Adobe Captivate 8 Tutorial: Common JavaScript Interface in Adobe Captivate 8 appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

Products are the main revenue generators for an organization, and the knowledge of the products is very essential for employees such as sales people, service personnel etc. who interact directly with the customers. Efficient interaction and adequate knowledge of products not only attract customers, but also retain them. Hence, companies are investing more on product training programs. However, there are times when the organization launches a new product and needs to spread the information among its employees, in multiple locations, simultaneously. In this scenario, training by using the traditional approach is not feasible. Therefore, we need a cost-effective solution to deliver training. Here is an Info-graphic which shares how eLearning can be an effective solution to impart product training. Hope you like this post. Do share your views. Related Posts4 Tips to Promote your eLearning CoursesCreative Ways to Present Click on Tab Interactivity in E-learning Courses - An InfographicType of Training Required for Service Staff

Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Sync with Script This Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial covers the following topics: 00:10 - Copying and pasting scripts 00:50 - Syncing captions 1:55 - Applying timeline adjustments 2:15 - Merging Captions 2:30 - Resuming/restarting The post Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Sync With Script appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

Free Webinar: Custom Reports Made Easy Discover how CourseMill’s new Advanced Reports feature lets you easily create custom reports, charts, and graphs. Learn how to add links to your desktop for immediate access to data without needing to log in. It’s so easy to track training results with CourseMill and John is here to show you how! This is one webinar you don’t want to miss. Sign Up for Free This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Adobe Captivate 8 Tutorial: Accelerometer-based Game in Adobe Captivate 8 This Adobe Captivate 8 tutorial presents how to create an accelerometer-based game with Adobe Captivate 8. The post Adobe Captivate 8 Tutorial: Accelerometer-based Game in Adobe Captivate 8 appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

Whenever I design an eLearning course, I ensure that the course is user-friendly and the learners can make the most out of it. For this purpose, I make extensive use of visuals and graphics. Graphics are a good way to replace text in online courses and reduce the cognitive load. They go a long way in enhancing the efficacy of eLearning courses and help optimize learning. As a result, they play a key role in improvingthe performance of employees. But, when you use graphics in your course, you need to make sure that the graphics go with your content. It is important to see that the graphics you use are ‘instructive’ and not ‘decorative’. Here are a few tips that you can follow when using graphics in an eLearning course. Tip #1 Use representational visuals to show actual appearance It is common knowledge that a good eLearning course enables the learner to apply the knowledge gained to his job. Representative visuals, which are photographs used to depict concepts visually, are very useful tools to help your people transfer their learning to the workplace. They are very effective because they are ‘real’ visuals and your staff members can relate to them easily. Here is the photograph of goods in a seaport. Tip #2 Use organizational visuals to show qualitative relationships According to Ruth Colvin Clark and Chopeta Lyons, an organizational visual is a knowledge representation that uses shapes and text to illustrate various types of qualitative relationships among the content. It is very useful to reduce excessive load of longer texts.Organizational visuals can be used to in online courses to teach a variety of subjects. Here is the screenshot of an organizational visual used in a course on supply chain management. Tip #3 Use relational visuals to communicate quantitative relationships Graphs and charts can be used to depict a large amount of information in a learner-friendly manner.They are often used to explain the quantitative relationships between different variables. Tip #4 Use transformational visuals with on-screen contiguous text Transformational visuals are used to show changes that take place over time. They provide directions, feedback and memory support. Transformational visuals are the ideal tools to depict the steps of a procedure or process. You can use either dynamic visuals or static visuals, based on the learner’s prior knowledge. Show static stills first, followed by an animation or a video to reduce cognitive load. Here is the screenshot of a graphic that shows a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. Tip #5 Use interpretive visuals to depict ‘invisible’ and abstract concepts Instructional designers find it hard to explain certain abstract concepts. In such cases, you can use Interpretive visuals, which illustrate theory, principle, cause-effect relationships. Efficient use of visuals enhances the effectiveness of your eLearning course and helps your people learn better. Hope you find this post interesting. Do share your views. Related PostsMaking E-learning Videos with Microsoft PowerPoint 2010Creating a Visual Strategy for E-learning: What Should You Consider?5 Qualities of a Good Instructional Designer - An Infographic

A previous post discussed the benefits of the backchannel for students who are shy or introverted. This post examines the benefits of the backchannel for students and teachers in diverse classrooms. What is a diverse classroom? When students of varying abilities, backgrounds, and experiences are in one class (section, session, meeting, etc.), the class is called diverse. Almost every class today can be called diverse!  In special education, the term "inclusive" is important and is used either alongside the term 'diverse' or on its own; it is tied to the mandate that K-12 schools provide the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) to their special needs students. According to Wrightslaw, "LRE means that, to the maximum extent appropriate, school districts must educate students with disabilities in the regular classroom with appropriate aids and supports, referred to as 'supplementary aids and services,' along with their nondisabled peers in the school they would attend if not disabled, unless a student's IEP requires some other arrangement" (U.S. Department of Education et al., 1994).  The IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) of 2004 stipulates this requirement. Having a diverse group of students simply means recognizing that all the people are unique in their own way. Their differences could consist of their reading level, athletic ability, cultural background, personality, religious beliefs, and the list goes on. There has always been diversity in the classroom, but in today's society it is important to embrace it and make positive use of it. Teachers should value diversity and they need to model this attitude to their students. When people value diversity, they recognize and respect the fact that people are different and that these differences is generally a good thing. For example, when attempting to solve a problem, it is better to assemble a diverse team with many skills and many different ways of approaching the problem than it is to assemble a team that has all their strength concentrated in one area ("Appreciating and valuing diversity," n.d.). In today's classrooms, then, a teacher can work with students with: IEPs (Individualized Education Plans) or GIEPs (Gifted students) 504s, which provide services to students who have physical or mental impairments that substantially limit major life activities (Office for Civil Rights, 2013) Home languages other than English (English Language Learners, or ELLs) Varying socioeconomic statuses Varying cultural experiences Varying religious beliefs Diverse learning styles I'm sure I missed a category, but think you understand what I'm trying to say: Teachers need to be ready to differentiate instruction to satisfy the academic needs of students from diverse backgrounds. It can be an intimidating, overwhelming, and exhausting proposition. Educational technology has helped make this process a bit easier, thankfully, and the backchannel is one type of educational technology that supports the inclusive and diverse classroom. I bet you are glad I got to the point of this post. The Backchannel as a Written Record Back in 1991, I was a junior in college. I decided to start tape recording lectures so I could listen to them later and type out my notes. It really helped me to catch those things that the professor said during lecture that I missed as my mind wandered, which was inevitable in those days. In those days, too, the professor expected that you would know everything said during lecture, so missing something could hurt your grade. Today, however, I believe that teaching has evolved to a point where understanding is more important than recall. If I were an undergrad today, I would not need to spend hours typing out my notes to commit them to memory; I would need to be able to explain the significance of what was said, create hypotheses about why things are connected, and evaluate what others have said. It would still be nice to have that recording, though, or some written record of what happened in class, as a transcript to review while reflecting on the content. The backchannel transcript can help students who lose their concentration during class, or who need more time with the content to make connections and construct their own understanding. You can set up an outline in Microsoft Word that has discussion questions or topics; when the right time comes, simply copy and paste them into the chat box. Alternatively, you could set up a PowerPoint with one question per slide, then let the students use the backchannel application to answer questions. Those who are shy or introverted (see my last post), will welcome the chance to respond in writing. Their responses will complete the transcript, which students can retrieve at a later time to study from.  If they missed something, they will realize it while studying and be able to fill in the gaps. The Backchannel Can Keep Everyone Informed Suppose you decide to do small group work in a class. Group work is great, but also poses one problem: Some groups will perform very well, and others will not. How can you make sure that everyone comes away with a good understanding, no matter what his or her group? I suggest using a backchannel to capture discussions and the groups' answers to questions, then share the transcript with all of your students. Using the backchannel also allows all groups to go at their own pace; helping one or the other this way will not disturb the other groups. Use the Backchannel to Review The backchannel does not have to be solely for discussion. In fact, if you use applications such as Poll Everywhere or SurveyMonkey or Google Forms, you can set up a poll for your students to help them study for a test. One of the applications just mentioned allow you to create a word cloud from free text answers. I will leave it to you to figure out which one that is. When you are finished with the poll, publish the results to your classroom website, or send it to everyone through email. For more information, please check out these references. Appreciating and valuing diversity. (n.d.). Retrieved June 4, 2015, from https://www.nde-ed.org/TeachingResources/ClassroomTips/Diversity.htm CAST: About Universal Design for Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved June 4, 2015, from http://www.cast.org/our-work/about-udl.html#.VXAx_M9Viko Office for Civil Rights. (2013, December 19). Protecting students with disabilities. Retrieved June 4, 2015, from http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/504faq.html Teaching for diverse abilities - Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. (n.d.). Retrieved June 4, 2015, from http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching-resources/course-planning/diverse-abilities/#udl U.S. Department of Education, Wright, P. D., & Wright, P. D. (1994, November 23). Questions and answers on Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) requirements of the IDEA - Wrightslaw. Retrieved June 4, 2015, from http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/lre.osers.memo.idea.htm Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Thank you! I hope these suggestions have given you some ideas for how to use the backchannel in your classroom to help students learn at their own pace. Thank you for reading this! This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Most of you must have heard the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words". In the context of eLearning, pictures can really create wonders. Using images in an eLearning course is an effective way to teach the learner. A still image can help the learner retain information for a long time. Now that we know images play an important role in eLearning, there are a few things that need to be taken care of when you choose images for your course. Let us see what they are. 1. Are the images relevant to the target audience?  If you are making a course for a healthcare organization and use the image of a sales executive, then it would annoy the learner and distract him from the course. An image of a physician or something related to the industry would work in this case. This is because healthcare professionals are the target audience for the course. It is very important to know who your target audiences are. 2. Do the graphics support the content? It is true that images make the course visually appealing, but they should not be used only as decorative materials. Each image used in the course must be relevant to the topic; it should represent the content that is being taught. Learners who avoid reading the content on the screen can easily remember the concept if the image speaks it. Even if the learner fails to understand the concept when he reads it, he can understand and retain it if there are supporting images. 3. Are the images authorized? The next and most important thing is to check whether the selected image is from an authorized source or not. Otherwise, it may lead to legal conflicts. Make sure that there are no "watermark images" in the published version of the course. All images must be purchased before the course is sent to the client. 4. Are the images consistent throughout the course? Another essential point to remember is that the images used are uniform with other images in the course. For example, if you think of using vector images in a course then the entire course should have vector images. A combination of vector and real images would be distracting. As images play an important role in the learning process, it is necessary to spare a little time and consider these points to choose the right images for your course. I hope you find this blog informative. Do share your views on the post. Related PostsImportance of Content Comprehension in E-learningDeveloping Curriculum Courses in E-learning Picturing the Phases of ADDIE Model - An Infographic

Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Add Captions Manually This Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial covers the following topics: 0:00 - Lesson overview 0:20 - Default caption duration 0:50 - Adding captions manually 1:30 - Adjusting captions on the timeline 2:10 - Splitting captions 2:55 - Testing captions 3:10 - Inserting captions across the timeline 3:45 - Moving captions on the timeline The post Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Add Captions Manually appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

MAC-ETeL 2015 conference is organized by the Academic Conferences Association z.s. and Czech Technical University in Prague. Please Join Us to an international academic conference designed for scientists, educators and PhD students. MAC-ETeL 2015 Topics Education, Teaching and Learning Distance Education Higher Education Effective Teaching Pedagogies Learning Styles and Learning Outcomes Emerging Technologies Educational Management Engineering and Sciences Research Competitive Skills Continuing Education Transferring Disciplines Imaginative Education Language Education Geographical Education Health Education Home Education Science Education Secondary Education Second life Educators Social Studies Education Special Education Learning / Teaching Methodologies and Assessment Assessment Software Tools Global Issues In Education and Research Education, Research and Globalization Barriers to Learning (ethnicity, age, psychosocial factors, ...) Women and Minorities in Science and Technology Indigenous and Diversity Issues Intellectual Property Rights and Plagiarism Pedagogy Teacher Education Cross-disciplinary areas of Education Educational Psychology Education practice trends and issues Indigenous Education Academic Research Projects Research on Technology in Education Research Centres Links between Education and Research Erasmus and Exchange experiences in universities Students and Teaching staff Exchange programmes E-learning Educational Technology Educational Games and Software ICT Education E-Learning Internet technologies Accessibility to Disabled Users Animation, 3D, and Web 3D Applications Mobile Applications and Learning (M-learning) Virtual Learning Environments Videos for Learning and Educational Multimedia Web 2.0, Social Networking and Blogs New Trends and Experiences Wireless Applications Other Areas of Education Multidisciplinary Academic Conference on Education, Teaching and E-learning in Prague 2015 (MAC-ETeL 2015) will be held at the CSVTS (Czech Association of Scientific and Technical Societies) on August 7 - 8, 2015. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.