Boston CanvasCon Canvas LMS User Group Conference Boston CanvasCon is the first event of its kind to bring together Canvas-enthusiasts and newcomers who teach with Canvas. We're here to find common ground, to support each other in improving educational outcomes, and to learn to better use technology to engage our students, whether adult, traditional or K-12. Tracks for faculty bring you back to why you love teaching in the first place. We help you integrate technology better in the classroom, in ways that make sense for you and your students. Learn hands-on Canvas skills to make you a Canvas master. Gain confidence if your school has just moved to Canvas. Tracks will focus on learning the tools, teaching effectiveness, design thinking, and the coolest tech. Sessions at Boston CanvasCon include: Universal Design in Canvas: Tools That Work Beth Ritter-Guth, Director of Instructional Design and Director of American Honors, Union County College Canvas and the Case Method: Canvas at HBS Paul Craig, Associate Director, Learning Technology Services, Educational Technology Services, HBS IT Andy Hyde, Instructional Designer, Educational Technology Services, HBS IT Jeanne Po, Director, Learning Technologies and Instructional Design Services, Educational Technology Services, HBS IT Can We Use Canvas for This? Molly Bonnard, Courseware Services Manager, University of Pennsylvania Teaching Mega-Courses with Canvas Larry Bouthillier, Instructor in Computer Science, Harvard Extension School. Chiropractic Course Design: Making Sure Your Course is in Alignment Jean Marrapodi, Ph.D, Citizen's Bank and formerly, The New England College of Business "You're Speakin' My Language" Kate Hill, Director of Online Learning, Cincinnati Christian University Register-Early Bird Until June 26 This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Compliance training is all about educating employees and making them aware of the rules, policies and work ethics that they need to follow in their working environment to avoid huge penalties. However,in many cases, employees don’t show interest in completing compliance course because they include legal terminology which is usually boring. We should make sure that the courses are easy to understand, engaging and interactive, especially when we deliver compliance training through eLearning which is self-paced.So, how do we make sure that the courses are engaging?In this blog, I would like to share 4 ways of making compliance courses interesting. 1. Use scenarios to generate interest Compliance training can be made effective by adding scenarios, which closely mirror the situations that the participantsare likely to come across in their jobs. These situations are those which might take place between the participant and his/her superiors, colleagues, clients and other people. Each question based on a scenario should have three to four options from which the participants must choose one that they deem correct. You need to provide ample feedback as to why a particular option is right or wrong, thereby providing additional opportunities for participants to deepen their understanding of the law or policy. 2. Include gamified elements to generate excitement Gamification is a good way to make boring content interesting. In case the content has various terms that need to be memorized or has regulations that are categorized under different sections of a law, which is important for employees to learn, this method can be useful. Gamification can be both challenging and at the same time rewarding for the learner, as he is awarded points for every correct response. This instills confidence in him and provides the motivation to score the minimum passing cutoff. 3. Assessments to reinforce and track learning Assessments are essential for a compliance program to ensure that the mandatory completion is documented. They must be designed in a way that they challenge participants to apply what they have learnt. They should cover all kinds of situations that participants may come across during their jobs. They should be challenging and make the participants assess the situation before making an appropriate decision. Feedback should be given for both correct and wrong answers. Explain why a particular choice is correct and why the others are wrong. 4. Provide multiple learning paths A course should be appealing to both novice and experienced employees. Having a linear course where modules need to be completed one after the other in a prescribed sequence would make the training rigid and inflexible for the participants. It would not be appropriate to make experienced employees to sit through a module that is very basic. They can directly take the advanced level content, followed by an assessment. And, on successful completion they should be allowed to move to the next module. This results in effective learning, as we are taking the experience of the participants into consideration.It also helps avoid the tedium of explaining what they already know. This raises interest levels among them to take the course and learn new policies, if any. So, this is how you can create engaging eLearning courses on compliance training for your employees. Do share if you have used any other interesting ways and wish to add to the list. Related PostsCreative Ways to Present Click on Tab Interactivity in E-learning Courses - An InfographicChanging Face of Pharmaceutical Sector and How it Effects TrainingType of Training Required for Channel Partners

Welcome to today’s blog post. Instructional design is a unique profession that requires a variety of skills to achieve mastery. I still remember my initial days as instructional designer, not able to figure out the why and what of the things I was made to do. People used to think I do content writing, and back then, I didn’t have many points on my side to contradict this opinion. It is with time and experience that I studied the science behind Instructional Design. In this blog post series, I would like to share my views and experiences that may be helpful to the new wanderers of this massive domain. In this first post, I would like to discuss about one of the biggest fears novice Instructional Designers face, the fear of Subject Matter Expert. Here’s a simple ABC approach to get rid of the SME phobia and make your life easier. A: Understand the Role of an SME It is very important that you clearly understand the role of an SME in eLearning. If we observe closely, SME is another stakeholder working in parallel with Instructional Designers to develop better learning. We all have one favorite lecturer/professor during our school/college days. What made him special? Is it only the deep subject knowledge that differentiates him from others? In most cases, it is the teaching methodology that separates one trainer from another. Some trainers go an extra mile trying to find out more interesting and effective ways to teach the content and that grabs our attention and enables better understanding. We instructional designers are not trained particularly on any subject and often work on developing eLearning courses on a variety of content that we are not aware of. The subject- matter expert’s role here is to help us understand the content. SME is a knowledge hub looking for best ways to transfer it, and we are the people who lay the path for it. B: Get to Know Your SME It is essential for an ID to build a good bonding with the SME. Knowing your SME upfront helps you in all stages of development. For example, if your SME is new to eLearning, it is your responsibility to take him through the basics of eLearning before proceeding to avoid any disturbances later on. This is really important. There are several instances where an SME approves the storyboard and then makes a lot of changes once the course is developed. Why does this happen? In most cases, the SME is not clearly aware of the storyboard and the things to review in it and hence expects a huge variation in the course from the storyboard which doesn’t happen. The storyboard is the screenplay document for the course, which stands as a final documentation for visualization of the output. This should be properly conveyed to the SME before taking any approvals. Knowing your SME and keeping him informed at every step of the process enables smooth completion of the eLearning course development. C: Ask the Right/Wrong Questions During content analysis, there will be many instances where we are in doubt. But, when it comes to listing the queries to ask the SME, very few questions pop out. Why is it? This is because we tend to strike out many questions that cross our mind considering them silly. This assumption will make us pay the price later. The subject-matter expert doesn’t expect you to have deep subject knowledge or understand every element of the content. He is aware that you are acting as a consultant to suggest the best possible way to present his content to the learner. Therefore, there is no such thing as silly/wrong questions. The SME will not be judging you on the questions that you ask, but will only help you understand the content better so that you can design the eLearning course more effectively. Finally, we should remember that in eLearning, SME is the person that is familiar with "What is to be taught", whereas Instructional Designer is the person that defines "How it is to be taught". Hence, mutual exchange of expertise and knowledge will benefit the Instructional Designer and the SME in achieving their common goal, which is creating better learning. Is your SME unpredictable? Is he unclear about what he wants? Have you thought if the problem lies with you? What are the problems you have faced with an SME? Please share your experiences in the comments section below. Happy reading!! Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesSMEs Bust the 5 Biggest Myths of Instructional DesignDon’t Let eLearning Initiatives Fail - How?

How To Use 4 Basic Learning Methods In eLearning There are many differences between learning children and learning adults. The Andragogy, the science of teaching adults, brings to the table principles of building competencies that are hard to implement in schools, such as self-motivation, goal orientation, ability to share experiences, and others. These differences were well described on Educational Technology and Mobile Learning website here. I will not discuss these differences in this article. I would like, however, to share with you some ideas on using 4 learning methods, which are usually considered as basic in kids-related learning, in an eLearning environment. Workbook Workbook is a space where activities are organized for practicing things. In each workbook you are given a structured material that helps you master a subject as you are usually guided from easy to difficult exercises deliberately, influencing your competencies. Workbook is an interactive tool - its main purpose is not to transfer knowledge, but to practice it through exercises. You are doing this in a kinesthetic way; you fill in the blanks, draw, erase, cut and paste, place stickers, etc. The workbook is also well-designed, with all golden rules of information architecture (contrast, flow, hierarchy, unity, proximity, whitespace, etc.) taken into account. It is not only educative, but also fun to use. How we can transfer the workbook idea to eLearning courses taken by adults? Here are some tips: Create an eLearning course mostly based on exercises (limit plain knowledge transfer to minimum). Build an easy-to-difficult practicing path based on consequent steps of building competency. Propose highly interactive (yet easy to use and well explained) exercises. Make it visually appealing and fun - astonish trainees with every single screen! As an option - go outside of the eLearning environment: Add to your eLearning course printable exercises, Ask trainees to complete these exercises in a "pencil-and-paper" manner, and Provide them with self-evaluation tools, as you won’t be able to check results automatically. Tour Visiting places allow kids to build context around information and facts they learn. There are several places that can be visited: historical sites (castles, battlegrounds), biosphere sites (botanical gardens, forests, mountains), various museums, etc. These tours can be a great experience when combined with multisensory learning, social learning (learning with and from colleagues), storytelling (by a guide or a teacher), and by-the-way learning. Kids usually summarize such tours, write essays regarding their findings, or use their reflections for further learning activities. Tours also break day-to-day routines, which brings more energy and motivation into the learning process. Is it possible to transfer the best features of tours to an eLearning environment for adults? Well - for example, we can: Create a virtual tour around recommended places on the web, providing additional material about the subject. Ask eLearners to do something related to the subject (e.g. to perform a mystery shopper task while learning customer service routines: play the role of a customer and call to customer service line, or visit the customer service desk with a complaint); and then, to reflect on this activity, Tell eLearners a story and ask them to go somewhere where this story will be contextualized - ask them to disconnect from their computer and the eLearning course, and reflect on something based on observation. Ask eLearners to summarize their findings or reflections on the aforementioned activities and share them with colleagues, supervisor, or trainer. We can also ask eLearners to suggest the destination and formula of such a tour, which will support the training process. The reflection on that itself can be a great intellectual task, which will reinforce the learning goals. Repetition Repetition is another learning method which is quite often associated with teaching kids. Repeating mathematical formulas, manual routines, or how to write letters is one of the most popular techniques. According to Hermann Ebbinghaus' Forgetting Curve theory, all people have to repeat in order to remember things and routines. If we do not do this, the vast majority of new information will disappear during the first 24 hours of the learning process. We can reinforce the effects of repetition by providing some additional "boosting events" after the training, which will maximize long-term retrieval of information. Here you can find very interesting material on this, published on Learning Solutions Magazine. How we can stimulate the repetition process in our eLearning courses? Let’s try the following approaches: Divide your eLearning course into several parts and have breaks taken between them (even three days); for each part, create booster quizzes that repeat key information from all former parts. Repeat critical information throughout your eLearning course by using various methods: Tell stories, summarize, provide exercises and quizzes; at the end, provide a test so that you can not only check whether eLearners have acquired new competencies, but also give them a chance to repeat once again. Extract critical information that influences the learning goals and send it to eLearners via email or text messages in a day, a week, and a month after the eLearning course is completed. Provide to eLearners alternate learning media - let them print out cheat-sheets, check-lists, visuals, mind-maps, etc.; every additional stimulus can help boosting retention. Note-taking Taking notes helps remembering key thoughts, insights, and information provided by other learning methods like lectures, presentations, discussions, etc. This learning technique is widely used in formal learning processes delivered in schools. While taking notes we usually put information into our personal context by paraphrasing it, arranging it in our own structure, or connecting it with our own experiences. Note-taking is an active (kinesthetic) process which reinforces memory. Notes are being taken in various forms - as stand-alone texts, as notes on a margin of the publication, as marking the most important parts of the material, etc. We also see a growing popularity of visual note-taking, which represents the subject by pictograms placed in a visual structure. How to stimulate taking notes in your eLearner course? Here are some ideas which might help: Add options for taking notes or marking fragments of the material. Ask eLearners at the end of your eLearning course to create a note on the subject in any form (text, mind-map, visual note) and email it to their trainer, mentor, or manager. Summarize every module of your eLearning course with a note (or a mind-map) to be printed-out by eLearners. Prepare a summary in a form of a non-completed visual note (or mind-map) and ask eLearners to print it out and fill in missing parts. Ask eLearners to write an email with one key message for each module and email it to their trainer, manager, or mentor. As you can see, there are a lot of possibilities of using very basic learning methods in your eLearning courses. Many of these ideas are, in fact, available outside of a course; thus, they need to be integrated into it. Also, proper engagement of a trainer, manager, or mentor is necessary in order to create a successful learning method for teaching adults in an eLearning environment. I invite you to follow the Learning Battle Cards on Pinterest, where you can find many interesting infographics about 100+ learning methods (4 of which were mentioned above). You can find it here. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Connecting Your Mobile Device This Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial covers the following topics: 0:00 - Intro 0:05 - What is TechSmith Fuse? 0:15 - Installing Fuse 0:20 - Connecting to the same network 0:35 - Enabling sharing between Camtasia and Fuse 0:55 - Sending images and videos to Camtasia 1:20 - Scanning the QR code 1:55 - Wrap-up The post Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Connecting Your Mobile Device appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

A learning management system (LMS) is a software application which helps deliver online training as well as track users’ scores and status. It also helps training managers to generate reports and provide results to each user individually. One of such good tools to develop an LMS is Moodle. But, what are the features offered by Moodle to its users? How does it help in delivering the training effectively? Here is an info-graphic which shares 8 power-packed features of Moodle. Hope you like this post. Do share your views. Related PostsPacks in Moodle LMS to Manage Your Multilingual Training ProgramsPreparing Classroom Session Using Moodle Face-To-Face plug-in4 Valuable Reports From Moodle

2015 MoodleMoot Virtual Conference (MMVC15) will focus on e-learning and teaching with technology in blended and fully online programs. The MoodleMoot conference is a free annual event that takes place every August on WizIQ education online. MMVC15 Highlights Teaching with Technology Moodle for Instruction and Learning Blended (BL) and Blended Online Learning (BOL) M-Learning e-Learning in Developed and Developing Countries The 4th annual MoodleMoot Virtual Conference (MMVC15) for 2015 will take place from August 7-9, 2015 on WizIQ and on MoodleMoot Moodle learning environments.   This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

American Sign Language Lesson: "Noun and Verb Pairs" Tutorial  "ASL MacGyver’s Trip to Noun & Verb Pairs"- (Full HD animated)- The American Sign Language lesson of "Noun and Verb Pairs". An interactive educational video created by Federico A. Quintana, M.Ed. ****Please Turn your setting HD on for better viewing) The video includes: 9 Nouns Signs 9 Verbs Signs A story about the trip Vocabulary review 10 Easy to Hard Interactive Assessment M.C. questions Educators: Full immersion approach English texts are only intended for instructional directions. Instructional designs is based on 5 C’s under ACTFL, 21st innovative pedagogy research, and technology integration. 21st Century ASL Pedagogy- www.ASLMacGyver.com Developed, Edited, Produced, and Written by Federico A. Quintana, M.Ed. 2014 © SHC, LLC. www.ASLMacGyver.com The post American Sign Language Lesson: "Noun and Verb Pairs" Tutorial appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

A webinar is an online event that is broadcasted to a select group of individuals, through computers, via the Internet. Webinars are on the rise, and most of the organizations are educating their customers on various best practices in their industry domain. For example, Mettler-Toledo conducts various seminars and webinars categorized on the basis of product, applicationand industry. These webinars are mostly free and some very high end programs are provided for a nominal cost. In the webinars, industry experts take us through the key challenges and best practices to be followed. There are also internal webinars, conducted by SMEs on various topics, to train global workforce. Organizations use webinars in order to reach global learners and save time and reduce expenditure on travel. These webinars are excellent material to develop an effective course. The script for the webinar has good explanation of the slide presented. Also, at the end of the webinar, the learner questions and SME responses are valuable inputs that can be used as learner interactivities. Here are the steps to be followed to create an eLearning course from a webinar. Have a webinar that is being given by the SME recorded through WebEx. By doing this, both PowerPoint and audio will be integrated. Transcribe the webinar. Even though the SME will have some draft script before the webinar, when he conducts the webinar, he talks about his experience and gives examples. These are valuable for creating a good learning experience. Develop an outline and come up with an instructional strategy based on the outcomes, content and learner experience. Work closely with the SME to finalize the strategy. Use questions asked in the webinar as interactivities to enhance learning. Support the eLearning with resources and a glossary. An eLearning course can also have an SME’s support, where learners can directly communicate with the SME to clarify doubts, in the classroom or web conference environment. Many organizations are using these WebEx sessions conducted by SMEs to develop eLearning courses and translating them into multiple languages later, in order to reach global learners. Do you have any thoughts? please do share Related PostsE-learning Outsourcing - Free E-bookMaking E-learning Courses Mobile: 5 Aspects to Consider - An InfographicHow to Convert PowerPoint Presentations to Interactive E-learning Courses: Free E-book

How To Find The Best Out Of Many eLearning Companies In India India - the world’s preferred destination to outsource Several global surveys rate India consistently as the first option for software sourcing, and today this extends to eLearning outsourcing as well. You get to work with a young and dynamic workforce; most of them keenly pursue additional training or certification programs to enhance their skills. Also, there is no language barrier, as most people speak English. Finally, a very significant aspect is the flexibility that you will have in order to manage different time zones: Most Indians will work extra hours to help you handle these time zone challenges. Key advantages of choosing outsourcing to eLearning companies in India To start with, there is a wide range of eLearning companies in India that can provide the entire spectrum of services that you seek. The eLearning industry in India is in a mature phase, which enables you to access high skill levels across Project Management, Visual Design, Instructional Design, QA, and Technology. In addition, outsourcing to India helps you reap benefits in terms of: Competitive pricing High quality and quick turn-around time Access to the largest pool of technology and multimedia professionals in the world Seasoned Project Management professionals A mature eLearning development process (optimized for globally distributed development) How can you go through the maze and select the right eLearning companies in India to partner with? Here are the 3 key eLearning hubs where you can start: North: Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) West: Mumbai and Pune South: Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad After your evaluation, you can use these parameters to short-list 2 or 3 potential partners: Been in existence for over 10 years Focus on tools and technology/learning experience and learner-centricity Focus on eLearning (check if at least 50% or more of their business is coming from eLearning) and future plans (ask for their short-term view over the next 2-3 years) Quality of demos and samples Reference checks Project Management expertise Team (particularly check for attrition rates and their talent retention initiatives) Processes (particularly check for conformance to processes - a quality certification is a great indicator) Quality Management System Cost How to zero in on the best? After you have completed the short-listing, it is a good idea to revisit the start-point as to why you had planned outsourcing. This aspect will have a bearing on the final selection. Your decision could have been driven by: Scaling (to handle higher volumes) Reducing the time to market Cost reduction Access to talent that you do not have Addition of more innovative solutions to your portfolio Here are my inputs on how to choose the best company for you (based on my assessment of what the location offers): If you are looking at cheaper options, look at Delhi (particularly NCR) and Pune. (Although I believe that there is a tradeoff: lack of innovative solutions and capability to look into the future, not necessarily the best talent in technology that can provide you the edge, and so on. These issues may be addressed more effectively in other locations). If scaling is your primary reason, pretty much all cities will meet your mandate. If innovative solutions are your primary concern, look at Bangalore. Note: If outsourcing is strategic, you need to work with the same team over the long term. The attrition rates in mid-sized companies are lower, and therefore you get to continue to interact with the same team for a longer period of time. Some additional inputs Delhi and Mumbai have some of the biggest companies that can address the high volume needs. Bangalore and Hyderabad offer more quality-oriented and process-oriented mid-sized companies than other cities. Bangalore, also known as the "Knowledge capital" of India, offers a better talent in technology on account of access to stellar technical colleges and universities. You will also find more innovative approaches in these organizations. Pune offers great Visual Design talent. On account of all these factors (access to specialized talent pool and a mature eLearning industry), India is certainly the right destination to outsource eLearning. I hope I have been able to provide some meaningful pointers that would help you in selecting the best partner for you. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

When an instructional designer designs an eLearning course, he has to consider a number of important things such as: Quality of the content Ability to present the information in a clear and concise manner Consistency throughout the course Redundancy and errors in grammar, punctuation, and language can distract the learner from paying attention, and thereby, become impediments to the successful completion of the course. It happens with all of us;the moment we send a course to the client, we find a few errors such as misalignment of bullets,typographical mistakes etc. It is not that we don’t do our job efficiently. In order to avoid such small mistakes, we should have a checklist for course reviews. Checklists play a crucial role in our everyday lives. We should have checklists to make sure that we don’t miss out anything and trace grammatical errors. In this blog, I’ll share a few tips that help in proofreading your eLearning courses. Ask for help:It is a good practice to get your course reviewed by someone who is not a part of your project. Ask help from such persons, as they see the course for the first time with a fresh look. They will be able to trace grammatical and sentence structuring errors better. As a best practice,we validate our courses with our L&D head who reviews the courses and gives valuable suggestions. Give enough time: Give as much time as you can to proofread your eLearning course. Additionally,a change in the environment will also make a lot of difference in identifying more errors. Do not try to proofread the entire course at one time. Firstly, check the grammar. Then, check the punctuations and then the structuring of the sentences. Read it loud: Read your script aloud - the most important step you can take to avoid grammatical mistakes in your eLearning course. This will help you identifythe worst errors. Proofreading needs a lot of attention, concentration, time, and space. I hope these tips will help you in improving the quality of your eLearning courses. Related PostsChecklist for E-learning DesigningInstructional Design Review for Quality eLearningA Checklist for Pre, During, and Post eLearning Design

Lectora Inspire V11 Tutorial: Adding Media to Your e-Learning Course with Lectora Inspire V11 This Lectora Inspire V11 Tutorial presents how to add image, audio and video files to your Lectora e-Learning course by simply dragging and dropping them onto your pages. Adding media couldn’t be easier with Lectora Inspire e-Learning software! The post Lectora Inspire V11 Tutorial: Adding Media to Your e-Learning Course with Lectora Inspire V11 appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

How To Encourage Positive Attitude In eLearning: 11 Tips For eLearning Professionals "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't; you're right" Henry Ford once said to describe the importance of attitude towards achieving results, and the world ought to listen; the great American inventor certainly knew a few things about success. Your learners’ positive attitude towards eLearning is essential; without it, they have little chance of getting satisfactory results. Positive attitude helps them focus and absorb information quicker and more effectively than any other technique, not only because it creates the right environment for enjoying the eLearning experience, but also because it increases motivation and achievement levels by making learners more productive, helping them to retain and recall more information. This happens due to the fact that the learner’s mind ties the subject matter to a favorable eLearning experience, committing it easier to their long-term memory. In addition, instead of solely focusing on their mental processes, an eLearning course that encourages positive attitude has also the power to appeal to learners' emotions in order to create a memorable and motivational eLearning experience. In this article, I'll share 11 tips to encourage positive attitude in eLearning, so that you can make sure that you set the right tone for an eLearning course that greatly increases the hope, engagement, and motivation levels of your eLearning audience. Empower your learners. The key to a positive attitude is empowerment. Some eLearning courses are so centered on information delivery that they forget to consider the human element. Make your learners the center of your eLearning course. By following a learner-centered approach you can address to different types of strengths and weaknesses of your learners. If your learners feel as though they are in control of the eLearning experience, then they are more likely to actively participate and feel good about the eLearning course, as a whole. It's always a good idea to praise their strengths in order to encourage positive attitude in your eLearning course. By viewing the eLearning content through your audience’s eyes you will be able to help them demonstrate their talents and find what interests them. Building your eLearning strategy around topics your learners are interested in is essential, as people typically put more effort into areas they enjoy. This will also boost their levels of confidence in their abilities, as they will not only feel that they have the inner resources to successfully complete eLearning assignments and tasks, but also they will be convinced that when they work hard, they are more likely to succeed. By giving your learners the confidence and motivation they need to succeed, you drastically increase their positivity. Let them choose which module or eLearning activities to complete next. Give them a deadline and then allow them to decide how and when they will submit their online assignments. Empower them so that they know they are in charge of their own eLearning experience. Let learners know about the real value of your eLearning course. People are most motivated when they believe that the eLearning activities they are involved in are useful to them. Your learners aren’t going to have a positive attitude if they can’t see the value of taking the eLearning course in the first place. As we all learn better through practical application of knowledge, there is no way for your learners to develop a positive attitude towards the eLearning course if they feel that they cannot put their acquired knowledge to use. This is why it is crucial for your audience to understand that what they are learning will add value to their lives. Give your learners a valid reason to learn. They are going to retain more knowledge and become more engaged if they can see that the information is relevant and if you offer them a valid reason why they need each particular piece of information you present. You can do this by linking the subject matter to real world situations or challenges, though the use of eLearning scenarios that offer real world benefits, as well as eLearning games and simulations that allow learners to apply their knowledge in order to see outcomes. This way, you will increase their levels of interest and significantly boost their positive attitude towards their overall eLearning experience. Make clear to them from the very beginning why they should take the eLearning course and how it is going to improve their lives outside of the virtual learning environment. Set clear goals and objectives. Typically, it is rather difficult to develop a positive attitude towards something we don’t completely understand. Unclear learning goals and eLearning objectives can lead to confusion that increases anxiety levels; this is why it's always critical to explain the goals and objectives of the eLearning course accurately, as well as to offer detailed instructions for completing eLearning tasks and assignments. Strong guidelines and clear goals will ensure that your learners’ efforts are not being sabotaged by uncertainty, and that all their energy is focused on mastering the information presented, rather on trying to figure out what exactly is expected of them. Eliminate negative thinking, stress, and fear. Fear of making mistakes is positivity’s worst enemy. It is your role as eLearning professional to create a safe environment for your learners to experiment and explore a variety of learning paths without fearing that they might fail; or, more accurately, without feeling that their "failures" will inhibit their learning process. You can achieve this by using the following approaches: First, encourage mistake-driven learning by showing your audience that errors are amazing opportunities for growth, rather than obstacles that stand in their way of learning. Second, encourage them to ask questions, by making it central to your eLearning strategy. Encourage your learners to ask for clarifications whenever they need them and make them feel that there are no insignificant or silly questions. Furthermore, move the essence of inquiry to online discussions by organizing debates around key questions, and, finally, create thought-provoking eLearning scenario questions that allow you learners to find new answers to complex problems. This way, you will give your audience the opportunity to explore new leaning horizons and develop a positive attitude in a risk-free environment. Challenge your learners without overwhelming them. As eLearning professionals, it can sometimes be difficult to know the difference between a challenging task and one that is going to frustrate or overwhelm learners. When frustration is thrown into the mix, it is almost impossible to encourage a positive attitude as learners will automatically associate the eLearning experience with this emotion. However, you can offer them just the right level of challenge by doing some audience research beforehand; then, you can break down your lessons into bite-sized modules to reduce learners’ cognitive overload. Foster intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is not influenced by outside factors. It is based upon the idea that learners are actively participating in the eLearning course because they genuinely want to learn, rather than doing it in order to receive a reward or avoid negative consequences. Give your learners opportunities to tap into their intrinsic motivation by including eLearning activities that encourage exploration, such as simulations or branching scenarios. Get them curious about a topic or allow them to collaborate with their peers to boost their self-confidence. Offer positive, constructive feedback. When a student successfully completes an online task or receives high marks on an exam, praise them. When they don’t participate to the best of their ability or exhibit an incorrect learning behavior, offer them constructive feedback. It’s important to give positive feedback to your learners in order to reinforce desired behaviors and modify those that may need fine tuning. You can also use extrinsic rewards, such as leaderboards or points, to motivate your learners. However, make sure that you stress the fact that the main goal of the eLearning experience is personal growth and acquiring new knowledge. Offer a variety of learning options and resources. Positive attitude is closely linked with self confidence; when your learners feel confident that they can successfully complete their eLearning course, they feel more positive towards it. However, you need to be careful; building confidence doesn’t mean providing your audience with ridiculously easy tasks and assignments. On the contrary, optimism is boosted by overcoming interesting challenges. To encourage positive attitude in your eLearning course, consider increasing your learners’ confidence by offering them control over their learning. Provide them with a variety of tools and resources, such as additional links, guides, and multimedia, and let them choose how to use them in order to achieve their learning goals. Offering multiple methods to complete eLearning assignments will give your audience the opportunity to expand their interests, develop their problem solving skills, and feel confident in their abilities and learning efforts. Pique their interest. If you grab your learners’ attention right from the start and pique their interest with compelling images, stories, and interactive elements, your learners are more likely to express a positive attitude towards your eLearning course. It’s all about generating interest and excitement. eLearning content that prompts them to think about the subject matter and relates it to their own lives will be of interest to them, while extraneous or boring eLearning content will make them disengage. Create online stories that connect with them on an emotional level and make them aware of how they can apply this knowledge in the real world. Include videos and audio narrations that generate excitement and engagement while immersing your learners into the subject matter. Address your learners’ emotions. Nothing can connect your audience with your eLearning content more effectively than emotions. Emotionally-driven eLearning generates positive attitudes such as engagement, interest, and enthusiasm. The more positive the emotions of your learners are during their eLearning experience, the more motivated your learners will be. Create compelling scenarios that address your audience’s feelings by inviting them to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. Also consider adding small doses of humor to your eLearning course, as anything that makes people smile, even for a second, can automatically draw attention, increase interest, and create positive feelings. Just keep in mind to use your funny elements wisely, as not all people have the same sense of humor, and this may provoke misunderstandings. Set the example. Every aspect of your eLearning course design must be inspirational and positive if you truly want to encourage a positive attitude in your audience. You have to provide them with examples of positive behaviors, and create an eLearning community that is based upon this positivity. Make them feel that they are part of the group by asking them to participate in online discussions and to share their personal experiences and skills with their peers. Above all, exude a positive attitude every time you post something on the eLearning platform, social media networks, or communicating with your learners one-on-one. If they can see that you walk the walk, then they are going to follow your example. These tips can help you design eLearning courses that encourage positive attitude and boost knowledge retention for your online learners. As an eLearning professional you have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of your learners. Why not take full advantage of that opportunity by building their self-confidence, empowering them, and offering them an inspirational eLearning experience? Now that you know how to encourage positive attitude in your eLearning course, you may be interested in challenging yourself and learn how you can engage a difficult audience: passive learners. Read the article 6 Tips To Engage Passive Learners In eLearning and find out how you can successfully engage these individuals who acquire the information, but they aren't eager to apply it in the world outside the virtual classroom. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Lectora Inspire V11 Tutorial: Easily Add Buttons to Your e-Learning Course with Lectora Inspire V11 This Lectora Inspire V11 Tutorial presents how to use the text button wizard in Lectora e-Learning software to quickly add one of four different types of buttons to your online training course. The post Lectora Inspire V11 Tutorial: Easily Add Buttons to Your e-Learning Course with Lectora Inspire V11 appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

As a training manager, you want your employee training and development initiatives to be a success. But, to get a favorable response for your training program, you need to identify the training needs and a right training program that builds the skills/competencies of your employees. But, what is the crux of a perfect training program? How can you bridge the gap between the expected performance and current performance of your employees? These gaps can be bridged by a thorough training needs analysis. But why is it important? Well, it is the first step in the development of a training plan. Training needs analysis helps in identifying the key areas that require training and also empowers employees to acquire new skills at a faster pace. But, the question is - how to conduct training needs analysis? Well, here is an info-graphic which shares some tips to conduct a training need analysis. Hope you find this info-graphic informative. Do share your views. Related Posts4 Tips for Developing E-learning Course Using Rapid Authoring ToolsTips for Conducting Effective Training Needs AnalysisBridging the Gap between Learning and Performance!

Free Webinar: 6 Trends in E-learning Design and Development You Need to Know Do you know that many leading organizations no longer use traditional eLearning courses? Do you know that the field of eLearning design and development is undergoing a sea change? Do you wish to learn about the latest developments in the eLearning world? Then, join us in the live webinar "6 Trends in E-learning Design and Development You Need to Know." The webinar will provide valuable insights into the following. Influence of technological developments on the eLearning design and development process Changes in the storyboarding process Authoring tools that are widely used Changes in the anatomy and physiology of eLearning courses Impact of responsive eLearning courses on instructional design strategies Register for this free webinar now: http://bit.ly/1GogR49 The webinar will provide a comprehensive understanding of the recent developments in the field of eLearning that go a long way in delivering highly effective and engaging training online. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

LMS to Improve and Employee Engagement and Performance Find out how to improve employees performance and engagement by using a learning management solution from Lambda Solutions. The post LMS to Improve and Employee Engagement and Performance appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

Authoring Tools Developments And Trends  If you’re overwhelmed by the choice of authoring tools on offer you’re not alone. Your options when looking for some advice on which tool to choose are limited to reviews of the first release evolves of major applications or more generalized guidelines on different types of authoring tools. When you’re busy building effective eLearning it’s hard to keep up with the incremental changes that add up to create important new capabilities in various software, especially if you have your own favorite or a client requires you to work with a single program. We’re going to look at the very latest updates to the most popular packages and tease out some trends that point towards where authoring tool development is heading, so you can make an informed decision for your next project. Articulate Storyline 2 Storyline is one of the most popular authoring tools in the eLearning developer’s arsenal. Version 2 was released in September 2014, and May 2015 saw the fifth update which introduced several new features focused on accessibility. One of the most common requests eLearning developers hear is for editable content, so one thing to be aware of, if your client uses Storyline 1, is that it can’t open and edit courses created or upgraded with Storyline 2. Articulate has been improving the course upgrade workflow in each update, making it easier to move your Storyline 1 modules to the new platform, but anyone wanting to edit the upgraded files will need the latest software. Articulate Storyline 2 Key updates Cross Platform tablet support (Android, iPad and HTML5-friendly output) Interactive Sliders Motion Path support More animations and transitions New triggers Updated text editor with enhanced font support Enhanced web objects - layer your content over web objects More control of video compression Better accessibility control - better support for screen readers in particular Enhanced productivity controls - redesigned UI with added tools Easily import resources - including templates, content, and questions Lectora Publisher 12 Lectora has been popular with developers who need to offer accessible content across a variety of platforms, and the latest updates have built on these features. December 2014 saw the release of Lectora Publisher 12 and Trivantis has followed up with 12.1 in April 2015 with some extra features, including integrating feedback through ReviewLink 2.0. Lectora Publisher 12 Key updates Offline publishing options Improved image editing and handling Improved text editing Better handling of web window and social media objects Integrated feedback through the responsive ReviewLink 2.0 system New web-based run and preview modes More accessible lists with added styling Access to the latest Camtasia 8.4 screen capture tool Adobe Captivate 8 The last major revision of Adobe’s popular Captivate tool saw the introduction of responsive output, by allowing you to create three different views of your module so that you can deploy the same content to mobile, tablet, and desktop. Since Captivate 8’s release in May 2014, there have been several updates building on the new capabilities; most recently with the October 2014 release, Adobe having added the ability to publish the module as an app from within Captivate. Adobe Captivate 8 Key updates Responsive authoring Gesture support Use device specific capabilities like GPS Responsive screen capture Native support for HTML5 objects Native app publisher for iOS and Android Adapt 1.1 The open source, responsive framework for developing multi-device eLearning saw its first authoring tool released in April 2015. Adapt Authoring Tool 0.1.0 still requires some technical input to install, but it supports many features that will help Learning & Development developers create and update their courses. Adapt 1.1 features of the first release  Fully featured online Adapt content authoring Preview your work as you make changes Upload and use your own custom Adapt plug-ins within the tool Use a variety of custom menu types and themes Support for duplicating content within a course, and creating copies of your courses Media management using a cross-course repository Publish your content as a SCORM 1.2 package, or as non-tracked web content One advantage of an open source project like Adapt is the community of developers constantly working to update the tool's core functions and create plug-ins to support more features in between the major updates. Adapt differs to other options by being built from the ground up as a tool for creating responsive content, with the core functions allowing you to add many standard course elements and the plug-in friendly structure allowing many more possibilities when necessary. The next milestone for the project will be Version 2 of the underlying responsive framework; it’s scheduled for release soon, and it will include improvements to accessibility, native support of right to left languages, and several updates allowing more question layouts. Authoring Tools Trends Responsive design incorporating HTML5 is clearly one of the key features of the major options for eLearning authoring. The blended learning approach is here to stay and the improvements and optimizations that software providers are introducing ensures that content for mobile learners will be easier to create than ever. Accessibility is increasingly important, as it’s something that all eLearning designers should be aware of, and by incorporating the WCAG 2.0 standards into the tools they are using it can only help keep it at the forefront the development process. Flexibility (beyond responsive delivery of the final module): Every tool provider is making steps to create a development environment that is as flexible as possible. From allowing users to re-arrange the layout of the tools UI to exporting the modules in a variety of formats, and even as finished mobile apps. The tools are becoming more and more versatile. What’s clear when looking at the various innovations and incremental improvements across the industry is that competition is helping drive progress in all areas. Most eLearning developers will have a good working knowledge of a range of these authoring tools, and, with the various strengths and unique qualities of each, this will give them an even better chance of offering the best possible eLearning for their audience. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers - Seth Godin Every client expects a good quality eLearning course. Quality is all about meeting customer needs. Customers expect their course to be designed in a quick and cost-effective way. It is an instructional designer’s challenge to satisfy the needs of the customer. If the course doesn’t reach the expectations of the customer, the instructional designer should modify the course, and it results in wastage of time and money. To avoid this, you need to develop a prototype. Prototype is like a sample of the course which can be manipulated according to the needs of the customer. It is a good practice to send the prototype to the customer and get his approval, before proceeding with the development of your online course. This goes a long way in avoiding rework. Here is an info-graphic which shares a few advantages of creating a prototype of an eLearning course. Hope you find this post informative. Please do share your valuable views. Related PostsPrototypes in E-learning - An InfographicBenefits of Using a Prototype in E-learning Development - An Infographic5 Ways to Make E-learning Interesting - An Infographic

Considerations When Choosing a Learning Management System We discuss some of the most pertinent features enterprise-level clients look for in a Learning Management System. Organizations that start using a learning management solution see an increase in course participation, are more effective in managing training delivery of online courses, as well as informal face 2 face learning. Features such as competency management, compliance learning, succession planning, and performance management should be at the centre of any learning management solution. We’ll also look at features such as online course management, quiz and course administration which meet the needs of higher education and technical trainers. The post Considerations When Choosing a Learning Management System appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

What is Personalized eLearning? The concept of "Personalization" can easily be understood from taking a closer look at some of the existing digital technologies that all of us use. For instance, from the browser that you use to roam the Internet, to the email and messaging systems that you use to stay connected with friends and family, to the digital boxes you use to watch TV shows and movies online - they all offer personalization and customization options. However, when it comes to eLearning systems, "personalization" takes on a whole new meaning. Personalized eLearning is the act of customizing: The learning environment (e.g. how the content appears to the learner - font sizes, colors, backgrounds, themes etc.) The learning content itself (e.g. audio, video, textual, graphical etc.) The interaction between facilitator, student and the learning content (e.g. mouse, stylus, tap/swipe, keyboard; e.g. using "Gaming", Quizzes, Online discussions, Demonstrate-do-check-reinforce, Adaptive learning approaches, Tutorials) So what does Personalized eLearning mean? Well, as it relates to eLearning, personalization involves not only providing the ability to customize the learning environment, similar to the "preferences" and "settings" options that most digital tools offer today; but also personalizing many other aspects of the entire learning experience. Personalized eLearning therefore encompasses the ability to customize aspects such as: What content should be delivered as part of the learning experience. How the content should be delivered. The sequence of its delivery. How students will be evaluated. What feedback mechanisms will be offered. ...and much more. While traditional eLearning was an extension to symmetric learning approaches, personalized eLearning espouses a marked shift from "facilitator lead' teaching to "learner centric" learning. Where conventional eLearning tends to treat learners as a homogeneous entity, personalized eLearning digresses from that path by recognizing learners as heterogeneous mix of individuals. Ways To Personalize eLearning In their paper, titled Personal Learning Environments: Challenging the dominant design of educational systems, authors Prof Scott Wilson, Oleg Liber, Mark Johnson, Phil Beauvoir, Paul Sharples,  and Colin Milligan suggest that current eLearning environments aren't "... supportive of lifelong learning or personalization."  Educators therefore need to re-evaluate current eLearning courses to find ways to personalize them. So what can instructional designers do to personalize eLearning experiences? As noted previously, there are multiple factors that impact students' ability to learn, including age, demographics, cultural background and the level of education, to name a few. All of these play an important role in determining how eLearning personalization should be approached.  Some points that should be taken into consideration when deciding to personalize an eLearning experience include: Personalize the learner. Make the course "personal" to the learner. Capture his/her name as part of the registration process, rather than using a generic "Student A." Ask your learners to sign on with their name, and then use the name throughout the course (e.g. "Welcome, Adam! or "Well done, Jill...you've cleared Level II!") Personalize the environment. Let learners determine what their online eLearning environments should look like. Let students pick avatars to represent either themselves or their "facilitators." Where possible, let the learners pick voices (male/female) for audio content Personalize the content. Whenever possible, incorporate content from learners’ personal environment and reflect  learners’ browsing habits and preferences - such as Blogs, Social Media sites or other relevant content sources Personalize the roles with the use of photographs and pictures. Throughout the lesson, use a photograph of the instructor or even ask your learners to add their own photo to make the content more "personal." Personalizing learning objectives. Enable learners to make the learning objectives relevant to why they are taking the course. For example, if the goal is to move from Supervisor to Manager, then learning objectives must reinforce that goal. Personalizing learning sequences. Students should be able to chart their own learning path.  Creating "nonlinear" content allows learners to pick and choose how they will learn. Personalize the "conversation". Whether it is voice/video, or just text, using phrases like "Now,  let's click 'Done' to end this segment", instead of "Click done to end," will make the content more personalized.  Furthermore,  "Now, click 'Done' to end this segment, Jill", is even more personalized than the previous two examples Personalize the navigation. Foster "inquisitiveness" by allowing learners to explore various parts of the content, even if they aren't currently or actively studying/learning it. This will allow eager learners to explore segments they find personally interesting - just like they would do if they were reading a text book Recognize individual competency. Allow learners to skip certain segments of a course (perhaps by directly going to the "Test your knowledge" section) and start learning the areas they feel they need to learn - instead of forcing them to learn what they already know Personalize the media. Some learners learn quickly if they watch a short video, others need to read a printed PDF file rather than viewing the same document online. Giving choices such as "View", "Listen" or "Print" will tap into each learner’s individual learning styles and preferences. When harmonized together, all aspects mentioned above will create a truly Personal Learning Environment (PLE) that will empower learners to manage and control their own learning. Summary Personalized eLearning is essential because each student learns differently. As a result, in order to be effective, the personalization must take into account each individual's needs, requirements, learning objectives, skill level and learning abilities. The personalization process should also use a progress monitoring mechanism to validate whether the personalization is delivering effective results. If not, appropriate revisions must be made to course delivery (e.g. change content from text-based to video/audio content ,etc.) in order to achieve the desired learning outcomes. If you want to learn about designing instructionally sound eLearning courses, please check out the Instructional Design for ELearning: Essential guide to creating successful eLearning courses book. This book is also available in Spanish http://amzn.to/1ur9Fiu This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

An eLearning course does not become successful just by publishing and sending it to the client. Itssuccess depends on how well the learning has reached the target audiences and how well they are applying this knowledge in their day-to-day activities.So, it is essential to use some strategies that make your learners remember the information for a longer period. Here are a few strategies to help your learners. 1. Chunk the Content: For instance, have a look at the above screenshot. This heavy text on the screen may overwhelm the learners. Most of the learners would avoid reading the information.The rest, even if they read it, would find it difficult to understand and remember.  To help the learners understand and remember the information, chunking is the key. Break the heavy text into small, meaningful chunks so that it is easy to grasp. 2. Represent Visually: A picture is worth a thousand words. This is absolutely true for eLearning. Images give a clear understanding of the concept at a glance. A learner can reinforce the information just by remembering the image.So, it is essential to select the images that are relevant and effective. For example, have a look at the screenshot given below. The selection of plant location depends on three natural resources and the image gives a clear explanation about it. 3. Make use of Mnemonics: As a kid, I always had a problem in remembering the planets’ names in order. One day, my teacher taught me by using this mnemonic "My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets" which then helped me remember the planets in order easily. In the same way, mnemonics serve as a very effective instructional strategy in eLearning. They help the learner retain information for a long time. Make sure that the mnemonics are apt and clear when using them in eLearning courses. The following screen shot is an example of a mnemonic that we have used to teach goal setting (SMART goals) in one of our courses. These three strategies help your learners remember more. I hope you find this blog informative. Please do share your views on it. Related PostsMature, Commanding or Bubbly? How to Choose Right Narrator for Your E-learning Project?5 Ways to Make E-learning Interesting - An InfographicE-learning Course for Novice Learners: 5 Tips for Design Strategy

Lectora Inspire V11 Tutorial: Using Chapters, Sections and Pages in Lectora Inspire V11 This Lectora Inspire V11 Tutorial presents how to build your e-Learning course’s structure using chapters, sections and pages in Lectora Inspire V11 e-Learning software. Make organizing your online training course a cinch. The post Lectora Inspire V11 Tutorial: Using Chapters, Sections and Pages in Lectora Inspire V11 appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

Using eLearning Templates: Top 9 Benefits For eLearning Professionals We can all agree that a common worry of all eLearning professionals is to create highly engaging, interactive eLearning content and activities for their learners. On top of that, saving eLearning course development time, reducing costs, and dealing with multiple members of the eLearning team with different levels of expertise are only some of the hassles that affect eLearning professionals every day. Dealing with all these problems at the same time may sound overwhelming, but eLearning templates seem to be the lifesaver eLearning professionals need. It's a common secret for everyone involved in the process of eLearning design and development that the quickest and easiest way to create eLearning content is through the use of ready-made eLearning templates. This occurs because, in most cases, eLearning templates serve as blueprints on how to build eLearning content in order for eLearning professionals to develop eLearning deliverables that are effective, look professional, while at the same time they engage the audience by providing lots of opportunities for interaction with the eLearning content. In this article, I'll discuss the top 9 benefits of using eLearning templates all eLearning professionals should be aware of. eLearning Templates save development time. Using eLearning templates make it faster and easier for you to create eLearning courses, because they eliminate the need to develop eLearning from scratch. The eLearning content instructional designers receive, has often common elements such as definitions, procedures, and specific presentation patterns; therefore, developing fixed eLearning templates that contain these elements, eliminates the need to develop them from the very beginning every time you need to present the same type of eLearning activity. Having ready-made eLearning templates means that you can produce eLearning courses in significantly less time it would originally take you to develop your eLearning course. This is due to the fact that eLearning templates consist of a series of slides, rather than a single one. However, there is one main slide, the "Master Slide" that serves as the basic layout which provides uniformity in terms of colors, structure and navigation options. Making changes to the Master slide automatically updates all the rest of interconnected slides as well. By selecting the appropriate eLearning Master template and the respective interactive slides that accompany it allows eLearning professionals to focus more on the eLearning content itself, rather on how to make technical arrangements with respect to how the eLearning content will appear on screen. eLearning Templates significantly reduce development cost. Standardization of components enables you to reuse the same eLearning templates as many times as you want, reducing development costs. Also, consider visiting any of the eLearning template libraries available online, where you can choose from a wide variety of template layouts, such as games, interactive scenarios, etc. This can significantly reduce you production cost. eLearning Templates are easy to use. eLearning templates make it possible for any eLearning professional to design eLearning content by having access to online libraries of free eLearning templates and thus being able to choose from a diverse set of preconfigured interactions, without needing to program or design anything. With respect to the look and feel of the eLearning template, the infinite collection of unique and ready-to-use designs, patterns, layouts, sizes, etc, that are available on the internet are just a click away, and their application is not only easy, but also a fun way to experiment as you have a variety of different options to choose from. You can either make your choice from the countless resources available on the web, or you can download an authoring tool that will help you develop your own customized templates, exactly as you like it. Customized, reusable eLearning templates meet your design needs, from image size requirements to interactivity. You just have to import your eLearning content by copying and pasting it in the eLearning template or by a simple drag and drop move. eLearning Templates provide opportunities of interaction and engagement. eLearning templates enable you to create different page layouts to meet the different needs of your audience. While the look and feel of the eLearning courses remain the same, customized templates motivate learners to take up the eLearning course, because they have been designed to offer variety in order to meet the needs and preferences of different types of learners. As no eLearning template is the same with another, this decreases the likelihood that learners get bored. In addition, the integrated features they offer, give eLearning professionals the opportunity to make minimum changes by simply customizing the eLearning template to the training needs of their organizations. In addition, the fact that all available eLearning authoring tools offer an integrated audio recording tool extends the potential of eLearning templates and makes the life of eLearning professionals easier. This integrated audio recording tool, combined with the extensive use of multimedia features and graphs eLearning templates include, gives eLearning professionals the opportunity to provide their audience both with visual and auditory eLearning content, which has been proved to have a positive effect on learning. eLearning Templates enable course overview in a single slide. Another great benefit eLearning templates offer is the use of a single slide, as a point of reference for the entire eLearning course. In contrast to static templates, eLearning templates enable learners to learn more about each option offered in the eLearning course without getting transferred to a distinct location. The new information appears as a component of the big picture; as a piece of puzzle that comes to fill in specific knowledge gaps of the learners.Throughout the learning process, learners are always aware of where they stand in terms of the entire eLearning material, what they have covered so far, and what is still missing. By having in front of them an overview of the eLearning course, they get a better understanding of how concepts are interrelated and why they are asked to learn each particular piece of new information. In addition, they are able to better connect this new material with previous knowledge or what they have learned from the eLearning course so far, as they create "mental associations" that not only facilitate the assimilation process of the eLearning content, but also the process of retrieving relevant parts of the information later on, when needed, which increases knowledge retention. From an eLearning professional point of view, the use of eLearning templates as a single point of reference of how various eLearning content elements are interrelated, allows them to organize the information in a meaningful way. eLearning Templates provide consistency. Designing and developing an eLearning course is a team work and usually every member of the group has different taste and preferences with respect to how the eLearning template should look like. This may cause an inconsistency in terms of presentation, which sometimes proves to be quite problematic. Uniformity is a vital part of any eLearning course that helps learners not to doubt about how to navigate within it. eLearning templates increase consistency regarding the look and feel of your eLearning course by providing standardized pre-defined colors, fonts, logos, sizes and layout, all of which result in a high quality eLearning course. Furthermore, using a customized template that has been created exclusively for your company reflects your brand more effectively. eLearning Templates increase flexibility. How many times have you postponed completing the design of your eLearning course while trying to figure out how to place the different elements of your eLearning content and visuals? The huge amount of resources available enables you to choose a ready-made eLearning template or to design a customized one of your own. By choosing from the several eLearning authoring tools available, you have absolute control and unlimited possibilities over the ways you can adapt your eLearning content in order to meet different needs of the audience. All you have to do is organize everything according to the eLearning template you choose. This means that you have absolute freedom to develop your eLearning course in the form you like it best. Accessing eLearning templates libraries offers any eLearning professional tremendous flexibility, as they are able to choose from a very diverse set of preconfigured interactions. After you decide which eLearning template to use, you have immediate control over the look and feel of the output of the eLearning course by designing the page the way you like it, format it as required and add any media type, such as animations, videos, images and tables within the eLearning course page. eLearning Templates give you the opportunity to focus on the eLearning content. eLearning templates offer you the opportunity to be sure that the way you present the information of your eLearning content is effective, as most templates have been tested before, so they are based on solid instructional design models and theories and eLearning best practices. No matter how enthusiastic or creative an eLearning professional may be, sometimes he or she may find it difficult to come up with new ideas for presenting the eLearning content. All you need to do to make your eLearning courses look professional and unique is simply choose the eLearning template that suits you best. eLearning Templates are bug-free. With eLearning templates you don't have to worry that an annoying software malfunction in the eLearning template you use may totally ruin your eLearning course. Ready-made eLearning templates have passed through various tests in different eLearning platforms before they are released in order to eliminate programming bugs and ensure software consistency. This secure framework in which eLearning templates work make them even more powerful tools, fact that largely reduces the stress levels of novice eLearning professionals and makes them feel more confident when experimenting at the development phase of their eLearning deliverable. 5 Tips For Choosing eLearning Templates Some tips to be used when choosing eLearning templates are the following: Never use eLearning templates that are too complicated in terms of structure or navigation. As a rule-of-thumb the most effective eLearning templates are the ones that include three to four interactive options. Also, prefer eLearning Templates that learners will find easy to navigate in. Check the flow behind eLearning templates. This has to do with how the Master slide is interrelated to the rest of slides. Is it the type of flow you really need? Is it too complicated? Check the respective authoring tool’s options and decide upon the degree of linearity or free navigation control level you will allow the learners. Prefer eLearning templates that offer integrated feedback sections. Give learners the opportunity to learn from their own mistakes by following a learning-by-doing approach. Always provide feedback for each alternative option. Explain why an answer is correct or incorrect or the consequences of the option selected by a learner. Promote branching scenarios by challenging learners to make decisions in order to proceed to the next step. Also challenge them to navigate through alternative options in order to examine "what-if" scenarios. Before choosing multimedia eLearning templates, make sure you have all the assets you need. Unless, for example, you have a professional video to upload, do not opt for an eLearning template that is based on video projection. The same applies to graphics. Also, take into account time and budget constraints. Never choose eLearning templates just for the sake of interactivity if they do not meet the requirements of your eLearning course. Always try to keep in mind that the ultimate goal when choosing eLearning templates is to create eLearning content of value that meets the learning objectives of the eLearning course. Using ready-made and/or customizable eLearning templates greatly improves your productivity and enhances the overall quality of your eLearning courses. Without any doubt, eLearning templates are quite useful in the hands of all eLearning professionals, no matter how much experience they have, as they consist the quickest, the safest and perhaps, the most effective to develop high quality eLearning courses. If you would like to wrap up your eLearning templates with attracting descriptions on the eLearning courses you have created, read the article 7 Tips To Develop Attention Grabbing eLearning Course Descriptions to learn some very useful tips on how to emphasize on the real world benefits and applications of your eLearning course. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.