It is common knowledge that good assessments play a key role in the making of an effective online course. They not only help evaluate the learner’s comprehension of the subject-matter, but also reinforce the learning effectively. Quizzes are very commonly used in e-learning courses to evaluate the knowledge gained by the online learner. But, how can you develop quizzes that help assess your learners efficiently? What are the aspects you need to consider to frame effective questions for quizzes in e-learning assessments? Well, here is an info-graphic that lists 5 proven tips. Hope you find this post interesting. How do you frame questions for the quizzes in your e-learning assessments? We’d love to know. Related PostsCreating Effective Assessments in E-learning: 5 Tips - An InfographicA Handy Checklist for Creating Effective E-learning Assessment Questions [infographic]4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning Courses

There were a few letters marked "Never sent. Never signed" that were discovered in Abraham Lincoln’s desk after his death. When he was upset with someone he would write a letter expressing his anger but would refrain from sending it to the intended person. This practice allowed him to vent his anger, yet not allow needless or unpleasant consequences. One of the famous unsent letters was to Gen. George G Meade, who was blamed for letting Robert E Lee escape after Gettysburg. Unfortunately, in today’s age of social media, people have "lost the art of the unsent angry letter" - an expression used in a NY times article by Maria Konnikova. Much damage is caused to organizations due to improper opinions or information shared by employees in the social media. People, in such frustrating circumstances, would refrain from expressing in a similar manner in front of a group of people in the physical world. However, somehow such inhibitions are shed when it comes to the virtual world. Unfortunately, the virtual world and the physical world are linked and that’s where the problem arises. Organizations could face potential damage due to the erring behavior of an employee on social media. However, about 59% of companies who were surveyed admitted that they do not perform any social media risk assessment (Source: Grant Thornton). It also means that 41% of those surveyed do have some form of risk assessment in place. So, what are the risk factors that they need to consider? Here are some of the common risk factors that need to be considered when drafting a social media policy and when training employees about using social media responsibly. Risk to Company’s Reputation: There have been instances of employees posting offensive content that damages a company’s reputation. Irate employees having a bad day vent their feelings on Facebook assuming they are sharing with only close friends and family members but they do not realize that anything online is very rarely private. The infamous video posted by Dominos Pizza employees costed them their jobs but most importantly the organization had to go an extra mile to curtail the damage done to its reputation. A quick search online will bring many such instances to the forefront. Leaking of Sensitive Information: Seemingly innocent information shared online could actually reveal a lot more than that is obvious to those who are scouting for such information. For example, if a senior executive of an organization updates his location indicating presence in a particular city, competitors could guess about an important meeting or a deal that is going to be struck. Also, employees share pictures, audio and video files and sometimes unwittingly reveal more than they should if they are not careful. Legal or Compliance Violations: While employees are well-versed with standard and acceptable rules of interaction and engagement ‘in person’, they do not perceive the need to extend the same for their online presence. Most of the time, employees are not even aware that their seemingly naive remarks in social media forums could actually be a breach of their duty, for which they could be legally liable.  We no longer express through physical letters that give us the time to cool down and exercise our discretion before forwarding to the intended recipient. In the days of WhatsApp and instant messaging systems, we first send and then think. We therefore do not have the option of an unsent angry letter. Therefore, it is of paramount importance for organizations to sensitize and train their employees on what is acceptable and what is NOT acceptable as they share their views in public through social media…and may be create a virtual alternative to the "unsent angry letter". Related PostsCreative Ways to Present Click on Tab Interactivity in E-learning Courses - An InfographicDr. APJ Abdul Kalam: Homage to a Great TeacherSocial Media Learning: A New Strategy to Enrich Product Training

As a college student, I had an opportunity to read Wings of Fire, the autobiography of the former Indian president, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. The story of the "missile man" who rose to great heights from humble beginnings is truly inspiring. The sudden demise of this eminent scientist is a great loss to the country and has saddened millions. The life of Dr. Kalam is a testimony to the fact that determination and hard work can overcome the shackles of financial and other constraints. He was a strong supporter of the use of technology for educational purposes, and even set up a mini studio to interact with students through EDUSAT, a satellite dedicated to meet the needs of distance learners. Dr. Kalam believed that education had the potential to transform society and teachers play a key role in shaping the future of his country. He was passionate about teaching, and it is well-known that he served as the chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology and a visiting professor at various prestigious institutions of higher learning. Today, I would like to share 7 inspiring quotes of this great man. A teacher should have a creative mind. The bird is powered by its own life and by its motivation. All of us do not have equal talent. But, all of us have equal opportunity to develop our talents. One of the very important characteristics of a student is to question. Let the students ask questions. Without your involvement you can’t succeed. With your involvement you can’t fail. God, our Creator, has stored within our minds and personalities, great potential strength and ability. Prayer helps us tap and develop these powers. Excellence is a continuous process and not an accident. I salute this towering personality, who was a teacher at heart. May his soul rest in peace. Related PostsHave You Heard of Flipped Classroom in Corporate Training?Creative Ways to Present Click on Tab Interactivity in E-learning Courses - An InfographicHurdles to Effective Learning in Organizations

One of our clients, a leader in the healthcare industry, had an e-learning course which was developed using Flash components and JavaScript. Most of the client’s employees could not complete the course as per schedule and faced accessibility issues, as the duration of the course was very long. After analyzing the client inputs, we suggested that the course be divided into smaller micro-modules. A micro-module is a small part of the course which is easily digestible by the learner. Also, we advised the client to develop the course in Articulate Storyline. This tool can be used to make your e-learning courses interactive and HTML5-compatible in quick time. You can access the courses on iPads. We followed the steps given below to develop micro-modules. We divided the course into five smaller micro-modules by framing learning objectives for each module. The duration of each module is 10-15 minutes. We created an outline for each micro-module. We chunked the content to facilitate easy understanding of the topics. We divided resources based on topics dealt in the micro-modules and added them in resource section of each module. We divided the questions in the final assessment based on the topics covered in the micro-modules. Here are some benefits of micro-modules to the learner: Quick Learning: As micro-courses are short, the learner can easily understand the information. Easy Access: You can access courses easily, anytime, anywhere. As the courses are ‘small’, there are no loading issues. One Go: The learner can complete the module in one go, easily, as its duration does not exceed 15 minutes. Tracking: It is easier to track the learner progress for each module, when compared to the entire course. The client was very impressed after seeing the output. Now, their employees are able complete the training in a short time as the duration of the modules isonly 10-15 minutes. Also, they are able to access courses on iPads and complete the training even while travelling. Hope you find this post interesting. Do share your views. Related PostsAssessment Strategy for M-learningBest Practices for Developing M-learning Courses - An InfographicGreat News for Mobile Learning

E-learning and m-learning are powerful learning methods; both are dynamic and effective ways to teach people. So then, what are the differences between and e-learning and m-learning methods? E-learning involves a series of modules with in-depth subject-matter while m-learning involves smaller chunks of information which can be accessed anywhere, anytime. Modules are designed differently, depending on the kind of format used to learn. M-learning breaks the barriers of time and place and provides easy access to courses. E-learning also enables learners to access information anytime, anywhere through a laptop, and a stable environment is needed for the learner to take training. E-learning delivers content in a detailed manner, while m-learning delivers the same in a precise manner. M-learning courses are usually shorter then e-learning courses. M-learning is ideal to provide just-in-time information at the point of need. Check out the differences listed in the info-graphic, and if you find anything more, do share in the comments box below….. Related PostsBest Practices for Developing M-learning Courses - An InfographicAssessment Strategy for M-learning11 Tips to Use Animations and Videos in Mobile Learning Courses [Infographic]

In my last post, I explained how to calculate the monthly savings of an employee using Articulate Storyline. In this blog, we will see how to calculate simple interest (SI) using the rapid authoring tool. Earlier, we created a course for a financial organization to train its new employees on the process of calculating the monthly savings of an employee. The course was a major success, and so, we were asked to develop a course on the calculation of SI. Let us now see how we can compute SI using Storyline. Step 1: Create a new slide and insert three Numeric Entry fields to input the values of Principal amount, Rate of interest and Time period with respect to the text fields. The principal amount entered should be in rupees. The rate of interest should be calculated as a percentage of the principal, on a monthly basis. The time period corresponds to the number of months for which the interest is calculated. Step 2: Three Numeric Entry Variables are created automatically for the above three Numeric Entry fields. Rename those Numeric Entry variables (Numeric Entry, Numeric Entry 1, and Numeric Entry 2) as Principal, Interest rate and Time period. Step 3: Create a numeric variable SI with initial value as zero, and display the value of variable using "%" Symbol. Step 4: Insert a button Calculate from the insert menu. The formula to calculate the simple interest is: SI = (Principal * Interest rate * Time period) / 100 To perform the above calculation, add the below triggers in the specified order. Trigger 1: Assign the value of Principal to SI variable. Trigger 2: Multiply the value of Time period with SI value. Trigger 3: Multiply the value of Interest rate with SI value. Trigger 4: Divide SI value by 100. The net value of the SI variable is the simple interest, calculated on the principal amount. Now, preview or publish the course and check the output. This way, we can perform different calculations using Storyline’s triggers. Hope this blog isinformative. Please share your thoughts. Related PostsRapid E-learning through Storyline Tool: 5 Infographics Sharing Key FeaturesHow to Combine Your Adobe Captivate Projects Into Single Course?Performing Simple Financial Calculations Using Articulate Storyline

According to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 48 million people (1 in 6 Americans) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die each year from foodborne diseases. In order to adhere to food safety regulations, one of our clients came up with a requirement for an e-learning course. The client provided raw content in the form of a MS-Word document containing 80 pages. This is the ILT material he uses for training his employees. The client wanted an e-learning course to be developed from this raw content. The learners could either attend the classroom training sessions or take the online course. So, the main challenge is that all the learning that happens in a class-room should also take place online. The huge content was broken down into 9 modules which were further broken down into topics. There were classroom activities after each module. Another challenge here was to present these activities in the e-learning course without compromising on the learning. Now, we had to come up with an instructional approach for this content. After going through the content, we came up with a couple of approaches. We used a combination of scenario-based and case study-based learning. For the scenario based approach, we used 2 characters - Food Safety Manager and Food Safety Supervisor. The food safety supervisor is a new recruit. The food safety manager takes the new recruit through the course. We used these characters at the beginning as an introduction to set the stage, and then to present formative assessments. We also used the characters, at the end, to summarize the course/ module. To add more value to the course, we used a real life case of a food and beverages establishment (a restaurant/ a packaging unit).The case study was first introduced explaining the challenges faced by the restaurant and how implementing the process can help meet these challenges. Then, the course content was presented, and at the end of each module, the case study is brought back so that all the learning can now be applied in the form of activities. We did not want to compromise on the learning. So, we tried to simulate the classroom activities in the e-learning course using interactivities such as drag and drop, drop down, fill in the blanks etc., but customized to some extent. In this case, the learner’s involvement and engagement would be very high as the learners are actually implementing the steps. These are some of the approaches we used to design a food safety course. In my next blog, I will share in detail how we went about treating the content using instructional and visual components to engage learners. Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesGuidelines for Content Chunking to Design Effective Online CoursesDeveloping an E-learning Storyboard - Pitfalls to Avoid

There are many Learning Management Systems (LMSs) available in the market. We have both commercial and open-source LMSs. These LMSs may have all the basic features required to host and manage trainings. But, the main issue arises when you want to customize the training workflow as per the current structure and add advance features which are difficult to manage in the existing process. To enhance the manual learning and the training system, you may contact various LMS service providers, for quotations, with your current and ideal needs. But, you may find that there are no ‘readymade’ LMSs which meet all your training needs. Customization is required to update or create specific features. I have set up more than 10 LMSs for our customers and found that some prospects started with very high expectations and ‘ideal’ requirements. But, they ended up confused whether to go with an online LMS or follow the existing training process. A Learning Management System is just an application, and we cannot completely depend on the tool and expect it to do what a training manager does. We should not completely depend on it. But definitely, it helps training managers manage trainings online easily. It may or may not be possible to make the ideal LMS in one go, especially when there is no standard training procedure or the need is unrealistic. If you want all the features of an ideal LMS, then you need to spend a lot of time and money. It may give you the result you want, but the LMS becomes so complex that future upgrades become impossible or LMS administration activities become difficult. Here are some steps which helped our customers build their ideal LMS. Identify what the standard training process is, so that you can adapt it in your trainings. Find out the features available in the proposed LMS. List all the training needs which may have all your ideal needs and ask for the feasibility report from the LMS provider. Select the LMS which has most of the required features readily available. However, other factors such as time, cost, security, ownership, etc. also need to be considered. Don’t wait for the LMS provider to build the ideal LMS for you to launch. Start with the features which are a must. Nice-to-have features can be customized later. This is important because when you develop the LMS, you may find many other nice-to-have features and you may never be satisfied with the LMS. The recommended procedure is to start the LMS with the features that are a must, and on the other end, keep working on the nice-to-have features. You can list all the nice-to-have features and evaluate why you need them. Once you are done with the list, give it as a project to LMS provider for the implementation. In this process, you may end up with your ideal LMS. We use a similar process and update the features of LMSs frequently to meet the needs of prospects or customers. Now, we have a very user-friendly and customized version of the LMS. This process will also help you retain only the required features and disable features which are not required to make the LMS very simple and intuitive. Hope you find this post useful. Do share your views. Related PostsLMS Features for Effective Administration Top Three Pain Points in Managing Classroom Training in LMSHow to Get the Best Out of Your LMS through Effective Administration

It is well-known that assessments are a vital component of an e-learning course. Good assessments play an important role in enhancing the efficacy of the online course by helping evaluate the knowledge gained by the learner and reinforce the learning. But, how can you design highly effective assessments for your e-learning course? What are the aspects you need to consider to create questions for your online course? Well, here is an info-graphic that lists a few important things that you need to do to develop good assessments for your course. Hope you find this post interesting. How do you design assessments for your e-learning course? We’d love to know. Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning Courses5 Proven Tips to Frame Good Questions in E-learning Assessments [Infographic]A Checklist for Every Instructional Designer - An Infographic

Training enhances skills and abilities of employees to be aligned to changing business needs. It is well understood that assessments are vital components of e-learning courses. They are a medium to measure training outcomes. Assessments not only strengthen learning but also help evaluate the learner’s comprehension of a course. Matching activities are used to assess and engage learners in between the course. They enable the learners to match two sets of data. Options in the first column are known as ‘premises’ and those in second are called ‘responses’. Matching can take various forms such as ‘drag and match’, ‘drag and drop’ and ‘drop down’.. Matching questions may be used in formative assessments and not in summative assessments. There are other guidelines that one needs to keep in mind as well. So, check out the guidelines as to how to design matching questions in assessments through this infographic. If you have more to add, please share your comments in the column below: Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesHow to Make Online Assessments Effective?5 Variations of Multiple Choice Questions for Your E-learning Course

Recently, we had an interesting requirement from one of our clients. The client wanted to calculate the time spent by the learner on each module. Furthermore, he specified that the timer should stop when the learner visits the last slide of a module. We met this requirement using Articulate Storyline. Using three variables for each module (with any number of slides) we calculated the time. Here are the steps we followed to meet the requirement. Step1: Create as many master slides as the number of modules. (Here, I have two modules. So, I’m taking two master slides). Step2: Now, create a layer called "timer" in all slide masters, and be sure the timeline of this layer is 1 second. Also, uncheck the "Hide other slide layers" option for the layer "timer" in all slide masters. Step3: Now, create two numeric variables (time1, module1time) with 0 as the default value and one Boolean variable (module1) with "False" as the default value. Step4: Now, add the following trigger in the base layer of the first master slide. Show layer "timer" when the slide timeline starts on the condition if module1 is equal to false. Step5: Now add the following trigger in the "timer" layer of the first master slide. Add value "1" to the numeric variable "time1"when layer timeline ends on the condition if "module1" is equal to false. Step6: Now, add the following two triggers in the same layer (timer). Hide layer "timer" when layer timeline ends. Show layer "timer" when layer timeline ends. Step7: Now, create two numeric variables (time2, module2time) with 0 as the default value and one Boolean variable (module2) with "False" as default value. Step8: Repeat the steps 4, 5 and 6 in the second slide master. Be sure the variables used in these steps are updated. Step9: In the first module, if you want to display the time in all slides, add the text "%time1% seconds" in all slides except the last slide. Step 10: In the last slide of the first module, add the following triggers. Adjust variable "module1time" to numeric variable "time1", when slide timeline starts on the condition if "module1" is equal to false. Adjust variable "module1" equal to value "True" when slide timeline starts. Step 11: To know the time spent by the learner on this module, display the value of the variable as shown below. "You spend %module1time% seconds on this module" Step 12: Now, take another module and repeat steps 9, 10 and 11 in all modules with respective variables. Step13: Now change the layout for each module such that the first module belongs to first layout, second module belongs to second layout and so on. That’s it. Now publish the course and check the output. Hope you find the post interesting. Do share your views. Related PostsHow to Combine Your Adobe Captivate Projects Into Single Course?5 Easy Steps to Calculate Learner’s Time Using Articulate StorylineRapid E-learning through Storyline Tool: 5 Infographics Sharing Key Features

In my last blog, 20 Must Know Acronyms of E-learning - Part 1, we have seen some acronyms that are used in the world of e-learning. In this blog, we will look at some more acronyms. 11. JIT (Just-in-Time): Just-in-time learning systems enable learners to access online learning resources at the point of need. Today, what will you do to find directions to a place or find out the movie that is playing in the theatre close to your home? You just go online for information. To employees, m-learning provides a similar facility to access information pertaining to their jobs at the click of a button. 12. ILT (Instructor-led Training): Instructor-led training is the traditional form of training and refers to courses facilitated by an instructor as opposed to self-paced, on-demand courses. Synchronous learning (learning event occurring in real time) is an example of ILT. 13. SAM (Successive Approximation Model): This model was first proposed by Michael Allen and is an agile or iterative instructional systems design model. The title itself conveys the meaning - taking small and quick steps, instead of giant leaps to complete each milestone. 14. HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language 5): HTML5 is the latest version of HTML. The standard markup language is primarily created for web pages; it is increasingly relevant to e-learning courses as they are often accessed through web browsers. 15. SME (Subject Matter Expert): An SME is an expert on content and a stakeholder who works along with the instructional designer to develop better learning programs. 16. CBT/ WBT (Computer-based Training/ Web-based Training): CBT is a new-age way of learning and a form of education in which a student learns by using special training programs while on a computer. WBT is a subset of CBTs in which the material is made accessible on the internet by applying web technologies. 17. ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction): ARCS is an instructional design model developed by John Keller. According to him, there are four steps involved in motivating adult learners in an online environment. They are:  Attention: According to the ARCS model, grabbing the attention of learners is an initial objective, to motivate the learners. Relevance: This means when adults find the training relevant to them, they get connected. Confidence: Confidence means creating a feeling in the learner’s mind that they can achieve the learning goals. Satisfaction: The learner feels satisfied when he is rewarded and the knowledge he has acquired can be applied in the practical setting.  18. FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions): FAQs include a list of questions and their answers, which are based on a particular topic. 19. JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): This is the most popular image format used in online courses. When you save a picture as a JPEG image, some information is lost, and the picture’s size is reduced. This format doesn’t support transparency. 20. GIF (Graphics Interchange Format): It has a great advantage - we can create animation effects. GIF images are smaller than images stored in other formats. The quality of images in this format is poor. It is more suitable for diagrams, cartoons, and logos. But, it supports only 256 colors.  I hope you find these acronyms useful. Do you wish to add to this list? Please do so. Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesImpress in Less Than 2 Minutes: E-learning Design TricksPerformance Support System vs. Instructional System

How many of you are comfortable with the following default bullet types in Articulate Storyline? Do you know that we can easily use custom symbols as bullets in our e-learning courses using Articulate Storyline? Well, you need to understand a new feature of Articulate Storyline 2, using which we can add the required symbol as a bullet. It’s a pretty easy process, and I would like to list the steps of the process in this post. Here they are. Step 1: Select the list of points to which you want to add bullets. Step 2: In the Home tab, click the Bullets drop down menu. Step 3: A list of the default bullet types is displayed. Select a type if it matches your requirement. Otherwise, click the Bullets and Numbering option at the bottom. Step 4: Click the Symbol button to view all available symbols.  Step 5: A window with all the available symbols will be opened. Select one of these symbols. Note: Change the Font and Subset on the top of the window to view more symbols.  Step 6: Click Insert after selecting a symbol. Step 7: This brings you back to Bullets and Numbering window and now you can change the Color and Size of the symbol in order to match it with the GUI. Now, check the output. These are the steps to add custom symbols as bullets to your text. Hope this post is 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?How to Add Post-Quiz Review Feedback in Articulate Storyline

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.- Nelson Mandela It is common knowledge that online courses delivered in the native languages of learners are more effective than their English versions. People learn better and retain information more efficiently when they are trained in their mother tongue. But, how can you produce good translations of your e-learning courses? What are the aspects you need to consider to ensure that your online course translations are completed quickly, in a cost-effective manner? Let us see. Hope you find this info-graphic interesting. How do you translate your e-learning courses? We’d love to know. Related Posts4 Steps That Simplifies E-learning Translation and Localization Process - An Infographic3 Things to Consider while Translating Your E-learning Course - An Infographic5 Proven Tips for Better E-learning Translations - An Infographic

As instructional designers, we always aim to design courses that reach the target audience effectively. We would never want to hear our learners say that the course was boring. We put all our efforts to make the course interesting and engaging. But, it is essential that these efforts are put in a right way. Engaging the learner doesn’t mean just including interactivities. It is much more than having a few clicks of interactivities. In this blog, I would like to share three tips to create engaging e-learning courses. 1. Relevancy Is the Key When teaching adult learners, it is essential to keep in mind that they would be engaged and motivated only when they feel that the course is relevant to them. So, at the beginning of the course itself, we need to set clear and effective learning objectives that drive their attention towards the course. Setting effective objectives is not enough, and we need to make sure that the learners reach those objectives by the end of the course. This will keep them engaged throughout the course. 2. Effective Audio and Visual Strategies  Audio is the core component of an e-learning course. To improve the learner’s engagement, it is essential to use audio in a conversational tone. Too much or too little of audio may frustrate the learner. So, striking a fine balance between on-screen text and audio is vital. As a part of the visual strategy, we need to ensure that all visuals are consistent throughout the course. Right from the colors used to the placement of images, we must ensure consistency in the course. This is one of the effective techniques to keep the learners engaged in the course. 3. Think beyond Clicks Having a few interactivities in the course doesn’t make it engaging. It is important to involve the learners in the course. Create scenarios or case studies that are relevant to the content and allow the learner to think and make decisions. This is a good strategy to improve the learner’s thinking skills and keep him engaged. These three tips help you create engaging courses. I hope you find this blog informative. Do share your views on it. Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesShould an E-learning Course be Developed Based on SMEs or Learners?8 Instructional Design Tips to Create a Winning E-learning Course

Recently, one of our clients asked us whether it is possible to display the time taken by the learner, in the slide, to complete the final quiz. Though we don’t have a default option, we can add a timer using JavaScript by following 4 simple steps. In my previous posts, I have explained a process which uses JavaScript and has five steps. I also explained another method with triggers which has eight steps. However, these two procedures are a bit lengthy. So, I have optimized the process and came up with four simple steps which I would like to share with you all in this post. One thing which differentiates this process from the two processes discussed earlier is that the timer is displayed in the screen (similar to a digital clock), whereas the other two processes can be used to display the total time at the end of the course. Follow the steps below to calculate the time spent by the learner on the final quiz of an e-learning course developed using Articulate Storyline. Step 1: Develop your quiz slides with the desired formatting. Step 2: Create three variables to store the values of hours, minutes and seconds. Name them as you wish. I have named here them as ‘Hours’, ‘Minutes’ and ‘Seconds’ respectively. Step 3: Add a trigger to execute JavaScript when timeline starts for the first slide of the quiz. Note: In order to get the timer work precisely, comment out a line of code in the above code and paste the same trigger in the rest of your quiz slides. You can even delete that line of code. Refer the screenshot below for better understanding. Step 4: The last step is to add references (variable names between % symbols) for variables ‘Hours’, ‘Minutes’ and ‘Seconds’ in the slide master to display the time spent by the learner on the final quiz. Now publish the course and check the output. In this way, we can calculate the time spent by a learner on the final quiz. Note 1: If you want to modify the above code, make sure that the names of the Storyline variables are identical to the variable names used in the code. Note 2: You can use the code not only for the final quiz, but also for the entire e-learning course. Hope you find this post useful. Do share your views. Related PostsArticulate Storyline: Calculating the Time Spent on Each Module8 Steps to Calculate Learner’s Time Using Articulate Storyline - Method IIArticulate Storyline: 4 Easy Steps to Create a Custom Video Player

Medical representatives face many problems while promoting their companies’ products to doctors. It’s a well-known fact that doctors are more knowledgeable about medicines than the pharmaceutical sales representatives. So, how can a representative gain as much knowledge as the doctor about the medicine? Well, e-learning is the best solution for this problem because it helps to impart highly effective training. At CommLab India, we have been developing online training programs for pharmaceutical sales reps and using the following best practices to make these trainings highly effective. 1. What’s in it for me? It is a best practice to tell learners what’s in it for them early in the course. It can contain a series of questions related to the concept that learners usually get. The answers to these questions must be revealed in the subsequent slides. It greatly helps sales reps understand what they would gain if they take up the module. If you are dealing with a product, then you need to ask a series of questions such as: What is the recommended dosage of the product? What is the mechanism of action? What are the adverse effects, indications and contraindications of it? What does it contain? How can it treat the disease? 2. Learning objectives  Adding clear learning objectives helps specify the intended outcome of the module. They describe what the sales representatives will be able to do after completing the course. For example, if you are dealing with the topic "complications of migraine", you can say: By the end of this module, you will be able to : List the complications of migraine Explain the treatment options available for migraine 3. Do You Know? or Can You Recall? Ask thought-provoking questions before going into the concept to make the module more engaging and interesting. It can be done by including a teaser in the form of "Do You Know?" or "Can You Recall?" And give explanatory feedback to the learner’s response instead of just indicating whether the response is right or wrong. For example, If you’re dealing with the topic "Anatomy and Physiology of the Liver", you can ask basic questions related to liver such as "What is the second largest organ of the human body?" 4. Clinical application It is a best practice to include clinical application of the drug at the end of the module to enable sales reps handle questions asked by the doctor. This goes a long way in helping the sales representatives answer the doctor’s questions confidently. You could include questions such as: Why should I prescribe this drug? What are the complications arising out of its usage? In which patients is it contraindicated? Keep these best practices in mind to create highly effective online courses for medical representatives. Related Posts5 Types of Training for Sales Representatives of Pharmaceutical Firms - An Infographic5 Types of Trainings Every Pharmaceutical Sales Representative Needs5 Training Programs for Medical Representatives - An Infographic

A Subject Matter Expert (SME) is an expert in an organization on a particular area or topic. To create good e-learning courses, inputs from SMEs are vital. To get the best out of your SME, you need to first understand him and know his role. The SME’s role is to help instructional designers (ID) understand the content. An SME is a knowledge hub looking for the best ways to transfer it, and we IDs are the people who lay the path for it. We generally face many challenges while dealing with SMEs such as variation in timelines (the major challenge), lots of changes in the content and few in the GUI, huge variations in visualization, etc., once the course gets developed. In order to overcome all these issues, and to get the best out of your SMEs, you need to follow a few steps. Let us see what they are. Know your SMEs It is essential to maintain a good relationship with your SMEs, as it helps ensure hassle-free development of your online course. From the initial stage to the final stage, it is your responsibility to make him understand about e-learning (if he is new), the project parameters, quality schedule, the project constraints, look and feel, etc. so that you and your SMEs can work together to let the SMEs vision of success help drive your vision for the course. There are several instances where the course gets developed, and then, the SMEs modify lots of content in the course. This is because the SMEs are not clear about the way you have approached. A good bonding helps overcome such issues. Define your design and development process As an ID, you need to define your design and development process to your SMEs from the initial stage. If you help them understand this process, he comes to know what is actually going on and how much time it could take. Lay out expectations, agree on tasks and plan a schedule. This prevents time and cost overruns and facilitates the creation of a good course. In our organization, we educate our clients with key deliverables and set clear expectations on the project timelines. Involvement of the team during different phases of development is another key success factor. The goal is to provide clarity on what is going to happen, how long it’s going to take and what needs to be done to make it more informative and engaging. Make the deliverables visual SMEs need to visualize what you’re going for. You can provide him with lots of examples of deliverables and the look and feel of the final product early in the design phase itself. You need to provide him with a prototype, in which the look and feel of the final course can be visualized. The SMEs can also provide their feedback and ask for the changes that they need, at this point. The prototype and working version should include the screen types, interactivities, GUI, etc. that you wish to use in your course. Whatever process you follow, make sure that the SMEs understand what you’re aiming for and what’s the output going to be. Most often SMEs say, "Well, I just want to see the alpha version of the course to really know the outcome of the course." Few key points to bring up with SMEs about design: Remember the novice Provide context Chunk the content Aim for one idea per slide Ask the right questions Once you share the process and expectations of designing and development, you and your SMEs can take time to define the outcomes of the course. During the content analysis, you might have some doubts to be clarified, few content related queries, questions about usage of visuals etc. But, you hesitate to ask queries with SME. Why is it so? This is because we think that the questions that strike to our mind are very silly, and we don’t ask them. This later leads to a major change. As SMEs are often starved for time, we need to use their time wisely. We need to come up with a list of questions before starting the review with SMEs. You need to ask questions such as: What do you want the learners to be able to do? What are the key takeaways of this course? What are the mistakes committed by you? What are the corrections needed to make the course more engaging? Can we explain the content using a story? Where should the learner go for help and more information? Is the navigation screen required in the course? These steps help you get the best out of your SMEs and make your job and that of the SMEs easy. Hope this post is informative. Please share your views in the comments section below. Happy Reading!! Related PostsWhat, Why and How of Instructional Design4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesE-learning Instructional Design for the Operator Training Course

A Webinar provides training to large audience. Most organizations conduct webinars to train their employees. Many a time, employees may not be able to attend the webinars. In such cases the content is made available in the form of on-demand webinars. The live webinars may require editing, additions and deletions when being converted to on-demand. These changes can be done with the help of the e-learning course authoring tool called Adobe Presenter. This tool has several features that enhance the quality of the webinar. Once the audio and video files are imported and the necessary changes done, the file can be published. However, there are some activities that need to be performed before publishing the presentation. Check out this infographic that lists them. If you have more to add, please share your comments in the column. Related PostsAdobe Presenter - An Ideal Tool to Convert PPTs into On-demand WebinarsAdobe Presenter 9 - What’s New?Adobe Presenter: Awesome Features For Your E-learning Development

Assessments in e-learning courses are intended to test learners on the topic / content they have been trained. Scoring the learners makes the assessments more engaging. Based on the score of the learner, corresponding feedback will be displayed. In general, specified number of points will be assigned for a correct response and no score will be assigned for an incorrect response. Do you know that we can assign negative scores for an incorrect response to a question in a quiz? Articulate Storyline 2 has a new feature to assign negative scores based on the learner’s responses. In this post, I would like to share how to use negative scores in e-learning courses. Here are the steps. Step 1: Click the insert tab and select the New Slide option.  Step 2: This opens a window with all available types of slides which you can insert into your course. We are creating an assessment, and hence, we need to select Graded or Freeform options under the Quizzing category. Step 3: Select an assessment type from the 9 available assessment types and the click Insert button. Step 4: In the window opened, add your question text and choices. Make sure to select the correct option. Step 5: Under Points section, which is at the bottom of the window, you will find 10 (which is the default score for a correct answer). You can enter a score of your choice. You can even increase/decrease the score using a drop down (which is displayed by clicking on the score). In this way, you can assign negative scores to your assessments. Note: You can modify the score or question content anytime by just clicking Form View on the top right corner of the slide. Hope you find this post useful. Please do share if you have any other ideas. Related Posts4 Tips for Developing E-learning Course Using Rapid Authoring ToolsHow to Enable Retake Quiz Option in Articulate Storyline?Calculating Score for the Quiz in Lectora Using the Modify Variable

Watch-try-do simulations are ideal for software training. They enable learners to first watch, and then, try it themselves, and finally, work on the software. Recently, we satisfied a unique requirement. A training manager wanted to have a login screen in some screens of software. Learners have to type their usernames and passwords in the text entry fields. The most important requirement here is to add password fields i.e. the password typed by learners should be displayed as ‘*’. This is not possible by default, as text entry fields in Articulate Storyline don’t provide much control for online course developers. The only option is to use external text entry fields (HTML ‘Input’ field). So, I have used a HTML field through a web object. In my previous blog, I explained how to add a normal text field using HTML. In this post, I will share how to add password fields in Articulate Storyline. Here are the steps. Step 1: Create a Boolean variable. I have created one here with the name password. Step 2: Develop a HTML page with an Input field (text field, in general). Format it as you desire, as shown in the screenshot below. In the above code, I have used commlab as password. And this code will set the value of the variable password to True when the learner types the correct password. Note: Make sure to save the HTML file as index.html. Step 3: Now, in the Insert tab, select the Web Object option to insert the HTML page into Storyline. Step 4: In the window opened, paste the location of the HTML file, or you can browse for its location by clicking the folder icon as shown below. Step 5: Adjust the size and position of the Web Object on the screen. You can even place a portion of the Web Object off the stage. However, the output remains the same. Shown below are the references. Step 6: Add a trigger in the base layer to jump to the next slide when the learner clicks the Submit button, if the value of the variable password is True.  Step 7: Publish the course and check the output. Now, you can see that the password typed by the learner is displayed as *. Hope you find this post useful. Do share your views. Related PostsArticulate Storyline: Login Screens for Simulation-based Courses - Part 1How to Combine Your Adobe Captivate Projects Into Single Course?Integrating Twitter in An Online course Developed in Articulate Storyline

In the previous post, we looked at the approaches to design e-learning courses on food safety; in this post, we will look at a few instructional and visual components that we used to engage learners. Let’s see what they are. The first component is the learning objectives section. As it was a curriculum with many modules, only course level objectives wouldn’t serve the purpose of aligning objectives, content and assessments. So, we included module level objectives and presented all module level objectives using icons across all modules. Then coming to content treatment, we split the content into ‘need-to-know’ and ‘nice-to-know’. This helped us present the content appropriately instead of showing everything on the screen. We presented the ‘need-to-know’ content as info-graphics, text and image or icon and supplemented with interactivities. Whereas, the ‘nice-to-know’ information was presented in pop-ups. This bifurcation gives learners an opportunity to interact with the content. Regarding the visuals, we used vector images, icons and food industry themes to bring in variety. The next important component is the engagement technique or presentation pattern. We decided to set the stage for each module by asking engaging questions such as ‘Do you know?’ and ‘Can you recall?’. With ‘Can you recall?’, we get an opportunity to test what the learner has learnt in the previous module. We also used some ‘reflective questions’ during the modules, which allow the learners to think; here, we showed an expert’s opinion. Various presentation patterns such as slide shows (to show guidelines), timeline (to show time period) and info-graphics (to show dos and don’ts) have been used to engage learners. To consolidate learning, we have added the summary at the end of each module. Audio is another important component that aids the learning process. Narrating the entire on-screen content increases cognitive load on the learners. So, we used audio judiciously, without compromising on the degree of learner engagement. We used audio for conversation between the characters and to give an overview of the slides. For interactivity slides, we used audio only for introduction and instructions. The last and the most important component is the assessments section. We made sure that formative assessments are aligned with learning objectives and spread well throughout the module. We used drag and drop, match the following, drop down, etc., to present assessment questions. We used 3 different expressions of the character to provide feedback (correct, incorrect and try again) to the learner. This reinforces the learning and improves retention. To conclude, these are some of the elements we used to treat the content. Hope you find them useful. Related Posts5 Steps of a Highly Effective Instructional Design ProcessApproaches to Design Engaging E-learning Courses for Food Safety4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning Courses

Personalization is one strategy that’s helping many top companies reach their learners easily, and e-learning is no exception. As instructional designers, it’s our task to make online learning courses that our learners can relate to. Every day, we try to find innovative ways to engage learners and make our courses more interesting to them. In this process, we need to understand the needs and tastes of the learners. It’s important to come out with an idea that can take our training programs a step closer to them. But, how can you get started? Well, I’ve created a simple list for you. You have an opportunity to make creative courses and add a personalization element to them and make the learners believe that they have been tailored specifically to suit their tastes. As we all know, learners enjoy the training when they are able to identify themselves with it. Here are 4 innovative ways to personalize your online learning courses. 1. Provide learner-centric experience The ultimate goal of a training program is to meet learners’ expectations, and it is important for every e-learning course developer to develop a learner-centric approach. This is possible only if you talk to the stakeholders and gather the learners’ expectations for the training program before designing the course. We should understand who our learners are, what type of content they are looking for, and how they intend to use it. For example, if we have to design an e-learning course for people working in different departments such as HR, sales and so on, we need to personalize to create individualized content experiences for different roles. The content should be presented in such a way that the learners have an opportunity to select their role and meet their needs. 2. Deliver the course on the device they use Device personalization allows instructional designers to provide more relevant, optimized experiences based on the type of device used by the learner. For example, a salesperson needs to meet his customer and he wants to have a look at the features of the products. He would find it very helpful, if the features of the products are available in the form of an eBook which could be accessed, easily, anytime, anywhere, on his tablet. As we all know, Gen-Y people are gadget-friendly and use multiple devices such as smartphones, iPads, iPhones, tablets, and laptops. So, it becomes important to make your courses compatible with all these devices and modify the content based on the delivery device. 3. Use real images As instructional designers, we have learned over the years that learners want to feel connected to the training they take. For this, we need to personalize the content, and one way to do this is to use real images. Using real images can improve the perception of the learners as they see their colleagues/ product involved, and as a result it will be worth the time to participate in the development. Let us look at an example from a course we have designed on product training where we used real images to explain the installation of a battery of an explosive detector by a technician. This helps the technician understand and learn clearly, and he can perform well in the real time. Personalizing the training with real images will definitely be very effective. 4. Use a conversational tone Another way to personalize the content is to make the audio conversational. Use words such as "Wow", "Really", "That’s Great", and so on. This helps the learner get connected with the course at an emotional level, and thereby, makes it interesting. For example, let’s look at two different tones. Option 1: This course Anxiety Disorder gives an overview of the symptoms and treatment for anxiety disorder and demonstrates how to cope with this disorder. Option2: Hi! I am Mike, and I will guide you through this course Anxiety Disorder that highlights the symptoms and treatment for anxiety disorder. I will also tell you how you can cope with this disorder. Let’s get started with what is anxiety disorder. Which one is more conversational? I’m sure option 2 has a more friendly and conversational tone. I hope you find this post useful. These are surely not all the innovative ways for making your online learning courses more personalized. What other ways do you use? We would love to hear. Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesCreative Ways to Present Click on Tab Interactivity in E-learning Courses - An InfographicErrors While Designing Interactivities in E-Learning: How to Avoid Them?

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) are used extensively in the assessments of e-learning courses. Well-designed MCQs go a long way in evaluating the achievement of the learning outcome of an online course. They are also very useful tools to reinforce the learning. MCQs can be classified into two categories - single-select and multi-select. In case of a single-select MCQ, only one of the given options is correct, whereas for a multi-select question, two or more of the options are right. Multi-select questions are more effective in evaluating the learner than single-select questions. Here is an info-graphic which tells you why. Hope you find this post interesting. How do you use multi-select questions in your e-learning assessments? We’d love to know. Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesBest Practices of Giving Feedback for E-learning Assessments5 Proven Tips to Frame Good Questions in E-learning Assessments [Infographic]