In most cases, when we work with buttons in Articulate Storyline, we create interactivities such as click-on-tabs, which tend to have two or three buttons. What can you do when you don’t have enough space on the screen to place two or three tabs? I worked on a course where the client asked me to use only a single button to reveal two different pieces of content. Furthermore, the text on the button/tab needs to be changed based on the piece of the content displayed. This is when I came across the Toggle Variable. Let me tell you a little about the Toggle Variable; this variable is very useful when you have only one tab to click, and the same tab needs to be clicked to display two or three different pieces of content in a single slide. This how you can use the Toggle Variable. Toggle Variable Creation: It is created while adjusting the variable section. In this section, we mostly set the operator value as Assignment to set the value of variable as either true of false. But, here, instead of Assignment, use the value Not Assignment to get the toggle variable. We can get the Not Assignment option when we choose the variable type as true or false only. It automatically assigns its values as either true or false on clicking the button. I have inserted one rectangular shape which is used as a button and named it as button1 and added one state called 1. I call the button when it is in state 1 as button2. Then, I took the two different pieces of text for the different states of the button and change the state of the text to hidden. After adding the text, I created a variable and named it asVariable1. And I toggle this variable as explained in the first two paragraphs. Here, I applied triggers to change the states of the button by using Variable1. Below are the triggers to generate the Toggle condition. After assigning these triggers, I showed the respective content for the button on clicking. For button1, the corresponding text is displayed using the below triggers. And for the button2, the correposnding text is displayed using the following triggers. Here are all these triggers on the Object Trigger panel. After assigning all these triggers, when I clicked the button1, it changed to button2 and the content of button2 is displayed. The button2 has a different color. When I click the same button, it changed to button1 and corresponding content is displayed. In this way, you can use the toggle variable to reduce the number of tabs, and thereby, make the optimal use of the limited space on the screen. Hope you find this post useful. Do share your views. Related PostsHow to Combine Your Adobe Captivate Projects Into Single Course?Rapid E-learning through Storyline Tool: 5 Infographics Sharing Key FeaturesHow to Enable Content After Visiting All Buttons in Articulate Storyline

As an e-learning developer, you might have developed many online courses in English. But, have you ever worked on a course in a language you are not familiar with? Obviously, the answer is NO. It’s very difficult to develop an e-learning course in a language other than English. Here, I would like to share with you a process by which you can develop online courses in languages you are not familiar with. Recently, one of our clients, a leader in the healthcare industry, wanted to develop an e-learning course in Spanish to impart product training. This was a big challenge as we do not speak the language. We decided to develop the course in Spanish with the help of a translator who can speak Spanish and understand content in the language. We followed the below steps to develop the course. Understanding the Content: As the content was in Spanish, our instructional designers could not understand it. So, with the help of a translator, we comprehended the content and created an instructional design strategy. Also, we created screens with different interactivities like click-on-tabs, click-on-images with instructions and sentences in English. Then, we got the English content translated into Spanish. Audio Script: After completing the development of the slides, we wrote the audio script in English to support the on-screen content. Then, with the help of the translator, we had the audio script rendered in Spanish. Customer Review: After completing the audio script, we sent the course for customer review. The client was very impressed with the output and suggested minimal changes. We implemented the changes and finalized the course without audio. Audio Recording: As we were unable to understand the audio in Spanish, we added instructions to the narrator to give a pause between sentences where synchronization was needed with on-screen content. We also added some notes for the technical words, to ensure that they were pronounced correctly. Course Development With Audio: Synchronizing audio with the on-screen text was a big challenge to the developer. With the help of transliterations and pauses in the audio, the developer synched the audio. We clarified with the translator wherever we had doubts. After sending the course with audio to the client, we were asked to make some changes. After implementing the changes, the course was approved by the client. By following the above steps, we developed a course in Spanish though we do not understand the language. Hope you find this post interesting. Do share your views. Related Posts5 Tips for Efficient Translation of Narration of Online Courses5 Steps for Excellent Translation of Online CoursesTips to Reduce Translation Costs of E-learning Courses - Free Presentation

It is well-known that setting up a Learning Management System (LMS) for training is a big challenge. However, organizations face another major challenge after setting up an LMS - providing support to learners, managers, instructors and administrators. The cost for setting up an LMS can be one time or annual, which will be the fixed cost. But, for support, there are various options and companies incur variable costs. You should select the best option which suits your need and should be cost effective. Here are some of the options we suggest to our customers. 1. In-house support We recommend this option to our customers as it costs less and the LMS can be managed by the internal staff itself. We provide detailed training on learner and administrator level support, which is included in the LMS package we offer and send the recorded training videos for future reference. It is easy to provide both learner and administrator level support by the internal staff because of the intuitive features of the LMS. For providing administrator level support, a person should have basic technical knowledge of browsers, courses and other technical issues. As we provide the customized version of an open-source LMS, we provide the entire source code of the LMS which can be hosted on the customer server. This gives full ownership and security to the customer with respect to the LMS as they don’t have to depend on us. 2. Outsource to an LMS vendor We provide an optional service of LMS administration support. We allocate dedicated resources 24 x 7 or for specific time zones. We charge based on the number of users and support activities effort. We provide log report of each ticket. We will allocate one technical person to handle all technical issues or administrator level queries and one non-technical person who takes care of all non-technical and learner level issues. 3. Outsource only administrator level LMS support: Another option is the combination of the first two options. Most of our customers have selected this option because they don’t have a technical team. In this option, the administrative team of the customer will handle all non-technical and learner level issues. They will be the first point of contact for learners. Resolution of technical issues and administrator level queries will be outsourced. As we provide LMS administration support as an optional service, we suggest all these options to our customers, so that they can select the right option based on their need or resource availability. Usually two dedicated resources are enough to provide LMS support for 10,000 users. Hope you find this post useful. Do share your views. Related PostsSeven Support Levels for LMS AdministrationReducing LMS Support Requests - Insider Secrets - Free PresentationGet Rid of Your LMS Administration Headaches

As you all know, scenarios are a great way to make e-learning interactive. Use scenarios when motivation to learn is low and application of concepts is important. Scenarios help in engaging your learners and reinforce the learning objectives you set for your e-learning course. Scenarios make content realistic and engaging, and this helps learn effectively. Scenarios are ideal to teach the learner a task he needs to perform at work. They work well as the learner can relate to something that he does on a day-to-day basis. One of our clients who is into the healthcare business wanted to train their new sales reps on products. After analyzing the content, we realized that the application of concepts is more important. Based on the content, we wanted to create highly interactive (level 3) slides supporting 3 audio voices; one for a sales rep, one for a doctor and one for the narrator who will first introduce the characters to the learner. When we shared this strategy with our client, it said, "We can’t pay so much for customization. Just create a static screen." As learning experts, we educated our client saying that the performance of learners is more important than mere completion of the course. We advised them to spend a little amount, so that we can create level 2 interactivities for the course. We used the same audio narrator for both characters by just modulating the audio. The client agreed for this strategy, and we started developing the courses. We reinforced the learning in the following ways. 1. At the end of the course, we added a clinical application slide with a scenario in which a sales representative communicates with a doctor. We have created a few situations that sales representatives might face in a clinic. The scenario enhances the representatives’ scientific and communication skills and improves the ability to handle queries and objections. 2. We have also given the application part of each topic of the content soon after the completion of the topic. You can make scenarios as complex or as simple as you want. It all depends on the topic you are presenting and what your learning objectives are. Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesImportance of the Audio Component in E-learningWhat Exactly Should an ID do to Develop an Effective E-learning Course?

According to Horizon Report, 2011, by 2015 about 80% of people will be accessing the Internet from mobile devices only; the main purpose being knowledge acquisition. So, quite naturally organizations are looking to harness this medium for training as indicated by a study by Maturity. The study states that 70% of organizations are planning to implement mobile learning in the next two years. Mobile learning is an effective training medium that enables users revisit essential concepts or knowledge from anywhere, through portable devices such as smartphones and tablets. So, how can you create an effective mobile learning course? Multimedia elements such as videos, animations and games are key features used to create mobile learning. How these features can be blended and used forms the multimedia strategy. Here are some tips to formulate a good multimedia strategy for mobile learning courses. Hope you find this post interesting. How would you create an m-learning course using multimedia strategies? We’d love to know? Related PostsMaking E-learning Courses Mobile: 5 Aspects to Consider - An InfographicHow to Create Section 508 E-learning Course Using FlashAre E-learning and M-learning the Same…?

Good training plays a key role in the success of medical representatives, as it helps them promote their companies’ drugs effectively. Many pharmaceutical firms train their sales representatives in classrooms. However, these instructor-led sessions are not very effective in training medical representatives, whose jobs involve extensive travel. Problems with traditional training programs Sales representatives who join pharmaceutical companies undergo training in classrooms for a month. Many drug manufacturers try to deliver large volumes of information in one go. When heavy content is presented to medical representatives, they find it hard to ‘absorb’ and retain the content even if it is interesting and important. When a sales representative overloads his working memory, his interest in the training program is reduced, and this decreases the potential outcomes. Training programs which span for a long time: Distract sales representatives from their actual work Increase cognitive load on the sales representatives Make it difficult to apply the learning to work Once they complete the training, they start promoting the company’s products in the market.  How can pharmaceutical sales reps overcome this problem? Well, bite-sized learning is the best solution to the problem as it helps them access information at their fingertips. Bite-sized learning  Bite sized learning is the best solution to avoid cognitive load on a sales representative as complex and lengthy courses can be broken down into small, digestible units. When learning outcomes are precise, sales reps can retain their knowledge for a long time. They can process information easily and learn what they are actually interested in. For example, a busy medical representative, who wants to meet a physician, can instantly go through the required module on his tablet while travelling. Bite-sized learning enhances the ability of the pharmaceutical sales rep to handle the physician’s queries effectively and convince the doctor to prescribe his company’s drugs. Advantages of this approach  Bite-sized learning is easier to understand, digest, remember, and recall. Bite-sized modules deliver just-in-time support through mobile apps. They increase the speed of learning as modules are small snippets. Bite-sized modules significantly cut down development costs. Medical reps can access the modules anywhere, anytime using their mobile devices. Medical reps can save lots of time by focusing on a particular task for longer periods without pausing. Thus, bite-sized learning avoids cognitive load and provides effective JIT support for better business and learning outcomes. Related Posts5 Training Programs for Medical Representatives - An Infographic5 Types of Training for Sales Representatives of Pharmaceutical Firms - An InfographicE-learning for Better Training to Sales People of Pharmaceutical Firms

Articulate Storyline is a rapid authoring tool used to develop e-learning courses. This tool can be used to develop courses in quick time, easily. Storyline can be used to create engaging online courses containing characters, which help learners understand the content easily. In this blog, I would like to share 5 very useful tips to use Storyline efficiently. 1. Master Slide: The Slide Master in Storyline is similar to the slide master in PowerPoint. It allows you to re-design the default themes and create a new master slide with colors, fonts, text and objects. Helps you save a lot of time as its look and feel is applied to all slides in your course automatically. This eliminates the need to design each slide ‘individually’. 2. Triggers:  Triggers are the most useful feature in Storyline. Triggers are to use and can be utilized to make slides interactive. Once we create a trigger in master slide, the trigger can be used in all slides. 3. Variables: Variables play an important role in computer programming because they enable programmers to write flexible programs. Variables in Articulate Storyline serve the same purpose. They eliminate the need to write lengthy programs. Furthermore, it is easy to create variables using this tool. 4. JavaScript: JavaScript can be used to enable advanced functionalities, which can be used to make the course interesting to the learners. For example, we can display the date and time in the course using JavaScript. Furthermore, we can create complex functionalities with small pieces of JavaScript code. 5. Web Objects:  If you want to call videos into your course from the You Tube, Vimeo and other websites, then you need to use web objects. For example, we used a web object to insert a video into an online course of one of our clients from his website. ­ Hope you find these tips useful. How do you use Articulate Storyline? We’d love to know. Related PostsRapid E-learning through Storyline Tool: 5 Infographics Sharing Key Features4 Tips for Developing E-learning Course Using Rapid Authoring ToolsHow to Combine Your Adobe Captivate Projects Into Single Course?

As modern businesses and corporates grow in complexity and reach, the existence, use, sharing, and disposal of data is also growing exponentially. Businesses have huge amounts of confidential data, pertaining to employees, competitors, and customers. The usage, disclosure, sharing, and disposal of this data must adhere to strict laws and rules laid down by regulatory authorities. Individual organizations also have stringent rules in place to ensure the appropriate handling of such sensitive data. Protecting and handling confidential data has come into the limelight with the electronic boom. With multiple copies of the documents being available in electronic format, it becomes difficult to monitor their usage. Companies that misuse or inadvertently leak confidential data face multifold consequences ranging from lost reputation to expensive lawsuits and fines worth millions of dollars. Sometimes, though aware of the rules, employees are not aware of the consequences of not adhering to them and end up ignoring the rules. Employees might have doubts regarding what they ought to do and what to avoid. Given this context, it becomes a paramount concern to educate employees on the importance of handling data and adhering to the regulatory rules. E-learning courses provide an excellent, interactive, engaging way to educate learners on regulatory compliance procedures and the consequences of non-compliance. The most effective ways in e-learning can be through the use of scenarios and gamification. Scenarios In e-learning courses, scenarios can be used very effectively to teach learners the Hows, Whys, Dos, and Don’ts, and What-ifs of information security. It is very important to frame scenarios that mirror situations that employees will actually come across in their daily work related to the usage, handling, and disposal of data. Ensure that the scenario is well-defined, and use proper, umambiguous options that will compel the learners to pause, reflect, and select the best alternative. Thus, scenarios can also be used to build their decision-making skills. In this approach, feedback is a vital element. It should be used to reinforce learning and not just convey whether the answer selected is correct/incorrect. Case studies In this approach, a single, often fictitious case (maybe of a company/team) is used in the background of the course. After a few elements are discussed in the course, the case comes to the forefront to check how learners apply the knowledge gained so far. Here again, it is crucial to keep the case as realistic as possible and weave it right through the course. It should test learners on all relevant issues and should contain all the information needed to take well-informed decisions. Apart from these approaches, e-learning can be used to educate employees on Information Security and its importance very effectively. A guided approach with an avatar can be used to take learners through the course. The avatar can also be used provide feedback on assessments and focus on the important topics. This approach works well in cultures where learners are comfortable with guided learning and don’t view it as an intrusion. Using appropriate interactivities, visuals, and quizzes, e-learning can make Information Security a very interesting topic to learners so that instead of seeing it as an unavoidable issue, they will be engaged in the subject and retain and apply all its compliance rules and regulations. So, what are you waiting for? Use e-learning to educate your employees on Information Security; dispel their doubts, safeguard your reputation, and ensure you protect all confidential information in your company to build credibility - which goes a long way in fostering long-lasting relationships. Related PostsMaking E-learning Courses Mobile: 5 Aspects to Consider - An InfographicAdvantages of Curriculum Based E-learning DevelopmentHow Can You Train Employees On The New European Data Protection Directive?

Today, many organizations are looking forward to leverage iPads for delivering on-demand training to their employees. The primary reason for this shift from desktops or laptops to iPads is the extensive use of these devices, in all aspects of our everyday lives. Learners no longer wish to carry "heavy" laptops or remain confined to their desks. According to the Chitika Insights Report, in 2014, 77% of mobile web traffic from tablets came from iPads. The International Data Corporation (IDC) stated that in the first quarter of 2015, 12.6 million iPads were shipped, representing 26.8% of the tablet market. Companies such as Abbott Laboratories, Medtronic Inc. and Boston Scientific Corp are investing in iPads for delivering on-demand learning to their sales reps (Source: Wall Street Journal article). Given this trend, to fully capitalize on this opportunity, authoring tool manufacturers are coming up with power packed tools, which can assist in creating interactive courses compatible with iPads with the least effort. Today, I will share information about a few tools with you. Articulate Storyline 2  The brand new version of Storyline is a wonderful tool to develop iPad-compatible courses. It comes with Articulate Mobile Player (AMP), which ensures excellent experiences for learners on mobile devices. AMP is a native iOS app and is also available in an Android version. Our client, a leading medical equipment manufacturing company wanted to train its employees on its purchasing process. The client identified that most of its employees use iPads extensively and thus wanted to develop courses which can be accessed on these devices. We used Articulate Storyline to develop the course as it comes with useful default features, interactivities and pre-defined screen templates that enable us to create effective courses in quick time. The course was published to Articulate Mobile Player (AMP)to provide better learning experience. Adobe Captivate 8  Captivate 8 can be used to create responsive online courses that can be accessed on all devices, including mobiles and desktop computers. It is power-packed with responsive themes that help deliver courses which can be accessed seamlessly on all devices irrespective of the size of their screens. This is possible as the position and the range of the size of the objects in the course can be specified according to the size of the screen. It also allows you to include various interactivities such as drag-and-drop and learning games for the iPad. A multinational organization wanted us to develop an e-learning course to train their employees on its supply chain process. The client specified that the course should be interactive and compatible with the iPad. We used Captivate 8 for this project, as it enables the development of interactive and learner-centric courses that are rich in graphics. We used various features of Captivate 8 such as advanced actions, in-built enhanced interactions library and quizzes to develop the course. Lectora Inspire 12  Lectora Inspire 12 comes with templates which are very useful to create courses for the iPad in quick time. This tool is ideal for converting text-heavy content into highly effective iPad-compatible courses. It also allows us to convert audio and videos into MP3 or MP4 format providing better mobile learning experiences. A leading provider of financial and insurance services in Australia wanted to provide courses as references to its employees to help them succeed as leaders. The organization had existing classroom training materials and asked us to convert them into engaging learning resources which could be accessed seamlessly on the iPad. We used Lectora to develop the course. We utilized the tool’s features such as in-built templates and applications to create interactivities and published the courses to HTML5 to deliver them seamlessly on different devices, irrespective of their platform. ISpring Suite 7.1  ISpring Suite 7.1 comes with an in-built app called iSpring viewer which helps deliver good learning experiences on iPads and Android devices. This tool is a PowerPoint add-in and helps convert PowerPoint presentations into iPad-compatible courses quickly. It preserves the animations and transitions used in the presentation after the conversion. It comes with a wide variety of publishing options such as HTML5, Flash, and .exe formats. Our client, a leading electronic goods manufacturing organization wanted to train its employees, on performance management, through iPad-compatible e-learning courses. The client had several PowerPoint presentations and wanted to convert them into iPad-compatible courses. We selected iSpring Presenter 7 for the conversion, to preserve the design effects. We added interactivities and incorporated gamified assessments to engage the learner, and then, published the courses to HTML5, a format which is compatible with iPad, creating excellent resources for the client. The iPad is much more than a piece of hardware. These were some of our client stories. Hope you find this post informative. There are many more tools which can be used to develop iPad-compatible courses. Do share them if you wish to add to the list. Related PostsWhy Healthcare Industry is Moving to iPads?How to Create Section 508 E-learning Course Using FlashHow to Add and Sync Closed Captions/Subtitles in Lectora?

The purpose of a business is to create a customer. - Peter Drucker It is well-known that effective sales training goes a long way in enhancing the revenues of a company. But, with the marketplace flooded with thousands of products, how can today’s salesperson be trained efficiently? How can sales teams be provided with the needed knowledge and skills required to tackle ever-changing market conditions? Well, firms need to shift their sales trainings online. Here is an info-graphic that lists the benefits of using e-learning to train sales personnel. Hope you liked this post. How do you train your salespeople? Do share with us. Related PostsWhy E-learning for Retail Employees - Five Reasons - An InfographicWhy do You Need to Go Beyond ‘E-learning Development Cost Per Hour’?3 Tips to Create Successful Product Sales Training Content - An Infographic

E-learning translations play a key role in training global workforce. But, it is very important to produce high quality online course translations within the budget. Here, I would like to share a few very useful tips to prevent e-learning translation cost overruns. Finalize the English Version of the Course First: Before getting started with the translation, finalize the English version of the e-learning course. This will go a long way in ensuring a good translation of the online course. Also, it helps avoid re-work and extra expenditure. Create a Translation Template: Once the English version of the e-learning course is finalized, you need to create a translation template which can be used to send the course to the translator. The template should include the on-screen text, audio script and text on images if any. Also, we should include resources (MS-Word and/or PDF documents), if needed. It is very important that the template is thoroughly checked for quality and you need to make sure that no e-learning course content is missing. This step is required for translation of courses developed using Flash and other tools which do not provide an option to export the learning content. If the English version of the course is developed by using Articulate Storyline/ Adobe Captivate, we can export the entire content as an XML file and send it directly to the translator. If the course is developed using Articulate Studio/ Adobe Presenter, we can send the PowerPoint presentation directly to the translator. Translate the Content in the Template: While sending the template for translation, we should provide the English version of the e-learning course along with required reference materials if any. We should specify the languages into which the course needs to be translated. It is also necessary to specify the standard of the language. For example, if we need to get the English version of the course into Chinese, we need to specify whether we require the course to be translated into Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese. Also, we should provide notes to the translator for difficult/ technical terms, and we can consult the client if we need any clarifications in this regard. It is necessary to provide adequate time to the translator to ensure a high quality translation of the online course. Proofread the Template: Before developing translation e-learning course in the authoring tool, the template document should be proofread by a language/subject-matter expert. This helps avoid re-work at a later stage. Once you get the final proofread templates, pass them to the translator so that he will come to know of the corrections. He can save them in the memory of his translation tool and use the information for future projects and improve the quality of translations. Translate the Course: Once the proofreader has approved the translation templates, you can start developing translation of the e-learning course in the authoring tool. Make sure you are using the final proofread templates only for the translation. Translate the text on the images, wherever needed. Audio recording: Recoding audio in languages other than English is expensive. So, it is very important that we avoid re-recordings to the extent possible. Before recording the audio, we should send samples of narrators’ work to the proofreader/ client to select the right narrator for the course. Also, provide pronunciation notes to avoid wrong pronunciation of words. Make sure you do not miss any small text/paragraph which has audio. Send the audio script and pronunciation notes to the selected narrator for recording. By following these steps, we can avoid re-work and extra expenditure on e-learning translations. Hope you find this blog informative. Do share your thoughts. Related Posts3 Tips to Reduce Translation Cost and Time in E-learning - An InfographicWhy Do You Need to Translate Your eLearning Courses?5 Tips for Efficient Translation of Narration of Online Courses

E-learning uses technology to make learning easy. The instructors, developers and technology experts need to function in sync with each other to bring about an effective e-learning course. But, the first and the foremost aspect is to understand the clients and their requirements. This involves analyzing the training objectives by consulting the client. The analysis helps to identify the clients’ requirements in terms of content, the time lines, learning experiences etc. Analysis also determines the knowledge and skill gaps that need to be bridged. It is during the initial meeting with clients that we get to understand how the course needs to be developed; keeping in mind the benefits that client visualizes for their learners. This helps design an effective e-learning course with the desired objective. Here are a set of questions that may be considered to kick start a meeting with the clients. If you have more to add, please share your comments in the column. Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning Courses4 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Using Visual Elements in E-learningGuidelines to Design Matching Questions in E-learning Assessments [Infographic]

It is well-said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Proper use of images in an e-learning course goes a long way in enhancing its effectiveness. It complements the on-screen text and reduces the cognitive load. Good images help communicate the intended message to the learner efficiently and are very useful to engage the learner. But, how can you make the best use of images in your online course? What are the things you need to remember when you incorporate visual elements in your e-learning course? Here is an info-graphic that shares 4 very useful tips. Hope you find this post interesting. How do you use images in your online courses? We’d love to know. Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesTypes of Visuals and Their Functions in E-learning [Infographic]4 Important Aspects of Audio Narration in E-learning Courses - An Infographic

In my previous blogs, I have shared how we can develop courses, where learners are able to email the trainer, using JavaScript. But, in these courses, we enter the email ID that is present only inside of the JavaScript. Here, I would like to explain how the learner can mail to the email ID of his choice. He enters an email in a text box and the text box should be validated. The learner should be restricted to enter the email ID only in the provided text box. Here are the steps to validate a textbox. Step1: Insert a Text Entry Field. When we insert a text entry field, the TextEntry variable will be created automatically. Here, we want to validate this text entry field where user must enter only email IDs.  Step2: Create a Boolean variable Validate with the default value "False". Step3: Rename the variable "TextEntry" as "Email" for our convenience. Step4: Add a trigger such that "Adjust variable Validate to false when the slide timeline starts." Step5: This is an important step. Here, we can execute the JavaScript. Add a trigger as "Execute JavaScript when Control loses focus on TextEntry Add the below code in the JavaScript window. var check = /^\w+([-+.’]\w+)*@\w+([-.]\w+)*\.\w+([-.]\w+)*$/; var player = GetPlayer(); var email=player.GetVar("TextEntry");  var Validate=false; if (check.test(email)) { var Validate=true; } else { var Validate=false; } player.SetVar("Validate",Validate);  Step6: Now insert a button named "Submit", and add trigger such that "Jump to next slide when user clicks the "Submit" button" on a condition Validate is equal to "True" Step7: Now, publish your course and check the output. Hope you find this blog useful. Do share your views. Related PostsPosting an E-mail Using JavaScript in Articulate StorylineIntegrating Twitter in An Online course Developed in Articulate StorylineRapid E-learning through Storyline Tool: 5 Infographics Sharing Key Features

Mobile Learning is the availability of continuous and instant wireless communication without having to be restricted to a fixed place to seek knowledge. - Mike Sharples (Father of mobile learning) Why mLearning? According to a Morgan Stanley Research, 90% of the world population has access to a mobile telephone device. According to a report released by Forrester on mobile adoption, 66% of employees now use 2 or more devices including desktops, smartphones and tablets at work. Organizations today are dealing with increased and tough competition and believe that a competitive workforce is the key to success. To increase efficiencies in businesses and maintain the same zeal among the workforce, organizations are leveraging technology for knowledge transfer and investing more into training. 54% of organizations are now focusing on developing a comprehensive policy to support employees bringing their own devices for learning. The above trends indicate it’s time for organizations to move from traditional e-learning to m-learning. Today, I would like to list 5 important steps to initiate m-learning, for organizations who wish to climb the mobile learning bandwagon. 5 key steps to kick-start m-learning Step 1: Identify the requirement - In order to identify your requirement, ask the following questions. Who are the people that would benefit from m-learning? How would they benefit from it? What is the learning material available? What is the best way to present the material? It is important to identify whether m-learning can support existing training methods. Step 2: Select the devices - Organizations have two options - provide identical similar devices to employees or follow the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy which encourages employees to bring their own mobile devices. Each option has its pros and cons. Let us see what they are. 1. Supplying Company Owned Devices A major advantage of providing devices to employees is that security and compatibility issues can be avoided. On the flip side, the organization will incur considerable expenditure on the purchase and maintenance of devices. Moreover, some employees may not find using multiple devices to be convenient. 2. BYOD Policy The main benefit of following the BYOD policy is that organizations need not pay for mobile devices. Furthermore, employees can learn better on their own devices. But, when employees use their own devices, problems such as security issues, data leakage, and compatibility issues may crop up. Learners of an organization following the BYOD policy can access the organization’s resources using their personal mobile devices at the workplace. Many firms are adopting this policy, as it is more cost-effective. Step 3: Design for the small screen -This step involves two major aspects. 1. Learning design: You can use various media and instructional elements to create an effective learning design. Podcasts could be used to deliver key messages from senior managers or the CEO as part of information security, compliance, change management and other training programs. Scenarios or case studies work well for compliance, safety training or workplace harassment prevention courses. Videos would be beneficial to demonstrate the working of a process, pieces of equipment or machinery. 2. Visual design: When formulating a visual design strategy for m-learning courses, you need to consider these aspects. How learners access them: The learners may access the courses with one hand or use the thumb for navigation. Also, they may be standing or moving in a train or a bus while using their mobile devices. Different screen sizes: When you want to launch m-learning, you need to understand that devices come in different sizes. For example, different tablets and smart-phones come in different sizes. Toggle features: Features such as touch, swipe and zoom have changed the way users interact with devices. While designing the interface, we have to take these features into consideration. Auto-rotation: This feature of mobile devices allows learners to use them both vertically and horizontally. Course interface needs to be designed keeping this in mind to ensure uniformity of design. Bandwidth or network access: What is the bandwidth available to users when they use their mobiles for learning? Multimedia features such as video animations need to be designed accordingly. Step 4: Select the right development tool: In this step, you need to choose one of these two options. 1. Option 1: Using native features of HTML5, CSS3, and Java Script, you can create online courses by designing your own framework for mobile compatible. 2. Option 2: Development of learning-learning courses has been simplified considerably, with the advent of rapid authoring tools. Currently, latest versions of these authoring tools are able to publish courses to HTML5 making them compatible with most devices. Adobe Captivate 8, Articulate Storyline and Lectora Inspire are some of the well-known rapid authoring tools. Step 5: Decide on the delivery method : Companies have two options to deliver their m-learning courses. Use a Learning Management System (LMS) which is compatible with all mobile devices and can be used to track the data of their learners who access m-learning courses on various devices. Create and set up their own apps store similar to Apple Store or Google Play, where users can download the course. Technology has revolutionized the way we work and learn, and the corporate training world is chanting the mobile mantra. What do you think? 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In the storyboard, we give a rough idea of how the course should look like. We decide how each slide of the course should be represented. Based on all these ideas, the course is developed and our ideas are given life. When we receive the course after development, it is essential to review it thoroughly and make sure there are no errors in the course. When reviewing the course, there is always a chance that we may forget to check a few things. To avoid such mistakes, it is preferable to have a checklist ready to remind us if we forget to check something in the review. For an error free course, here is a list of seven common things that need to be checked in every course. 1. Slide titles and page numbers We need to ensure that every slide has a unique title, so that the title can be replicated in the menu and the learner can access it easily. Make sure the slide titles are matched with the storyboard. The second thing to check is whether the slide numbers are given properly or not. This helps the learner assess the duration of the course. 2. Clear graphics and their position  Graphics play a vital role in an e-learning course. We need to make sure the graphics in the course are not skewed. High resolution graphics must be used in the course. The next thing to check is whether they are placed in the proper position throughout the course. To grab the learner’s attention, it is advisable to place the graphics always on the right side of the slide. 3. Font and color consistency  We need to check whether the font is clear and readable. The same font must be used throughout the course, in order to maintain consistency. To highlight the main points on the screen, we can use either bold or italicized text or show the text in a different color. The colors used in the course must be same throughout the entire course. For example, for an interactivity used in the course, if you use blue, navy blue and grey to show the normal, hover and visited states respectively, then the same must be used in the entire course. 4. White spaces and unnecessary gaps  The extra spaces or white spaces in a course would irritate a learner. So, it is essential to check and remove white spaces or extra spaces in the slide. Sometimes, there may be a ‘double space’ between two words which must be removed. After every sentence, a specified amount of space must be given, and this must be consistently adopted throughout the course. 5. Functionality and navigation  Functionality and navigation are the most important aspects of a course review. We need to check whether all the clickable elements of the course are working appropriately and show the right content on click. All the buttons, links etc. must be checked whether they are working properly or not. Regarding navigation, it should be clearly understood and must be free to use. 6. Check thoroughly with the storyboard  The storyboard is the base of any course. So, make sure that the course is checked in accordance with the storyboard. The entire text, graphics, titles etc. from the storyboard must be there as they are in the course. 7. Abide by the standards of the project  As instructional designers, we may be working on different projects that belong to different clients. Every client may have different standards that they follow in their organization. So, we need to be clear about such standards and make sure that they are followed in the course. For example, one of our clients does not want us to show numbers preceding with zero ("01", "02", "03"), and they wanted them to be shown as only "1", "2", "3" and so on. This was their standard of using numbers in their organization. For an error-free course, these 7 things must be checked invariably. I hope you find this checklist useful. Please do share your ideas on it. Related PostsChecklist for QA Process at the Storyboard stageInstructional Design Review for Quality eLearning4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning Courses

E-learning doesn’t just "happen"! It requires careful planning and implementation. - Anonymous How can you harness the power of the online training medium? What does it take to create good e-learning courses that meet your training needs effectively? Well, you need to follow a proper process to make high quality online courses. A well-defined e-learning development process comprises five phases viz. analysis, design, development, review and deployment. Of these, the design phase is the most critical. Here is an info-graphic that explains the significance of this phase in e-learning development. Hope you find this post interesting. How do you develop e-learning courses? We’d love to know. Related Posts6 Phases of an Effective Instructional Design Process [Infographic]10 Reasons for High Dropout Rates in Online Learning Courses [Infographic]Instructional Design Review for Quality eLearning

Now-a-days many organizations, institutions and even universities are using e-learning because it is cost effective compared to traditional training. Most small and big enterprises have begun to see the benefits of moving from classroom training to online training. Training managers are recognizing the value of e-learning and adopting the same. Here are the top five reasons why organizations need to adopt eLearning. 1. It’s adaptable: The major problem through DVDs and training materials is that once they are complete, they cannot be easily changed. If it is an online system, changes can be made easily with a few modifications. This will reduce the time required to finalize your training programs. It also makes editing existing courses easy, thereby minimizing the delay. 2. Training updates - Quick and Convenient:  Online training updates are simple and straight forward. If you would like to update your company’s policies and need to inform your employees, simply create an online module, and add it to the LMS and make it mandatory to go through the module. 3. Content deployment - Rapidly:  Online training can be delivered quickly, so that learners are able to access new information immediately. Physical training material required longer developmental time and employees cannot carry them along at all times. However, content available online can be access easily. All you need to do is upload your materials and offer employees the access to the information online. 4. Easy access:  The beauty of eLearning is that learners can access their training from any place, at any time. Especially if you are a training manager with a large group of employees, contract workers and shift timings you are going to find it is very difficult to train them all at the same time. Even when you arrange the training, someone may have a project deadline, some others may be ill and you may have to conduct a separate training session for them. As training managers if you arrange a training program globally then all the employees or contract workers can complete their training within the given time frame. Some learners wish to complete their training at home, eLearning makes this possible. 5. Engaging learners: It is common knowledge that effective learner engagement is vital to the success of a training program. When there are more number of students in a class, some may not be able to actively participate in the learning process. This shortcoming can be overcome through e-learning. Online courses are self-paced and the learner can go through them as many times as he wants and learn the concepts thoroughly. Furthermore, we can make the course interesting by including animations, quizzes, and games. So these are the top five reasons why training managers are adopting e-learning. What do you think? Related Posts10 Questions to Ask Your Stakeholders About the Target Audience: A Picto-BlogInformation Security - Why Does This Sensitive Topic Need E-learning?What are The Criteria for Selecting An LMS?

Welcome to today’s blog post. There are many learning theories and models followed in the training industry depending on the need and circumstances. Each one of these begins with an analysis phase. This phase demands thorough understanding of the training need and the proposed target audiences that undergo the training. Understanding your target audience stands as a strong foundation to building a well acknowledged course. In this post, we will discuss a few questions that you need to ask your stakeholders regarding the target audience and also understand the significance of each of them. 1. How old are they? 2. What is the learner’s educational background? 3. What is the learner’s English language competency level? 4. What is the learner’s cultural background? 5. What is the learner’s experience level with e-learning? 6. What is the learner’s computer literacy level? 7. What are the current motivational levels of the learner? Is the learner aware of the importance of the training to his job? 8. What is the gender composition of the target audience? 9. What do you want your learners to do after completing the course? 10. How familiar is the learner with the subject? Getting the answers to these questions during the initial stages of development is vital to develop the right course with the right content. This will help you focus on the making your course a perfect solution for your learners. It will perfectly align your course objectives with the performance goal of the learner. Have any more questions to add to this list? Please feel free to leave your comments in the section below. Happy reading!! Related PostsSmart Questions to Evaluate Product Knowledge of Medical Representatives5 Compelling Reasons Why Organizations Need E-learningInformation Security - Why Does This Sensitive Topic Need E-learning?

Jim is assigned an online course developed using Articulate Storyline. The course was published to HTML5, and when he tried to open the same on his iPad, he saw a ‘transitional’ page with a play button, before the course was fully loaded. Jim wondered why the page appeared and contacted his training manager Dick. Dick asked his e-learning developer to hide the page. Many learners face the same experience while launching HTML5-based courses on their iPads. This is because iOS does not support HTML5 autoplay attributes for media (audio and video) tags. Webpages with audio or video elements cannot be self-launched without user interaction. For example, consider this page with an HTML5. This page contains which is played automatically when the course is opened on a PC. But, when a learner opens the course in an iPad, he has to play it manually. Here are the steps to overcome this problem.  1. First, publish your course. 2.  3. Then, search for the file named player_compiled.js (for latest version) orstoryline_compiled.js (for older version) in the mobile folder and open it in an HTML editor. 4.  5. Search for the piece of the code highlighted in the screenshot below, in the editor,and copy it. 6.  7. Insert the piece of code with after the textsee below screen"player.revealPostInterstitial();". 8. Save the changes and close the editor. 9. Now launch the course on an iPad. The course opens directly without the‘Play’ button page. Note You are editing the published HTML5 file. So, you need to make this change after publishing each time. Many a time, e-learning developers use an introductory video in their online courses. This may slow down the loading of the course as the entire video has to be buffered. This way, you can disable the ‘Play’ button which appears after launching the course on an iPad. Hope you find this post useful. Did you face any problems while accessing courses on iPads? Related PostsHow to Create Section 508 E-learning Course Using FlashRapid E-learning through Storyline Tool: 5 Infographics Sharing Key FeaturesHow to Combine Your Adobe Captivate Projects Into Single Course?

Using scenarios in online training programs is a great way to make learning more effective and engaging. Scenarios help learners grasp the subject at a deeper level. Learners do not just read but participate by placing themselves "in"a particular situation and decide the right course of action to be taken. Thus, scenarios help transform theoretical content into a practical, lively training material. One of our clients wanted to impart product training to his sales and marketing staff. I will now share on how we used scenarios to make the training very interesting. 1. Understand the core objective and learners: Understanding the learner and the subject is very important. Based on the objectives of the learning and learners, a scenario can be created perfectly. We were asked to create a product training program for the sales and marketing staff of our client, so that they are able to do their jobs effectively.  So, we realized that it was necessary for the learner to understand the product and its features very clearly, so that he can sell the product efficiently. 2. Understand the subject and content: To design a scenario, it is very important to understand what the content explains. Until the content is clear, the scenario should not be decided on. To do this, we analyzed the content thoroughly and discussed our doubts with the SMEs. We then had a clear picture in our mind about the product, its advantages, its use to the customer etc.  We decided to make the scenario in such a way that the learner will know the problems faced by the customer and be able provide solutions to the problems. 3. Use open-ended questions: Questions can also be used for purposes other than assessing the learner’s knowledge. They can also be used to help the learner take a decision. For instance, asking open-ended questions like "What do you think Laura should do in this situation?" and suggesting a few options will give the learner a chance to relate the scenario with real life consequences. Based on the answers selected by the learner, he can be given feedback. Thus we can enable him to gain knowledge and apply it.  We made a list of problems, the customers faced and the solution provided by the product. And then prepared a few scenarios and used open-ended questions. 4. Use simple scenarios: Anything which is too messy or confusing can never give information, but can give only frustration. The learner needs to focus only on one thing at a time. So, the scenario should be as simple as possible, and impart knowledge that helps him in achieving his goals. A scenario should not be difficult to understand, but at the same time challenge the learner to find a solution to the problem. This is how we ended up making a real-life scenario where the learner finds a sales representative interacting with his customers to know their problems and sell his products. Hope you find this post interesting. Do share your views. Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesDeveloping Effective E-learning Courses: 4 Questions You Need to Ask Your-self4 Principles to Design Learner Centric E-Learning Courses - An Infographic

It is common knowledge that quizzes are used extensively in assessments of online courses. So, it is essential that you frame good quiz questions. But, how can you create a good quiz question? What are the aspects you need to consider to churn out effective questions that evaluate your learners’ knowledge efficiently? Well, you need to understand the components of a quiz question and know how to build them effectively. A quiz question is made up of 4 parts - question stem, options-answers, options-distracters and feedback. Here is an info-graphic which shares a few tips to develop effective components of a quiz question. Hope you find the post interesting. How do you frame quiz questions for your online courses? We’d love to know. Related Posts5 Proven Tips to Frame Good Questions in E-learning Assessments [Infographic]Why Multi-select Questions Work in E-learning Assessments [Infographic]4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning Courses

According to a report published on chitika.com, iPads account for 77% of the web traffic generated through tablet devices. The widespread use of iPads has opened new vistas in online training. Today, learners can conveniently access e-learning courses whenever and wherever they want. Are you too planning to join the iPad bandwagon? Do you wish to make the best use of this device from Apple to train your people? Then, you need to download the eBook Unleashing the Power of iPads and Other Tablets in E-learning to get all the information you need to harness the full learning potential of this tablet device. Related PostsHow to Convert PowerPoint Presentations to Interactive E-learning Courses: Free E-book5 Questions you Need to Ask Before Designing a Course for the iPad116 Sure-fire E-learning Tips from the Experts in Online Training - Free eBook

In most cases, we see that a one word feedback is provided for the learner’s responses to questions in assessments of online courses - Correct or Incorrect. The feedback provided for all right responses is the same. Similarly, a common feedback is provided for all wrong answers. But, we can provide separate feedback for each option to a question. The main advantage of providing ‘individualized’ feedback is that the learning is reinforced effectively. Furthermore, as the feedback for each option is different, we need not add too much of content. Recently, I was tasked with developing an assessment for a course, using Articulate Storyline, which comprised Multiple Choice Questions. Each of these questions had three options, and the feedback for each of these options is different from the others. Here are the steps that I followed to meet the requirement. Step1: Insert the MultipleChoice slide. Step2: Enter aquestion and itsoptions. Step3: By editing the fields below, you can provide separate feedback for and assign ‘individual’ scores toeach option. Step4: By default, we can see the option By Question, is selected in the dropdown Feedback. I change it to By Choice. Step5: By selecting By Choice, various fields with the Morebutton are added to provide separate feedback for each option. Step6: In this step. I provide‘individualized’ feedback for each option. How to insert feedback for the first option: When you click the More button, the Question Level Feedbackwindow is opened. Enter the feedback text then click OK. You can also add the related audio for each feedback. The text highlighted in blue is the feedback for first option.  How to insert feedback for the second option: You can add the feedback for the second option in the same way you added for the first.The text highlighted in blue is the feedback for second option.  How to insert feedback for the third option: You can add the feedback for the third option in the same way you added for the first and second.The text highlighted in blue is the feedback for third option.  Step7: After entering all the feedback, Save & Close the question window. Finally, the output for each option is as follows. Hope you find this blog useful. How do you provide feedback to questions in assessments? We’d love to know. Related PostsRapid E-learning through Storyline Tool: 5 Infographics Sharing Key FeaturesHow to Combine Your Adobe Captivate Projects Into Single Course?Providing Custom Feedback in Articulate Storyline for Effective Learning