The Rapid E-Learning Blog shares practical tips and tricks to help you become a rapid elearning pro.
It is hosted by Tom Kuhlmann who has over 15 years of hands-on experience in the training industry and currently runs the community at Articulate.
I love all of the web apps and cool sites that pop up on the Internet. Many of them are cool in a gadgety way but not always practical; but they are fun to play with. And then there are some that are practical. For example, I use the social bookmarking tool, Diigo, quite a [...]
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I was moving some files around the other day and found a tabbed PowerPoint template I started working on about a year ago. So I finished it up and am giving it away today. Feel free to use it as you wish.
I like making these PowerPoint templates because it’s a good way to practice production [...]
I’m intrigued by some of the reality television shows. I don’t care much for the trashy ones, but the ones where there are skilled people competing are interesting. I usually catch snippets of Project Runway or Top Chef since those are two of my wife’s favorites.
As can be expected, these shows typically have colorful characters [...]
I’m no audio engineer. And odds are that neither are you. So I won’t get into all of the nitty gritty details of audio editing. If you want more details, one of the community MVPs shared some tips on how to improve your audio quality. It’s a good post and worthy reading.
Today I want [...]
At the recent ASTD conference, I was asked how to create engaging elearning. If you’ve been reading the Rapid E-Learning Blog for a while, then you know I’ve tackled this subject before. I decided to pull ten ideas that are fundamental to building good elearning courses.
Rule 1: Don’t Create the Course
This is probably not [...]
Many of the blog’s subscribers are new to elearning. Because of this I get a lot of questions and many of them are similar. So today I’m going to do a recap of a few of the more common questions.
What mic I use is the most frequent question I get. There are all sorts [...]
It would be great if elearning was just about learning and building the perfect course. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Much of your success hinges less on the actual course and more on the process you go through to create it. And much of that centers on the relationship you have with your [...]
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LINGOS is a consortium of over 45 international humanitarian aid organizations. The LINGOs mission is to provide learning technologies and courses to the member organizations.
Last December, LINGOS announced the eLearning Global Giveback Competition. It was an opportunity for the elearning community to help fill the gap for those organizations that lacked some resources. And the [...]
Rapid elearning tools generally fall into one of two groups: freeform and form-based authoring.
PowerPoint-to-Flash publishing is freeform. You start with a blank slide and then build your structure and interactivity. And the other type of tool is form-based where the application has a pre-designed structure and the developer only needs to add content like text, narration, and multimedia. Hit publish and you have clean, professional output.
Last week I was at the Learning Solutions Conference in Orlando and got to spend a few minutes with my mentor, Dr. Werner Oppelbaumer. I asked him for a quick interview to share what’s happening in his world of elearning and business in general.
The last time we talked, you were working on some new [...]
It’s amazing how fresh eyes can find things you might have overlooked during production. So, before launching your elearning course, it’s a good idea to have others review it. You want to discover any hidden issues before the big launch.
Most of the times you find simple issues like typos or broken links. However, there are times where you run up against larger technical issues. In either case, it’s good to expose those issues prior to releasing the course for consumption, where you could be exposed to ridicule, and possibly tarred and feathered.
People are always asking me about how to get better at building elearning courses. They want to know which books to read, which classes to take, which school to go to, etc. It’s like they’re walking around with these big fat wallets wanting to spend money.
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Contrast is a key part of your course design. In fact, it’s one of the foundational principles in visual design. Many people know the acronym, CRAP (or CARP if you’re an ichthyolatrist) which stands for: contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. They are the four essential design elements.
Contrast allows you to distinguish the content on the screen. It helps the learner navigate what’s there, discern relationships, and determine what’s most important. There are a lot of ways to create contrast. Let’s look at a few simple examples.
When we’re new and just getting started with elearning, we need templates and project plans to guide us. On the other hand, experienced developers rely less on those resources because they have more experience and a deeper understanding of what it takes to create an elearning course.
Think of it like driving around town. When I first moved to town, I needed a map. But today, I don’t use a map. In fact, even when I look for streets with which I’m unfamiliar, I can avoid using a map because I have a big picture understanding of the town’s layout and crossroads.
In a previous post, I shared some free handwritten fonts. Today, we'll explore how you might use them in your elearning courses.
We already looked at how fonts are more than the text you read. As a graphic element, they convey meaning and play a role in the message you communicate.
E-learning is hot. And for good reason. If done right, it can produce great results by decreasing costs and improving performance. Also, unlike a one time classroom session, the elearning course is available for others. This includes the static elearning course as well as any ongoing conversations in networked communities.
Original postThere’s a lot of conversation about social media. And for good reason. The tools let you connect with peers who share common interests. It’s also a great way to build a personal learning network. For example, if you build rapid elearning courses with Articulate products there are all sorts of resources available to you: ...
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I find that most rapid elearning developers are working by themselves or with very small teams. In those situations, their organizations don’t offer a lot of support to learn more about elearning. Typically, there’s no access to more experienced developers or others who can help them grow as an elearning developers.
On top of that, [...]
It’s hard to believe that it’s almost 2010. I think the emergency supplies in my Y2K kit have finally gone bad. 2009 zipped by so fast, that I’m still writing 2008 on my checks. Do people still write checks?
Original postI love the holidays and this time of year. It’s a season focused on hope; and with the New Year, a time for change. Now, here’s an opportunity that is appropriate for this time of year.
Original postA manager I know works for a multibillion dollar company that has its own elearning group. However, when she needs to train her staff of about 200, she has no access to the elearning group’s resources. Without rapid elearning tools, she’d be hard pressed to offer her team the benefits of online learning. However, with rapid elearning tools she’s gone from no elearning to dozens of quick hit elearning courses.
Original postI get a lot of questions about whether or not to add background music to elearning courses. That’s like answering whether or not you should put a blue square in your course. If the blue square makes it a better course, “Yes.” If not, then get rid of the square. The same is true for [...]
Original postThere's a lot of debate about interactivity in elearning. You have some people who think elearning is not valid unless it has a high level of interactivity. Anything that’s not interactive is just a "boring click-and-read course." On the other hand, there are a lot of people who equate interactivity with nonsensical games.
Original postManaging elearning projects requires good communication between the instructional designers and subject matter experts. In most cases, this communication happens via email. Thus, better email communication ultimately leads to better project management, which most likely means better elearning courses.
Original postSometimes we get so busy that we lose sight of the great resources available to us. It’s not until you pull your head up from your desk and look around that you realize what’s available. That’s why it’s important to be connected to other people who have similar interests or do similar work. You’ll learn from them and have access to all sorts of information. If you think about it, there’s really not much that you know (if anything) that you didn’t learn from someone else or because of someone else.
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