Boredom-Proofing Learning Content: Making Learning Content Compelling October 9, 2009
Posted by Karen Lubrecht in Engaging e-Learners, e-SIG Presentations.Tags: desiging instruction, e-learning, instructional design
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Click here to view the recording. Use the slider in the lower left to skip the intro and jump to the 12-minute marker where Patti’s presentation begins, and use the slider in the lower right to turn up the volume.
Download the handouts, handout 1 , notes (1.7 MB pdf) and handout 2 , slide deck, (2.2 MB pdf), handout 3 , You’re Not In Kansas Anymore (3.6 MB pdf) and handout 4, Creating Content (28 KB pdf), before attending!
Compelling content, whether in an advertisement, story, video, greeting card, or billboard grabs and holds attention. Compelling content influences thoughts and behavior (and make no mistake, it is often written to do just that). Learning content, on the other hand, may be accurate, clear, and concise (all good stuff), but it is rarely compelling. How do we know? Easy. (Prepare yourself. This might pinch.) We (too often) force, compel, or push learners to “do” the course, and if we’re brutally honest, that’s about as compelling as taking out the trash. Not horrible, but far from gripping.
Shouldn’t learning materials grab and hold attention and influence thoughts and behavior? Well, yeah. (Duh.) Patti has been studying marketing content research (since that type of content is specifically designed to grab attention and influence thoughts and behavior) and analyzing the methods and techniques they use. Participants in the session will have the opportunity to
- explore how human attention and memory favors certain kinds of content over others.
- analyze techniques used by marketing and other content writers that capitalize on human attention and memory.
- consider how to use these techniques to make learning content more compelling.
Date: October 15, 2009
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Where: Online via iLinc – Click here to test your system
Cost: Free for ASTD Greater Philadelphia Chapter members. Non-members may attend two meetings before being asked to join the chapter.
About our Presenter:
Patti Shank, PhD, CPT is the president of Learning Peaks LLC, an internationally recognized instructional design consulting firm that provides performance and design consulting and training and performance support solutions. She is listed in Who`s Who in Instructional Technology and is an often-requested speaker at training and instructional technology conferences. Patti is quoted frequently in training publications and is the co-author of Making Sense of Online Learning (Pfeiffer, 2004), editor of The Online Learning Idea Book (Pfeiffer, 2007), co-editor of The E-Learning Handbook (Pfeiffer, 2008), and co-author of Essential Articulate Studio ’09 (Jones and Bartlett, 2009). She was an award-winning contributing editor for Online Learning Magazine, and her articles are found in eLearning Guild publications, Adobe’s Resource Center, Training Magazine’s newsletters and magazines, Magna Publication’s Online Classroom, and elsewhere. Patti won an EDMEDIA (2002) best research paper award for her research on new online learners. She is passionate and outspoken about the results needed from instructional design and instruction and engaged in improving instructional design practices and instructional outcomes.
Joe’s Guide to Free Elearning Tools: Bulk Rename Utility September 9, 2009
Posted by jmullock in e-Learning Tools.1 comment so far
Item: Bulk File Renamer
Category: Utilities
I was fortunate to be able to get out of town with “Mrs. Free eLearning Tools” for a few days before the beginning of the new school year. Of course, getting away no longer means leaving the digital world behind. In fact, in addition to our usual day-to-day electronic gear, we also had our GPS and digital camera—the better to find the touristy spots and take pictures of them!
Once the pictures were taken, we had dozens (if not hundreds) of digital picture files—all named “DSC001, DSC002, etc, etc.” As memorable as some of the photos might be, the file names don’t exactly bring “Summer 2009 Vacation” to mind. It’s easy enough to change a single file name, but changing hundreds requires either lots of time and patience, or…something like the aptly named Bulk Rename Utility. (more…)
Synchronous Shootout August 20, 2009
Posted by Noelle Archambeau in Best Practices, Synchronous Training.add a comment
Last night we held a synchronous shootout at Penn State Great Valley. Participants were divided into groups and asked to complete the challenge below. All of the teams came up with great ideas, and the classes they developed are posted below.
Scenario
Web conferencing giant, iLinc Communications, would like to teach a “Best Practices for Virtual Instructors” class. The class will be taught online using their web conferencing tool. The intended audience is instructors who have taught in the classroom, but are new to teaching online.
Shootout Challenge
The following slides are an early draft of the content that was put together for this class. You can use as much or as little as you’d like. In order to practice what you preach, you must create a class that not only includes great information, but also has interactive activities to help make the session fun and engaging. Each team only has 1 hour to work on the class, so complete as much as you can. Good luck!
Presenter Best Practices – DRAFT
Results
Here are the classes that the teams produced:
A Better Way to Design & Build Immersive E-Learning July 23, 2009
Posted by Noelle Archambeau in Engaging e-Learners, Intructional Design, e-Learning Tools, e-SIG Presentations.add a comment
Thanks again to Robert Penn, CEO of Suddenly Smart, for a wonderful presentation today on building immersive e-learning.
- Download the PowerPoint slides (2.6 MB pdf) that Rob used
- View the session recording (1 hour) — thanks to iLinc Communications for sponsoring the session
- Take a closer look at all of the great examples Rob demoed
Click the following links to learn more about rapid prototyping:
Joe’s Guide to Free eLearning Tools: Pixton – Interactive Comic Creator July 21, 2009
Posted by jmullock in e-Learning Tools.1 comment so far
Item: Pixton – Interactive Web Comic Creator
Category: Graphic Tools & Resources
I never had more than a passing interest in comic books when I was growing up, but several years ago I picked up a book called “Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art,” by Scott McCloud. Fans of the genre will recognize the name, but at the time it was random reading material to me. As I discovered, the book is an excellent explanation of the form, function, and history of comic art – done entirely in the graphic format it so aptly describes. It really made me appreciate the art and efficiency of the medium.
What does this have to do with eLearning? Well, many of the challenges are the same:
Joe’s Guide to Free eLearning Tools: GIMP (Graphic Tools & Resources) July 7, 2009
Posted by jmullock in e-Learning Tools.add a comment
Item: GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)
Category: Graphic Tools & Resources
GIMP is an open-source, freeware image manipulation program developed on the GNU/Linux Operating System. That is to say, GIMP is a free, Photoshop-type program that works on multiple computer platforms. It wouldn’t even be fair to call it “Photoshop-lite” as it is much more than that.
To put it in context, I recently attended a “Photoshop for Beginners” workshop. While it was only a two-hour session geared towards the basics, the fact is that I actually used GIMP in the class. There were a few minor instances where I had to hunt for a tool in the program, but otherwise I was able to complete the same exercises as easily as the folks using Photoshop.
Joe’s Guide to Free eLearning Tools: Twitter June 24, 2009
Posted by jmullock in e-Learning Tools.1 comment so far
Item: Twitter
Category: Microblogger /Short Messaging Service (SMS)
For those (one or two) of you who may never have heard of Twitter, take a moment and go to www.twitter.com to have a quick look. It shouldn’t take you very long to look around the site, so I’ll wait here until you get back. For the brief overview, click on the [What], [Why], and [How] links on the home page.
Done? I have to admit, when I first saw Twitter my reaction was, “so what exactly would someone do with that?” After trying it out for a few weeks, I’ve come to appreciate that Twitter’s intentionally narrow focus is actually part of its charm. (more…)
Globalization & E-Learning June 18, 2009
Posted by Noelle Archambeau in Global E-Learning, e-SIG Presentations.add a comment
A big thanks to Dr. Guido Minaya, Managing Partner of Minaya & Associates, for a wonderful virtual workshop today on globalization and e-learning.
- Download the PowerPoint slides (1 MB) that Guido used
- View the session recording (1 hour) — thanks to iLinc Communications for sponsoring the session
- Download a best practices guide (200K pdf) on how to translate and localize your content provided by Magnum Group
Joe’s Guide to Free eLearning Tools: My StuDIYo June 9, 2009
Posted by jmullock in e-Learning Tools.2 comments
Item: My StuDIYo (beta), Web-based Interactive Quizzes
Category: Polling/Survey Tools
My StuDIYo (beta), is a web-based quiz creation tool that provides a free “channel” (home page) for your quizzes and allows you to embed created quizzes into your own home page. The revenue model for the company is (at least in part) ad-based. The free version does not allow any control over ad delivery and placement, but the ads themselves appear to be appropriate to the quiz content. A quiz sponsored by a DIY-type magazine delivered advertisements for motor oil and the magazine itself. As with most free eLearning tools, there are for-fee “premium” options that allow additional customizations, control over ad placement, and varying degrees of advertising revenue-sharing.
What it Does:
A wizard guides you through the quiz creation process: Select a design template, choose a name and category, add quiz questions, and edit a results page. The output will appear on the My StuDIYo site and can also be embedded into a site of your own choosing.
Joe’s Guide to Free eLearning Tools: Jing May 26, 2009
Posted by jmullock in e-Learning Tools.2 comments
Item: Jing, Screen Capture & Video Capture
Category: Demo, Simulation Tools
This tool is a freeware offering by TechSmith, the makers of SnagIt (screen capture) and Camtasia (screen video capture) software. You might want to think of it as a combined “light” version of these products. There is even a Jing Pro version which–while not adding much in the way of additional functionality-provides the advantage of removing the Jing branding/logos from your recorded product. Jing is available in versions for both the Windows and MAC OS X operating systems.
