Thursday, October 30, 2008

Tip #249: Designing E-Learning

At a recent training in Scottsdale, Arizona, participants identified three different e-learning software programs. Although I have no personal experience with any of these programs, they assure me that they are very easy to use when designing e-learning.

The three software programs are: Articulate, Illuminate, and TraCorp.

If you have experience with any of these software programs or are familiar with any other e-learning software, we would appreciate your feedback or recommendations. Thanks!

Tip #249 Addendum

I've received some immediate responses to today's Tip #249 on Designing E-Learning, including a timely offer of a free teleconference training on the use of Articulate on December 15th. Since our next Tip is published on that date, I thought it best to send this addendum out today so you can plan to attend, if that interests you.

First, an unsolicited testimonial for Articulate:

Karen Phillips of Ultradent wrote that: "We have and use Articulate software for our e-learning courses. It is very easy to use and can be done very quickly with your PPT slides you already train with. Our students really like this design and always look forward to seeing more in this application. "

If you would like to know more about Articulate (and please know I have no association with this offering), Daniel Graham, a Trainer/Coordinator with the South Carolina Department of Transportation, sent in this information about the training:

"In reference to the E-Learning programs that you have discussed above, it has been my experience that Articulate is the most practical tool for e-learning course development. You can find out more about Articulate by attending the following web-ex conference hosted by Brian Young of the Department of Social Services on 'designing courses with Articulate'.

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Karen and Daniel, thank you both for your helpful information!

Beth Eberhardt from Maricopa Community College was kind enough to send in a clarification about both the spelling and purpose of Elluminate:

"To clarify, Elluminate is actually an interface to facilitate a live webinar or presentations can be used to within Blackboard or another type of LMS. For additional information: click here."

Janis Taylor, Technical Training Developer for PMCC- Product Lifecycle Data Management at Philips Healthcare, suggested an additional e-learning software, Adobe Captivate, that she likes but cautions is less than intuitive:

"I use Adobe Captivate to develop eLearning. I use it to record the use of new features or functionality in our homegrown software applications.

I combine the demo with voice-over instructions and on-screen tips. I'm still pretty new at it. I hesitate to call it 'training.' Instead I bill the things as 'automated demonstrations.' The user community seems to like them. Many users report running the demo and the live system hand in hand and practicing as they go.

I had to take a two-day training class after purchasing the software, since I couldn't figure it out on my own.

Biggest tip? Keep them short!! Better to record three five minute 'movies' (as they call them) than one fifteen minute movie."

Thank you, Beth and Janis!

If other suggestions and responses come in, I'll include them in next week's Tip. I just didn't want you to miss the Articulate teleconference training on the 15th.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Tip #248: Tailoring Power Point

Karen Phillips, Product Training Manager for Ultradent Products, introduced me to the fact that it is possible to hide a Power Point slide when you are tailoring a presentation. This way you don't have to create an entirely new slide show.

Thank you, Karen, for saving all of us, who were unaware of this feature, a lot of time and energy in the future!

I'm intentionally keeping the December Tips very very short. However, last week's Tip to tailor Power Point programs may have been so short it wasn't helpful. It is possible to hide Power Point slides that aren't relevant to a specific new audience, rather than deleting them and creating variations of the same Power Point slide show. I didn't go into HOW to do this, because I imagine it may be different for Macs versus PCs. On my Mac, I go to the drop down under Slide Show and one option under it is "Hide slide."

This week, we look at easy-to-use e-learning software.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Tip #247: Managing Stage Fright

There are many ways to manage stage fright or presentation anxiety. For example, you can:

  1. Organize your material.

  2. Visualize yourself delivering a successful presentation.

  3. Rehearse by standing up and using all of your visual aids.

  4. Breathe deeply just prior to speaking.

  5. Focus on relaxing with simple, unobtrusive isometric techniques.

  6. Release your tension in a positive way by directing it toward your audience.

  7. Move when you speak, to stay relaxed and natural.

  8. Maintain good eye contact with your audience.

  9. Keep a glass of water close at hand.

  10. Do a full body yawn before you go in front of the group.

  11. Introduce yourself to members of the audience as they enter, so you have friendly faces in the audience when you speak.

For #12, we often joke about taking a Valium or sipping Scotch in your coffee cup. However, apparently there is a homeopathic remedy that can actually calm your stage fright and still leave you alert -which clearly Valium and Scotch might not! This Tip comes from Raphaele Cohen-Bacry, a Medical Consultant with Boiron. She recommends Gelsemium, which she has personally used to manage her own stage fright.

Although I have no experience with Gelsemium, I have used homeopathic remedies, including those from Boiron, for many many years. If you suffer from stage fright that is resistant to the eleven other options listed above, you might want to discuss the possible use of this homeopathic remedy with a trusted doctor or knowledgeable pharmacist. Thank you, Raphaele, for this option!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Tip #246: Starting Sluggish Mac Laptops

This Tip comes from Ciaran O'Murchu, the Banquet Manager for Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort & Suites. My Mac G-4 laptop has become sluggish and very erratic, choosing NOT to start at very inopportune moments- such as the beginning of workshops! Needless to say, this has been incredibly stressful for me.

At the start of the second day of a three-day training, just as I was reassuring myself that my laptop was choosing to be very cooperative, it refused to start at all. Ciaran, who epitomizes quality customer service, immediately offered me the use of his personal Mac laptop computer. He literally saved the morning for me, bless his Irish heart!

During lunch, Ciaran checked over my computer. His tip, which I pass on to you, was to turn off Norton Anti-Virus. According to Ciaran, Norton continually runs its anti-virus program, diverting memory and function (Ciaran, please forgive me if I am misstating this). All I know is that he turned off the program and, since then, my laptop starts up immediately.

Those of you with Macs know that they are virtually virus-resistant, so the lack of the anti-virus program does not pose any appreciable risk.

Ciaran suggested that I back up everything on my laptop remove all Norton programs from my laptop and then scrub the files. He promises that when I reinstall the backed up files, they will run much more smoothly and consistently.

Goodness knows that I am not very computer literate and I make no guarantees, but this tip definitely worked for me. Thank you again, Ciaran!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Tip #245: Handling Late Participants

creative ways to penalize participants who return late to class. We may make them sing a song, dance a few steps, do push ups, or put money toward a group celebration. To help get them back in time after breaks, we may play music, project a timer on the screen, or assign someone with a watch to ride herd on the entire group.

Instead of punishing participants who return late, Darin suggests that we reward participants who return on time. And instead of making the trainer or one participant responsible for getting the entire group back on time, he makes each table group responsible for their own members. Every time the entire table group is back and seated on time, that table gets points. At the end of the day, the table with the most points gets a prize. This motivates the table group members to monitor and motivate each other to be timeconscious.

I think it is a wonderful approach and I plan to implement it in my very next training. Thank you so much, Darin!!

Last week, Karen Phillips, the Training and Development Manager for Ultradent Products, Inc., asked for a useful suggestion about what colors work best so that PowerPoint can be seen without needing to dim the lights. Julie Almont, the Executive Director of Employee Development for Delaware Park, responded:

Hey Deb!

I love the many suggestions your talented friends have shared in this week's "Tips".

As to the PowerPoint issue, I use black or bold dark blue on white. The white illuminates the message and the room. I try to keep the words in large font and to a minimum while I 'voice-over' the information/lesson. I have been adding one appropriate animation and/or sound to most slides that illustrates the main point of the topic...my folks especially like subtle humor or something beautiful and poignant!

An example of this is a recent Time Management session that began with a picture of an alarm clock and a background of a ticking sound. It allowed me to open with, "Do you feel like the clock is always ticking and the alarm is going to sound before you're ready?"

I really have moved away from PowerPoint but still like using it to display a question or questions that require time for a thoughtful response or group activity.

I have been paying attention to 'billboards' as I drive on the interstates. If the theme or colors catch my attention, I try to copy that in my PowerPoint, treating it like an indoor billboard. I worked in the motivational poster business for thirteen years, you should hear those theories!

Once again, thanks for keeping us on our toes!

Regards,
Julie

Julie, I love the idea of thinking about PowerPoint as an indoor billboard. That guarantees it is kept short, sweet, and to the point! It's a perfect metaphor!! Thank you for consistently providing useful feedback and creative ideas through the years to both Delaware Park and Tips readers!

This week, we have a quick tip to help sluggish Mac laptop computers start up more easily.