E-Learning Challenge

This week, David decided us to dole out an easy challenge; I was initially going to develop an interaction-based submission, but it’s not required and I’ve been experiencing a heavy work-week. I will assure you that my recommendations will be just as functional in text as they would have been as interactions. This week’s blog post will be a bit different in that it won’t include the method, just the concept and result.

The Concept

Share my favourite tools that help make course design easier. There are a lot of tools out there and it’s really up to you which tools you choose to make your course design easier, but I have attempted to compile a list of tools that make me curse a lot less (while working), and I hope they might help you curse less too!

The Result

http://articulate.com – Articulate products are my favourite authoring tools. I find myself using Articulate Studio less than Articulate Storyline, however, I still leverage Articulate Studio for developing slick interactions to embed within my Articulate Storyline files. There are a few kinks when going between programs, but I’m seldom disappointed.

http://community.articulate.com/forums/ – The E-Learning Heroes forum is my favourite resource for industry-related content. There is SO MUCH talent within this forum, and it’s nice to collaboratively learn from one another. This community is like an extended family, and everyone is so positive and eager to help. I consult this resource whenever I have a general instructional design, e-learning, or Articulate product query. The responses are quick and the expertise is phenomenal!

http://colourlovers.com – COLOURlovers is my favourite resource for colour picking because it allows me to visualize colours in palette and pattern situations. As someone who isn’t super creative, this is HUGE for me! I will say that I find it odd the domain spells ‘colour’ with a ‘u’, yet they refer to colours as ‘color’ without a ‘u’ throughout the site – even looking at it spelled that way is weirding me out!

http://smashingmagazine.com – I’m not going to lie; I visit this resource at least once a month to download a user-submitted calendar for my desktop. However, this is also a great resource for CSS quandaries and finding good JavaScript codes for use in Articulate Storyline!

http://adobe.com – There are several Adobe programs I use on a regular basis, namely Captivate and Photoshop. Captivate I use less and less with the emergence of Articulate Storyline; however, I still find myself using Captivate for text-to-speech exports. Photoshop I use whenever I need to manipulate or create images; I only have one license for it, so I seldom use it within my Articulate development, as I need to dual-boot into Windows OS for Articulate use, and my Photoshop license is for Mac OS.

http://www.techsmith.com/snagit.html – SnagIt was first introduced to me within my first Instructional Design role, and I was smitten! Why? Because it is such a user-friendly tool for creating screen captures, recordings, and editing. I found SnagIt particularly useful when liaising with Subject Matter Experts (SME) off-site, as I could easily highlight areas I was discussing and copy them into emails, without being burdened by including the image as an attachment.

http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html – I love Camtasia so much that I purchased a Windows AND Mac OS license. I use Camtasia primarily for creating screencasts and editing video files; it’s just as user-friendly as SnagIt (both products developed by tech smith, so makes sense), and it creates high-quality video files.

http://dropbox.com  – I use dropbox for filesharing.

http://drive.google.com – Google Drive is great for filesharing AND collaborative working. Un-drive-related – I also leverage google for my primary email provider and Google Hangouts.

http://skype.com – I use Skype for communicating with colleagues and clients; it’s free and I can screenshare.

http://wordpress.com – WordPress is my website platform of choice; I support any movement to a self-hosted site using WordPress, and know many designers and developers if you need assistance. There are tons of themes available, and a TON of customization options.

http://pinterest.com – Pinterest is great for inspiration, from personal interests like finding the best tutorial for rockabilly hairstyles to professional interests like sourcing free fonts or locating templates or tutorials for your e-learning products.

http://creativemarket.com – I use creative market SO MUCH! They release weekly freebies, which are amazing, because nothing is free anymore, and you can purchase nearly anything (icons/stock images/templates) for reasonable prices.

http://fetchsoftworks.com – Fetch is my FTP client of choose because it’s been more reliable than others for me, annnnnd…I’m a dog owner. Appropriate, no?

I’ll add to this list as things change, so stay tuned!

After a brief challenge hiatus, I decided that this week I would make a comeback. I’ve been swamped with work lately (not a bad problem to have), but was welcomed by some cognitive overload (goody!) earlier in the week and thought that this week’s challenge would be a great opportunity to (briefly) discuss Cognitive Load Theory. I would be lying if I said that my recent addiction to Lumosity wasn’t a motivating factor for wanting to discuss this topic…that rule game…with the words (or shapes)?! Come on! If that doesn’t scream German Cognitive Load…I don’t know what does!

The Concept

Select an Instructional Design (or learning) concept and create an interaction to explain this concept to others. Originally, I was going to do something related to Bloom’s Taxonomy, but 1 – I’m all Bloom’ed out for one month (to be honest) and 2 – there were already some great BT interactions kicking around the challenge thread, so I decided to choose Cognitive Load Theory as I often encounter training materials that are overloading (and overwhelming) learners to the point of becoming a hinderance on success.

Honestly, it is ESSENTIAL for anyone who develops instructional materials to be cognizant of Cognitive Load Theory. I once worked on a very complex project that sought to explain alternating and direct current flow on an aircraft…while the project ended up being a success (to the clients), I experienced a lot of cognitive overload and hopefully I was the only one – while successful to the administrators of the program, I really hope it was successful for students because it confused the pants right offa me! No amount of explaining Extraneous Cognitive Load was going to save me from that project.

The Method

When thinking about Cognitive Load Theory, I immediately  think about those complicated mathematical equations you would see people writing on university chalkboards in the movies (or maybe in your high school calculus class) – BARF. These equations would give me the math sweats. I would clam up and panic, and DREAD my teacher calling on me to come solve the equation in front of the class (seriously – whose idea of fun is this?!).  I consulted The Google and sourced some images of complex and simple mathematical equations to illustrate my point.

Then, I provided some explanations and examples of the three types of Cognitive Load, using hotspot interactions and layers. The tutorial was brief, I know, but to supplement, I included a few good links in the Resources tab, and folks can check them out if they so wish.

The Result

To view the complete interaction, Click Here.

So I’m a bit late to the party on this one – things have been BUSY (and I won’t complain)! The e-learning challenge two weeks ago was to create a creative resume template to showcase e-learning portfolios. While not necessarily a template, I came up with a cutesy way to showcase my experience and some work samples.

The Concept

Create an interactive resume to showcase my education, work experience, and samples of my development work.

The Method

I was initially inspired by a desktop wallpaper posted by Smashing Magazine for the month of May (how is it May already?!). I downloaded the non-calendar version of the wallpaper, and formatted my slide background to display the image.

Then, I used shapes to create the a stick-figure version of myself and included a little blurb about what I do and why I’m passionate about it. Using shapes, I created buttons along the bottom of this slide which would launch additional layers. Each layer would contain information about my education, professional experience, and work samples. The work samples layer used hotspots to launch the actual sample interactions provided.

The Result

To view the complete interaction, click here.

This week’s challenge was a fun one! My submission didn’t really require a lot of design know how because I used the template provided; however, it was all about what people really think you do, in my case, as an Instructional Designer. I enjoyed this challenge as I am often met with curious looks when I try to explain exactly what it is that I do for a living.

The Concept

Attempt to create a graphical storyboard (of sorts), using the template provided, to explain what my husband, friends, mother, and colleagues think I do, and then compare that with what I think I do and what I actually do.

The Method

First, I downloaded the template and then I sought about consulting The Google to source some appropriate images.

I knew I would need some images to depict: boring presentation, confusion, rocket science, juggling, sleeping on the job, and coffee. Those were my jumping off points.

My husband always explains my job to his coworkers as “you know those boring presentations HR makes us watch? Ashley makes those.” Not accurate, but relatable.

My friends seem to have no idea what it is that I do, and I would liken their glazed looks (when trying to explain it to them) to Charlie Brown listening to his teacher ‘wah wah wah’ at her students.

My mother more or less thinks I’m a rocket scientist, and I have to admit that I sometimes feel like one!

My colleagues probably think I’m taking cat naps (or sourcing cat images) on the job – I must admit, sometimes the content is D-R-Y.

I think I spend most of my time juggling all of the different tasks required of me. Even e-learning companies can’t seem to really nail down what Instructional Designers do – I’ve worked for companies who have micro-tasked everything (one person for each task), and those that have combined everything into one role with impossible deadlines. I’m more accustomed to the latter.

What I actually do can be summed up in one sentence: I drink A LOT of coffee. Really – it’s bordering on addiction. But whatever gets you through the day, right?

The Result

This week’s challenge was to develop a summary or resource screen. I didn’t particularly have a ton of time this week, so my submission was less of a summary or resource screen and more of an exit slide. I’m planning on another submission, but until then, you’ll have to settle for a little bit of cheekiness. I have since been followed on twitter by some Grumpy Cat impostors.

The Concept

I wanted to develop ‘exit instructions’ in a format that would ensure my audience would not be confused about how to exit the course. There’s nothing worse than leaving your audience hanging or confused!

The Method

Once I determined my approach, I tried to think of some good exit strategies. My mind often goes to kitties, because whose wouldn’t? And I immediately jumped to Grumpy Cat (or Tardar Sauce as she’s so lovingly known). I consulted The Google to find some Grumpy Cat vector images, and stumbled upon this lovely graphic. It was perfect! That artist really knows how to capture the essence of a cat with dwarfism and an overbite! I then took to Articulate Storyline, created a new slide, matched the background to the vector’s background, added the image, included a very slow fly in from the bottom, and once the timeline ended, the layer including the button was set to appear, directing the user to Leave. Meow. Tada!

The Result

To view the complete interaction, click here.

 

This week’s challenge was related to the top 10 things learners need to know about Articulate Storyline, and I really had a lot of fun re-watching the tutorials I included. The E-Learning Heroes community is one of the greatest resources I’ve found as an Instructional Designer. It’s current, and all of the community members are extremely helpful and proactive – not only in addressing concerns of their peers, but they’re passionate about what they do and love to share their knowledge!

The Concept

In considering this challenge, I wanted to compile screencasts posted by various E-Learning Heroes that I have found particularly interesting and/or helpful. I scoured the forums and my personal messages to find a group of 10 tutorials I think everyone using Articulate Storyline should at least watch.

The Method

I developed a simple interface using circular buttons, filled with an image of the individual providing the tutorial. When selected, a layer is triggered to appear, providing a brief explanation of the tutorial and a screen capture; the full tutorial is linked to and will open in a new window. An exit button is available on each layer so the user can return to the main ‘menu’.

The Result

To view the complete interaction, click here.