Cool Training Content Creation Tools

I wrote a post back in July about the most popular screenrecorders on the market, which are very useful for turning dull PowerPoint Presentations in to a more exciting visual/audio experience and for creating cool demo videos.

In this post I was going to focus on other types of content creation tools that can be used for building courseware, assessments, interactive content and games. However, there is no point in re-inventing the wheel, and recently some great blog posts have been written about content creation or eLearning authoring tools.

A recent personal favorite comes from Camy Bean's blog 'Learning Visions' where an amazing map has rapidly, and collaboratively, taken form using MindMeister. The diagram maps out the most popular authoring tools on the market and then the pros/cons for each, as seen by learning professionals from all over. Take a look for yourself as I think it gives amazing insight in to a) the tools available and b) the areas in which they excel. This should help you make an informed decision as to which tool will be right for the content you have in mind.

eLearning Authoring Tools Review Map

(I tried to embed the map but the code wasn't working!)

@Schnicker

Why Won't the Franchise Industry Listen?

I stumbled upon a good post by Bob Brogan of Interactyx the other day called Franchise Training Fails Customers and Franchisees. I felt it very worthy of a mention considering he has 'nearly 20 years of professional experience within the franchising business arena'.

Brogan points out, as have I, that delivering a consistent customer experience is integral to creating and maintaining a successful franchise. By their very definition, it's what a franchise needs to provide to its customers. The way to achieve that brand consistency is through education; the induction and on-going training of franchisees and their teams.

As I've mentioned in other posts there seems to be lack of realization of just how important training is in this industry, and therefore a lack of investment in it, or perhaps even worse money is being spent on the wrong tools. Both of which can ultimately only lead one way...and that's down.

 Brogan rounds off his post with these thoughts:

"With the advent of Web 2.0 technologies, the ability to deliver collaborative knowledge management and training environment to increase franchise employee proficiency to business performance objectives are a relatively new phenomenon.   By leveraging a variety of media to provide video snippets, simulations, core on-line course curriculum, franchisors can now affordably augment event learning with a continuous learning environment for all franchisees and employees.  The addition of collaborative tools that allow for the enablement of effective knowledge capture, storage in a readily accessible location, and facilitating knowledge transfer to new learner communities of interest and on-going communities of practice are critical components in solving the franchisor / franchisee training conundrum."

Hopefully, as the economy begins to show signs of improvement any excuses for not providing training will fade in to the background and many of the accessible and cost-effective online training options on the market will be utilized. In fact, it's simply that franchises can't afford not to train their people. Not if they plan to be around next year, and the year after that..

@Schnicker

LearnTrends 2009: The Corporate Learning Trends and Innovations Conference

Now here's an event that should appeal to everyone's schedule and budget - LearnTrends 2009: The Corporate Learning Trends and Innovations Conference. Not only is it an online conference so there's no travel involved, it's also free!

The conference will take place online on 17, 18, and 19 November, 2009. This year's topic is ''Convergence in Corporate Learning', so there will be 3 days of dialogue covering all sorts of topics from:

• Enterprise 2.0
• Communities and Networks
• Knowledge Management
• Corporate Libraries
• Talent Management

(Bullet points taken from Tony Karrer's blog post)

This is the 3rd conference of its kind put together annually in a volunteer effort by some very well-respected peeps in the learning industry: Jay Cross, Tony Karrer and George Siemens.

Make sure to join the group and then register for the event!

The Rise and Rise of Online Learning

The stage is set for online learning to start making a serious impact on the education and training industries. There have been a lot of indicators recently that illustrate this point, but here are 3 major ones that I've noticed:

1. The US Department of Education's June 2009 meta-analysis on face-to-face vs. online learning which concluded that 'Online education is more effective than face-to-face learning'.
   
   
2. Big tech review websites like ReadWriteWeb and Mashable posting articles about online learning, both triggered by the above-mentioned report. Previously, these sites have barely touched on the topic. In fact, the last time the term 'online learning' was mentioned on RWW it was November 2006, and Bill Gates had just spoken at the TechNet event at Stanford University about what changes IT will make in society over the next 10 years:
   
   "Changes are now coming faster than ever. We'll be seeing more and more students using tablets instead of stacks of books in schools and in online learning. We'll have computers that can see and learn like people."
   
   
3. eduFire recently raising $1.3 million in funding to move from providing language courses (for the most part) to new verticals. CEO at eduFire Jon Bischke, says in a blog post "It’s not at all unrealistic to envision a future in which the online class is significantly more engaging and effective than its offline equivalent."
   

Education is estimated to be a $2 trillion industry and colleges all over the world are now putting more development in to their online programs. Online learning is far from being the mainstream approach but one thing is for certain, change is in the air...

@Schnicker

10 Tips for Recording Audio on Screencasts

If you don't have the budget for a professional voice-over person or you just prefer to do-it-yourself, these tips may help you to create more professional screen recordings using a product like Camtasia (which I use) or another screen recording tool on the market.

1. Storyboard your presentation and script it out making sure to note where slides change or where a point should be emphasized with voice inflection or a pause.
   
   
2. Record your visuals first, without audio, but for practice talk through the audio so that you get the right timing for slide changes. Personally, I've found the audio quality is much better when the visual and audio tracks are recorded separately.
   
   
3. It's a good idea to start and finish your recording all on the same day as your voice changes pitch quite noticeably. It's weird but I find it really hard to make my voice sound the same on a different day.
   
   
4. Record the whole thing in one take if you can, it doesn't have to be a perfect one track wonder. If you mess up a line, make a loud noise to cause a spike on the audio track, pause a moment and then begin again. The spike on the audio track indicates where you need to come back to for editing.
   
   
5. Take a big drink of water before you begin and if you need to have some during the recording, just go ahead. Again, make a loud noise to indicate it's an area of the track that needs editing, pause and then continue with the script.
   
   
6. Avoid coffee and sugary drinks before recording as it does something weird to your saliva production and can make for some interesting mouth noises.
   
   
7. Stand up to speak if you can. At the very least sit up straight on the edge of your chair and drop your knees to open up your chest for maximum voice projection and nice deep breaths.
   
   
8. I use a headset with a mic which works pretty well as you can position the mic a short distance from your face, and out to the side to minimize breathing and mouth noises.
   
   
9. Make sure to do your recording when traffic noise and background noises will be at a minimum. I always record on the weekend as my mic picks up every little noise. You can remove background noise afterward, but it's not always perfect.
   
   
10. Finally, it may sound random but having apple slices handy while you are recording is a good idea because the pectin in apples helps to reduce mouth noises.

I'd love to hear of any more helpful techniques that you've come up with in the comments section below.

I also should say that I'm not affiliated with Camtasia in any way.

@Schnicker

New Firefox: Update Adobe Flash Player

Here's a useful hint for those of you who have upgraded to the new Firefox browser (Firefox 3.5.3 and Firefox 3.0.14) but are having trouble viewing video files and PowerPoint Presentations that are in an online format, or having general issues with crashes and other weird things..

Once you have upgraded Firefox, make sure to update your Adobe Flash Player as this is sure to be causing problems.

@Schnicker

3 Ideas for Moving Courses Online

I'm reading 'Think Strategy Before Technology' by Robin Good and so far he brings up some really valid points, which are often forgotten in a tech-focused world. It started me thinking about the process of moving offline training content online and I came up with 3 points to ponder.

1. Plan, plan, plan
Before you jump in and start spending money on cool software to create online content, think hard about what the communication goals are for your online program. Too many people get caught up in all the cool technology that's out there and are so excited by what they can build, that they forget about what they actually need to communicate. Map out your ideas and have a clear understanding of your goals.

2. Avoid a vicious cycle
Spend a little time researching your market, storyboard your course ideas and decide how the information will be best presented. Once you have a plan laid out, go looking for the technology and content creation tools that work for your idea. Without a plan you put yourself at risk of getting caught up in a vicious cycle of continually revising and re-doing your content, and in some cases never actually getting your course off the ground.

3. Get a rough draft out quickly
There's nothing worse than spending weeks putting something together only to realize there was a fundamental flaw in it from the beginning and you're back to square one. In an effort to avoid this happening, as soon as you're up and running online, put a teaser of your course together and send it to some objective friends /colleagues. Not only will this get you moving faster, but it's more likely to get you on the right track too.

Right now the market is moving fast. It doesn't matter what industry you're in, were all being encouraged just to get our ideas out there. Don't be afraid to put an alpha or beta version of your course out for feedback, you'll soon know what works and what doesn't. There's no need to give all your content away, but let your audience have some input. You don't have to take all their ideas on-board, but connecting with these people is invaluable as they are the ones who will buy your courses and, if you get it right, be your biggest advocates on the social networks.

@Schnicker

Upcoming Online Learning Events for 2009

Over the next few months, some of the biggest international learning and elearning events will take place in the US. Here are a few of the big ones that may be of interest:

mLearn 2009 (Orlando, Florida) Oct 26-30. Held in a different place each year, this was the first conference on Mobile Learning and is widely recognized as one of the most prestigious international conferences on the topic.

Adobe Learning Summit (San Jose, CA) Nov 9. Get an insider’s view on Adobe-enabled strategies, tactics and tools. Discuss innovations for a successful organization wide learning program featuring Adobe solutions

DevLearn09 (San Jose, CA) Nov 10-13. This is the big daddy of the eLearning conferences. Focused on learning management, design and development professionals who are leading e-Learning efforts, this event is ideal for those who need to stay on top of emerging technologies, proven strategies, and best practices to ensure their organization’s success.

We'll be there so if you see one of the friendly Litmos team, please stop and say hello.

@Schnicker

10 Great Online Training Resources

The Litmos blog covers all sorts of online training related topics ranging from course design, industry news, learning technologies and content creation tools, to new feature updates for our own product.

Now I'd like to share 10 great web resources I enjoy reading that keep me up with the play when it comes to online learning, the online training (and training) industry and workplace news:

1. Workforce Management
   
2. Training Day
   
3. Training Magazine Events
4. Sharp End Training
5. Learning and Working on the Web (blog by Harold Jarche)
   
6. Internettime (blog by Jay Cross)
7. The eLearn Blog (Lisa Neal Gualtieri)
   
8. Millennial Leaders (Bea Fields)
   
9. Harvard Business Publishing
   
10. The Litmos blog of course :o)
    

There are a many more eLearning blogs out there to mention, but I've tried to stick to those resources that I find more relevant to business rather than (or as well as) educational environments, as there is definitely a distinction in the types of courses delivered in each.

If you have any blogs or websites that you rely on to keep you up to date with the training industry, please feel free to contribute the link via the comments section below.

@Schnicker

Online Learning Key to Brighter Future

Rick Bell of Workforce Management has published some interesting employment findings from a survey released August 25 by CareerBuilder.com and Robert Half International Inc. Judging by the statistics, it seems the recruitment market is on the up:

'Fifty-three percent of employers plan to hire full-time employees in the next 12 months, and 40 percent plan to hire contract, temporary or project professionals'

Even with high unemployment rates across the US, the study found that '47% of hiring managers cited underqualified applicants as their most common hiring challenge [..] Employers said that on average, 44 percent of résumés they receive are from unqualified candidates.''

It's often suggested that 'smart' people use an economic recession as an opportunity to re-tool and upskill so that when the market emerges from the slump, their opportunities for moving up the career ladder are greatly accelerated. Looking forward respondents to the survey cited 'technology, customer service and sales as the departments that will add positions first. Marketing/creative, business development, human resources and accounting/finance also were cited.'

Finally, it emerged that even now many companies are willing to pay more for highly qualified employees. In fact, as they prepare for the market to improve, 'sixty-one percent of hiring managers said their companies are willing to negotiate higher compensation for qualified candidates.'

There is no doubt that this survey highlights the huge value of on-going professional development and training throughout ones career. Combine that with findings from the recent June 26 meta-analysis and review from the US Department of Education advocating blended and online learning to be more effective than face to face, and everything points to a bright online future for professional development training.