Resources
5 Reasons to Choose an Installed LMS Solution
In my last post I outlined 5 reasons that you would want to use a hosted LMS solution. In this post, I’ll outline reasons you may want to select an installed LMS solution. Read full post.
5 Reasons to Choose a Hosted LMS Solution
An important consideration when looking for LMS software for your company is whether to invest in a hosted solution (also known as ‘Software-as-a-Service’, or SAAS), or to invest in an in-house installed LMS. Read full post.
What is a SCORM compliant LMS?
If you’re just starting to investigate purchasing learning management software, you’re probably running into a lot of industry terms that are unfamiliar to you – among them, SCORM.
So what exactly is SCORM? Read full post.
Latest Release: TrainCaster v5.02
This release of TrainCaster includes many enhancements that you requested over the past couple of months. Below is a list of the latest changes.
As we start to work on the next release, we are looking for your input. Is there a feature or modification you’d like to see implemented? Read full post.
Create a Customized PowerPoint Template
Often I'm asked by clients to create a few customized Powerpoint templates for their internal subject matter experts to use to create training courses. Sometimes I know the company and their work well, other times I don't anything about the company.
Regardless of whether I'm familiar with the company or not, I always look at the company website. It gives me insight into the official 'look and feel' of the organization - including graphics, fonts, colors - and I get a feel for what they are trying to communicate to site visitors. Read full post. If you're a TrainCaster client and would like us to create a custom-branded template for your organization, please contact us. We'd love to help.
Get the Most from Your Training Reports
Running reports in TrainCaster is very easy, so you may wonder why a post about something so easy?
The answer is also easy: although it’s simple enough to run any number of training reports, you may not be taking advantage of everything the reports tab has to offer.
For example, say you run the same training report each month. Did you know you can save the report setup to run again, automatically? Saves time and is easy to do. Read more.
Best Practices: Tips for Using Graphics and Audio in Elearning Courses
Online learning has been around long enough that just about every elearning designer is aware that just putting up pages and pages of text is not good instructional design. So we add graphics and audio to our courses.
But what does science tell us about how to use graphics and audio in elearning courses? Here is what I took awa from reading Ruth Clark’s article in Learning Solutions Magazine, Six Principles of Effective e-Learning: What Works and Why. The research cited in her article is from Richard Mayer. Read full post.
Easy Ways to Improve Your Elearning Course
Maybe you already have elearning content in a PowerPoint presentation, and you don’t have the time to re-create the course from scratch. But, you want to improve the course and start moving toward better elearning content.
Can it be done?
Absolutely. I know it can be daunting to try to put a new face on an old course, but below are some easy ways to move beyond the bullet-point presentation we often find in PowerPoint content. Read full post.
Think Beyond Bullet Points
So, one of the first things I’ve learned in doing research for this series of posts, is to think beyond bullet points when using PowerPoint. That makes sense – theoretically, but how to actually apply that when creating a course?
The light went on when I read this post on the Rapid Elearning Blog – showing the starting screen for PowerPoint, Flash, and Captivate. All of the starting screens are blank white rectangles. (The tools used in each case are a bit different, but not that different.) Read full post.
Format Matters: Make Your Courses Readable
When you start writing content for an elearning course, it's easy to get caught up in the wealth of information available on the topic. There's so much to include, and everything matters; nothing can be left out.
In and of itself, that's not a bad thing; in fact, it's better to start with a full plate and pare it down, than to start with nothing and embellish. But when you're writing content for the web, less is often more; and the format of our content is just as important as the information itself. Read full post.
7 Useful TrainCaster Features You May Not Know About
f you’re anything like me, you regularly get update announcements from software vendors, informing you of the latest features in the latest release. Sometimes I get the upgrades free of charge – like in Firefox, and sometimes I pay for them – Adobe products. Either way, I don’t have the time to read through the new features to see if I would use them or if they would improve my work flow. I simply continue to the next email, looking only for those that require action on my part. And truthfully, I never get back to the features list, because I don’t have time. So if you’ve fallen behind reading about new TrainCaster features, don’t despair; here is the list for you. Scan it in under a minute and see if any of them are for you. Read full post.
8 Tips for Writing Great Elearning Content
When it comes to building an elearning course, it’s easy to get caught up in the format of the presentation instead of focusing on the content. How the course looks is important, but content trumps looks every time. So how do you write better content? Here are 8 tips get you started. Read full post.
Two Tools to Speed Up Your Elearning Project
As I’ve recently gotten more involved with elearning course development and client support, I find myself looking for easier (and faster) tools for my elearning projects. I’ve discovered a myriad of tools that are easy, free, and produce quality output. Both of these tools have saved me time as I go about the task of producing content – and getting it out to folks in a timely manner. Read full post.