Bookmarks for January 12th through January 19th

These are my Jumptags for January 12th through January 19th:

• Here’s a Quick Way to Create Your Next E-Learning Template in PowerPoint » The Rapid eLearning Blog – Follow Tom Kuhlmann's tutorial on how to create an elearning template in Powerpoint quickly and using the built in graphics.
• Podcasting 101 Flowchart – From Wesley Fryer, a quick flowchart for creating podcasts with the applications included.
• Hot Gloo – The Online Wireframe App – Create web site wireframes and receive reviewers comments and feedback on the design.

Bookmarks for January 8th

These are my Jumptags for January 8th

• Here’s How to Be an E-Learning Superstar in 2010 » The Rapid eLearning Blog – Tom Kuhlmann at Articulate prompts a list of avenues for becoming an elearning professional.
• Ask the Expert – Typography Talk with Brian Hoff | Design Informer – An interview with designer Brain Hoff about typography.
• Choosing a typeface timelapse video – Brian Hoff, a graphic design, speeds up time to show us how he selected the typeface for a company logo.
• Example slide effects with instructions – A series of template presentations for Powerpoint using animations and builds. Inside the slide notes give step-by-step instructions on how to create the effects.

Bookmarks for December 17th through January 4th

These are my Jumptags for December 17th through January 4th:

• The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Design and Converting it to HTML and CSS – A full-featured how to for creating a design and then converting it to HTML and CSS.
• Kineo – Custom E-Learning Training & LMS Solutions – Tip 33: A Shot of Theory – Keller’s ARCS Model – An overview and application of Keller's ARCS model.
• Download of the Day: iRed Lite (Mac) – Downloads – Lifehacker – Mac OS X only: Freeware app iRed Lite lets you control almost any application using your Apple Remote, such as with Powerpoint (built in).

Bookmarks for December 16th

These are my Jumptags for December 16th

• The Rules | Brain Rules | – Brain Rules by John J. Medina is a multimedia project explaining how the brain works. It includes a book, a feature-length documentary film, and a series of interactive tutorials.
• How To Design Custom PowerPoint Templates for E-Learning (Plus 8 Free Templates) » The Rapid eLearning Blog – Tom Kuhlmann offers up more Powerpoint templates and a how to for using a Web site for inspiration.
• 50 Beautiful Free Icon Sets For Your Next Design – Smashing Magazine – Round-ups of beautiful and useful icons are almost legendary here, on Smashing Magazine. While some readers complain about the annoying list -style of some of our…

Bookmarks for October 13th through October 15th

These are my Jumptags for October 13th through October 15th:

• Weebly – Create a free website and a free blog – Weebly has now added an education section. Weebly is perfect for creating classroom websites, student e-portfolios, and websites for assigned projects.
• Free Adobe Dreamweaver Tutorial | CSS Tutorial for Creating Layouts in Dreamweaver | Layers Magazine – This tutorial covers the process of building a CSS-based layout from scratch using Dreamweaver. Great beginner tutorial.
• Free Adobe Dreamweaver Tutorial | CSS Tutorial – Basics of Working with Cascading Style Sheets | Layers Magazine – This tutorial covers the basics of creating CSS in Dreamweaver using the CSS Rule dialog. Great intro.
• Adobe Flash Tutorial | Creating an interactive story in Adobe Flash part 2 – A simple tutorial for moving around Flash CS3. Part 2.
• Adobe Flash Tutorial | Creating an interactive story in Adobe Flash – A simple tutorial in two parts for moving around Flash CS3.
• Flash CS4 |Timeline Animation | Motion Editor | Layers Magazine – With Flash CS4 now has auto-keyframing, a full-featured motion editor, and—most importantly—the ability to animate each property of an object separately from one another.
• Open Access Educational Technology journals – George Veletsianos – One of the resources developed for my students is a listing of open access journals (name, url, and RSS feed) that publish papers on the nexus between technology and education (educational technology, instructional design, e-learning, online distance…
• Best Time-Tracking Application: Klok – Time management – Lifehacker – Earlier last week we asked you to share your favorite time-tracking applications and then we rounded them up for your review.
• The speed of information – The speed of information between neurons.
• 33 Websites For Vector Images Download | Pro Blog Design – Here is a list of free vector images for download, if you're designer and look for vector images for your design project, you can simply download this…
• 3 Ways To Find The Best Website Color Scheme – Learn how to pick a website color scheme that keeps visitors engaged. Includes a list of questions to ask clients and a color psychology cheat sheet.
• Using John Keller’s ARCS model to motivate online learners « Onlignment – ARCS provides a good summary of the issues to be considered when designing a learning intervention. In particular it makes sense to me when putting together a live online learning event.
• Live Online Learning – a facilitators guide « Onlignment – To download your free copy of “Live Online Learning – a facilitator’s guide” just sign up for the free newsletter.
• Healthcare Napkins wins World’s Best Presentation Contest 2009 | SlideShare Blog – Thousands of presentations are uploaded to SlideShare everyday. But some catch your eye from the moment they get uploaded. Tha's the case with the winning
• 5 Steps to Slide Design for Non-Designers by Ellen Finkelstein | SlideShare Blog – I’ve come up with 5 steps that you can take to create a presentation that will work, even if you’re not a designer.

The landscape of Powerpoint for elearning

This week in my Technology Tools to Support Learning course, we are discussing an overview of elearning.  These novice instructional designers are on their way to producing some self-paced instruction with Powerpoint and converting it to Flash for ease of deployment.  So, I thought it would be really beneficial for them to see/read the landscape of elearning and Powerpoint.

The Landscape

Certainly, Powerpoint has a stigma attached to it.  Books like Beyond Bullet Points by Cliff Atkinson have tried to move us away from the mental model that templates and bullet points have forced us into.  Similarly, Edward Tufte’s treatise on “The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint” has emphasized the dilution of facts and thought brought about by using the hierarchy of bullet points. Wired magazine even picked up his point back in 2003.

Most recently, a slew of mainstream motivational speakers, techies, consultants, and corporate pundits have brought evangelized a number of methods to improve lecture-type and keynote presentations.  We’ve got the following:

• Godin – the power of images and big images
• Takahashi – big text only
• Lessig – each key word or phrase is isolated to a single slide
• Kawasaki – 10/20/30 with 10 slides only, 20 minutes max, and 30 point font
• Ignite – 20 slides, 15 seconds per slide

But has much changed?  We see these pockets of innovation, but the mainstream is still bound to bullet points and poor clip art.

Elearning

Does all of these ideas apply to elearning?  For elearning, the uses of Powerpoint fall into two main categories: development and delivery.

Development

For the development of elearning, Powerpoint has a number of uses.  First, numerous instructional designers and developers have told me that they use Powerpoint for storyboarding.  Powerpoint is simple enough that subject matter experts can even input the information (note that’s information not instruction).  The process of moving from design to development quickly through storyboarding offers a lot of promise for quickly presenting a visual product.

I’ve also heard of folks using Powerpoint as a wireframing tool.  This is where they mock up a user interface quickly to test the interactions and the navigation prior to building a prototype system.  By using the hyperlinking and even Action Buttons/Settings, you can quickly put together a system that responds to clicks to use as a model for a more sophisticated prototype inside Flash, Director, or even a web site.

More recently, Powerpoint has come on strong as a rapid development tool.  This is at the crux of Tom Kuhlmann’s blog. With hyperlinking, advanced graphics features, and templating, Powerpoint offers a lot of advantages to developing a unit as opposed to to building from scratch in Flash.  In addition, there are a number of tools, like Articulate (Tom’s company), that offer conversion of Powerpoint files to Flash for distribution, as well as adding in branching and assessments.

Delivery

The other way for using Powerpoint with elearning is to use it as a delivery vehicle for the instruction.  The most obvious method is for a trainer or instructor to present with a Powerpoint presentation.  This is certainly where all of the ideas above about improving presentations would most easily fit. (And yes, I get that this is technically not elearning.)  Powerpoint can also be used as a stand-alone self-paced instructional unit.  By saving as a Powerpoint show file, kiosk mode, and hyperlinking, the learner can control the presentation.  This is pretty common in K-12 schools.  Finally, I’ve been told by a number of instructional designers that they often produce Powerpoint presentations with text heavy slides for distribution.  They said this works well for their salesforce, who are on the go, and they don’t require an Internet connection, so the salesperson can look at it at any time.

You tell me.

Are there other ways Powerpoint is being used with elearning?  Are you and your organization doing other things with Powerpoint for elearning?  Did I miss something altogether?

Do you have examples to share of just how it is getting used?  Are you using it by itself or with another tools, like Articulate or Impactica?  Let me and my students know.  Put your ideas and comments below.

Bookmarks for October 9th through October 13th

These are my Jumptags for October 9th through October 13th:

• PowerPoint Design in 2009: Six most recommended tips : Speaking about Presenting – But in this project, there was a striking consistency with the advice given. I’ve outlined below the six tips that were recommended most often. I’ve also noted the research that backs up a recommendation – where it exists.
• PowerPoint slide design – the basics : Speaking about Presenting – These design tips are for the Assertion-Evidence format – this is gaining ground as the brain-friendly yet easy to put together alternative to bullets.
• New evidence that bullet-points don’t work : Speaking about Presenting – At last, we have some scientifically rigorous evidence to show that slides full of bullet-points don’t work.
• STUDY: 75% of Small Businesses Are Not Engaging In Social Media | Penn Olson – According to a survey conducted for Citibank Small Business, 75% of small businesses revealed that they have not found social media sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn helpful in generating leads or business expansion.
• Learning Circuits Blog Big Question – PowerPoint – The Learning Circuits Blog considers the use of Powerpoint in learning.

Bookmarks for October 8th through October 9th

These are my Jumptags for October 8th through October 9th:

• Google Docs – Viewer – Use Google Docs to quickly view documents online without leaving your browser. Enter the document URL and Google will generate the link for it.
• Official Google Docs Blog: Add page break and go to page in forms – Google Docs forms recently added the functions of page breaks and branching with multiple choice questions.
• Whistle-but don’t tweet-while you work – A recent study reports that 54% of companies prohibited completely social media access for their employees.
• Flickr Photo Download: The Detective – Image of a detective.

Bookmarks for October 7th through October 8th

These are my Jumptags for October 7th through October 8th:

• Massive Compilation of Designer Tools – Web designers have a wealth of tools available to them, for doing everything from organizing their thoughts about a particular design to debugging the final
• 8 simple ways to improve your typography – 8 easy ways to improve type in your designs. For web, print, or CBT.
• YouTube – Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 Effects Tutorial – An easy-to-follow tutorial on creating cool animated effects in Microsoft PowerPoint 2007.
• Absolute basic PowerPoint 2007 tutorial-part 1 – Educational video on how to use the new PowerPoint 2007 for the first time.

Bookmarks for October 6th through October 7th

These are my Jumptags for October 6th through October 7th:

• Advanced Powerpoint 2007 – An advanced tutorial on using Powerpoint.
• PowerPoint in the Classroom – Students of all ages can create multimedia presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint. Teach them how using this fun-filled, online tutorial.
• Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 Tutorial – Hyperlinks With Action Settings – Watch a clip from Train Signal's Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 training course on how to create hyperlinks within a presentation using action settings.
• 5 ways to make linear navigation more interesting – his slideshow is an attempt to help people make the best of a limiting design. Regular readers know that I’m no fan of the Next button.