'Interesting stuff'
Any aspiring visual designer should know how to use a color wheel, which is a simple, fantastic tool for creating color schemes.
In essence, a color wheel shows all the colors ordered in a circle. By using one of four distinct matching patterns, the designer can find colors that match in a way that is easy on the eye and create the best look.
Take a look at this color wheel: http://www.wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html
Notice the patterns (under the wheel):
- Contrast: 2 complementary (opposite on the wheel) color scheme,
- Triad: 3 color scheme (1 main, 2 complementary)
- Tetrad: 4 color scheme – also called double contrast
- Analogic: 4 colors, 3 from the same family (also called harmonious) – cold or hot – and 1 from the complementary family.
* There is also the monochrome pallet, but I would recommend not to use it for e-learning purposes…it can be rather dull.
When picking a primary color that suits the designer’s project, the pattern would create a scheme that achieves a good ‘look’ for that color.
The scheme can also be used as a pallet, which means the designer can then pick and choose from the different hues of the colors and use them as required, which lets the designer retain total freedom while keeping the look of the site or application neat and attractive.
References:
Color schemes generator 2002, Pixy, < http://www.wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html >
June 11th, 2008
Before the first exercise for Module 3, it was asked of us to review some sites as examples of E-learning Multimedia. While going through them, I had a few thoughts regarding some of them:
AdrWorkshops
Although the actual content of this site is very interesting and enlightening, the site should really invest more in the visual presentation of its courses. Unfortunately, regardless of how good content itself is, if the presentation is amateurish (and the crude drawings and animations are), learners – especially if they are generation Y (who are used to slick graphics) – might judge those e-learning courses as amateur works and in turn dismiss the content and the organization.
On another note, however, I really liked the discovery path that the courses present. You get very little feedback when you do wrong (although the feedback does give some hints) which pushes you to try different approaches which yield a lot of positive feedback when you do things right – An excellent approach to E-learning.
BBC E-Learning
As expected, the BBC E-learning courses are fantastic. Visually simple but appealing, fun with a good mix of facts and humor (you just can’t win being a Victorian business man – either you waste money on good working conditions and get in dept or you’re filthy rich on the back of the poor).
How Stuff Works
Always a favorite of mine. The content is well presented and easily understood. The user interface is simple and allows the learner to go back and forth to different parts of the ‘course’ to review previous content as needed.
Although interactivity would be great for learning, I think it’s too much to ask for such a large volume project.
CADRE
Excellent use of E-learning multimedia and correct approach equals a great e-learning course and experience.
In addition to the Astronomy course, there should be a recommendation to check the Frog Pond Simulation which is the best example of discovery based E-learning. This application allows learners to research the answer to why the frogs population is dwindling. The activities have only a small amount of guidance which is enough to push the learners towards discovering the goals themselves. The structure is easy to follow and allows the learners to go back and forth and review previous modules. It is interesting to note that although there is a lot of information in one small window, the color scheme and visual hierarchy really works and focuses the attention on what’s important.
June 11th, 2008
Since I haven’t written in a while, I’d like to start with something different:
Google recently released their newest free tool – Google Sites
In essence Google Sites is a What You See is What You Get (WYSIWYG) web-based site builder (similar to Microsoft Front Page). It is extremely easy to use and very versatile. Google Sites even allows the designer to add Widgets (small software packages) that enhances the site with anything from weather reports to games.
So what does this mean to E-learning practitioners?
As Google Sites evolves, more widgets will be added (mini-blogs, quizzes, maps etc). Then add the ability to ‘Mash’ those Widgets so one can stretch their limits even further. Eventually, e-learning developers could soon be looking at a free, easy to use tool to build quick web-based e-learning courses!
All one will need to do is design the course, build a site and then choose, set and mash the relevant Widgets…And then present a new E-learning course.
A quick experiment with Google Sites came up with this. It is obviously crude but the fact that it toke only 5 minutes to make says something about the ability of the site.
Perhaps it might never be this easy (although one can never know) but it is certainly a step in the right direction.
June 10th, 2008
At first glance, Rapid is not a very impressive tool. That impression holds up the longer you use it.
When you open the program, you are presented with four choices (PPT2Flash Pro, QuizCreator, DemoCreator, WebVideo Author), I’ll review each on in turn and then talk about the whole package. (Note: I’m reviewing the Deluxe version which contains all four, the other versions contain either two or three, depending on price)
PPT2Flash Pro:
It claims to create visual and engaging e-learning courses and allow integration of comprehensive multimedia into the presentation…The software does one thing; it converts PowerPoint presentations into a E-learning Course Flash file. That’s it. That’s all.
While it does allow output into different kinds of mediums such as web, exe and more; where does the actual content come from? Where is the amazing content creator I was promised? It turns out that it is I (the user, who fired his development team and sat down to save thousands in e-learning content development) that needs to create a PowerPoint presentation (and the ‘comprehensive multimedia’ to go with it) but then all the $400 software does for me is…turn it into a page-turner flash file, Thank you…
Now, I’ll agree that sometimes PowerPoint presentations are a good tool for quick re-training or updates, but why would I convert them to a flash file if I already have them as PP? Oh well, maybe the ability to integrate the presentation with the next product (QuizCreator) will make up for it?
QuizCreator:
The preview on QuizCreator claim to fame was based on the ability to create 8 question types (or from an existing Excel file), high level of customization, collecting test results though a web-page. Sounds promising!
QuizCreator allows you to create quizzes, from small ones (e.g. end of a module) to large comprehensive one (e.g. course assessment). It has a very straight forward GUI (Graphical User Interface) and thus is easy to understand and use.
There are (as promised) 8 different types of questions; most are useful, however, some of them seem to be either ‘plugged in’ for the sake of having another type or not designed right. The more useful ones you can find in any e-learning quiz: ‘true / false’, multiple questions (counting as two types: one correct answer and multiple correct answers), fill in the blanks and ‘Click Map’ (an interesting tool that allows “hot spots” to be placed on an image, asking the quizzed person to click the right spot to answer the questions). The less useful ones, in my opinion, are the matching pairs and sequence types (I can not see an application in a serious, adult oriented e-learning course), the last one, the short essay, is a nice addition except that there is no point value given to the question (presumably because they could not think of how to get the program to asses it) and thus is pretty much useless.
Although at first glance one might consider the program quite restrictive, the truth is the the sheer amount of customizations makes up for a lot of it. Not only is the quiz itself fully customizable (from time limits, pass mark, question shuffle and more) but each question has it’s own array of options such as difficulty level, number of attempts, images etc. Even the actual quiz UI is customizable.
The last function, that I didn’t have a chance to try but should still be mentioned, is the ability to send the quiz results to a predetermined email or database. This can be very useful for courses that are taken in the learners own time but need to be assessed by the trainer.
All and all, QuizCreator is a very neat program that delivers what it should, I just wish it was coupled with a good content creator. Let’s take a look at DemoCreator.
DemoCreator:
This program is (almost) prefect for making software tutorial. The basic idea is the ability to record the use of a program and then integrate text and audio instructions in corresponding slides. The program is fairly easy to use and is quite powerful (enough for me not to write on each feature specifically). The ability of the program to turn actions you do in the target software and turn it into a ’scene’ in a rolling playback allows the base of the tutorial to be created quite easily, however, because of minor issues (such as DemoCreator failing to recognize some important actions and recognizing non-important actions) it does take a fair amount of time to get it just right.
Other then those issues, DemoCreator can be very useful, however, I don’t see software tutorials as the be all, end all of e-learning. Lets give them one last chance with “WebVideo Author”.
WebVideo Autor:
(Well, it seems that we won’t be able to review this feature as it kept crushing when importing videos. I’ve sent an email to Wondershare support. Hopefully, for them, it’s something with my computer rather then the software)
WebVideo introduction explains that the program turns video into flash files and allows integration of media as well (haven’t we been here before?) . Without being able to review the actual product, I am still asking the question, who makes the original video content to be converted?
In my opinion “Rapid E-learning” is still very far from accomplishing what they promised in their press release, a development and authoring program that enables e-learning practitioners and businesses to easily and cheaply create e-learning content. With all the neat tools (read: Quiz and Demo creators), it still requires a lot of original content created before it goes through the sometimes useless Rapid conversions. This means that there is really no saved time or monetary investment at all, unless (maybe) if you are interested in software tutorials, maybe that should be the sole focus of Wondershare, rather then disappointing us with ‘half-baked’ all-in-one solutions.
November 2nd, 2007
The first few points on any ‘cons’ list concerning E-learning would probably be concerned with development time, monetary investment and IT support. When I heard that for the first time, I wondered to myself why has no one developed a development and authoring tool that circumvents those issues and making it easy and affordable to construct your own e-learning material.
It appears theres a company now that claim that they have just the thing. Wondershare have just (September 2007) released ‘Rapid E-Learning‘ suit that (supposedly) allows anyone with normal desktop skills to develop e-learning content.
From their press release:
“have you ever hesitated to establish eLearning for your organization due to the conspicuous financial barrier or even lack of technical support?
Hiring a development team or learning a programming language would be a thing of past with Rapid E-Learning Suite. Users with basic experience with desktop software applications can quickly develop content without the need of complicated technology background. Interface is intuitive and features are easy to understand and use.”
Well, I decided to download their trial version and see if those claims hold up. My misgivings is not if the program can create e-learning but if:
- It is powerful enough to create different kinds of e-learning (not just page turners or cheap pre-made pictures multimedia etc) and to what extent?
- If it does do the above, what about the development investments that come with preparing the material that goes into the course? (taking relevant pictures / movies / screenshots etc)
Honestly, at $400 for the deluxe version, I am not expecting magic (a normal business class software, ala photoshop, runs at $1,200 at least).
I’ll post the review next.
November 1st, 2007
I’ve just uncovered a really impressive E-Learning community called Tutorom. The site is filled with all kinds of e-learning courses designed and put together by the community itself.
The site is easy to navigate and contain a multitude of categories from cooking to drawing and computers. The course structure is easy to understand even when the amount of lessons exceed a hundred. The courses are rated (5 stars for best) and the learner can even bookmark a course in order to complete it later.
The site also allows teachers and trainers to post any courses they like using a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface which makes it very easy and simple to put together a course (the designers can either open the course for free, charge a fee or collect 10% of the ad revenue).
I went ahead and constructed a test course. As mentioned, the interface is very simple and quite powerful. The trainer can choose from various tools such as a web page builder, slide show generator, upload media (video and audio), quizzes and more. It toke me only about five minutes to understand and use the tools to construct a (very) basic course, which is still impressive in e-learning terms.
I enjoyed seeing what can come out when combining e-learning and communities. I really hope this is where e-learning is heading as tools like Tutorom can really help us learn from others while contributing and teaching ourselves (when I have time, I’ll defiantly be adding courses for others to benefit from). It is a really positive e-learning tool that everyone should learn to use.
October 28th, 2007
It seems the mobile learning is getting a further push by integrating e-learning into the new Apple iTouch and iPhone. According to the DigMo blog, DominKnow (a company focused on providing e-learning courses) have developed a portal specifically targeted for those two popular products. This may be a move in the right direction, as those products are in fact High-Tech ‘toys’ which can help attract learners and promote more mobile learning; which, according to DigMo is growing with more then 66% of researchers actively focusing on mobile learning and 88% of companies in the field reporting positive ROI (Return on Investment).
Attracting the low attention-span, technology savvy Gen-Y is the focus of the new (relatively) approach to e-learning that discourages page-turners in favor of interactive and engaging Flash content, virtual worlds, simulations and more. Integrating those into next-gen gadgets is a natural next step.
References:
DigMo 2007, ‘iPod Touch E-learning’, DigMo, viewed 28 October 2007, < http://www.digmo.co.uk/ipod/ipod-touch-e-learning/ >
October 28th, 2007
An article in the “Ars Technica” blog points to a different area in the E-learning arena. The article points out that Blackboard (used by UTS itself) was granted a very wide, inclusive patent of “internet-based education support and method tool” which means that it can hold the ‘patent-infringement threat’ over open-source, free e-learning support tools (Paul 2007).
Aside from the legal issues that can be raised out of the article, one issue that can be derived is further proof of how e-learning is increasingly viewed as the future of education and thus a great investment. Emerging technologies or concepts start attracting legal issues (usually in the area of copyrights and patents) as soon as they are seen as worthy of attention and investments of money, time and effort. This would not have happened if the industry did not predict that e-learning would increasing its hold in the education and training sector.
References:
Paul R. 2007, ‘EFF lawyer warns of E-learning patent dangers’, Ars Technica, viewed 28 October 2007, < http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070408-eff-lawyer-warns-of-e-learning-patent-dangers.html >
October 27th, 2007
