ELearning Internship

Wow! Long time no see – but nonetheless, it is always better late than never!

So here I am with new reflections and insight on participating in an online internship. Well, I can recommend it to anyone – it is a very meaningful, valuable experience that allows professional and personal growth and will be a milestone guiding one’s future educational career for years to come. Why- because it helps put things into perspective, it allows one to apply new knowledge in a safe environment while also adding perspectives and value from own experiences and background and because it serves as a basis for a long-term peer collaboration and friendship.In my case, it resulted in some deep level realizations regarding instructional design and educational trends and in a couple of hefty review documents that, although time-consuming, were valuable and comprehensive tools for bringing together the conclusions and learning that has taken place.

Below is a segment I used to end my Internship Performance Document:” This internship experience was very positive and meaningful for my professional development. Not only that it created awareness of the successes/challenges faced by online instructors, but also was a very valuable learning tool for using D2L with added capabilities. I enjoyed our mentoring discussions, the peer feedback sharing and the collaboration with the students. It was good to be able to help in many ways and cases, and it was great to have someone else to fall back on/ask for advice and suggestions when the solution wasn’t obvious or readily available. This internship proved the value of hands-on real-life applications as well as of social, collaborative learning communities for elearning success.”

So long – and see you soon!

Adobe Web Conference

Time challenged but wanting to keep up? Needed a really quick overview of Adobe’s Acrobat Web Conferencing Tool? Here it is. The interactive guide presented gives you a three minute introduction to the software capabilities and features, without weighing you down! After viewing this you’ll be ready to roll!

Abobe Acrobat Website

Pre-Course Survey Forms

Wanted to see how an online survey form looked like?

Well, one that I created for the Leadership Project is available right here.

The first one was build with Google Docs, the ever present and all encompassing cloud that floats above us. That replace many of our existing tools and that connects all nations, languages and learners styles. An example of its capabilities is displayed right here via the Leadership Development Pre-Course Survey Form.

The second form was created with Adobe FormsCentral, a powerful online surveying/collaboration tool that allows users to create, preview, publish and share various forms and surveys. It can be used for pre-course surveying, for event registrations, contact information, workshop or conference registration and course or training evaluation/feedback. The tool can be thought of as the professional version of the free Google Docs Survey Form presented above. An example of the professional Leadership Development Pre-Course Survey Form is available here.

Online Training – Demo

Want more interactivity and less cost? How about focusing on Adove Captivate’s Interactive Demos, Assessment Tools and Trainings?

Here is how easy it is: in the File Menu, select Record New Project, set your screen area and determine if you want to add narration and panning or not. Choose what type of project you want to create: Demo, Assessment or Training and start recording. The system does the rest for you. It captures your screen, your actions, adds the box highlights, messages and navigation automatically and provides you with a ready to use, awesome product.

Want proof of it? Click the following link to view the short demo I created using Adode Captivate and exported to Flash for upload to Screencast.com. View the Associated Bank Talent Management Project – Create an Account Demo.

Copyright in the Classroom

Let’s clear up the confusion! 

Blackboard Interactive Demo

Remember the Adobe eLearning Suite discussion? And that I claimed that is really easy to master and there is no need to worry about the learning curve? Here, I’ll show you just how easy it really is!

The following demo has been prepared for a generic online course delivered via the Blackboard Learning Management System. It is a short, to the point interactive recording developed to guide students through their first Discussion Board posting. It took less than five minutes to prepare and it provided a demo, a training and an assessment tool all at once.

Blackboard Discussion Board Demo (Adobe Captivate)

Why is it important for you? Because it creates instant, strong instructor presence in the online environment. It shares your voice, your style… it simply gives your students a little bit of YOU! Perhaps you teach face-to-face course, and don’t feel you need it. Not so! Students will be signed up months in advance for a course and will appreciate to get to know you, the system, the course a little bit before actual class time. Give them something to work on ahead of time. Minimize idle time, proactively overcome technical difficulties and maximize learning.

Isn’t it worth to be the best teacher you can be in less than ten minutes? Adobe Captivate can do that for you. Learn it, use it, share it.

Wordle Tool

Did you ever consider spicing it up a bit using Wordle? Word – what? Word-le?! It is a fun, interactive word creator that allows us to build word clouds. You can enter contents of a webpage, blog or any article or just a row on words and see what happens. It is as easy as it sounds, really.

I use it in the classroom in a multitude of ways. During the motivation stage, for getting students’ brains going on a subject – have them focus in and think, think, think! They need to come up with as many personal finance or compliance related words as they can in large group – everybody contributes. They love it – even if it is finance, after all. Or it can be used during reinforcement or evaluation, to assess how much knowledge has been gained and how many of the new concepts “stuck”. And now it is your turn to create! Go ahead and have fun right on the Wordle Website. 

Here are a few Wordle Examples for you: Thank you, Web 2.0 Tools, Human Body, America. Enjoy and create!

Interactive Multimedia

Leadership Development Interactive Guide Multimedia Presentation

When you really think of it…. how long is the course syllabus again? Eight, maybe ten pages? … Too long for sure. No wonder that many students never read it or skim it so fast that many essentials are missed.

What you see here is a solution to this often encountered problem. The Leadership Development Interactive Guide Multimedia Presentation accessible above is a student success tool usable in college or corporate settings. First year student or new training participant – all the same. They need to understand what is expected of them, when assignments are due and what the ultimate goal of the course is. Without these essential elements, no matter how well you designed your course or how muc support you provide along the way. Confusion can easily be eradicated, and, what’s more ? – you even catered to multiple learning style and engaged students from the get go. Enjoy!

Reflection Journal Week 9

Lots is new! I discovered that Adobe’s eLearning Suite is awesome and that all educators need to have an understanding of this major application. Perhaps you didn’t consider yourself a ecourse designer… Perhaps you don’t ever plan on working in the online environment… Well, you still need it.

Why? Because it is the best way to create high end presentations, to collaborate with your team members, to share screens, projects and ideas, to connect via chat and webcam, etc. And all this is only the basics. You will also have the capability for awesome visual creation and major ecourse development.

And because it is really very intuitive. Click here for a free 30 day Adobe eLearning Suite trial download or check it out online. You will not regret your choice.

Worried about the Learning Curve? Don’t. It is a all inclusive, comprehensive collection of wonderful teaching tools you have already mastered. Web meetings, screen sharing, chat, collaborative development, adding audio, branching, effective visuals, animations, interactive learning, etc. is all here for you. The Adobe eLearning Suite brings it all together in one convenient place.

Musical Concept Map

Remember the Inspired Leadership Concept Map? It gave us an awesome visual of the three learning goals, activities and appropriate assessment tools for our Leadership Training Online Module.

Now…. Isn’t it time to turn up the heat? To step it up a notch? To get with the beat?

OH, YES! It is, for sure! So here comes the Musical Concept Map – a representation of utilizing sound and image together to affect all sense in the same time for maximum effectiveness. When creating it, my intention was to show that, no matter how intensive, extensive and extreme a training course would be, the learner’s approach can be positively influenced by adding soothing music and brain boosting visuals. One seen and heard, we all get a feel for the project, don’t we? Please find out for yourself! Listen and enjoy!

Leadership Development Concept Map