Webinars are effective at gaining your learner's trust, delivering valuable content in a concise way, and if utilized properly, a seamless marketing channel for selling your online courses. What you need to host a webinar There are a few things you'll need to host a professional-looking webinar, whether you opt to do it live or as a pre-recorded/automated production. Let's talk about the options and how to set yourself up for a successful webinar launch. Software The program you choose to host your webinar is as important as the content you plan to include. Ultimately, you want to choose a program that you're intimately familiar with (or are willing to invest the time to learn). Tech issues during a webinar, especially when hosted live, are one of the quickest ways to lose credibility with your audience. Here are a few popular options to explore. Each has its own set of advantages, disadvantages, costs, and usability. Go To Webinar Zoom Google Hangouts Easy … [Read more...] about How To Host Effective Webinars!
Instructional Design and ELearning
Job Aids – When To Use Them And When NOT To Use Them
Job aids are simple instructions on how to do something at work. They should be thought of as complementary resources to training with the purpose of supporting your learner's day-to-day activities. checklists worksheets memory jogger decision tables flowcharts one-pagers diagrams procedure guides reference documents direction lists instructions But, when should you include job aids in your course? #1 Help The Learner Remember How To Do Something Your training course will only go so far. After the learner has taken the course, the knowledge may or may not be retained. Job aids help answer the question, “How do I do that again?” To make job aids as effective as possible, remember that they must be readily available and as concise as possible. #2 Help Solve A Problem Job aids can solve many problems by simply providing an answer - immediately. For example, a cheat sheet on how to complete a process can be posted right next to a workstation. The job aid shows … [Read more...] about Job Aids – When To Use Them And When NOT To Use Them
5 Tips To Produce High-Quality ELearning Videos
If I had to guess, you’ve been doing A LOT more video and virtual content recently! Here are a few tips that you can apply immediately to get the most out of your audio-visuals, from recording course content to publishing YouTube videos, or just putting your best face (and voice) forward on your next Zoom meeting. Tip#1 Camera setup If you could see behind the scenes of some of my first video setups, I bet you’d get a kick out of it! I’ve had my equipment propped on some questionably precarious household items to get the right angle for a shot. For most “people” shots (interviews, meetings, webinars, etc.), you’ll want the camera positioned slightly above the face, shooting down. Have you ever noticed the Instagram Models taking their best selfies? They’re always holding the camera at about a 45° angle above their face. Channel the IG Model. Upgrade: a tripod for your phone or camera. I purchased a slick one from Amazon. Cost: $23.49. Now, I’m getting much better shots without … [Read more...] about 5 Tips To Produce High-Quality ELearning Videos
5 Ways the Pandemic is Changing Learning
With the world rapidly shifting to distance learning, our views on education have also significantly changed. Educators the world over have been forced to reconsider their approach to teaching and students are finding that some approaches work better than others. Here’s how the pandemic is changing learning: Creativity Abounds Student engagement has always been a struggle for teachers, whether in-classroom or on-screen. However, to offset the admittedly dry nature of online lectures, educators have started to get more creative. Chemistry students at Calvin Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C. are enjoying efforts by teacher Jonte Lee to liven up their lessons by doing chemistry experiments from his kitchen and answering questions in real-time via Instagram. That’s just one example of how teachers are getting creative in their online classes. Less Lecturing, More Discussing It’s a proven fact that students learn better when they ask questions, but decades of traditional learning … [Read more...] about 5 Ways the Pandemic is Changing Learning
Using Mind Maps to Develop Your Curriculum
eLearning course curriculum development is the most important step in creating highly informative, engaging courses for a given audience. If you get the curriculum wrong, it’s likely your course, once developed, will not meet its targeted learning objectives. Thankfully, there’s a very useful tool to help eLearning course developers put visual perspective to their curriculum development efforts. It’s called Mind Maps. CURRICULUMS AND CONCEPTS An early example of the use of the mapping technique, to link related concepts, and developing a teaching curriculum from there, is by educationist and researcher Katherine M. Edmondson in 1993[i]. Back then, educators used “concept mapping” as a tool for integrated curriculum development. Experts endorsed its use as: “a valuable tool for curriculum development of any scope or discipline…particularly helpful for creating interdisciplinary courses and case‐based exercises” Today, that simple tool has morphed into a highly visual, interactive, … [Read more...] about Using Mind Maps to Develop Your Curriculum
10 Most Common Mistakes Rookie L&D Professionals Make…And How To Avoid Them
Newcomers to any field often have the world in front of them, and newbies to the Learning & Development (L&D) and Instructional Design (ID) profession are no different. The tendency is to put everything they’ve learned to practice, in the hope that they’ll produce more effective eLearning solutions. In the process, they often make some rookie mistakes. How To Avoid Common Errors That Rookie L&D Professionals Make Here are 10 common rookie errors to avoid. 1. Assuming That When The Client Asks For A Learning Solution, It's The Right Solution For Whatever Problem The Client Is Trying To Solve Or Objective They're Trying To Achieve Training won’t always solve an issue. And one of the most important questions novice L&D professionals must learn to ask is: Is training the solution to a problem? An established factory (in business for 30 years) owner might be concerned about falling quality and productivity and increasing safety incidents. Their answer: Train the … [Read more...] about 10 Most Common Mistakes Rookie L&D Professionals Make…And How To Avoid Them