The eLearning Programmer’s Toolbox: Choosing the Right Tool

Programming eLearning is often the easy part of the project.  Determining which tool or tools to use however, could make or break your project. Could the tool do what the client wanted? Did the programmer have the correct skill set to use that tool?  Today I gave a webinar, sponsored by mLearningDevCon  where I walked through a unique process flow using criteria such as 

1. Client requirements,
2.  Tools in your toolbox, 
3. Employee skill sets with tools, 
4. Project budget and time constraints. 

Combining these inputs into the process flow will provide you with the ability to choose the right tool – or tools to be successful with your project. 

Select this link to get a zip file (16MB) of the presentation and spreadsheets covered in the webinar.

Select this link to download a zip file (58MB) containing the webinar in wmv format.

New Tools = Better Learning?

The e- and m-learning communities have been blessed with several new tools this summer. Most notably Articulate Storyline and Adobe Captivate 6. A a technical director, I am charged with evaluating and discerning the best way to spend my budget on new tools and/or upgrades to my toolset. As an old programmer I love all the new ways to do things, improved efficiencies, and easier solutions for non technical people to handle lower level programming tasks. New tools generally open new ideas, improve work flows and even improve profit. But, I'm not just looking at tools from a programming point of view anymore. I am, after all, in the learning business and my eduction degree kicks in and asks the question "how is learning being improved?" At elearndevcon this past month, I had a long conversation with Art Kohn. We discussed this question in depth. I think many people have varying thoughts. What are your thoughts on this topic. Do the new tools help with learners retention and do they change behavior? If so, how? Thanks,

HTML5 or Flash ?

Ok. I'll admit, right up front, that I'm not going to take sides on this one.  I've been a long-time developer using both HTML-based and Flash-based solutions. I'm quite comfortable using either technology to get the job done.

To use a mechanical analogy: Say you hand me either a pair of needle-nose pliers OR a pair of lineman's (or "combination") pliers. These are certainly different tools and have different functions...but, I can sure squeeze/pinch/etc. the heck out of something with either one. The same can be said for HTML5 or Flash; each have their own specific set of advantages, but both come in quite handy, when it comes to getting the job done, especially from a software solutions perspective.

A recent blog article on http://www.trainingindustry.com further discusses HTML5 and Flash's differences, but supports the above idea that either/both technologies work well. The article goes on to discuss "HTML5 in Learning Solutions" and highlights some advantages. Namely, Semantics, Multimedia, Graphics, Device access, and Offline Storage. I'd suggest viewing the article at http://www.trainingindustry.com/learning-technologies/articles/using-html5-in-learning-solutions.aspx to get the full description behind these.
One part of the article stands out to me, which I will quote here:

HTML5 in Learning Solutions: Collaborative Learning
There is yet another aspect to the learning equation and how HTML5 can play a role that is quite distinct in the world of learning solutions, with respect to social collaboration. Just about everyone is familiar with social networks these days and the benefits of staying connected in the personal and professional world. HTML5 makes it easy to build solutions around collaboration among a group of experts and learners. Collaboration in the online world is so powerful that it can change the way everything works.

I agree with much of this. Thinking towards social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and/or other, it becomes clear that we developers need to plan for implementation of these technologies, not matter what platform for which we are creating content. Take the JSFiddle example below, showing how easy it is to grab Tweets using jQuery. Click the 'Result' button to run the simple script.

 Of course, this is a rudimentary example, but think of the possibilities implementing the social aspect for our clients, as we deploy to desktop units or even mobile devices, using HTML5.  Certainly, I am not taking sides here - I will continue to use both Flash and/or HTML5 where needed...however, I use the example above to remind us, as developers, that we can continue to think past our current technological reach.


For now, we'll see how the comparison between the two solutions work out. I'd wager that both will be around for quite some time, for us to all argue over, even if one dies on the vine. (...I mean, there are still developers out there programming in Authorware, right?)

Great post in UXmag.com on User Experience Leadership.

I wanted to point out a great article I read today on UXmag.com - 5 tips for effective UX Leadership by Paul Holcomb. His insights speak to many of the frustrations I know I feel when working on a project, especially when working in isolation (functional silo!). How do you move beyond being seen as the deliverables person, and move into a more strategic role within your company, or with your clients.

Greg often talks about what questions need to be asked BEFORE a project starts - and it is almost as if he and Paul got together on this article. I think it is because, from a UX perspective, these are common sense considerations. But common sense depends on common perspective, and when most of our co-workers or clients are NOT looking at things from the UX perspective, but rather from a project management or team management or even SME perspective, those things that are common sense to us aren't necessarily going to be common sense to them!

Check it out - its a great read!

Wade

How to Replace the Master Page in SmartBuilder

I recently found myself in a situation where I needed to update the Master Page on 5 different lessons.  Through client revisions and added functionality, the original Master Page had evolved a great deal. I was frustrated to learn that although you can copy entire pages via the Page Sequence List (Edit/Page Sequence from the Authoring Stage), the Master Page is not included in this functionality. Faced with the prospect of recreating all of the actions in the Master Page across all 5 lessons I decided to search for a more efficient solution to no avail. My search was not completely fruitless as I did turn up a few capabilities that when combined can produce the same effect.

7 steps to Replacing your Master Page

1. Open your lesson and save a copy.
   
2. In your new saved copy, open the Page Sequence dialog and delete all of the pages in your lesson. (You will need to be viewing the Master Page to accomplish this as SmartBuilder will not allow you to delete a page you are currently viewing)
   
3. Save this cleaned out lesson as a template
   
   
   
   
   
4. Publish your new template. (found in My Content / Work in Progress /Templates) This will place your template in My Published Content / Templates allowing you to apply this template to a lesson.
   
   
   
5. Open your lesson that needs the Master Page replaced, choose to view/edit the Master Page. On the Authoring Stage, press CTRL A (select all) and then Delete.
   
   
6. Delete your Actions.  If you view your Action list you will see that all of the actions are now colored red.  This is because all of the objects these items were tied to have been deleted. Delete all of these Actions.
   
   
   
7. The final step is to apply your saved template to your now cleaned out Master Page. From the Design Tab in the Template Pane, (on the bottom right) click on Apply Template. Locate and select your template in the Select Template dialog box.
   
   

You have now replaced your Master Page!  To apply this method to additional lessons simply repeat steps 5-7 on the desired lessons.

Know of an easier process?  I would love to hear it!

What I 'Got' from eLearning DevCon 2012

It goes without saying (...or, um, typing...?) that there was much to learn from this year's eLearning DevCon 2012 (http://elearningdevcon.com/), or "ELDC2012", held in the very beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah, June 6-8th, 2012. Greg Gardner, Damian Liska, Stephanie Spinapolice, and myself - all from ICF International - had the distinct honor of participating in ELDC2012 in several ways, such as:

Stephanie Spinapolice at the ICF booth

• Presenting on highly technical topics
• Giving bring your own laptop ("BYOL" sessions)
• Having an exhibitor booth...
• ...As well as being a sponsor the conference itself

However, beyond this, there are some very important 'take-aways' from ELDC2012, which I shall list here in no particular order or fashion:

Michael Sheyahshe giving presentation

• SLC is beautiful
• Having never been to Utah for any reason, it was nice to see such breathtaking views.
• People are excited to both learn about and utilize technology
• Directly after my talk on Augmented Reality ("AR"), one audience member used the information from my talk to create AR for her friend's band. While she was amazed at how easy it was, saying it took her 50 seconds, from start to finish. It is one of the best compliments, as a presenter to have someone actively use information I've given, almost directly in front of my eyes.
• ELDC2012 participants are highly diverse, ranging from Designers, Developers, Programmers, and anything in-between

• During my sessions and presentations, I noticed how diverse the audience members, participants, and other presenters were. As I answered questions and had ensuing conversations afterwards, I found that ELDC2012 participants came armed with questions and interest levels all across the board. They certainly kept me on my toes.
• Social networking is alive and well
• Not only were there many continuous Tweets on ELDC2012, I also made several friends at the conference, using social networks.  Power to the people !  :)
• Thoughts on thinking



 Neuroscientist, Dr. Art Kohn

• Dr. Art Kohn's Keynote on "Know the Mind. Know the Learner" was insightful and entertaining. The 'tricks' he played on the audience's minds - such as making the majority of the audience think that he had list the word that he had not listed - reminded me of a recent article in Wired on the way our minds, specifically memory, works. Wired's The Forgetting Pill Erases Painful Memories Forever, outlines how "our memories are not inert packets of data and they don’t remain constant", based on brain chemistry and neighboring receptors within our grey matter. Dr. Kohn's talk on the difference between encoding information the brain and retrieval of knowledge supported this notion...at least in my brain.
• Apparently, there are several celebrity sightings in SLC
• One of the several friends I made - from both presenting and via social networks (i.e., Twitter) - encountered not one, but two celebrities during ELDC2012. The first, Jay Mohr, was in our hotel at the university for some odd reason; next my Twitter friend spotted Katherine Heigl at the airport. Lucky...

In all, ELDC2012 was a wonderful experience and I'm proud to have been a part of it and look forward to seeing what eLearning DevCon has to offer in the near future.