2010 – Page 13 – The Logical Blog

June 21, 2010

eLearning & mLearning: Using Color in Learning, Part II

by AJ George

Last week I went over how colors affect mood and how implementing certain color stories into your learning courses can encourage (or discourage) participation. This week I am going to shift away from how color affects mood and focus on how color affects retention and learning.

How Color Affects Learning

Studies have shown that the use of color can greatly impact learning and retention. There is evidence to suggest that thoughtfully designing the color of your learning courses will be time well spent. In a study by the Poynter Institute, participants were shown two newspaper pages. The pages were identical in every way except that one was presented in color and the other was in black and white. More than 98% of the participants said they preferred the more colorful page because they claimed to have read more on that page. Upon investigation, however, researchers found that the participants had not read more on the colorful page, they had simply imagined that they had because the color page gave off the illusion of having more information.

In a study done for the Journal of Experimental Psychology by Felix A. Wichmann, Lindsay T. Sharpe and Karl R. Gegenfurtner, test subjects were shown a series of photographs, half in color and the other half in black and white. They were later shown the same images mixed with new images and asked to indicate whether or not they had seen each picture. The study showed that participants were better able to remember seeing the color photographs. The same test was run using black and white, color, and false color images (where green pixels were exchanged for red and blue pixels exchanged for yellow and vice versa). The experiment showed that while color helps trigger memory, not just any color will do. The natural color images were remembered more than both the black and white and the false color images.

A study by Ravi Mehta and Juliet Zhu published in Science analyzed the effects of neutral, red and blue backgrounds on 600 participants' abilities to perform tasks. They found that those in the red group were better able to complete tasks involving detail, processes and accuracy. Those in the blue group fared better with creative, imaginative, and inventive tasks. The study showed that if you desire an end result of memorization or improved editing, you should use more red. If however, you want to encourage new ideas and creativity, choose blue.

The Takeaways…

Content is king, but if you present content with carefully chosen colors, your learners will get more out of it than if you were to present it in black and white.

Don't get too crazy with the colors, as learners will remember more of what you present if it is shown in its natural colors.

Use red to teach brain surgery and blue to stimulate the invention of new products. Want to know other ways to use colors in learning? Review last week's color article.

Click here for Part 1 of this series, How Color Affects Mood.

Click here for Part 3 of this series, Using Colors for Special Circumstances.

Click here for Part 4 of this series, Easy & Free Color Resources.

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About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Writer and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials." You can follow AJ on Twitter at http://twitter.com/andrayajgeorge.

June 21, 2010

Adobe FrameMaker 9: Table Rules

by Barbara Binder

Ever wondered how to edit the rules listed in FrameMaker's Table Designer? When you are designing a new table format, or refining an existing one, you need to make decisions about how the ruling lines should look in your tables. When you go to the Ruling properties of the Table Designer, you are presented with 10 lists of available ruling styles:

Table Designer

In a new, default document, each list looks like this:

Default ruling styles

But what if you have other plans for your table rules? Let's say you'd like a thicker line than Thick, or perhaps want to use any color other than the default black?

Did you know that you can add/edit ruling styles through Custom Ruling & Shading? I didn't think so. This is one of my regular polling questions in my FrameMaker classes, and most students simply stare blankly at me when I ask the question. Based on my many years in front of FrameMaker students, this particular feature is not one I'd label as "discoverable" (Adobe-speak for a feature you'll easily find and figure out on your own).

Here's how to modify the ruling line lists:

Choose Table > Custom Ruling & Shading.
Click on one of the ruling styles in the list (I picked "Thick") and then click the Edit Ruling Style button.
Now, what you do on the Name line will impact how the styles lists are modified:
- If you leave a default name you will update the existing style;
- If you type a new name, you will leave the default styles alone, and will be adding a new style to the list.
In my example, I'm adding a new style called "Thickest". Pick the color, pattern, width (which means height), and whether you want a single or double line. I'm going with a 6 pt Forest Green rule.
Click Set to add/modify the ruling style, but don't click Apply! That would assign your new rule to whatever is selected in the table. Instead, just close or collapse the panel.
Return to Ruling properties in the Table Designer and drop down any of the lists, and presto! Your new (or improved) ruling style is ready to go!

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If you are new to FrameMaker and want to get up to speed quickly, join IconLogic's instructor-led, online Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker class. Hope to "see" you there.

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About the author: Barbara Binder is the president and founder of Rocky Mountain Training. Barbara has been a trainer for nearly two decades and has been recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide.

June 17, 2010

Writing & Grammar: “If I Were” or “If I Was?”

by Jennie Ruby

How many times have you heard someone say "If I was you"? In some regions of the country, you might hear it every day. This popular expression, however, is grammatically wrong. The correct grammar is "If I were you."

The correct use of were in this expression is an example of the subjunctive: the use of an unusual verb form to indicate that there is something iffy about what is being said. If I were is used to indicate that you are supposing either something that is known to be untrue or something that is impossible.

Here are some examples of supposing the impossible or untrue. All of these are in the present tense:

If I were walking on the moon right now…
If I were a fly on the wall…
If only Superman were here…
If I were a rich man…

The opposite of subjunctive is indicative-the standard verb forms we use for most situations because we are talking about things that are not iffy. The indicative verb form indicates the truth, or facts, or things we know are true or at least possible. Here are examples where the word if is used with factual, or at least not untrue or impossible statements:

Past: If I was at work last Tuesday when the shipment arrived [I might have been–I just can't remember], I did not sign for it.
Past: If she was the one who left her keys here, she will be back. [It is quite possible that she did leave her keys here.]
Present: If the cat is hiding under the bed, watch out for your ankles. [But: If the cat were a tiger, you'd have a lot more to worry about.]
Future: If I am selected for the new job position, I will make sure we all get raises. [I am actually being considered for the new job, so I am not supposing the impossible.]

Here is a quick memory aid for the were/was problem: "If I wuz you" is always wrong–it's even spelled wrong!

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Are you an eLearning developer who has been tasked with creating an effective voiceover script? If so, consider attending my Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts class. Click here to learn more. I also teach the Writing Training Documents and eLearning Scripts class. You can learn about that here.

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About the Author: Jennie Ruby is a veteran IconLogic trainer and author with titles such as "Editing with Word 2003 and Acrobat 7" and "Editing with MS Word 2007" to her credit. She is a publishing professional with more than 20 years of experience in writing, editing and desktop publishing.

June 16, 2010

eLearning & mLearning: Using Color in Learning

by AJ George

I've previously written about how to effectively use fonts to convey ideas and emotions in your eLearning courses. Effective use of color is equally important and is often overlooked and under utilized.

What is the purpose of your eLearning course? Are you presenting somber, factual material? Are you welcoming new employees? Maybe you are passing along important factual information that will need to memorized? Or maybe you are teaching a complex process?

All of these scenarios would benefit from different color stories. Over the next few weeks I'm going to discuss how you can use color in eLearning to affect mood, encourage learning, resonate in different cultures and be accessible to those with color sight deficiencies as well as provide some color resources to make your design process a bit easier.

How Color Affects Mood

The right color can put your learner in the right mood for optimal participation. The following is a breakdown of commonly accepted psychological effects of colors.

Red is a stimulant. Too much red can trigger anger or anxiety. When used appropriately, red can evoke passion and excitement, increase blood pressure and metabolism, and can even make food taste better when surrounded by it. Use it: to draw attention to key points, but don't overdo it as it could turn your learner off. Red would be a perfect color for pointing out things not to do.

Orange is an antidepressant. Similar to red it can be used as a stimulant. It is seen as warm and welcoming and can be beneficial when used in relation to food or creative processes. Use it: to appear more personable to your learners, particularly when dealing with boring content that just has to be presented.

Blue is in many ways red's counter–it lowers the pulse, encourages serenity and reduces appetites. Blue is often used in offices and gyms to stimulate productivity. Use it: to calm learners when presenting information that may initially seem complicated or overwhelming. Be sure to thoughtfully accent blue with other colors so as not to lull your students to sleep.

Green is known to bring tranquility and peacefulness. It is seen as refreshing and is the easiest color on the eyes. Green helps to relax muscles and deepen breathing. Use it: wherever you want, as much as you want. With good design, green can be a very effective eLearning color.

Yellow is a brain stimulant and promotes memory, clear thinking and decision-making. Yellow should be used sparingly as it is the harshest color on the eyes. It is known to cause tempers to flare and babies have been shown to cry more in yellow rooms. Use it: to highlight points that should be memorized or that are often forgotten in your content. Yellow would also be a good color to incorporate into the quiz sections of your learning. Don't overdo it, or risk giving your learners a headache.

Purple is a mind-balancer that promotes good judgment and spirituality. Traditionally the color of royalty, it can now be used to express any number of moods depending upon the color with which it is paired (with blue it becomes calming, with red it becomes stimulating). Use it: in conjunction with another color to achieve your desired mood. Purple is a very well-rounded color that could be used to express anything from lightheartedness and fun in learning to sophistication of a company or brand.

Black is technically the absence of color and typically elicits feelings of power, formality, mystery, fear and sexuality. Use it: for fonts. There are a lot of jazzy things you can do with font colors but I find that sticking with traditional black is often the best choice for the bulk of text. Black can be a beautiful color for design and can evoke a lot of powerful moods, but for eLearning courses it is not one of my favorites.

White is technically the perfect balance of all colors and is seen as pure and clean, which is why brides and many nurses opt for this color. Use it: all over the place. Don't be afraid of well-thought-out white space. White is also a strong choice for fonts when text is on a darker background.

Click here for Part 2 of this series, How Color Affects Learning.

Click here for Part 3 of this series, Using Colors for Special Circumstances.

Click here for Part 4 of this series, Easy & Free Color Resources.

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June 15, 2010

Adobe Captivate 5: Styling with Object Styles

by Kevin Siegel

How many times have you had to update the appearance of objects in Captivate and the pesky Apply to All feature simply didn't work? If you've tried to update Captivate's text captions across an entire project, then you know how truly hit or miss the process can be.

Over the past couple of weeks I've touched on some of the wonderful new features you'll find in the upcoming Captivate 5. This one ranks in the top two or three: Object Styles. For the first time in Captivate history, you'll be able to create, edit and use styles for many of Captivate's standard slide objects. This feature effectively replaces Design Templates introduced in Captivate 4.

Using Caption styles, you can alter the way text captions will appear in a project. Once you set up the appearance of the default Caption Style, new captions will take on the attributes of the style and save you a ton of manual formatting. Want to update the appearance of your project's text captions months from now? Simple. Update the style and BAM! Every text caption will follow the lead of its style.

To edit the Default Caption Style, choose Edit > Object Style Manager. From the top of the Object Style Manager dialog box, select Default Caption Style (there are also defaults for Success, Failure and Hint Captions).

You can use the Caption area at the right to specify a Caption type. From the Character area, you can select a font Family, Style and Size (such as Verdana, Regular, 16). From the Format area, you can specify the alignment both horizontally and vertically. And there are other formatting options available.

Default caption style

When you insert new text captions (via Insert > Standard Objects > Text Caption), each new caption will follow the formatting specified in the style. Cool!

Of course, here's where things get interesting. I added several captions to a slide. Each used the Default Caption Style. Next I did the unthinkable–I manually changed the appearance of each caption. What a mess!

What a mess!

You might want to stand back a bit… this next step just might leave a mark. I selected all of the captions that I fouled up. Then, from the top of the Properties panel, I clicked the Reset Style button.

Reset styles

And Bam, Bam, Bam! All of the text captions once again followed the formatting I specified in the object style!

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Looking to learn Captivate? We have a couple of options… we offer two online classes (Beginner and Advanced). Click here for details on the Beginner class. Click here for details on the Advanced class. We also have a 3-hour class devoted to Advanced Actions. Click here to learn more about that class.

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Follow Kevin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kevin_siegel

June 10, 2010

Acrobat: Signatures in the Clouds

by David R. Mankin

First there was Buzzword, an online word processor that Adobe created for all of us to use for FREE. Then there was Presentations (think PowerPoint… only online and free). Next came Tables, an online spreadsheet.

Adobe seems to be assembling a cloud-based suite of useful programs. The anchor to all these 'modules' is the free acrobat.com service. The only things required to use all of these services are a user name and a password. Simply visit www.acrobat.com to sign up.

Adobe has continually improved and added to this online suite of tools. The latest addition (still in beta, but is available to all, and it's really cool) is Adobe eSignatures.

Adobe eSignatures

eSignatures is an incredibly easy way to get your documents digitally signed. No more printing, faxing or overnighting documents. Just upload your documents to this service and get them signed quickly.
You can use your existing Adobe ID (that you use for Acrobat.com), or create one when you visit https://esign.adobe.com/.

Once logged in, you will get to upload the PDF file you wish to have signed. You can add a description of the document if you wish. You will then have the opportunity to input the email addresses of the people to receive the doc(s). You will then designate a date by which all recipients must have signed the document. You can write a custom note that will be the body of the email that the service will send out for you. This email will have a link to the document, which is housed online for you.

Your recipients will have to log into the service, and if they don't yet have an Adobe ID, they can create one by following the prompts. Recipients log in and can preview or download the file. The magic happens when the recipient presses the Sign button. A digital signature is applied to the document (yes, you can customize its appearance, believe it or not!), and the initiator is notified via email that the doc has been signed. Once all recipients of the file have signed, the doc can be downloaded. It will have an additional page added to the end, containing all the signatures, and the PDF will no longer be editable. Nice.

Signature page

Did I mention the cost of all this stuff? FREE!! I have tried to get clients and coworkers to use digital signatures for years, and am sometimes successful. This is a tool that I will use constantly. It makes digital signature technology readily available and a snap to setup and use. Stay tuned–the cloud is getting better and better.

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Looking to learn Acrobat quickly? Sign up for my next online Acrobat class where you'll learn a whole bunch more.

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About the author: David R. Mankin is a Certified Technical Trainer, desktop publisher, computer graphic artist, and Web page developer. And if that wasn't enough, of course David is an Adobe-certified expert in Adobe Acrobat.

June 8, 2010

Adobe FrameMaker 9: Deleting Empty Pages

by Barbara Binder

For those of you transitioning to FrameMaker from Microsoft Word, the empty pages left at the end of a document can be bothersome.
The first rule to learn is that the single fastest way to delete empty pages is to save your document. When you save, empty pages are deleted. Of course, this assumes a few things.

Choose Format > Page Layout > Pagination. Ensure "Before Saving & Printing" is set to Delete Empty Pages.

FrameMaker pagination

If you confirm the settings shown above, but the empty pages refuse to go away when you save or print, read on…

If the page in question is using a custom master page, choose Format > Page Layout > Master Page Usage and reassign the default Right/Left masters.

Master Page Usage

Save your work and the empty page should be gone.

If not, read on…

Another reason that empty pages stick around is if the master pages are using overrides. View the master pages via View > Master Pages and switch back the Body Pages (View > Body Pages). Select Remove Overrides.

Remove overrides

Save your work and the empty page should be gone. But… if not, read on…

Yet another reason a page won't go away is if the page contains the start of a new flow (i.e., Flow B) or a disconnected page. Choose Special > Delete Pages and remove the page manually.

Delete pages

If the page disappears, but returns after you update your book, it's likely the book pagination is set to add blank pages to force a new chapter to begin on a specific page side. In the book window, you can choose Format > Page Layout > Pagination and you'll find the same options you saw for single documents. Book commands override the document commands, so I just ignore document pagination and always set it at the book level.

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If you are new to FrameMaker and want to get up to speed quickly, join IconLogic's instructor-led, online Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker class. Hope to "see" you there.

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June 7, 2010

Adobe Captivate 5: One Masterful Slide

by Kevin Siegel

Ever needed to display an object across several or all of your Captivate project slides? Me too! The good news is that there is more than one way to accomplish the task. The bad news is that neither process works very well.

One way to show an object (such as your logo) across multiple slides is to use Captivate's Show for rest of project command via the Options tab. This technique works well enough until you come across one of the slides where you don't want the image. Since the Show for rest of project command is an all-or-nothing affair, you are sunk (unless you cover the object or know how to Hide an object).

The other way to show an object across multiple slides (hold onto your hat) is to copy and paste the object onto said slides. While antiquated, this is a simple-enough process until, sometime later, you want to move, alter or remove the object from all or some of those slides. The only foolproof way to make changes to those objects is to go from slide to slide and manually make the change(s). I know that there's an Apply to All feature, but it is often inappropriate to use or worse, simply doesn't work consistently. Ouch!

So hello to Captivate 5 where you will find a wonderfully welcome addition: Master Slides. Once you create a Master Slide, anything you add to a Master Slide can quickly be applied to any project slide(s). If you modify, move or delete Master Slide objects, the slides assigned to the Master Slide will instantly be affected. Nice!

To create a Master Slide, choose Window > Master Slide.

The Master Slide panel appears alongside the Timeline. If you click on a Master Slide, you'll enter Master Slide view. Any changes you make to the slide will affect the selected Master Slide.

Master Slide Panel

Add, format or position object(s) on the Master Slide just as you would a project slide. In the picture below, I added a logo to the lower right of the master slide.

Master Slide

The final step is to apply the Master Slide to project slide(s).

On the Film Strip, select any or all of the slides.

From the General group on the Properties panel, select the Master Slide you would like to apply from the Master Slide drop-down menu.

Apply a Master Slide

You can have multiple Master Slides in a project (choose Insert > Master Slide while the Master Slide panel is open to add a new Master Slide). And you can name a Master Slide via the Properties panel of any selected Master Slide.

If you don't want to use a Master Slide on a specific slide(s), select the slide(s) and, from the General group on the Properties panel, select None from the Master Slide drop-down menu.

No Master Page

As mentioned earlier, once you have applied a Master Slide to a project slide, any changes you make to the objects on a Master Slide will have an instant affect on any slides that are assigned to the Master Slide.

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Follow Kevin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kevin_siegel

June 4, 2010

Acrobat: Portable Indeed!

by David R. Mankin

In my last article I wrote about how my Blackberry was able to open and show a PDF file–much to my delight! And now Adobe has released a version of Adobe Reader for Android-based devices. Keep in mind that Reader can be installed only if your phone runs Android 2.1 or later and it has at least 256 MB of RAM and a 550 MHz processor.

Two trends seem to have led to this exciting bit of news: Apple's turning of their back regarding Flash on the iPhone/iPad devices; and Adobe's welcoming embrace toward Google's Android mobile operating system. (Google has also enthusiastically invited Flash technology into their OS. If you use an Android, you may want to keep your eyes open for Adobe AIR on your device now that the Developer Prerelease program is underway).

Adobe states that Reader for the Android features "Multi-touch gestures, like pinch-and-zoom, as well as double-tap-zoom, flick-scrolling and panning. It also includes a "reflow" mode which will take text-heavy documents with wide margins and automatically wrap the content for easy viewing on smaller screens."

Reflow with a tap of the finger? Awesome. To see Reader on the Android, click here to view a video on Adobe TV.

Darn! A few weeks ago I loved my Blackberry. Technology can make us fickle. See you later… I'm off to see if I can figure out how to install Photoshop on my kid's Nintendo DS.

Looking to learn Acrobat quickly? Sign up for my next online Acrobat class where you'll learn a whole bunch more.

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June 4, 2010

Adobe FrameMaker 9: That Flippin’ Toolbox

by Barbara Binder

FrameMaker tools Most of us don't do a lot of drawing in FrameMaker these days, but sometimes we just need to add a quick line or rectangular element to the page. The toolbox gives you access to these drawing tools, along with various formatting commands.

To access the toolbox, just choose Graphics > Tools. It will appear at its default position, docked to the left of the page.

Getting rid of the toolbox is another matter. Resetting the workspace will do it, but if that's too drastic an action (because it also resets the toolbars, pods and panels, and then you will need to undock the toolbox.

Grab the top of the toolbox and drag it onto the page. Once it is undocked, you can simply click the X to close it.

Undocked toolbar

Before you close the toolbox, take a minute to click the double white arrows to the left of the X. Did you know you can flip the toolbox to a horizontal position?

That's cool. Plus, now that it is horizontal, it fits nicely into the Toolbars. Just drag it up to dock it.

Docked, horizontal toolbar.

Truthfully, you don't need to flip it to dock it in the toolbars. Simply drag the vertical version up to the toolbar and it will flip itself.

It's good to know how to flip the toolbar though because if you ever get this far and you want to restore the floating vertical Toolbox, you won't need me to tell you to drag it out of the dock and click the double white arrows (located below the X on the rotated toolbox) to restore the vertical orientation.

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If you are new to FrameMaker and want to get up to speed quickly, join IconLogic's instructor-led, online Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker class. Hope to "see" you there.

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