Month: May 2018

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WHITEBOARD ANIMATIONS: Plan Your Way to Success

by Karin Rex, COTP

Do you have a story to tell? A lesson to teach? A product to market? In the battle for online engagement, video is KING. By 2019, 80% of ALL web traffic will be video. 64% of customers say they are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video. 59% of decision makers would rather watch a video than read a blog or article.** On top of that – whiteboard animations are FUN and easy to create with VideoScribe!
 
For maximum engagement, PLAN your whiteboard animation videos! (Prepare, Layout, Adorn, Nuance)
 
 
Prepare
 
  • What is your ONE GOAL for the video?
  • What is the maximum LENGTH of the video?
  • Who is your AUDIENCE?
  • What is the WIIFM for your audience? (Answers the question “what’s in it for me?”)
 
Layout
 
  • Create a storyboard that includes descriptions of onscreen elements, onscreen text, and any voiceover scripting. (This will act as a roadmap for your video.)
  • Envision a visual HOOK or THEME for your video. (If you are teaching “The Flower Theory of Persuasion,” you might include images of flowers, for example.)
  • Come up with a CALL TO ACTION for your video. What do you want your audience to DO after they watch your video?
 
Adorn (AKA the “fun part”)
 
  • Let your imagination run wild! Explore the image bank by searching sideways. (Don’t just search for flowers, for example, also search for garden, seed, sunshine, dirt, shovel, etc.)
  • Remember that you can IMPORT graphics into most whiteboard animation programs.
  • Do not draw every element. Spice up your video by using the FADE and MOVE IN animations judiciously as well.
  • Add voiceover or music – or both!
 
Nuance (AKA the “other fun part”)
 
  • Preview your video.
  • Modify the animation timings.
  • Repeat until perfect! (This can take hours sometimes!)
  • Publish & upload.
 
That’s all it takes to PLAN your whiteboard animation video.
 
Want to take VideoScribe out for a ride? Sign up for our new 3-hour quick start class on VideoScribe. Invest just 3 hours and you will come away with the ability to fully create entertaining and engaging whiteboard animations. CLASS IS TOMORROW but there is still time to sign up! (Note: A free trial to VideoScribe is required to actively participate in this course. The free trial lasts for 7 days, so please time your free subscription to coincide with this class.)
 
**Statistics are from Hubspot.
 
 
Wistia-vid
***
Geeky Girl Karin Rex is an online learning pioneer and whiteboard animation evangelist. Since 1989, Karin has owned Geeky Girl, LLC, a boutique learning organization, where she devotes her time to writing, course development (instructor led and eLearning), and teaching.
 
Karin has authored several technology books, including: Office 2010 Demystified (McGraw-Hill) and hundreds of user guides, reference manuals, and tutorials. She’s also developed an extensive number of learning programs for a wide variety of global clients.
 
Karin is a Certified Online Training Professional (COTP), certified synchronous facilitator, designer, and producer, with a master’s degree in professional writing. Additionally, Karin teaches undergraduate writing courses for Penn State University and is the Instructional Design Lead for InSync Training.
 
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ADOBE CAPTIVATE: It All Adds Up With Calculations

by Lori Smith, COTP

Did you know that Adobe Captivate can perform some pretty high-end math? If you’re new to Captivate, I'll bet that you didn’t! Even if you’ve been using Captivate for eons, asking an eLearning development tool to do calculations is not something that likely comes to mind when starting a project. 
 
Let's say that you need to create an annual healthcare enrollment lesson for your employees. Everyone knows that Open Enrollment time is not exactly the most fun or easy thing to figure out. Employees are given tons of information and often left sorting through confusing documents or boring lecture. Using Captivate, you can create an eLearning lesson with interactive text entry boxes that will help pique the learner's interest. 
 
In the image below, I created a form that allows employees to put in the cost for three selections and then calculate the total by clicking the "Calculate My Cost" button.
 
 
Here's how you get the form to work using Captivate. First, add four new user variables via Project > Variables named MedicalCost, DentalCost, RetirementCost, and AnnualDeduction. (Keep in mind that it’s always a good idea to fill in a the default value and description for your variables.) 
 
 
 
After you’ve created the variables, ensure each variable is associated with the Text Entry Box. Go to the Properties inspector for each Text Entry Box and select the appropriate variable.
 
 
Create an advanced action via Project > Advanced Actions. 
 
I named my Advanced Action calculateMyCost. In the action, I’ve used the Expression command to add my variables together. You can only add two things at a time. so I added the MedicalCost and the DentalCost and saved it in the variable AnnualDeduction. Next, I took that total, AnnualDeduction, and added it to the RetirementCost again (saving it in the AnnualDeduction variable).
 
 
That’s it for the action.
 
The last step in the process is to attach the advanced action to the "Calculate My Cost button" via the Properties inspector.
 
 
Was the process I wrote about above intimidating? If you’re not sure what all these variable and action things are, join me for my Variables and Actions series of mini courses. 101 starts off with the basics. We add a new twist to each class, so by the time you finish 401, you’ve got a solid handle on all of the ins and outs of variables and actions… with some great practice along with way.
 
If you'd like to test out the form for yourself, here's a link.
 
***
Lori Smith, COTP, is IconLogic's lead programmer and Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) in Captivate. Lori has a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from MIT as well as a Master’s in electrical engineering from George Mason University. She has been working in the field of software engineering for more than 20 years. During that time she worked as an embedded software engineer at Raytheon (E-Systems) and ARINC.
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eLEARNING: Create a Course with Impact

by Alex Genadinik

Given the powerful eLearning tools available today (Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, and TechSmith Camtasia to name just a few of your options), it's easier than ever to create eLearning. What’s not so easy is creating a course that will have a positive impact on your learners and, if you’re making your content available commercially, make money for you.

 
For an asynchronous course to have both impact and sell well, you should ensure the following:
  • Your course has clear, achievable learner goals
  • Your course has good videos and high quality audio
  • The eCommerce page where your learners will purchase/take the course is easy to use and provides a positive learner experience
  • You are marketing your course (if you just throw your course up on a Learning Management System or web server, it's not likely that anyone will actually find it)
While there are additional aspects that go into the creation of a quality eLearning course, let’s focus on the learner and what is most important to them.
 
While some people take online courses to improve at their hobbies or explore interests, most eLearning students take courses for practical purposes. Those practical purposes range from acquiring skills to getting a job, switching careers, growing faster at a current career, starting or growing a business, or making side income. 
 
When planning a course, you should take the learner’s career or business goals into account by planning to create a course that helps them with a specific skill or set of skills that they can put to practical use. That means staying away from too much theory and aiming for the course to be practically applicable.
 
That will not only help your students get the most out of the course, but it will also help your marketing. For instance, when you begin to promote your course, you will immediately have a compelling headline for it. If the premise of your course is compelling, it will naturally attract students. Conversely, if the premise is bland, then not only will the course likely be mediocre in terms of helping your learners, but it will also be unlikely to sell very well.
 
For example, I recently created an eLearning course that helps people sell products on eBay (the course is available on AliExpress). Whether you agree that selling stuff on eBay is great business model or not, such a strong premise for a course has made it compelling to many people, and the course is selling far beyond my expectations. (If you are interested in this course or any of my other courses, here is a link to several Udemy course discounts. The courses include business, marketing, entrepreneurship, and some technical courses.)
 
If you keep the words “impact and learner benefits” in mind when planning your next eLearning course, you will go a long-way toward ensuring a successful course (for both the learner and for you).
 
***
 
Alex Genadinik is a successful entrepreneur and a prolific Udemy instructor (he's created more than 120 courses) teaching business, marketing and entrepreneurship. Alex is also a bestselling author on Amazon.com. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from San Jose State University.
 
 
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TEACHING ONLINE: Get People Talking

by Jennie Ruby, COTP

People like to hear themselves talk. I don’t mean that in a bad way. What I mean is, people like to express themselves and feel heard. Feeling heard helps us feel connected to the others we encounter, the people we interact with, and—here’s my point—the people we learn with. Feeling connected with the instructor/facilitator and the other students/participants plays a huge role in our engagement with an online class. When you are the online instructor, make sure you are fostering this connection in your classes.
 
Your learners are not empty containers for you to fill with information. In adult learning, the learners are also teachers. Ask them to help you teach the class! Well, okay, maybe not literally like, 
 
“Fonzarelli! Would you like to get up here and teach the class?” 
 
But more like this: 
 
“Amy, can you think of a way you might use [what we just learned] in your work?”
 
Often in my online software classes, I stop and ask this:
 
“Have any of you used [this concept or technique] in your projects? Raise your hand or give me a green check.”
 
Then I call on one of the participants who signaled yes, and I ask them to come off mute and say hello. Once their mic is working, I repeat the question and invite them to tell how they have used the [concept] in their projects. They typically share one or more really good examples, express some degree of enthusiasm for it, and/or have additional comments or suggestions.
 
After that—and this part is really important—I invite the class to respond to what they shared.
 
“Does anyone else do something similar?”
 
“What do you think, Eliana, could you use this in your projects?”
 
The result? The class members are engaged with one another as well as with me. Those who share their experiences feel heard and appreciated. (Did I mention thanking them for the concepts they shared?) The class benefits from hearing a broader range of examples than I might think of alone. And voices other than mine are heard over the audio connection, adding variety and interest to that dimension of the class.
 
Bonus points: If you are discussing a later topic in the class, and it relates to what a class member shared earlier, make sure to recall what the participant shared, mention it again, and tie it to the new topic. Doing this makes the class feel more dynamic and alive, and less like a canned presentation. Once more the participant feels heard and appreciated, and everyone gets just a little bit more out of the entire class experience.
 
***
Join me in June when I team with Kevin Siegel and AJ Walther for ICCOTP's Online Training Professional certification course. 
 
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Jennie Ruby, CTT, COTP, is a veteran eLearning developer, trainer, and author. Jennie has an M.A. from George Washington University and is a Certified Technical Trainer and Certified Online Training Professional. She teaches both classroom and online courses, and has authored courseware, published training books, and developed content for countless eLearning projects. She is also a publishing professional with more than 30 years of experience in writing, editing, print publishing, and eLearning.
 
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ADOBE ROBOHELP: Stay Away Mighty Google

by Willam van Weelden, COTP
 
I recently received the following email from a concerned RoboHelp user:
 
Our [help system] documents are available on the internet if you search for them. Is there a way to keep them private so they don’t show up on Google?
 
The issue here is that the RoboHelp user created content in RoboHelp and then published the output files to their web server. Using IconLogic as an example, if IconLogic published their internal policies and procedures to the publicly-facing IconLogic website, it would certainly be easy for employees to access the content by typing something like the following example URL into any web browser: http://www.iconlogic.com/policies.htm. Of course, it would also be easy for non-IconLogic employees to access the content through the same URL. Additionally, over time Google will index the pages; and content found within the private Help System will appear in Google search results.
 
If you don't want your Help System content to appear via a Google search, there are a few options to consider:
  • Use a robots.txt file to stop Google indexing your content.
  • Protect your content on the server side.
 
The protection method is ideal. If you set up access controls on your server, only authorized users will be able to access the content. Search engines or anonymous users won't be able to view your content. Getting protection going will require access to be set up on your server because the RoboHelp output itself doesn't contain any option to secure access. The options available depend on the web server you are using. For Apache, you can find the options here. You will have to work with your web hosting company or IT team to discuss options and determine the best course of action.
 
An alternative is to use RoboHelp Server, which contains access control. The options are somewhat limited though.
 
A last, quick, alternative is to use robots.txt to tell Google to not index your content. This will help you to make the content harder to discover. Keep in mind that a robots.txt is a courtesy of search engines to prevent indexing. It does not secure your content in any way. And some crawlers may still choose to ignore the directive and still index your site.
 
Which method works best depends on your goal. If your goal is to keep the content private for authorized users only, your only recourse is to limit access on the server side.
 
***
If you're looking to learn Adobe RoboHelp, consider my highly-interactive live, online beginner class or my advanced content reuse class.
 
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Willam van Weelden is a Certified Online Training Professional (COTP), veteran Help Author, RoboHelp consultant, co-author of IconLogic's "Adobe RoboHelp": The Essentials workbook, and technical writer based in the Netherlands. He is an Adobe Community Professional, ranking him among the world's leading experts on RoboHelp. Willam’s specialties are HTML5 and RoboHelp automation. Apart from RoboHelp, Willam also has experience with other technical communications applications such as Adobe Captivate and Adobe FrameMaker.