Category: Uncategorized

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Writing Training Documents and eLearning Scripts

This live, interactive writing course is designed for you. Think of it as an intensive retreat that will give the jump-start you need to create clear, concise step-by-step documentation that effectively educates and motivates adult learners.
 
Created in response to inquiries by IconLogic's audience (including former students), this course quickly gets your writing compass pointed in the most productive direction. Whether you're writing technical documentation, training curriculum and materials, or eLearning scripts, this intensive course delivers instruction and practical experience on critical topics including:
  • the writing process and structure
  • identifying and thinking like your audience
  • facilitating the conversation between SME's and the reader
  • promoting the "WOW" factor
  • keeping "the voice" active, accurate… and short
  • avoiding common grammar mistakes
  • identifying and eliminating deadwood
  • writing narratives that will "hook" your audience
  • writing step-by-step procedures that make the most of the learner's time and effort
This course is 100% interactive. Participants will use their word processor during class to write narratives and step-by-step documentation. At the completion of each lesson, all participants engage in lively discussion that further teaches and reinforces effective technical writing habits and techniques.

 
Instructor: Jennie Ruby

 
Click here to learn more or to sign up.
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Adobe Captivate 4: Having Trouble Publishing an AVI? Patience!

Question: When I try to publish my CP4 projects as AVI's, the project hangs after several minutes. Any ideas?

Answer: Here is a link containing best practices when trying to publish as an AVI. After reviewing the article, keep in mind that the publish process gobbles up a bunch of your system resources. Be patient. Even on my system, which has memory to spare, the AVI publish process takes several minutes. During the publish process, Captivate appears to crash a few times. However, if I leave Captivate alone, I am happy to report that the publish process completes nearly 100% of the time.

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Question of the Week: CP4 Text to Speech Agents Menu

Adobe Captivate 4: Can I Get My Agent Choices Back

When I first started using the Text to Speech feature in Captivate, I was presented with a drop-down menu where I could select from either agent. Now the agent is selected for me. I know I can change the agent via the Audio menu after the audio has been created. However, I really want the drop-down menu. How do I get it back?

Answer: Show the Preferences (Edit menu). Select the Global category and then click Confirmation messages. Select Speech selection and then click OK. The next time you use the Text to Speech Agent, you'll see a drop-down menu with two agents.

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Questions of the Week

Adobe Captivate 5: Will You Have Books and Classes?Question

I recently learned Adobe is releasing Captivate 5. Will you have any training resources available in the near future? I am still using Captivate 3 but am hoping to upgrade soon.

Answer: Adobe has announced Captivate 5 but the software will not be released until the middle of next month. I am working on the new course materials now. I would expect my CP5 classes to be ready in July.

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Adobe Captivate: Why Aren't My Links Working?

I just published my Captivate lesson and the links don't work. I'm 100% sure that the URL is correct. Any ideas?

Answer: If the link isn't working at all in your published video, you are likely hitting a Flash Security issue. Review this article for more details (follow the steps even if you don't see the message shown).

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Got a question you'd like answered? Email me.
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Questions of the Week

Adobe Captivate: Can I Upgrade Without a Serial Number?

We want to upgrade from Captivate 3 to 4. We just bought the upgrade version of the software but we need a registration number from one of the older versions… it seems to have gone missing. Is there any way to upgrade without that information?

Answer: If you registered with Adobe, you should be able to sign into your online account and review all of your serial numbers (that's what I do when I lose this kind of stuff, which I do all the time). Otherwise, a call to Adobe to discuss your options is in order.

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Adobe Captivate: Why Am I Hearing Double-Double?

When I publish the Captivate project, I can hear an audio file twice. Any idea why?

Answer: I'm betting you've attached the audio to something you didn't intend. Go to the Audio menu and select Audio Management. Select Show Object Level Audio at the bottom of the dialog box and ensure there isn't audio attached to something by mistake. It could be attached to the presentation and you didn't know it (or other slide objects).

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Got a question you'd like answered? Email me.
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Find Us on eLearning Learning!

IconLogic’s I Came, I Saw, I Learned… blog is proud to now be a part of the eLearning Learning community, an excellent resource for solid content and the collaboration of some of the great minds in the field.

 

Look for our blog posts to be featured among the many other informative eLearning resources.

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Links of the Week

Captivate Wins Gold

This week, Brandon Hall announced the results of its inaugural Excellence in Learning Technology Awards… Captivate 4 bagged Gold in the Best Advance in Technology for Rapid Authoring category.

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Adobe Captivate and Adobe Presenter: The Best of Both Worlds

Captivate and Presenter are often confused. RJ Jacquez, Senior Product Evangelist at Adobe breaks through the confusion in his BLOG post and offers a demo showing best practices for inserting Adobe Captivate projects in Adobe Presenter. A must read and view! Nice work RJ.

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Troubleshooting: Parallels Mouse Synchronization

by AJ George

We had a bit of a panic here at IconLogic. When doing a routine install of a wireless mouse onto our iMac running Parallels, we somehow managed to anger the computer gods and found ourselves unable to run Parallels in Coherence mode (the mode allowing Windows and the Mac operating system to operate seamlessly as one).

Furthering our frustration were the hoops we were being made to jump through to get technical support from the Parallels website. To access the site's live chat, a service code was needed, one which none of us seemed to possess. To get a service code we'd need to register the software, but none of us could remember if we'd already done that.

We thought calling might be the better solution. However, Parallells charges a fee for technical support (it wasn't an entirely exorbitant amount, but having to pay to get help with a glitch in their software really ruffled our feathers). In addition, even if we weren't put off by the service charge, we needed that pesky service code.

Luckily, the light at the end of our tunnel was an industrious Parallels forum member named Michael who posted the following simple solution:

  1. Click Start.
  2. Select Control Panel.

    The Control Panel window opens.

  3. Select System.

    The System Properties dialog box appears.

  4. Select the Hardware tab.
  5. Click the Device Manager button.

    The Device Manager window opens.

  6. Expand the Mice and other pointing devices category.
  7. Double-click Parallels Mouse Synchronization Device.

    The Parallels Mouse Synchronization Device Properties dialog box appears.

  8. Select the Driver tab.
  9. Click the Update Driver button.

    The Hardware Update Wizard appears.

  10. Select No, not this time and click Next.
  11. Select Install from a list or specific location (Advanced) and click Next.
  12. Select Don't search. I will choose the driver to install. and click Next.
  13. Select Parallels Mouse Synchronization Device and click Next.
  14. Click Finish.
  15. Restart your computer, and all is right in the world again.
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Microsoft PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: Skills & Drills Workbook

We are pleased to announce that our newest book, Microsoft PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials is now available.

The step-by-step workbook is a powerhouse jammed-full with step-by-step lessons. There is no faster way to master PowerPoint 2008 anywhere, at any price! Pick up this book on Monday morning, and you'll be on your way to being an expert by Tuesday afternoon.

Here's a sample of what you will earn:

Themes, Slide Masters and Color Schemes

Apply a Theme | Change the Font on a Slide Master | Change Master Bullet Characters | Change the Bullet Space | Add a Footer to the Slide Master | Add Clip Art to the Slide Master | Rename Slide Masters | Choose a Color Scheme | Edit a Custom Color Scheme.

Slide Shows, Transitions and Builds

Review a Slide Show Without Transitions | Give a Presentation From Your iPod | Use the PowerPoint Pen | Set Slide Transitions | Set Animation Effects and Builds | Change Build Order and Object Timing | Play a CD During a Presentation | Insert Music | Record Audio for a Presentation

… and much, much more!

Click here for more information about the book or to order.