eLearning – Page 4 – The Logical Blog

May 13, 2021

HANDS-ON, LIVE ONLINE TRAINING: Creating eLearning Scripts for Software Simulations

We are proud to announce a new class: Creating eLearning Scripts for Software Simulations

If you create eLearning that includes software simulations and video demonstrations, you've likely heard about the need for a recording script. It's also likely you're not sure how to create an appropriate script.

Here's the only class you'll need: https://www.iconlogic.com/storyboarding-scripting-elearning.html

If you create software simulations or video demonstration eLearning in Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, or TechSmith Camtasia, this class is for you!

May 12, 2021

iSPRING SUITE 10: No Faster Way to Go From PowerPoint to eLearning

I've recently wrapped up work on my iSpring Suite 10: The Essentials step-by-step book. And as I created eLearning in the iSpring tool, I was struck with just how easy it is to take existing PowerPoint presentations to eLearning.

For those of you who aren't familiar with iSpring Suite, let me fill you in.

It’s likely that you’ve used Microsoft PowerPoint at least a few times. As far as I’m concerned, PowerPoint is an awesome program, and you can easily create visually stunning presentations with the tool. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the presentations created with PowerPoint are not very good. I’m betting that you have seen your fair share of presentations containing too many slides packed with as much text and clipart as possible. There’s often an obnoxious use of colors and fonts. The layouts are predictable and boring. Most of the slides have a main headline, a subhead, a bulleted list, clipart images, and copious amounts of animation (the bullets fly here, there, everywhere. There’s a name for those kinds of presentations: Death by PowerPoint.

When learners are threatened with Death by PowerPoint, most will either avoid the presentation or quickly click from one slide to the next to end the misery as soon as possible. There’s typically little interaction in those deadly presentations beyond clicking forward and back buttons.

Given how PowerPoint gets most of the blame when someone presents a Death by PowerPoint, it’s easy to be a PowerPoint hater. However, I am not a hater. I happen to think that in the hands of a creative person, PowerPoint can be used to develop great presentations. While I love PowerPoint, it cannot be used to create compelling, engaging eLearning—asynchronous training content is available online, 24-hours per day, 7 days per week.

Why can’t you create awesome eLearning with PowerPoint? First, PowerPoint does not feature the kind of interactive tools necessary to engage learners. I know, you can animate anything and everything, and you can add interactive buttons to a PowerPoint slide. But animations and/or forward and back buttons do not constitute a high level of learner engagement. In most PowerPoint presentations, there’s little to no opportunity to gauge learner comprehension of the content because most versions of PowerPoint do not include scoreable quizzes. Recent updates to PowerPoint do finally allow you to add quizzes via Forms, but the feature is limited.

When the time comes to deliver content created in PowerPoint to learners across the globe, there’s no HTML5 output to allow for seamless viewing over a web browser. Learners either need to have PowerPoint installed on their computers or download the PowerPoint player from Microsoft. And although you can upload a PowerPoint presentation into a Learning Management System (LMS) as a course asset, there is no way to make the presentation SCORM or AICC-compliant so that learner progress can be tracked by the LMS or administrators.

So what do you do when the boss tells you to use PowerPoint to create the company’s flagship eLearning course? You get yourself an eLearning development tool, and that’s where the iSpring Suite comes in. The suite is a collection of awesome tools that work with PowerPoint to help you create killer eLearning courses.

After installing the iSpring Suite on your computer and then starting PowerPoint, you’ll find that there’s a new tab on the PowerPoint Ribbon: iSpring Suite. The image below shows the iSpring Suite 10 tab, along with its specific set of eLearning tools.

At the far left of the iSpring Suite 10 tab, you’ll find recording tools for both audio and video. As you move right, you’ll see tools for adding interactions, characters, and more. You’ll learn to use most of the tools on the tab, along with some of the standard PowerPoint tools, as you move through the guided activities in my book.

Seriously, if you need to create eLearning and you've already got the PowerPoint content, iSpring Suite makes quick work out of the eLearning creation process. You've just got to check out this tool.

February 11, 2021

Adobe Captivate: Free 2019 Update For Mac OS Big Sur

I love keeping my Mac up-to-date, but I rarely install major software updates when they are first released. And when OS 11, otherwise known as Big Sur, became available, I waited. After several months, my Mac began pestering me to get the update. When 11.1 became available, I finally upgraded.

Did I mention that I always caution people against upgrading their operating systems until ensuring that existing software continues to work? Yeah, about that… after upgrading my Mac, this is what I saw when choosing Apple > About This Mac.

Everything worked on my Mac wonderfully after the upgrade… except Captivate 2019. The program would start and then immediately close. Upon checking the Adobe website that supports Captivate, I learned that Captivate would not work with Big Sur. Yikes.

Fortunately, Adobe now has a free update for Captivate 2019 that allows Big Sur users to continue using the software. You can download the update here: https://assets.adobe.com/public/ff298ded-060f-4ee3-48f8-6599d7b9cc11.

Before installing the update, Adobe recommends that you uninstall Captivate first. From the Applications folder, open the Adobe Captivate 2019 folder and open Uninstall Adobe Captivate 2019.

October 15, 2020

TechSmith Camtasia: A favorite new feature

While there's plenty to love about Camtasia 2020, the feature I'm highlighting this time is Favorites.

Camtasia is loaded with tools. If you think I'm exaggerating, here's a list of the tools available in Camtasia 2020, Mac:

There are so many tools, you might need to click "More" to see all of them (the "More" option automatically appears if your window size is too small to display all of the tools or your screen resolution is low).

And clicking a tool, such as Annotations, often leads to multiple categories leading to even more tools. In the image below you can see what I'm talking about when it comes to the Annotations tool. There are 6 related tools (Callouts) grouped with the main Annotations tool.

I am not suggesting that TechSmith should remove tools from Camtasia. I say bring on more tools, TechSmith (I look forward to seeing a dozen more tools in Camtasia 2021). However, if you're like me and you use several eLearning development tools, remembering where your "go-to" Camtasia tools are located can be a challenge.

Which brings me to Favorites.

Find a tool you use frequently (any tool). Right-click the tool and choose Add to Favorites.

Once a tool has been added as a Favorite, the tool gets a gold star. And from now on, the tool will be shown in the Favorites area of the toolbar.

Right-clicking a Favorite is going to be the easiest and fastest way to work with the tool. And should you no longer want a tool as a Favorite, a quick right-click allows you to delete the tool as a Favorite (but does not remove the tool from Camtasia).

Looking for Camtasia training? Check out these live, online, instructor-led training classes (all Guaranteed to Run).

September 30, 2020

ADOBE CAPTIVATE 2019: The Fastest Way to Start a New Project with Content and ID

Adobe Captivate makes it possible to rapidly create new eLearning projects. The process is as simple as File > New Project > Blank Project.

If you go that route, you'll get a new project with a single slide that looks like this:

It's a simple thing to add text to the slide (double-click the placeholder and type the new text). And adding slides to the project is simple too (Insert > New Slide from). However, if you're not an instructional designer, it's likely that you're not clear on the structure of the course or that the project should include standard slides such as an overview slide and a lesson review slide. If you're not a graphic designer, adding some cool visuals to your project may be out of your comfort zone as well.

And that's where Captivate's Project Assets prove invaluable.

From the top right of the Captivate window, click Assets.

From the list at the left, click Projects. From here, you can add single slides to your existing project or create a whole project, complete with instructional design ideas.

In my example, I selected Projects. Then I selected the Earth project and clicked the Open as a New Project button.

The resulting project is as complete (45 slides containing images and placeholder objects) as it is visually stunning. There are instructional design suggestions, navigation slides, interactive slides… everything you need to get your new project out of the starting gate and moving at a full gallop.

In the image below I edited the text and replaced the placeholder image in about 10 seconds.

Give the free Captivate assets a try and I'm betting that you'll agree that there's no faster way to get new eLearning projects up and running.

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If you're looking to learn Adobe Captivate, we've got a nice collection of live, online Captivate classes (all of the classes are taught by certified trainers who are also experienced eLearning developers).

June 10, 2020

ARTICULATE STORYLINE: Inserting Web URL Hotspots

Just about every eLearning course you've ever used or created has contained at least a button or two that, at a minimum, allows for learner navigation.

Storyline allows you to insert buttons. But there's also a hotspot feature. What's the difference between buttons and hotspots?

Hotspots are similar to Buttons in that they can be interactive. Unlike Buttons, which are typically visible to the learner on the slide, hotspots are transparent. You insert hotspots over slide assets or areas of a slide and then use triggers to make the hotspot interactive.

To insert a hotspot, click the Insert tab on the Ribbon and, from the Interactive Objects group, click Hotspot.

On your slide, draw a hotspot shape over the area of the screen that you'd like to be clickable. In the image below, I've drawn a hotspot over the web address and globe icon. Next, I'll create a trigger that links to the Chesapeake Stables website.

With the hotspot selected, click Create a new trigger on the Triggers window. Change the Action to Open URL/file.

Note: The Open URL/file Action is in the More group; you’ll need to scroll down to find it.

In the File or URL field, type the website address you'd like learners to visit and then press [enter].

Next, test the link. With the Trigger Wizard still open, move your mouse over the web address that you just typed.

At the right of the web address, click Check URL/File.

The target website opens. The ability to check a URL from within the Trigger Wizard is a nice feature because links to websites aren’t fully functional until you Publish. In fact, if you Preview the slide and click the hotspot, you'll see the Link alert as shown in the image below.

And that's that… between buttons and hotspots, adding interactivity to your eLearning cannot get much easier.

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Looking for training, consulting, mentoring, or development on all things eLearning? We've got you covered. Give us a call at 877.754.2662. You can learn more about our eLearning classes on the IconLogic website.

April 27, 2020

ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Updating Images Project-Wide

Adding an image to an Adobe Captivate project is simple: use the Media tool on the toolbar or import the assets into the Library and then drag the imported assets onto Filmstrip slides.

But what if you've imported an image into Captivate and then the image is updated outside of Captivate. How can you get the updated image into your project and have the image update across the entire project?

In the image below, notice that I've imported an image of a city skyline. I'm using the image on multiple slides. The image's slide location and size are different on each slide.

I originally imported the image from my corporate server. The designer edited the image in Photoshop by adding a filter.

I received an email alerting me to the change and was instructed to use the updated image in my Captivate project. I opened the project. Sadly, the image did not update automatically on any of my slides. No worries. On the Library, I right-clicked the image and chose Update.

I then clicked the Update button.

And like magic, the image in the Captivate Library updated–and every instance of the image throughout the project updated too.

Looking for live, virtual Captivate training? We've got you covered with these classes (all guaranteed to run).

February 26, 2020

ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Recording Screen Actions on a PC with a High-Density Screen

So, you got a fabulous new Windows laptop. It’s light! It’s compact! And it has a beautiful High-Density screen. The screen’s resolution is so sharp that you’ve got it set up to display at 150% or 200%, because otherwise the icons and text are so tiny and sharp that you can barely read them.

Then you try to do some screen-capture work in Adobe Captivate, and you are hit with an error message: Screen capture with high density monitor not allowed or perhaps something about DpiAwareness. The net result is that you cannot record the screen, either in software simulation or in video demo recording mode.

In the past, the fix was to manually update the AdobeCaptivate.ini file. You had to venture deep into the Adobe Captivate program files and find that .ini file. Then you had to edit it with a text editor and change the DPI setting to 1. Then you had to battle your Windows setup about permissions and file names and passwords even just to save your changes to the .ini file. Even after all that, many developers report that while recording works, the Captivate software itself becomes so teeny-tiny that it's impossible to use.

As an alternative to fighting with the .ini file, I've got two easy plans of attack for you (neither involve editing any sort of support file):

Plan A: Right-click your desktop and choose Display Settings. Change the size of text, apps, and other items to 100% (even if not recommended) and then close the Display Settings.

Restart Captivate and see if you can record a software simulation. If yes, all is right with the world. If you still cannot record the screen, it's time for plan B.

Plan B: Find the Captivate.exe file (it's usually in Program Files > Adobe > Adobe Captivate 2019), right-click and choose Properties.

From the Compatibility tab, click the Change high DPI settings button.

Check the checkbox for Override high DPI scaling behavior. Ensure that Application is selected in the Scaling performed by drop-down.

Click OK to each of the two dialog boxes to confirm your changes.

And that’s it. You should now be able to record screen actions on your high-density monitor with no problems.

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Jennie Ruby, CMT, 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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Looking for Adobe Captivate training, consulting, mentoring, or development? We've got you covered. Give us a call at 877.754.2662. We've got an awesome collection of live, online classes. You can learn more about our Captivate classes on the IconLogic website.

February 25, 2020

ISPRING SUITE 9: Video Demos with Annotations Equals Awesomeness!

If you have content in Microsoft PowerPoint and need to use it for eLearning, you'll be happy to know that the top eLearning tools (Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, and TechSmith Camtasia) allow you to import PowerPoint content and then output HTML5 or videos. In the case of Storyline, the imported PowerPoint content can even be edited from within Storyline post-import.

But what if you wanted your PowerPoint content to stay in PowerPoint and still be able to add eLearning-type features such as a quiz and interactive objects? Unfortunately, while PowerPoint excels at visually stunning presentations, it's not an eLearning development tool. Fortunately, tools like Adobe Presenter, Articulate Presenter, and iSpring Suite allow you to add eLearning capabilities to any PowerPoint presentation.

I've spent a significant amount of time over the past few months using iSpring Suite, a PowerPoint-based authoring toolkit that allows developers to create mobile-friendly eLearning courses complete with slides, quizzes, dialog simulations, software video demonstrations, selfie-videos, and other interactive learning content. The finished course can quickly be published as HTML5 or as a video and uploaded to a web server, Learning Management System, or to video services like YouTube or Vimeo.

In the next few articles, I'm going to delve into some of my favorite iSpring Suite 9 features. I'm also rolling out an iSpring Suite book ("iSpring Suite 9: The Essentials") and an iSpring Suite 9 instructor-led class!

This week I tested iSpring's ability to create a video demo similar to what you can do in Captivate, Storyline, and Camtasia. During my testing, I was happy to see that iSpring even adds Annotations to the recording (automatic text captions).

To begin, I visited the iSpring tab on the PowerPoint Ribbon, Insert group, and then clicked Screen Recording to open iSpring Cam Pro.

I clicked New Recording which opened a recording area with controls similar to the other top eLearning development tools.

I clicked the red record button and within seconds had an awesome video demo.

When the recording was complete, I expected a standard video just like the other tools. However, the resulting Recording Complete screen offered a nice surprise–the check box Add annotations to the screen recording (shown circled below).

Of course, I selected the Add annotations option clicked the Continue button. I was surprised by how awesome the resulting text was (almost no editing needed).

I was also happy to see that, like the other competitors in the eLearning development tools space, there's a Timeline allowing me to quickly change when the annotations appear onscreen, and for how long.

I was able to edit the annotations and change the way they looked via the Formatting toolbar. All-in-all, this is awesome!

Next time: Dialog simulations.

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Looking for iSpring Suite training? Check out these live, online, instructor-led training classes (all Guaranteed to Run).

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Kevin Siegel is the founder and president of IconLogic, Inc. He has written hundreds of step-by-step computer training books on applications such as Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Adobe RoboHelp, Adobe Presenter, and TechSmith Camtasia. Kevin spent five years in the U.S. Coast Guard as an award-winning photojournalist and has three decades’ experience as a trainer, publisher, technical writer, and eLearning developer. Kevin is a Certified Master Trainer (CMT), Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+), Certified Online Professional Trainer (COTP), and a frequent speaker at trade shows and conventions.

February 12, 2020

ARTICULATE STORYLINE 360: Recolor and Crop Content Library Images

During our beginner Articulate Storyline classes, we emphasize the importance of using images in a project instead of relying on dense, text-heavy slides. Of course, finding good images can be a challenge unless you are a subscriber to Articulate 360. Subscribers have access to an millions of assets in the Content Library loaded with downloadable Characters, Illustrations, Icons, Videos, and Photos.

While recently working in Storyline, I was in need of a photo of a horse. The project I was creating was about horse health and I was specifically looking for a horse showing as many teeth as possible. (The wider the grin, the better.)

I visited Storyline's Insert tab on the Ribbon and, from the Content Library, I clicked Photos.

From within the Search Photos dialog box, I typed horse teeth and I was pleasantly surprised when several candidates appeared. (Given that I was needing horse grins, I wasn't expecting even a single decent photo to appear and was fully prepared for a trip to a photo-supply website.)

I selected the photo shown above at the right and then clicked the Insert button. By default, the photo was inserted in the middle of my slide.

The other images I'd used throughout the project were black and white and I wanted to keep that theme. Unfortunately, the computer I was using did not have an image editing program. No worries, you can recolor an image without leaving Storyline.

I selected the Picture Tools tab on the Ribbon, clicked Recolor, and selected Accent color 3 Dark.