tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49069734671148107332024-02-20T05:54:53.259-08:00Life, Learning and MediaTips, tricks and thoughts on all of the above.Rick Zanottihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17628633134497089507noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-86881732774659079692021-03-18T22:22:00.001-07:002021-03-18T22:22:07.044-07:00Hello and welcome to Life, Learning, and Media, where you can read about all three of these things!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnVjqeJwSu5LGSN-4eiL4DDbmwh7kEEb8MsnUVlaNGyTAwDqMny7HgAS79SQt96zLst8wwMkIhXtysW-3brFSysmL0AMFRooeDgdNHcojEFAs-8FIZZuV__2NfLXc5zm4Qqy62DZGtRBYq/s1600/vlcsnap-2019-02-15-15h12m22s118.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnVjqeJwSu5LGSN-4eiL4DDbmwh7kEEb8MsnUVlaNGyTAwDqMny7HgAS79SQt96zLst8wwMkIhXtysW-3brFSysmL0AMFRooeDgdNHcojEFAs-8FIZZuV__2NfLXc5zm4Qqy62DZGtRBYq/s320/vlcsnap-2019-02-15-15h12m22s118.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/powerpoint.html" target="_blank">Check out our PowerPoint to Web-Based-Training Services!</a>Harold Muliadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17980411699999991379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-30881076910958324222020-08-17T15:49:00.002-07:002020-08-17T15:50:42.124-07:00Dr. Brian L. Matthews: Experience not only best teacher, it's the best motivator<p><i>This article originally appeared on the <a href="https://www.texarkanagazette.com/"target="_blank">Texarkana Gazette</a>, and is republished here with permission from the author.</i></p>
<p>The great Roman leader Julius Caesar is aptly credited for recording the proverb, "Experience is the best teacher." Compared to books, experience can be arguably considered as an experiential teacher of all things, the patriarch of practice, the mother of prudence, the well of wisdom, or the labyrinth of meaning. </br>Regardless of clichés used, between theory and reality is a cycle of tangible events that inherently blends intangible assumptions with practical scenarios that function as remote "pockets of learning." </p>
<p>In the world of business, managers expect employees to master their skills and perform at exceedingly high levels of efficiency. This feat can be achieved through none other than experience. Experience obliges employees by acting as a by-product of gaining knowledge that has been verified through iteration and certified through legitimate results. </br>In other words, employees gradually become subject matter experts through recurring opportunities to improve their abilities and develop understanding by solving problems.</p>
<p>The origin of learning stems from either hands-on learning or instructional activities. Essentially, employees learn by actively engaging in constructive methods to solve complex problems or simply achieve learning through content delivery provided by an </br>instructor or trainer.</p>
<p>What is actually learned and then performing what is actually learned become critically important when assessing both opportunity and timing. </br>Through repetitive usages, employees become increasingly qualified and empowered by the ability to approach complex situations with learned skills that reduce uncertainty and produce fruitful outcomes. Employees generate a motivation to transfer what is learned into practical situations that require tactical approaches to solving problems.</p>
<p>Consequently, employees become carriers of learned experiences that, when managed properly, can be aligned with personal goals when elicited for organizational gain. Specifically, employees can exercise their competencies in an autonomous manner that directly links decision-making to their daily work activities. Suffice it to say that not only does "experience teach", but "experience motivates."</p>
<p>Through the art of transference, </br><ol><li> knowledge and skills gained by the employee through hands-on learning or instructional activities can be transferred in to new learning situations, </li><li> transferred out to solve problems that require experience solely exclusive to the task or situation at hand, </li><li> utilized and transferred through a series of applications to achieve a desired outcome, and </li><li> assessed to determine transfer gains, or increases in learning, that will be used to transfer in to new and upcoming situations. </li></ol>This cycle of transference can motivate employees to employ newly acquired knowledge and skills to expertly use when problems arise, thus increasing job satisfaction. This transference involves the application of knowledge, task performance and goal completion which, in turn, reduces any hint of job dissatisfaction. </br>Managers who allow employees to participate in decision-making and problem-solving activities create future leaders who are purpose driven, self-aware, self-motivated and self-learners. Managers who welcome employees to address complex situations present a practical simulation that directly responds to the use of their skills, creating immediate reactions that require expert attention to facilitate a desirable outcome.</p>
<p>Experience becomes a currency that only appreciates in value once its supplied and expended masterfully. The underutilization of learned experiences unfortunately wastes talents that could otherwise generate healthy returns on training </br>and circumstantial investments. </br>What is more, the failure to utilize an employee's experiences in common or uncommon situations not only deprives learning but also limits the exposure to unseen deficits, which can be deceptive. As a result, employees will attempt to solve problems overconfidently with dismal results and, due to flunking the task, only seek manageable assignments that are easily achieved.</p>
<p>The adage, "practice makes perfect" rightly applies. If players fail to practice before a game, any attempt to triumph over their opponents will unmask inefficiencies and missteps that practice would have corrected. </br>Similarly, if employees are not experienced through training and situations, complexity will expose their weaknesses, cause insecurity in their evaluation of their skills, and deter them from seeking experiential challenges. Likewise, if a coach fails to put his best players in the game, he sadly forfeits any conceivable chances of winning.</p>
<p>Managers who fail to maximize the expert potential of their experienced employees not only demotivate them but squander any chances to come out on the other side of any complex situation victorious. </br>For experience to be a true motivator, it behooves managers to <ol><li> develop task- and situation-specific training activities that match an employee's personal goals and the organization's goals, </li><li> provide opportunities for employees to transfer in learned experiences into new situations that will enrich an employee's skills, and </li><li> create environments that are beneficial for learning to continually increase knowledge. Experience becomes the ultimate motivator as its teaching capacity will nourish an employee's confidence, abilities, and esteem.</li></ol></p>
<p>---------------</p>
<p><b>ABOUT THE AUTHOR:</b></br>
Dr. Brian L. Matthews is a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Management at <a href="https://www.tamut.edu/"target="_blank">Texas A&M University-Texarkana</a>, and is the Management Program Coordinator of TAMUT's <a href="https://www.tamut.edu/Academics/Colleges-and-Departments/CBET/"target="_blank">College of Business, Engineering, and Technology (CBET)</a>.</p>
<p>Brian discusses this article and other topics in <b><a href="https://youtu.be/UbHcWCIf9zc"target="_blank">LIFE Edge 124</a></b>. </br>You can see that episode below:</p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UbHcWCIf9zc" width="480"></iframe>Harold Muliadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17980411699999991379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-85182471871132000962020-01-09T08:33:00.001-08:002021-03-18T12:09:17.851-07:00Litra Portable Studio Lighting with the LitraPro & LitraTorch - Small LED Lights For Video & Photo<img alt="LitraPro & Litra Torch Studio Lighting Banner" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/20200108Litra/Litra-Banner.jpg" title="" width="500" />
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We've had the LitraTorch portable LED light for a couple of years now, and it's proven to be a capable portable light. We've used it for event coverage, for example, or adding fill and accents in the studio.
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Quick aside: this article and review is not endorsed or sponsored by <a href="https://litra.com/" target="_blank">Litra</a>. As usual, we're simply giving you information on equipment we use.
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In 2019, Litra released two more lights: the LitraPro and the LitraStudio. We got two of the LitraPro lights, since we liked the LitraTorch so well. Since we have three Litra lights, we decided to try a three-point lighting setup.
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<img alt="Litra Three-Point Lighting Setup" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/20200108Litra/P1056379_s.jpg" title="" width="500" />
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Using this setup, we filmed a short Tech Down Over segment, <a href="https://youtu.be/s1XNo115_yI" target="_blank">which you can see here.</a>
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In terms of placement, these lights are versatile. With multiple 1⁄4in. threaded holes, you can attach them to tripods in a number of different configurations. The bottoms of the LitraTorch & LitraPro also have magnets, which allow you to mount them easily on any ferrous metal surface. Besides this, they come with both cold-shoe camera mounts and GoPro mounts.
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In our case, we mounted the LitraTorch on a microphone boom arm. Meanwhile, the LitraPros were on small portable tripods, which we placed on a desk.
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<img alt="LitraPro Softbox" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/20200108Litra/4R6A0938_s.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br></br>
With the LitraPro lights, we used the softboxes designed for them, which each cost $45 extra. We also plugged one LitraPro into a USB charging adapter, as its battery was low on charge. On that note, we recommend using these with either a long USB cable and power adapter, or USB cable and power bank. Both lights have a USB Micro-B type connection.
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<img alt="LitraTorch Diffuser" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/20200108Litra/4R6A0925_s.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br></br>While we used the softboxes for our test, the LitraPros come with silicone diffusers similar to the one on the LitraTorch pictured above. These also provide a nice, soft light.
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Below are photos of the setup in action. This gives you an idea of how soft the light is, and how well it preserves skin tones.
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<img alt="Litra Studio Lighting Setup 1" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/20200108Litra/P1056393_s.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br></br>
<img alt="Litra Studio Lighting Setup 2" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/20200108Litra/P1056385_s.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br></br>
<img alt="Litra Studio Lighting Setup 3" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/20200108Litra/P1056390_s.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br></br>
<img alt="Litra Studio Lighting Setup 4" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/20200108Litra/P1056348_s.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br></br>
<img alt="Litra Studio Lighting Setup 5" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/20200108Litra/P1056339_s.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br></br>
We think these lights give an impressive result for such a small and inexpensive package, at $620 USD total for the lights and softboxes used here. Let us know your thoughts in the <a href="https://halfemptylearning.blogspot.com/2020/01/litra-portable-studio-lighting-with.html#comments">comments section below!</a></br></br>If you liked this article, check out some of our other <a href="http://halfemptylearning.blogspot.com/search/label/Photography">articles on photography!</a>
Harold Muliadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17980411699999991379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-1829803680088297752019-09-12T12:06:00.001-07:002021-03-18T12:44:34.968-07:00Articulate Rise & Elearis: Responsive Authoring Tool Comparison<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/RiseElearis_ArticleBanner.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/RiseElearis_ArticleBanner.png" data-original-width="800" data-original-height="480" style="width:400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://articulate.com/360/rise/" target="_blank">Rise from Articulate</a> and <a href="http://www.elearis.com/" target="_blank">Elearis from Curator Solutions</a> are two similar web-based responsive eLearning authoring tools.<br />
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We'll compare the workflow and results of both tools, and you'll learn which best suits your needs. Feel free to read ahead, or use the following links to skip to a section.<br />
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<ul>
<li><a href="#start">How easy is it to start a course?</a></li>
<li><a href="#settings">Course Settings & Themes</a></li>
<li><a href="#development">How fast is development?</a></li>
<li><a href="#tracking">What does each tool track?</a></li>
<li><a href="#conclusion">Conclusion</a></li>
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<h2><a name="start"></a>
1. How easy is it to start a course? </h2>
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Both tools have similar interfaces when creating a new course.
However, as you'll notice in the images below, Elearis has a lot more options. Many of these are intended for university/college type courses. Course reference number, for example, institution and school name, or the ability to include the course in a program.<br />
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Rise-Course-Creation.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="600" height="160" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Rise-Course-Creation.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is the Rise course creation dialogue.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Elearis-Course-Creation.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Elearis-Course-Creation.gif" width="320" height="320" data-original-width="600" data-original-height="600" /></a></div><br />
Next is the Elearis dialogue.<br />
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Rise gives you three inputs: course title, course description, and course sections (inside which you create lessons).
Meanwhile, Elearis gives the aforementioned university-oriented choices, plus the ability to set a course thumbnail and custom stylesheet.
Note that Elearis allows the creation of lessons within a course, and Rise lets you add a thumbnail, but in different parts of their interfaces.<br />
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Elearis-Custom-CSS.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Elearis-Custom-CSS.png" /></a></div>
Custom CSS is not something you can easily add in Rise; this feature in Elearis gives you slightly more power to change your course's look.<br />
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Both Elearis and Rise allow you to duplicate courses. Hence, you can create course templates and minimize retreading familiar ground when authoring similar courses.<br />
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<h2><a name="settings"></a>
2. Course Settings & Themes </h2>
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After making your course, you can begin customizing its look and feel. If you want to skip to where I cover content creation, though, just <a href="#development">click here</a>.<br />
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Elearis and Rise have different capabilities in the course settings area. Elearis gives you more freedom to change color schemes, while Rise is simpler in that area.<br />
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Rise, on the other hand, lets you modify the course's navigation, add translations, and change button labels.
Just about any button label that appears in a Rise course is customizable. Further, these labels are stored as Unicode strings. This means that you can use any alphabet, or even emojis, as you'll see below.<br />
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Rise-Button-Labels.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="600" height="106" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Rise-Button-Labels.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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The left side shows the default value, and the right is your custom label.
Rise's translation option allows you to export all of the text from a course to XLIFF. From there, you can load the XLIFF into a computer-assisted translation (CAT) program. This allows your team to localize every text string in the course to another language without having to individually open up pages, lessons, and settings menus.<br />
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Back to the colors, however, Rise only gives you a few options.<br />
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Rise-Color-Options.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="600" height="148" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Rise-Color-Options.png" width="320" /></a></div>
The image above shows that you can change three things: title font, body font, and accent color. Accent color affects links and buttons.<br />
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Elearis-Design-Settings.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="600" height="298" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Elearis-Design-Settings.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Elearis' Design menu lets you change more things, including both background and font colors of many elements. You may notice that an option to change the color of the course's main body font is missing.<br />
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Still, there are two ways to do this from outside of the Design menu.
You can do this by changing text in every block element in the course, the same way you must do it in Rise. This is, of couse, laborious and error-prone.
But in Elearis, I mentioned earlier that you can also upload a custom CSS stylesheet.<br />
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Elearis_CustomCSS_Area.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="600" height="141" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Elearis_CustomCSS_Area.png" width="320" /></a></div>
This only affects the main content area, and not the navigation elements. Even so, you can customize more areas of the sidebar and header than in Rise (see below).<br />
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Elearis-Design-Color-Choices.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="600" height="141" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Elearis-Design-Color-Choices.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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As I mentioned earlier, you can add a cover photo in Rise. Note that this functions as not only the course thumbnail, but as the background image for the course index.
You'll find these options in Course Settings; here, you can also add your company logo.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Rise-Logo-And-Cover-Photo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Rise-Logo-And-Cover-Photo.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Make sure to use a large enough cover photo for fullscreen display. On the course index, your cover photo will appear at full browser width.
<a name="development"></a><br />
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<h2>
3. How fast is development? </h2>
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Once you have created modules (in Elearis) or sections and lessions (in Rise), you can start adding content.<br />
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Because they are both responsive-based, Rise and Elearis focus on ensuring content will be readable on both mobile and desktop. Rise is entirely block-based, meaning lessons are like single columns with many rows.<br />
Each block is one row, and contains the content type of your choosing.<br />
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Elearis uses "cards," which are like mini-pages.<br />
The Page Builder card works very similar to Rise's block system, allowing you to add rows of text, images, audio, video, and so on. You can also add individual text element cards, image cards, video cards, et cetera, which display one piece of content each.<br />
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Both tools have oddities which I found slowed development.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwjO671HLbvE6cSbU72Bb_KnPWvYLNopffTgbLdXa4Em9b9sPcyf4-_VfJdDlo6X_bZXBmu08B1gUDsMLhVeQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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For example, compared to Elearis, Rise is extremely finicky when rearranging courses, as I show in the video above. Dragging oftentimes places the lesson somewhere other than where you tried to drop it. At other times, trying to drag lessons will simply navigate off the page (hence the gray screen at the end of the video above). Although you won't have to do this too often, it can be quite frustrating if you have a lot of lessons.<br />
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Rise autosaves your lessons while you work on them, whereas in Elearis, you need to remember to save your work often. Generally, you'll want autosave, but either approach can be desirable, depending on your preferences. While autosave can redeem you if you close your browser without saving, you'd be in trouble if you made changes you didn't mean to make.<br />
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In general, adding content and editing block elements seems to be faster in Rise, with fewer loading pauses in between.<br />
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You can duplicate blocks in Rise, while no similar functionality exists in Elearis as of this article's writing. If you have a lot of similar parts in your lesson, this is a big time saver.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Rise-Change-Block-Colors.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="600" height="235" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Rise-Change-Block-Colors.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Though, as mentioned earlier, there's no way to change content colors in Rise's course settings, you can change it for individual blocks. Both text and background color can be changed here.<br />
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But what if you need to change the color of the whole course after you finish? This entails going through and changing potentially hundreds of block elements individually.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Elearis-CSS-Example.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="600" height="266" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Elearis-CSS-Example.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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By comparison, in Elearis, a similar color change could be accomplished coursewide with two entries in a custom .css file!<br />
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One part of Elearis that can slow development is related to web caching. Changes you've made, including updated images, stylesheets, and card content, oftentimes don't show up right away in Preview.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/curator-logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/curator-logo.png" /></a></div>
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But this leads us to Elearis' Curator integration, which can make development much more efficient. The aforementioned caching issue only applies to content uploaded directly to Elearis. For many of these content types, you also have the option to upload a file to Curator and embed it into your Elearis course.<br />
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This means that, for example, if you need to use the same image or video in multiple spots in your course, they can all link to the same Curator resource. Therefore, your students don't need to download the same file multiple times, and you can take advantage of Curator's version control.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Curator-Image-Version.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://www.relatecasts.net /images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Curator-Image-Version.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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If, say, you have the same client logo 29 times across 8 sections, and the client updates their logo, you can just add it as a new version in Curator. Without needing to go back and edit the image in each and every card in your course, you can simply republish it with the new logo.<br />
<br />
Here is a summary of the development pros and cons I've just detailed:<br />
<br />
<b>Articulate Rise
Pros: </b><br />
<ul>
<li>Quick editor with few loading delays </li>
<li>Autosave reduces risk of losing work </li>
<li>Able to duplicate blocks</li>
</ul>
<b>Articulate Rise Cons:</b><ul>
<li>Block element colors and styles are only set per block </li>
<li>Rearranging lessons is glitchy </li>
</ul>
<b>Elearis
Pros: </b><br />
<ul>
<li>Custom CSS makes design customization efficient </li>
<li>Curator CMS integration allows media version control </li>
<li>Manual saving prevents accidentally committing changes</li>
</ul>
<b>Elearis Cons:</b> <br />
<ul>
<li>Editor tends to lag when adding cards and block elements or saving </li>
<li>Can't duplicate cards or blocks </li>
</ul>
Both tools allow you to insert a wide range of content, but are limited in the amount of custom navigation you can insert. Neither has the ability to create branching paths within the course.<br />
<br />
In both Elearis and Rise, you do have the ability to embed traditional eLearning courses published to HTML5.<br />
<br />
Elearis allows you to embed any HTML5 package, meaning it's more versatile in that respect; Rise only allows Storyline courses. Still, Rise's integration with these Storyline courses is deeper, allowing you to choose a Storyline block to use for the course's tracking. Of course, this option may be of limited use,since all tracking will derive from an embedded Storyline piece on one page of the course.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Review-360-Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/RiseElearis/Review-360-Logo.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Rise integrates with Storyline courses via their cloud-based Review 360 service, meaning you upload the Storyline piece to your Articulate account and link it from there.<br />
<h2><a name="tracking"></a>
4. What does each tool track? </h2>
<br />
Before we look at how Elearis and Rise can track learner performance, let's see what eLearning standards each supports. They're similar in this respect, as you'll see below.<br />
<br />
<b>Rise: </b><br />
<ul>
<li>SCORM 1.2 </li>
<li>SCORM 2004 (editions 2, 3 & 4) </li>
<li>AICC </li>
<li>xAPI </li>
</ul>
<b>Elearis: </b><br />
<ul>
<li>SCORM 1.2</li>
<li>SCORM 2004 </li>
<li>AICC </li>
<li>xAPI </li>
<li>xAPI (cmi5)</li>
</ul>
I tested tracking using SCORMCloud and SCORM 1.2 for this article, because it's such a common standard. Both Rise and Elearis can track based on completion. If the learner sees 100% of the content, they'll get a 100% score.<br />
<br />
Rise has two additional ways to track: based on course quizzes, and based on a specific embedded Storyline course.<br />
<br />
Quiz-based tracking will show you the learner's final score, and allow you to see how many times they got each question wrong before getting it right.<br />
<br />
Overall, Rise is more robust in terms of tracking, so if this is a major selling point for you, Rise would be the better choice.<br />
<br />
<h2><a name="conclusion"></a>
5. Conclusion </h2>
<br />
With these two responsive eLearning tools, you can achieve similar results.<br />
<br />
Rise's superior tracking options help if you need to include a lot of quiz and assessment content. Its quicker workflow can translate to faster turnaround times, and its more thorough documentation may help you learn it faster.<br />
<br />
However, Elearis' ability to embed any kind of HTML5 content, even external webpages, adds versatility. Meanwhile, the ability to use CSS to more efficiently brand content can speed up workflow, making rebranding and re-theming large courses much more feasible.<br />
<br />
We've created a sample course using both tools; please check them out! For the most part, the courses are very similar, but different capabilities and limitations resulted in a few differences, visually.<br />
<br />
<b><a target="_blank" href="https://www.relatecasts.net/Samples/storytelling_201906191200/index.html">Elearis Course: 5 Secrets of Storytelling in eLearning</a> </b><br />
<br />
<b><a target="_blank" href="https://www.relatecasts.net/Samples/storytelling-rise_201909111533/index.html">Rise Course: 5 Secrets of Storytelling in eLearning</a> </b><br />
<br />
<br />
Harold Muliadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17980411699999991379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-39645668106206235742019-06-03T15:59:00.001-07:002021-03-18T12:45:30.339-07:00LIFE Edge Interviews Marc Cameron, Bestselling Author<img alt="Marc Cameron LIFE Edge Interview" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/cameroninterview/CameronBanner.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br></br>Last week on LIFE Edge, Rick Zanotti interviewed Marc Cameron, author of the Jericho Quinn series. We discussed his books, outdoor life, bikes, and more. Marc is a New York Times-bestselling author known for both his Jericho Quinn series and his books featuring Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan.</br></br>
<a href="https://youtu.be/V-9DFAqMPq4"target="_blank">Follow this link to watch our interview, or view it below.</a></br><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V-9DFAqMPq4" width="480"></iframe></br></br>
<h3>How Marc Cameron Started Writing</h3>
</br>
Marc says, "I started like most writers do, I think. Discovering, mimicking other writers and kind of writing fanfiction before we knew what fanfiction was. I started writing short stories when I was quite young, you know, eight, nine, ten years old, and then slowly morphed into trying to get published."</br></br>
"I really liked Old Yeller," he recalls. "I grew up in north-central Texas, so I liked books about boys and dogs and horses. Fred Gipson, Wilson Rawls, I devoured all the Hardy Boys books. It probably had a lot to do with why I went into law enforcement later on."
</br></br>
Around the time Marc started writing the Jericho Quinn series, his son joined the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. </br></br>"Oddly, though," Marc says, "I started writing about OSI agents about the time he was getting in. He wasn't in yet [when] I started the Jericho books."
</br></br><img alt="First Three Jericho Quinn Books" border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="500" height="282" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/cameroninterview/jericho-quinn-1st3.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Marc-Cameron/e/B005FB45C8%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share"target="_blank">You can find the Jericho Quinn series on Marc's Amazon author page.</a>
</br></br>
<h3>Was Marc Cameron A U.S. Marshal?</h3>
</br>
Though Marc draws from his experience when creating his stories, he couldn't write about the Marshals at the time.</br></br>
This is because he was still in the U.S. Marshals, and was forbidden to write about either the Marshals or the Justice Department. Later on, Marc retired from the Marshals to pursue writing full-time. That's why August Bowen, the U.S. Marshal character, doesn't appear until book 4, Time of Attack.</br></br>
<img alt="Time Of Attack By Marc Cameron" border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="219" height="400" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/cameroninterview/timeofattack-small.jpg" title="" width="219" /></br><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ENMXSF0/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i8"target="_blank">Time of Attack on Amazon</a></br></br>
According to Marc, "I like the character of August Bowen, and I think the new series that is out, the Arliss Cutter series, is really kind of a mirror of our August Bowen. In fact, in my mind, I figure that Arliss Cutter and August Bowen probably served in the same unit."</br></br>
<img alt="Open Carry By Marc Cameron" border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="219" height="330" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/cameroninterview/opencarry-small.jpg" title="" width="219" /></br><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DBR8Z7Y/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i1"target="_blank">Open Carry on Amazon</a></br></br><h3>Marc's Alaskan Inspiration</h3>
</br>
Although he's worked across the United States and traveled the world, Marc Cameron is a longtime Alaska resident. Among other reasons, Marc and his wife enjoy the huge outdoor expanses, which allow people to use and hone traditional skills.
</br></br>
"It doesn't take very long to leave civilization behind," Marc says of living in Alaska. "I think there's a lot of value in getting back to our roots, you know? We have a freezer full of meat that we harvested. My wife's a fisherwoman, and we have an entire upright freezer full of her salmon and halibut."</br></br>
This extends to the U.S. Marshals. "We talk about man-trackers. U.S. Marshals are known for hunting down fugitives, but in certain parts of the United States, we're still tracking, step-by-step kind of tracking. We can't rely on just technology. I think there's a lot of value in that, for our daily lives as well."</br></br>
Marc Cameron was a police officer in Texas for nearly 7 years, and got into the U.S. Marshals after a 2-year process. He worked in Texas, Idaho, and then 15 years in Alaska. Because there aren't very many Marshals, he explains that a Texas marshal might end up assigned to New York or California.</br></br>
<h3>Marc & Martial Arts: Putting The Fighting Into Writing</h3>
</br>
Over the course of his law enforcement career, Marc studied aikido and jujitsu. However, his aikido instructor taught him a specialized style of aikido outside of the normal classes. </br></br>"Since he knew I was in law enforcement," Marc explains, "he would give me extra teaching on the side [and] basically turned my aikido class into aikijujutsu." Marc draws from this and his previous experience fencing to inform the fight scenes in his writing.
</br></br>
Even though the Jericho Quinn books draw from Marc's experience, he says, "Jericho's way tougher than me!" Jericho, like the other characters, is a mix of many people the author has known over the years.
</br></br>
<h3>Jericho & His Motorcycle: That Death Dealer Look</h3>
</br>Jericho rides the same motorcycle as Marc, his beloved BMW GS 1200.</br></br>
Marc tells us, "They're very aggressive looking. One of my friends online teaches Krav Maga down in the southeast part of the United States. He's got a bike like that, and he calls it Helga the Schnellpanzer, or something like that. It's just got that kind of a look to it."</br></br>
Marc likens the bike to the big black horse the Death Dealer sits on in Frank Frazetta's painting. Marc is a fan of Frazetta's work; he says, "I always think that if my books would have been written back in the 70's, I would have liked Frazetta to do the covers. That's the vision I have in my head."</br></br>
<h3>Upcoming Releases & Closing Comments</h3>
</br>
Marc talks about his upcoming releases. The next two, in November, will be Jericho Quinn's Active Measures and Code of Honor in the Jack Ryan series. After that, Stone Cross, the next Arliss Cutter book, will come out.</br></br>
<img alt="Marc Cameron's Upcoming Books" border="0" data-original-height="325" data-original-width="400" height="325" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/cameroninterview/newbooks.jpg" title="" width="400" /></br></br>
On LIFE Edge, we ask all of our guests: "What is it that gives you an edge in life?" Marc considers his edge to be a piece of advice a college professor gave him.</br></br> During Marc's freshman year in college, his theater drama professor told him, "Marc, you will never amount to your full potential unless you learn to utilize those 15-minute segments of time that other people waste." </br></br>Marc says, "I really took that to heart. I think a lot of people spend time thinking they don't have enough time to get anything done, so they'll play a game of Angry Birds, or whatever the fashionable game is on their phone today, or just read something on Reddit, being a consumer. I prefer to create instead of consume; I love watching shows and movies and such, but I would much rather put something out for other people to consume. And in order to do that, especially at the pace that I do now, I can't waste time—at all."
</br></br>
You can visit Marc's website for news on his latest books at:</br><a href="https://www.marccameronbooks.com"target="_blank">https://www.marccameronbooks.com</a>Harold Muliadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17980411699999991379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-15248141538374256292019-05-28T10:17:00.001-07:002021-03-18T12:47:44.818-07:0050mm EF Lens Comparison: Sigma f/1.4 Art vs. Canon f/1.4 USM - Wide Open<img alt="50mm EF Lens Comparison Canon Vs Sigma" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/50mmBanner.jpg" title="" width="500" />
</br></br>
Recently at RELATE, we were using the Canon 50mm EF f/1.4 USM and Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art DG lenses with our EOS R and the EF-EOS R adapter. This got us thinking: are the results really that different?</br></br>
Therefore, we did a small test with portraiture, which is the type of shot we typically use these lenses for. Camera settings were at 1/125 sec. shutter and ISO 1000, while both lenses were at f/1.4. We've heard that the differences between these lenses are most pronounced when wide open.</br></br>
This is because the Canon has 7 lens elements, while the Sigma has 13 lens elements. The Sigma includes an aspherical element, which should reduce spherical aberration when wide open. This is the softness that many lenses suffer at large apertures. However, due to these additional elements, the Sigma is twice the size, thrice the price, and three times the weight.</br></br>
<img alt="Sigma 50mm Art And Canon 50mm USM" border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" height="333" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/2LENSINHAND.jpg" title="" width="500" />
</br></br>
The Canon 50mm EF f/1.4 USM is around $325-350 USD new, while the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art DG is ≈$950 USD new.</br></br>
Therefore, we'll take a couple photos from each lens and compare:</br></br>
<a href="#lenscompare50mm01">1. The overall look of the photos.</a></br>
<a href="#lenscompare50mm02">2. Resolution of fine details.</a></br>
<a href="#lenscompare50mm03">3. Chromatic aberration.</a></br>
</br></br></br>
<a name="lenscompare50mm01"></a><h1>Lens Comparison #1: Overall look</h1>
</br></br>
<img alt="Canon 50mm USM Overall Shot 1" border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" height="333" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/CAN01_SM.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br>
Canon 50mm EF f/1.4 USM <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/CAN01_FULL.JPG" target="_blank">(click for full resolution)</a>
</br></br>
<img alt="Sigma 50mm Art Overall Shot 1" border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" height="333" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/SIG01_SM.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br>
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art DG <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/SIG01_FULL.JPG" target="_blank">(click for full resolution)</a>
</br></br>
<img alt="Canon 50mm USM Overall Shot 2" border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" height="333" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/CAN02_SM.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br>
Canon 50mm EF f/1.4 USM <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/CAN02_FULL.JPG" target="_blank">(click for full resolution)</a>
</br></br>
<img alt="Sigma 50mm Art Overall Shot 2" border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" height="333" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/SIG02_SM.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br>
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art DG <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/SIG02_FULL.JPG" target="_blank">(click for full resolution)</a></br></br>
You can click the links in order to view these at full resolution, and I recommend you do so! Towards the center of the frame (which is around Rick's chin) the images are pretty similar. As you move further out, though, the effect of the Sigma's aspherical element allows it to stay sharper. I'll detail this further in the next section, and show some close-ups.</br></br>
</br>
<a name="lenscompare50mm02"></a><h1>Lens Comparison #2: Resolution of fine details</h1></br></br>
In this image, I'll start by comparing zooms near the center of the frame. This is where the two should be most similar in terms of fine detail. Again, you can use the links above to see the photos in full resolution, if you prefer.</br></br>
<img alt="Canon 50mm USM Detail Shot Chin" border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="500" height="250" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/CAN01_DT01.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br>
Canon 50mm EF f/1.4 USM</br></br>
<img alt="Sigma 50mm Art Detail Shot Chin" border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="500" height="250" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/SIG01_DT01.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br>
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art DG</br></br>
As we can see, at the very center of the frame, the lenses are similar, even wide open. Therefore, we'll go a bit further up in the image.</br></br>
<img alt="Canon 50mm USM Detail Shot Eye" border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="500" height="250" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/CAN01_DT02.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br>
Canon 50mm EF f/1.4 USM</br></br>
<img alt="Sigma 50mm Art Detail Shot Eye" border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="500" height="250" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/SIG01_DT02.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br>
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art DG</br></br>
This is the eye that was slightly further from the camera. Hence, on both images, we're seeing slight blurring due to the extremely shallow depth of field at f/1.4. Still, with the Canon lens we're starting to see the effects of spherical aberration. Here, it manifests as a slight "smearing" of the image. Even so, they're not that far off from each other. The final crop will be much closer to the edge of the photo.</br></br>
<img alt="Canon 50mm USM Detail Shot Hair" border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="500" height="250" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/CAN01_DT03.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br>
Canon 50mm EF f/1.4 USM</br></br>
<img alt="Sigma 50mm Art Detail Shot Hair" border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="500" height="250" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/SIG01_DT03.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br>
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art DG</br></br>
Here, the difference is most pronounced. On the Sigma shot, the hair towards the foreground is quite sharp, and blurs further back due to shallow DoF. On the Canon lens shot, though, the whole thing is noticeably blurry.</br></br>
<a name="lenscompare50mm03"></a><h1>Lens Comparison #3: Chromatic aberration</h1></br></br>
Our final comparison is chromatic aberration. There are a few points where we'll compare, but this particular type of photo isn't the best to showcase this. This is because there are no objects with sharp edges or a lot of bright points of light. Therefore, this would be more of a concern with still lifes, macro photography, and night shots. </br></br>
Landscapes and other outdoor photos might have bright points of light and sharp edges, but it's less of a concern there. That's because you'll usually shoot those at smaller apertures, both for deeper DoF and because daylight is so bright.</br></br>
First, we'll compare the eye highlights.</br></br>
<img alt="Canon 50mm USM Eye Highlight Crop" border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="500" height="250" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/CAN01_DT05.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br>
Canon 50mm EF f/1.4 USM</br></br>
<img alt="Sigma 50mm Art Eye Highlight Crop" border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="500" height="250" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/SIG01_DT05.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br>
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art DG</br></br>
Chromatic aberration is probably more evident here than anywhere else in the picture. Even so, it's not obvious. The eye glint looks like a white disc with several faint colored discs slightly overlapping. Separating the channels, I found that in this area of the image, blues shifted lower-left, while reds shifted slightly upwards.
</br></br>
The animations below show this crop in each color channel.</br></br>
<img alt="Sigma 50mm Art Color Channel Comparison" border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="500" height="250" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/CAN01_CHN.gif" title="" width="500" /></br>
Canon 50mm EF f/1.4 USM</br></br>
<img alt="Sigma 50mm Art Color Channel Comparison" border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="500" height="250" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/SIG01_CHN.gif" title="" width="500" /></br>
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art DG</br></br>
As you can see, the highlight shifts slightly more on the Canon shot, while the Sigma's highlight stays in place. There is a slight amount of chromatic aberration on the blue channel even with the Sigma, though.</br></br>
Our next chromatic aberration test is on the edges of shapes. As we mentioned earlier, this will be less noticeable on a portrait. This is because the edges of a face will blur more at a larger aperture. Meanwhile, chromatic aberration is less pronounced at smaller apertures.</br></br>
<img alt="Canon 50mm USM Edge Chromatic Aberration" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="500" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/CAN01_DT04.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br>
Canon 50mm EF f/1.4 USM</br></br>
<img alt="Canon 50mm USM Edge Chromatic Aberration" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="500" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/SIG01_DT04.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br>
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art DG</br></br>
While a slight shift of the green channel is visible in this area of the Canon photo, it's relatively mild. Towards the edges of the picture, spherical aberration dwarfs the chromatic aberration effect, so it's harder to tell how pronounced it is.</br></br>
Therefore, I don't think the difference in chromatic aberration will be a major problem for the majority of photo types. Only specific types of shots would highlight the difference here. For example, if you photographed a stark black-and-white polka dot pattern wide open, it may become noticeable.</br></br>
After all these tests, we come back to the question: is the difference noticeable? Although I didn't notice much difference at first, after closer examination, it's somewhat obvious. However, keep in mind that these were shot at conditions where an aspherical lens element would make significant difference. At smaller aperture values, the differences between the lenses become less and less pronounced.</br></br>
Overall, your best bet is to compare these lenses and their potential differences against your needs. Do you shoot at large apertures often, and are fine details and sharp edges all throughout the frame essential? If so, does this outweigh the big differences in price, weight, and size?</br></br>
If you often travel with your camera, weight and size could be a major consideration. One lens is slightly over half a pound, the other is nearly two, the Canon at 290g and Sigma at 815g.</br></br>
<img alt="Sigma 50mm Canon 50mm Front Elements" border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" height="333" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/50mmblog20190523/2LENSFRONT.jpg" title="" width="500" /></br>
Note the difference in size of each lens' front element.</br></br>
In terms of dimensions, the Canon is 2.9" x 2" dia. or 73.8mm x 50.5mm dia. Meanwhile, the Sigma is 3.9" x 3.4" dia. or 99.9mm x 85.4mm dia. This means that the Canon lens takes three-quarters of the volume in your camera bag. This doesn't include lens hoods. The Canon 50mm doesn't come with a lens hood, while the Sigma does. While hoods add bulk to your kit, they're a good idea if you're going traveling. Of course, lens flares can be quite trendy in photography nowadays when used consciously!</br></br>
We tend to take the Canon lens on trips, but the Sigma is an excellent studio lens with crisp resolution of details. </br></br>
Hopefully this article, though somewhat limited in scope, was helpful to you!</br></br>
If you found it useful, you can find my other articles on photography and design <a href="https://halfemptylearning.blogspot.com/search/label/Harold%20Muliadi">here.</a></br></br>For our articles on photography topics only, <a href="https://halfemptylearning.blogspot.com/search/label/Photography">follow this link.</a>
Harold Muliadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17980411699999991379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-57412541064615126602019-05-02T13:30:00.001-07:002021-03-18T22:20:55.683-07:00Editing Voice-over Clips For eLearning in Adobe Audition: Mark & Export<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.relate.com/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/AudioMark-Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/AudioMark-Banner.jpg" width="400" height="240" data-original-width="800" data-original-height="480" /></a></div>
When creating an eLearning course, you need all the help you can get in making the material engaging and interesting. Voice-over is a common tool used towards this end. However, editing voice-over clips is a potentially time-consuming process. You could have hundreds or even thousands of clips for a single course.<br />
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If you don't have an efficient workflow, this could consume many hours and push your project well outside of scope. Fortunately, modern audio editing software offers features that make this a quick and very straightforward job.<br />
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Although similar editing workflows exist in all modern audio editing suites, we'll cover <a href="https://www.adobe.com/products/audition.html"target="_blank">Adobe Audition</a>, because it's so commonly-used. If you're using another program, the terminology will be similar, but the exact keyboard shortcuts will vary. Therefore, if you're using another, you'll need to look up the terms in your editing suite's hotkey reference.<br />
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Also, for the purposes of this article, I am using Windows 10; some details may vary if you're on Mac or Linux.<br />
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You can jump to later parts of the article using these links:<br />
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<a href="#before">1. What You Need Before Editing Voice-Over</a><br />
<a href="#silenceshortcut">1a. Adding a "Silence" Shortcut (Optional)</a><br />
<a href="#setup">1b. Workspace Setup (Optional)</a><br />
<a href="#marking">2. Marking Your Voice-Over Clips</a><br />
<a href="#exporting">3. Exporting Your Clips To Individual Files</a><br />
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First, we're going to cover what this article is assuming you have.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="before"></a>
1. What You Need Before Editing Voice-Over</h2>
In order to know where to cut your audio clips and name them properly, you'll need the script for your eLearning piece on hand. You'll need a standardized naming convention for audio clips, too. Otherwise, your developers will have trouble knowing what to put where. Or, if you're doing the development, you may forget what goes where by the time you need to insert the audio!<br />
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The format we'll use here is module, page, element. For example, M05P11G would indicate course module 5, page 11, element G, which corresponds to the format in our script.<br />
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You'll then need the raw audio file. For the purposes of this article, we will mark, cut, add silence, and reduce volume on certain sections. In practice, you will probably end up using Amplify and other processing techniques to get the volume and qualities you want. For now, though, we'll keep it simple.<br />
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Always keep an unaltered original version of your raw audio file. This way, if you make a mistake and accidentally save it, you can start over. Ideally, you'll keep your copy for editing in a different folder than the original to minimize accidental modifications.<br />
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Now, bring the copy of the file you'll use for editing into Audition. Drag it into the "Files" panel, like so:<br />
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/dragfile01.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dragging Files From Windows Explorer To Audition" border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/dragfile01.gif" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
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As you can see, doing this creates a .pkf in the same directory as your file, which is a "peak file." This is generated by Audition and is needed in order to render the clip's waveform in the Editor view. Here is what the waveform looks like in that Editor panel:<br />
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/waveform.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Adobe Audition Waveform Example" border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="600" height="160" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/waveform.png" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
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The next two steps are optional, and you may not need them if you've already set Audition to your needs. Therefore, if that's the case, you can skip to <a href="#marking"><strong>"Marking Your Voice-Over Clips."</strong></a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="silenceshortcut"></a>
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<h2>
1a. Adding a "Silence" Shortcut</h2>
If you already have a preexisting shortcut that you prefer to use when silencing sections of audio, you can skip this section. We're going to set up a shortcut to silence using a Fade Envelope, but first I'll explain why that's helpful.<br />
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/recordfavorite.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Recording Favorites In Audition Menu" border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="250" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/recordfavorite.png" title="" /></a>Sometimes, you'll want to remove a part of the audio clip, but you want the time it occupies to remain. A cough or breath, for example, may need to be removed, but you find that simply deleting it makes the sentence sound awkward.<br />
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If there is background noise in your recording, silencing it may also sound abrupt, because the noise is silenced too.<br />
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In this case, fading out at the start of your selection and fading back in at the end is ideal. This is what Fade Envelope will do for us. In order to make a shortcut for this, we'll need to record a "Favorite."<br />
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The first thing we'll need to do is Select All, so click on your waveform and hit Ctrl + A. Your waveform should become highlighted, like this:<br />
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/selectall.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Selecting All In Audition" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/selectall.png" title="" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/recordfavorite.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Recording Favorites Menu Steps Adobe Audition" border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="250" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/recordfavorite.png" title="" /></a></div>
Next, go to the menu bar and click Favorites, then click an option near the bottom called "Start Recording Favorite."<br />
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This will save all of your actions inside Audition until you stop recording.<br />
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This handy feature can save you thousands of menu clicks, which would otherwise add up to a lot of wasted time.<br />
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Now, go to the menu bar again. Select Effects > Amplitude and Compression > Fade Envelope (process)...<br />
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This will bring up a window for Fade Envelope, but will also overlay a "U" shape onto your waveform, shown below. There will also be three nearly-invisible handles, and I've circled them below.<br />
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/fadeenvelopehandles.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Adobe Audition Fade Envelope With Handles" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/fadeenvelopehandles.png" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
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Drag the handles to get the shape below, and then click Apply, and Favorites > Stop Recording Favorite... Give it a descriptive name, like Fade Envelope Silence.<br />
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/fadeenvelope01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Adobe Audition Fade Envelope Silence" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/fadeenvelope01.png" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
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Press Alt + K, which will open your Keyboard Shortcuts dialogue. Then, select the search bar in the lower left of that window, type in your Favorite's name.<br />
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/shortcut01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Setting Keyboard Shortcuts Adobe Audition" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/shortcut01.png" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
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Click the space below Shortcut and to the right of your Favorite, then press an unused key. I'm using F. Afterwards, clicking F will perform the Favorite on whatever you have selected.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="setup"></a>
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<h2>
1b. Workspace Setup</h2>
The next step before we start is to ensure we have the correct panels displayed in our Adobe Audition workspace. The only three that are necessary are Files, Editor, and Markers. If any of these aren't visible, go to Window in the menu bar and enable them.<br />
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Other panels that are helpful are Selection/View and Levels. Selection/View displays the duration of your selection, plus where it starts and ends within the file's total duration.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="marking"></a>
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<h2>
2. Marking Your Voice-Over Clips </h2>
In order to mark a clip, you click and drag to select a section and press M. Then, in your Markers panel, you'll need to rename your clip. In order to do this, click the clip's name ("Marker 1, Marker 2," etc.) once, then click again about half a second later. If you double-click too fast, it won't work. Once the name is highlighted, type in the clip's title.<br />
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Continue doing this for all of the clips in the audio file until everything is marked. Remember to save your file frequently with Ctrl + S! When marking your clips, it's a good practice to leave about half a second of silence before and after the clip. <br />
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This is because many authoring tools have a tendency to cut off the very beginning or end of audio clips. Therefore, leaving this space will ensure that the entire audio clip is played for the user.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ex4KTGiRdRM" width="459"></iframe>R
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="exporting"></a>
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<h2>
3. Exporting Your Clips To Individual Files</h2>
Once you are finished, look at your Markers panel again and select all of the clips you've marked and named. Now that they're all selected, click on this little button
<img border="0" data-original-height="16" data-original-width="16" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/exporticon.png" style="display: inline; height: 16px; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 16px;" />
to export them. It's the fifth from the left in the upper left of the Markers panel, which I have pointed out with an arrow below. A dialog will come up, and there are a few options here.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/markersbuttons.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Adobe Audition Markers Panel Export Button" border="0" data-original-height="64" data-original-width="300" height="85" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/markersbuttons.png" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
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You'll want to check the first option, "Use marker names in filenames," or your efforts in naming every clip will be wasted! "Prefix" allows you to add a static prefix to each exported file's name. Meanwhile, Postfix is for a certain type of postfix—an incremental number. If you put 01 here, for example, the first filename ends with 01, the second with 02, and so on. This can be useful for exporting a large number of clips with directly sequential names.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/exportdialog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Adobe Audition Export Markers Dialog" border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="450" height="310" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/images/haroldblogs/editingvo/exportdialog.png" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
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Next, set your export directory to the correct location, then check your file format. Many authoring tools work better with .wav, but all of this will depend on your filesize needs. For our purposes, you can leave the last checkbox checked or unchecked; it won't make a difference here.<br />
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We hope this guide helped you with your eLearning course. If you need any help with eLearning and training development, feel free to contact us on our website: <a href="http://relate.com/contact.html" target="_blank">http://relate.com/contact.html</a>Harold Muliadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17980411699999991379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-78992477724046541672019-04-08T14:59:00.000-07:002019-04-08T15:04:16.473-07:00Leslie's Findings: iSpring Flip 9 eBook Creation<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
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mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:107%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
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<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX94VUNpKfUquqCuWdfpZgOaelHHkbHsbNvG2wcQ98CtKsykO1Kk1LRlij3LFgpE5Qlik6mU1WvE6LtO3UnspHfD6KFJTpo6yZEFCwUklOeil2qDi4BC1h-FdZ547rsA5_lExlRM3CVtS4/s1600/Leslies+Findings+iSpring+Flip+Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Leslie's Findings iSpring Flip 9 eBook Creation Banner" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1000" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX94VUNpKfUquqCuWdfpZgOaelHHkbHsbNvG2wcQ98CtKsykO1Kk1LRlij3LFgpE5Qlik6mU1WvE6LtO3UnspHfD6KFJTpo6yZEFCwUklOeil2qDi4BC1h-FdZ547rsA5_lExlRM3CVtS4/s320/Leslies+Findings+iSpring+Flip+Banner.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.ispringsolutions.com/ispring-flip" target="_blank">iSpring Flip 9</a>, a newly-released feature of <a href="https://www.ispringsolutions.com/ispring-suite" target="_blank">iSpring Suite 9</a>, can quickly turn a PDF, Word, or Powerpoint
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You can display one or two pages at one time, show
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It can be loaded and score complete/incomplete on a <a href="http://www.relate.com/lms-integration.html" target="_blank">learning management system</a> with bookmarking.</div>
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iSpring Flip 9 Examples</h2>
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Following is the web link showing our example of a Word document converted to an eBook with
hyperlinks using Flip 9:</div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="http://www.relate.com/blogsamples/iSpringFlip9/index.html">http://www.relate.com/blogsamples/iSpringFlip9/index.html</a></span></div>
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If you want to see an example of tracking/scoring progress on an eBook, see below for a screen shot of a <a href="http://halfemptylearning.blogspot.com/2018/05/scorm-cloud-what-is-it-why-should-you_7.html" target="_blank">Scorm</a> 1.2 score of a Word
doc. Note that the Score in the learning management system is NOT a pass/fail score,
but the completion of the eBook. For example, in a 10-page eBook, if you have
read 5 pages, you will show a 50% “Score.”</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIoiGFlr51G1tS1U9o2St-cWYj3kOqNFLYlQom3p5g68YwNxvyhvA454300vUoa8fm5C1Luec-FOut5JU47vRG2Hiya5tB-OeRZ0uAg9WAbIqoK1GhrN8TQNsiUb9hTmo7z9EW205W5ssS/s1600/ScormWordScore.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="584" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIoiGFlr51G1tS1U9o2St-cWYj3kOqNFLYlQom3p5g68YwNxvyhvA454300vUoa8fm5C1Luec-FOut5JU47vRG2Hiya5tB-OeRZ0uAg9WAbIqoK1GhrN8TQNsiUb9hTmo7z9EW205W5ssS/s1600/ScormWordScore.png" width="500" /></a></div>
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iSpring Flip 9 is available as part of iSpring Suite 9, or it can also be purchased by itself as a standalone application. You can learn more about it and even try it for yourself by downloading a free 14-day trial of Suite 9 here <a href="https://www.ispringsolutions.com/ispring-flip">https://www.ispringsolutions.com/ispring-flip</a><br />
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<h2>
About Leslie Zanotti</h2>
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<a href="http://relate.com/leslie-zanotti.html" target="_blank">Leslie Zanotti</a> is the Vice President of <a href="http://www.relate.com/" target="_blank">Relate Corporation</a>, a well-known Training & Development company specializing in eLearning, media production, and Internet broadcasting.</div>
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<h2>
Need Help?</h2>
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If you need assistance on your <a href="http://www.relate.com/elearning.html" target="_blank">eLearning development projects</a>, seek professional development services including corporate video and audio production, want some management consulting, or just need some help, send us a note on <a href="http://www.relate.com/contact.html" target="_blank">our contact form</a>, e-mail us at <a href="mailto:connect@relate.com">connect@relate.com</a>, or call us at 800-428-3708. Thanks for reading!</div>
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Leslie Zanottihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17242842785329122004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-49232917671596988862019-03-18T10:41:00.001-07:002021-03-18T22:23:21.828-07:00Captivate 2019 Interactive Video Sample & TipsJoin us for a look at the Adobe Captivate interactive video element, new to Adobe Captivate 2019.<br /><br />Interactive Video allows you to present a video, either from a file or YouTube, and define bookmarks and Overlay slides. You can jump to Bookmarks with Actions, while Overlays pause the video and show another slide on top.<br /><br /><img alt="Captivate 2019 Interactive Video Article" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3491" height="240" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Captivate-2019-Interactive-Video-Article.jpg" width="400" /><br /><br /><br /><img alt="Captivate Interactive Video Bookmark Overlay" class="alignright size-full wp-image-3492" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Bookmark-Overlay.jpg" width="300" />Buttons can jump to a Bookmark, whether it's on a different slide or the same one. Meanwhile, Overlays let you pause the video and show a lot of content on top of the video, if needed.<br /><br />An Overlay is contained in its own slide, which is initiated by an Overlay timeline item on the main slide. Therefore, it's super easy to move an Overlay around on the timeline.<br /><br /><h3>Sample Demonstration of Interactive Video</h3><br /><br />Follow the link below and view our Interactive Video demo in order to get an up-close look at these features!<br /><br /><span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/blogsamples/civr_mic_basics/index.html" target="_blank">Click here to view the demo.</a></b></span></span><br /><br /><h3>Captivate 2019 Interactive Video Tips & Hints</h3><br /><br />When using Interactive Video, you may run into a problem we did: white flashes between Interactive Video slides. There are two things to watch out for here: Slide Transitions and background colors.<br /><br />If you use, for example, a Fade transition on a slide with Interactive video, it tends to fade from white. Likewise, if either your Master Slide or Slide Color are white, it will flash white.<br /><br />Of course, this can be jarring if your video has a dark background. If you still need to use a Fade transition, you'll want to make sure that:<br /><br />1. The Slide Color is set similarly to your video's background. When you're on the slide with nothing more specific selected, Slide Color shows in your right Properties bar.<br /><br />2. The Master Slide color is set similarly to the video background. In order to change this, go to Themes on the top. Specifically, Themes > Master Slide, then Slide Color in Properties on the right.<br /><br />3. Finally, in Edit > Preferences > Defaults, the Background Color is set to the same color as the others.<br /><br /><img alt="Adobe Captivate Project Preferences" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3490" height="400" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/preferences.jpg" width="400" /><br /><br />Generally, it's a good idea to set these in projects that are heavy on the Interactive Video elements. Besides transitions, you'll also see a flash of background color when jumping back to an earlier slide.<br /><br />When jumping to Interactive Video Bookmarks from a different slide, they first flash a single frame from the target video. It can be a bit jarring, but we haven't yet found a workaround for it.<br /><br />The frame it shows is pulled from around the middle of the video, similarly to a YouTube thumbnail. This is what Captivate uses in order to display the video when it's not loading the whole thing.<br /><br />For example, it uses this frame as the thumbnail for Filmstrip view on the left.<br /><br />Despite these few "gotcha"s, Interactive Video is a useful new feature that makes creating, well, interactive video, easy in Captivate! <br /><br />We'd love to hear your comments, corrections, and questions in the comments below!Harold Muliadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17980411699999991379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-22836338975930446242019-03-05T05:27:00.001-08:002021-03-18T23:21:10.493-07:00Softboxes On The Aputure LS COB 120d ii: Lighting ComparisonRecently, we did a <a href="https://youtu.be/HZD7sD6BD_4" target="_blank">Tech Down Over</a> episode on some new softboxes we purchased for our studio at RELATE. Here, we'll recap what we talked about on the show, and go a little deeper into these light modifiers.<br /><br />In order to get more out of our Aputure c120d and Aputure c120d ii, we got some new softboxes. These are the Aputure Light Dome Mini I and the Phottix Raja Deep 80, which we're comparing with our Aputure Light Dome I.<br /><br /><img alt="Phottix Raja & Light Dome Mini Bags" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3926" height="136" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/raja_minidome_bags.jpg" width="400" /><br />Raja Deep & Mini Dome in their carrying cases.<br /><br />Note, however, that these light modifiers use the Bowens Speedring standard and will work with any light featuring that mount.<br /><br />Our tests will take a look at ease of setup, how they affect the light's brightness, and then light softness.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="setup"></a><br /><h2>How Easy Are These Softboxes To Set Up?</h2><br /><br />We mainly use these in our studio, therefore, we don't need to take them apart too often. If you're bringing these with you on a shoot, this could be a big factor in which you prefer, though.<br /><br />However, even if we didn't take apart the Light Dome I very often, setup was our biggest gripe with it. <br /><br />You need to bend the dome's 16 rods and then fit them into the corresponding slots. This takes longer than necessary, besides which the force required makes me think I'm about to break the dome!<br /><br /><img alt="Aputure Light Dome Poles" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3905" height="225" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/lightdome_poles.jpg" width="400" /><br />The Light Dome I's Bowens speedring and poles.<br /><br />As I understand, the Light Dome II has improved on this, but we couldn't get it at the time. This was because of an issue involving CA Proposition 65 and some of the materials in the dome.<br /><br />The Mini II was also facing this issue. Therefore, we got the Light Dome Mini I and the Phottix Raja Deep 80. <br /><br />The Mini I has a similar setup to the Light Dome I, but it was easier to assemble. Mostly, this was because it's a lot smaller. It's also a lot flatter, which means you have to bend the poles less to get them into the slots. Overall, I didn't feel like I was going to rip the dome or break the poles, and that's a plus!<br /><br /><img alt="Light Dome Mini I Shape" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3908" height="225" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/lightdome_mini_I.jpg" width="400" /><br />The Light Dome Mini's shape makes for easier setup.<br /><br />Finally, the Raja was extremely fast to setup. This was because it uses an umbrella-like mechanism that allows for very quick dome expansion:<br /><br /><video controls="" width="400"> <source src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/expand_raja.mp4" type="video/mp4"></source> Your browser does not support HTML5 video. </video><br />As you can see, it only takes a few seconds to expand this thing.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="intensity"></a><br /><h2>How Does Each Softbox Affect Light Intensity?</h2><br /><br />Because the diffusers and reflectors used in these softboxes aren't 100% efficient (naturally!), they reduce the light on your subject. Therefore, we've put together a comparison that should give you an idea of just how much they'll dim your light.<br /><br /><img alt="Aputure c120d Modifiers Brightness Comparison" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3913" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BrightnessComparison.jpg" />These photos are exposed for the light with no attachments at 100% brightness. Therefore, light focusers like the Fresnel lens overexpose the image, and the softboxes underexpose them.<br /><br />This basically went as I expected. The Fresnel at its longest focal length created the most intense light, while the Light Dome Mini dimmed the most. This is because the Light Dome Mini spread the light so much. Out of the softboxes, the Light Dome I gave the brightest light.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="softness"></a><br /><h2>How Much Does Each Softbox Soften The Light?</h2><br /><br />I expected the light focusing Fresnel lens to create harder shadows than the softboxes and light without attachment. This matched my tests, but the rest of the results surprised me a little.<br /><br /><img alt="Aputure c120d Light Modifiers Softness Comparison" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3917" height="1090" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/SoftnessComparison2.jpg" width="600" /><br /><br />When compared to the light with no attachment or the stock metal reflector, the softboxes create softer lighting. <br /><br />However, the difference between these and the light without modifiers was not as much as I'd expected. I may have had the light too far from me. Still, on the larger softboxes, the front of each was only about 3 feet from my face.<br /><br />With the softboxes, the shadow of my nose is noticeably softer. However, my cheek and the skin texture (which looks rougher with harder lighting) looks about the same. Also, the highlights were about the same.<br /><br />While I was doing the test, the Raja seemed to offer the softest light. Reviewing these photos, though, it looks like the Light Dome I came out on top.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="best"></a><br /><h2>Which Softbox Is The Best?</h2><br />In the brightness and softness tests, the Aputure Light Dome I excelled. However, the setup is a beast and a half. Further, it's more expensive than the other two, at about $150 USD. <br /><br />The Light Dome II combines the poles and speedring for quicker setup, so it may be a more appealing option. But at the time of this article's writing, its availability is limited, especially in California. It also costs more, from what I understand, though none of the retailers we regularly use carry it yet. <br /><br />Meanwhile, the Light Dome Mini I gives light that's almost as soft as its big brother, and is cheaper, at $100USD. The main draws, though, are the much more portable size and easier setup. It would be much more practical to try and bring this on a shoot. Still, do remember that this knocks out a lot of your light's intensity—you'll need to adjust accordingly.<br /><br />Finally, the Raja casts light that is comparable to the Light Dome I at a lower price with super-simple setup. The version we bought was about $120 USD, but the setup time taking mere seconds was the biggest draw.<br /><br />The version we got, the Phottix Raja Deep 80 (referring to its 80cm/31.5in overall length) is quite big. However, it comes in a lot of different sizes and shapes. It comes in both a normal (shallower) profile and the Deep, like what we bought. <br /><br />Again, it lets out slightly less light than the Aputure Light Dome I, so you'll need to take that into account.<br /><br />To summarize:<br /><br /><b>Price:</b><br />#1: Aputure Light Dome Mini I: $100<br />#2: Phottix Raja Deep 80: $120<br />#3: Aputure Light Dome I: $150<br /><br /><b>Ease of Setup</b><br />#1: Phottix Raja Deep 80<br />#2: Aputure Light Dome Mini I<br />#3: Aputure Light Dome I<br /><br /><b>Brightness</b><br />#1: Aputure Light Dome I<br />#2: Phottix Raja Deep 80<br />#3: Aputure Light Dome Mini I<br /><br /><b>Softness</b><br />#1: Aputure Light Dome I<br />#2: Phottix Raja Deep 80<br />#3: Aputure Light Dome Mini I<br /><br />Of course, these are just the softboxes that we decided to get—they aren't direct equivalents. Still, we hope that this information helped you, whether you decided to get a certain softbox, another modifier, or none at all!<br /><br />If there's another test you'd like to see us do with these, or if you have other thoughts on lighting, let us know in the comments below!Harold Muliadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17980411699999991379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-82442017761386634512018-11-04T09:00:00.001-08:002021-03-18T23:20:40.646-07:00Relate Roundup October 2018<p>For several months now at <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net">Relate Corporation</a> / <a href="https://www.relatecasts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RelateCasts</a>, we have been collecting all our blog articles and video podcast shows from each month into an e-mail newsletter.</p><br/><p>However, starting now, we will instead post a monthly "Relate Roundup" blog post to showcase our latest media content. </p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">Why the Switch?</h2><br/><p>We're switching to monthly blog posts because we want to have our monthly summaries available in a more readily-searchable form. We also would like to have more control over the format/layout than is possible with a newsletter.</p><br/><p>If you're on our e-mail list and still prefer to be notified of new content via e-mail, don't worry! We'll still be sending out a link to the monthly Relate Roundup to our e-mail list (<a href="https://relate.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=b4a8a9f659fcc720f6b828030&id=dc8f480403" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a> to sign up.)</p><br/><p>So, without further ado, let's dig into the Relate Roundup October 2018! Read on to see our October summary and browse through this month's content. Or you can use the links below to jump ahead to your favorite RelateCasts series, guest, or topic:</p><br/><ul><br/> <li><a href="#summary">October Summary</a></li><br/> <li><a href="#elc">eLearnChat</a><br/><ul><br/> <li><a href="#margie">Margie Meacham</a></li><br/> <li><a href="#pooja">Dr. Pooja Jaisingh</a></li><br/> <li><a href="#stella">Dr. Stella Lee</a></li><br/> <li><a href="#joe">Joe Ganci</a></li><br/> <li><a href="#ajay">Ajay Pangarkar</a></li><br/></ul><br/></li><br/> <li><a href="#tdo">Tech Down Over</a><br/><ul><br/> <li><a href="#emily">Emily Lowrey</a></li><br/> <li><a href="#tom">Tom Antos</a></li><br/> <li><a href="#pete">Pete Fox</a></li><br/> <li><a href="#sam">Sam Seavey</a></li><br/> <li><a href="#dual">Are Dual Card Slots Necessary?</a></li><br/> <li><a href="#xf405">Canon XF405 Vs. Panasonic GH5</a></li><br/> <li><a href="#lens">Sigma 1.4 50mm & Leica Nocticron 1.2 42.5mm</a></li><br/> <li><a href="#canon1st">Canon EOS First Impressions</a></li><br/> <li><a href="#adrant">YouTube Ad Rant</a></li><br/> <li><a href="#eosrg9">Canon EOS-R Vs. Panasonic G9</a></li><br/></ul><br/></li><br/> <li><a href="#le">Life Edge - Gina Schreck</a></li><br/> <li><a href="#end">Conclusion/Contact Us</a></li><br/></ul><br/><p><a name="summary"></a></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">October Summary: Captivate 2019 + Tech Reviews Galore</h2><br/><p><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Joe-Ganci-and-Rick-Zanotti.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3512" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Joe-Ganci-and-Rick-Zanotti.jpg" alt="Joe Ganci and Rick Zanotti" width="400" height="400" /></a>We conducted interviews with 10 amazing guests on our video podcasts this month. </p><br/><p>One of these was Joe Ganci (<a href="https://elearningjoe.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eLearning Joe</a>), who visited us in Camarillo for a special in-studio episode of eLearnChat! </p><br/><p>A hot eLearnChat topic in October was <a href="https://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/features.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adobe Captivate 2019</a>, with both Joe Ganci and Dr. Pooja Jaisingh discussing/demoing the authoring tool's newest features on the show.</p><br/><p>On our "Tech Down Over" series, in addition to our usual interview episodes, we put out a ton of bonus content. This included reviews, comparison videos, and opinion pieces on camera gear. In particular, we focused on the Panasonic GH5 and our brand-new Canon EOS-R.</p><br/><p>Due to scheduling conflicts, we only had one Life Edge interview this month. But boy, was it a blast! We finally had our Life Edge co-host <a href="https://www.elearningqueen.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Susan Nash</a> (virtually) meet our good friend Gina Schreck of <a href="https://socialknx.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Social KNX</a>, and we all had a lively discussion about staying ahead on social media.</p><br/><p><a name="elc"></a></p><br/><h3 style="padding-top: 0;">eLearnChat Videos from October</h3><br/><p>Who did we interview in October for <a href="https://www.relatecasts.com/elearnchat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eLearnChat</a>, our popular eLearning interview series? Click on the thumbnail images to watch the videos:</p><br/><p><a name="margie"></a></p><br/><h4 style="padding-top: 0;">Margie Meacham (Learningtogo)</h4><br/><p>Margie Meacham of <a href="https://learningtogo.info/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Learningtogo</a> spoke with us about how discoveries in neuroscience inform the development of chatbots & other applications of AI that are quickly gaining popularity in L&D.</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/M74j7nlETgM</p><br/><p><a name="pooja"></a></p><br/><h4 style="padding-top: 0;">Dr. Pooja Jaisingh (Adobe)</h4><br/><p><a href="https://poojajaisingh.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Pooja Jaisingh</a> walks us through a demo of the two major updates in Adobe Captivate 2019: a brand new virtual reality suite & improved interactive video tools. Is Adobe's new focus on ease & efficiency of use paying off?</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/ZYsA5B5PnPs</p><br/><p><a name="stella"></a></p><br/><h4 style="padding-top: 0;">Dr. Stella Lee (Paradox Learning, Inc.)</h4><br/><p>Dr. Stella Lee of <a href="https://www.paradoxlearning.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paradox Learning</a> joins special co-host <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-goldstein-0971a73b/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lisa Goldstein</a> to discuss the ethical concerns of artificial intelligence use in L&D. Dr. Lee also shares tips on getting started and thriving in eLearning consulting.</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/jFCWQ9nVvlY</p><br/><p><a name="joe"></a></p><br/><h4 style="padding-top: 0;">Joe Ganci (eLearning Joe)</h4><br/><p>See our in-studio interview with Joe Ganci, President of <a href="https://elearningjoe.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eLearning Joe</a>! Rick & Joe reflect on how instructional design & eLearning as a whole have evolved over time. Also, hear Joe's predictions for the future of the eLearning industry.</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/A-he9BQvxaQ</p><br/><p><a name="ajay"></a></p><br/><h4 style="padding-top: 0;">Ajay Pangarkar (CentralKnowledge)</h4><br/><p>Ajay Pangarkar, CEO of <a href="https://www.centralknowledge.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CentralKnowledge</a>, joins us for an intriguing discussion with Lesley Price of <a href="https://learnappeal.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Learn Appeal</a> about the importance of understanding business and finance as a Learning and Development professional.</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/pBdl2BqOXko</p><br/><p><a name="tdo"></a></p><br/><h3 style="padding-top: 0;">Tech Down Over Videos from October</h3><br/><p>In October, we interviewed 4 guests, did 4 reviews, and made our voices heard with 2 opinion pieces. Click the images to watch the videos.</p><br/><p><a name="emily"></a></p><br/><h4 style="padding-top: 0;">Emily Lowrey (Micro Four Nerds)</h4><br/><p>We talk with Emily Lowrey of <a href="https://www.microfournerds.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Micro Four Nerds</a> about our favorite micro four thirds cameras, including the Panasonic G9 & GH5. We also swap opinions with Emily on the newly-announced full-frame mirrorless cameras & the rigors of wedding photography.</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/mPugbbAygQc</p><br/><p><a name="tom"></a></p><br/><h4 style="padding-top: 0;">Tom Antos (Tom Antos Films)</h4><br/><p>Director & cinematographer <a href="https://tomantosfilms.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Antos</a> joins us for his 2nd TDO interview! He explains why it's best to balance your film budget over various aspects of production rather than spending it all on the latest gear & shares what he loves best about working in film.</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/Ulc9tcCBIfU</p><br/><p><a name="pete"></a></p><br/><h4 style="padding-top: 0;">Pete Fox (Westcott)</h4><br/><p>Pete Fox, <a href="https://www.fjwestcott.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Westcott</a> Technical Representative & Product Specialist, tells us all about Westcott's innovative new products, such as the company's new Cine Flex LED mats and Rapid Box line of softboxes. We also discuss the how-to's of lighting for photography and video.</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/6DMk9uAnRiA</p><br/><p><a name="sam"></a></p><br/><h4 style="padding-top: 0;">Sam Seavey (The Blind Life)</h4><br/><p>We speak with Sam Seavey of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNbzN3eHbLKPzltSB560DkA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Blind Life</a> about assistive technology and new emerging tech for the visually impaired. Rick & Sam also share their personal experiences of living with partial blindness.</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/-B43XkaeOs8</p><br/><p><a name="dual"></a></p><br/><h4 style="padding-top: 0;">Are Dual Card Slots Necessary?</h4><br/><p>A lack of dual card slots for video cameras has become a common gripe among consumers. But we think, depending on your setup, you may not even need this feature.</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/1sLiKOZk-uQ</p><br/><p><a name="xf405"></a></p><br/><h4 style="padding-top: 0;">Canon XF405 Vs. Panasonic GH5</h4><br/><p>We compare the Canon XF405 and the Panasonic GH5! Hear our take and see for yourself the differences in focus and recording features, dynamic range, white balance, and more. We also discuss how to properly handle shooting a wide range of skin tones in the same frame.</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/l4H9awolcMg</p><br/><p><a name="lens"></a></p><br/><h4 style="padding-top: 0;">Sigma 1.4 50mm & Leica Nocticron 1.2 42.5mm</h4><br/><p>We compare two lenses on our Panasonic GH5 - the Sigma f/1.4 50mm (using a Metabones adapter) and the LUMIX Leica f/1.2 42.5mm. Observe the results and see what you think - which one works better?</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/DX7xcZueosM</p><br/><p><a name="canon1st"></a></p><br/><h4 style="padding-top: 0;">Canon EOS First Impressions</h4><br/><p>Rick & Harold do a brief demo of the Canon EOS R, the brand's new full frame mirrorless camera, and give their initial thoughts. Find out what impressed us, which features we found lacking, and try out our handy tips for efficiently using the menus!</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/tUJdAI_9M4M</p><br/><p><a name="adrant"></a></p><br/><h4 style="padding-top: 0;">YouTube Ad Rant</h4><br/><p>We're not fans of video ads that pop up right in the middle of a video. We argue that it's a bad practice - for viewers, for content creators, and even for advertisers. What's your take?</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/-xo3xgE01XU</p><br/><p><a name="eosrg9"></a></p><br/><h4 style="padding-top: 0;">Canon EOS-R Vs. Panasonic G9</h4><br/><p>We compare the Canon EOS R full-frame mirrorless to the Panasonic G9 micro four thirds mirrorless camera by shooting a series of photos and videos under identical conditions. You might be surprised at how close in quality the results are!</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/g2G3KQ7PtsU</p><br/><p><a name="le"></a></p><br/><h3 style="padding-top: 0;">Life Edge for October: Gina Schreck (SocialKNX)</h3><br/><p>Gina Schreck, founder and CEO of <a href="https://socialknx.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SocialKNX</a>, a top digital marketing firm, gives her time-tested tips for rising above the crowd on social media while staying true to your company's message.</p><br/><p>https://youtu.be/VkrSLozZ-T8</p><br/><p><a name="end"></a></p><br/><h3 style="padding-top: 0;">Relate Roundup October 2018: Thoughts?</h3><br/><p>That's it for our content roundup for this month! Did you enjoy the shows? Is there anything in particular that you'd like to see in a future video?</p><br/><p>Let us know your thoughts in the comments - we'd love to see you join the conversation.</p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">Need Help? Contact Us!</h2><br/><p>Relate Corporation is a well-established digital learning/training & media production company based in Camarillo, CA. RelateCasts is our broadcasting division. </p><br/><p>If you need help with media production for <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/services/elearning/">eLearning</a> or need any other kind of assistance with your Training & Development projects, fill out our <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/contact/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contact form</a>, shoot us an e-mail at <a href="mailto:connect@relate.com">connect@relate.com</a>, or call us at 800-428-3708 to learn more about our <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/services/">services</a>.</p>Sarah Muliadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14069742388288098047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-54008497060336934442018-09-10T05:00:00.001-07:002021-03-18T23:19:59.986-07:00SharePoint Modern Site Design MethodsMicrosoft plans to eventually phase out Classic pages for SharePoint. Therefore, familiarizing yourself with the Modern sites standard to SharePoint Online and Sharepoint Server 2019 onwards will be essential. Continue reading in order to familiarize yourself with methods to design SharePoint Modern sites.<br /><br />For many desktop users, the differences may seem minimal, however, the Modern design takes a responsive approach. Because of this, the interface scales and rearranges itself for mobile users, allowing for better phone readability and access.<br /><br />However, design tools are more restricted compared to with Classic sites, since responsive sites are more complex and, therefore, breakable.<br /><br />If you need help with setting up SharePoint for your organization, feel free to <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/contact/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">contact us</a>.<br /><br /><img alt="SharePoint Design Methods Article Banner" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3361" height="240" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/redesignmethods.jpg" width="400" /><br /><br />I'll cover two methods of redesigning your SharePoint sites. I'll also touch on CSS, and why I don't think site-wide CSS is worth using in SharePoint Modern's current state.<br /><br />The first is least intrusive; therefore, if you can't enable scripts or publishing for security reasons, this is your method.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="changethelook"></a><br /><br /><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">1. Change The Look</h2><br />In order to change the color scheme, fonts, and background image of a SharePoint site, you can use Change The Look. This will allow you to choose from default schemes, and then make some changes.<br /><br /><h3 style="padding-top: 0;">What You'll Need</h3><br />Your account will need the "Design" privilege level in order to use this tool, and that's it. Therefore, this is by far the least demanding of the three design options, in terms of permissions and site settings.<br /><br /><h3 style="padding-top: 0;">Where To Find It</h3><br /><img alt="Change The Look Option Microsoft SharePoint Modern" class="alignright size-full wp-image-3369" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/changethelook_option.jpg" width="300" />"Change The Look" is inside Site Settings, but if you're not sure where this is, look to the upper right: <img alt="SharePoint Settings Menu Icon" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3127" height="19" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/sharepoint_options.jpg" style="display: inline; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" width="19" /><br /><br />Click this "Settings" button, and then Site Contents. Afterwards, look for Site Settings near the right side of your screen.<br /><br />Now you should see lists of options, one of which will be Change The Look.<br /><br /><h3 style="padding-top: 0;">What You Can Do</h3><br />This means that you can select a theme from "Change The Look," for example, Green, but use another color scheme. You get 17 default themes and 32 color palettes.<br /><br /><div><img alt="SharePoint Green Look" class="alignright size-full wp-image-3305" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/changethelook_look.png" style="margin: 0;" width="300" /><br /><img alt="SharePoint Color Palettes" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3306" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/changethelook_colors.png" style="margin: 0;" width="300" /><br /><br /></div><br />In this same dialog, you can also add a background image. Note, however, that SharePoint will crop your image in sometimes unpredictable ways, therefore subtle images are preferable.<br /><br />I detail how to perform these actions in the video below.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RBImrj5HygU" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />Finally, here's how to change the site's logo, essential for company branding. This is not done through a menu in the SharePoint site proper; rather, you go into Outlook through "Conversations."<br /><br /><img alt="Changing A SharePoint Site Logo" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3309" height="200" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/changelogo.jpg" width="400" /><br /><br />In "Conversations," you'll see a circle (probably with two letters) towards the upper left, above "+New." Click this, and then a dialog will appear on the right allowing you to change the image.<br /><br />You'll need to be rather patient since, on SharePoint Online, it takes between 30 minutes and a day to change.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="custom"></a><br /><br /><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">2. Custom Color Palette Tool/Composed Looks</h2><br />This next method uses the Composed Looks feature. This allows you to add new Looks, therefore, custom palettes and, to an extent, Master Pages. However, custom Master Pages are not fully supported in SharePoint Modern, so in this case they should be avoided.<br /><br /><h3 style="padding-top: 0;">What You'll Need</h3><br /><img alt="SharePoint Web Designer Galleries Settings Scripts Enabled" class="alignright size-full wp-image-3360" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/webdesigner-settings.jpg" width="300" />You'll need at least Design privileges, but a Site Collection Admin or Global Admin will need to enable custom scripts. This is a relatively simple operation using PowerShell; <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/allow-or-prevent-custom-script?redirectSourcePath=%252fen-us%252farticle%252fTurn-scripting-capabilities-on-or-off-1f2c515f-5d7e-448a-9fd7-835da935584f#to-allow-custom-script-on-other-sharepoint-site-collections" rel="noopener" target="_blank">here</a> are Microsoft's directions for it.<br /><br />Your site administrator can also enable this through the site settings in the browser, but it takes at least 24 hours to take effect.<br /><br />Afterwards, you should see a few new options in your Site Settings. Master Pages, Themes, and Composed Looks, for example, will appear.<br /><br /><h3 style="padding-top: 0;">Creating Your Composed Look</h3><br />Go into Composed Looks, and then you'll see the list of default looks you could use in the first method. In order to make our own, the first thing we'll need is our own SharePoint color palette file.<br /><br />You can get SharePoint Color Palette Tool 2013 <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=38182" rel="noopener" target="_blank">on Microsoft's site</a>.<br /><br />In the video below, I'll describe how to use this tool in order to create custom palettes. Then, we'll go over how to get them into a Composed Look.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eSBnXrqhj5Y" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />While you're following the instructions, take note that you'll need to type in URLs very carefully. With Composed Looks, you won't get error messages when there's a typo or syntax error; rather, they just won't appear.<br /><br />Further, you can't edit to correct Composed Looks; you have to start over again. Hence, extra care in copying URLs and checking file directories will spare you a lot of frustration.<br /><br />If you're on a Team Site, your starting directory will be <b>https://</b><span style="color: #f4ee95; text-decoration: underline;">yourcompany</span><b>.sharepoint.com/sites/</b><span style="color: #f4ee95; text-decoration: underline;">pagename</span><b>/_catalogs/</b>.<br /><br />Meanwhile, for your main site, it will be<br /><b>https://</b><span style="color: #f4ee95; text-decoration: underline;">yourcompany</span><b>.sharepoint.com/_catalogs/</b>.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="css"></a><br /><br /><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">3. Custom CSS & Why I Don't Recommend It</h2><br />In its current state, Modern SharePoint doesn't fully support sitewide CSS. Indeed, any web designer knows that this is rather unfortunate.<br /><br />While you can change fonts using Composed Looks, you can't change font sizes, enlarge elements where needed, and so on. It's not impossible to implement sitewide CSS, however in most cases I would not use the currently-accepted method.<br /><br />At this time, as of September 2018, SPFx is the main way of implementing custom CSS in SharePoint Modern. SPFx, or SharePoint Framework, allows you to create apps that extend SharePoint's functionality.<br /><br />In order to do this, however, you'll need access to your site's app catalog. Unless you're the site owner and administrator, or you're working with a small organization, this will be a tough one.<br /><br />Therefore, I say that a graphic designer is well-advised to steer clear of this one (and the wrath of IT). But if you're still willing to forge ahead, here's further reading:<br /><br />SharePoint specialist Hugo Bernier's article for best practices on creating a SharePoint CSS injector: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" target="_blank">https://tahoeninjas.blog/2018/05/08/inject-custom-css-on-sharepoint-modern-pages-using-spfx-extensions/</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="conclusion"></a><br /><br /><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">Conclusion</h2><br />SharePoint is a changing tool; certainly, Microsoft will modify or improve design functionalities in the future. Although SharePoint Classic will go away eventually, I doubt it will happen overnight, as that will affect too many organizations.<br /><br />Because of this, I see Classic and Modern existing side-by-side for a long while. However, I hope this article helped to get you started on how to get your Modern sites looking like they should.<br /><br />If I've left anything out, or if you have a question or correction, please let us know in the comments below!Harold Muliadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17980411699999991379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-23212221075441003332018-09-05T04:50:00.001-07:002021-03-18T23:18:12.639-07:00Can Neuropsychology Help You Create Effective Training?Some of the most exciting research on cognitive learning is coming from the study of Neuropsychology. For example, I've been watching a video from <a href="https://wmpeople.wm.edu/site/page/pmvish/petermvishton" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Peter M. Vishton</a>, PhD in Clinical Psychology and Learning.<br />
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Some points of interest, especially for those in Learning & Development:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1. Our Brains Work Best Early: Tackle The Hard Stuff First!</span></h2>
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Morning-Sunburst-Rooster-Weather-Vane-.jpg"><img alt="Morning Sunburst Rooster Weather Vane" class="alignright size-full wp-image-3319" height="266" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Morning-Sunburst-Rooster-Weather-Vane-.jpg" width="400" /></a>Our brains are most active in the morning, when we have the most energy in our oxygen and glucose levels. We're more awake and ready to take on the challenges of the day... As Dr. Vishton says, <b>we should take on the hardest tasks right from the get-go</b>. If we wait too long, our energy reserves drop and those tasks now become much more draining on our oxygen- and glucose-starved brain later in the day...<br />
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<h3 style="color: white; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold; padding-top: 0;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Are Courses in Education / Training Designed Backwards?</span></h3>
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This brings up the idea of curriculum development in most corporations, agencies and military classrooms. Are we training the most difficult subjects first or way later in the day or week, when the brain is near coma levels?<br />
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When I used to train <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/about/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">relational database</a> tuning and design, the course materials I had were really easy up-front. Then, as the day, or days in some classes, wore on, the material became increasingly more complex. I used to wonder why the class was so sleepy in the afternoon. Why was it so hard to bring them back to the classroom with an alert brain?<br />
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Now it makes sense to me. The curriculum was designed to do easy first and hard at the very end, when no one had any mental <i>oomph</i> left to give (not to mention how the poor instructor was tired too)...<br />
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In many corporations, curriculums are developed in the same manner: easy first, hard at the end. Talk about trials and tribulations! This is hard for the teachers and let's not even talk about the poor students who are on total overload in many long, multi-week curriculums.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Optimal Training Design with the Brain in Mind</span></h3>
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It would make so much more sense to break classroom sessions into 30-60 minute pieces. Then go one-on-one, into labs, more breaks, etc. before returning to the classroom. In fact, the longer the day, the more breaks should be given. I can verify from classes I've taught that <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/article/research-tested-benefits-breaks" rel="noopener" target="_blank">more breaks</a> later in the day are not only welcome but necessary...<br />
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Have you looked at your curriculum lately? Ask yourself these questions:<br />
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a. Is the curriculum too long?<br />
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b. How can you shorten the curriculum to make it more effective?<br />
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c. Can the courses/lessons be chunked into more bite-sized pieces for easier digestion by the brain?<br />
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d. Are there enough breaks given throughout the day to ensure brain activity at the end of that same day (remember, they have to drive home usually, alert!)<br />
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e. How much hands-on can be done between shorter lecture sessions?<br />
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f. Can the curriculum goals be achieved in a much shorter time-frame with more diverse classes (<i>i.e.</i> diverse activities, things to do)<br />
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There are many more questions you can ask but this is a good start. You can use the graphical guide below to keep these prompts handy as you design/refine your curriculums:<br />
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<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Keep-Learners-Attention-Effective-Training-Infographic.jpg"><img alt="Keep Learners Attention Effective Training Infographic" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3343" height="640" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Keep-Learners-Attention-Effective-Training-Infographic.jpg" width="425" /></a><br />
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For more discussion on how to develop more attention-grabbing courses, you can also read my article on design mistakes that <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/2018/05/21/5-things-that-make-elearning-boring/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">make eLearning boring.</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. Neuropsychology Findings on Memory & Gaming</span></h2>
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Dr. Vishton also commented on memory and gaming... Whoa, wait!!! Nothing could be wrong with gaming now, could there be?<br />
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It turns out that gaming, especially when playing more repetitive, arcade-like games, definitely affects short-term memory in <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/08/07/playing-shooter-video-games-damages-brain-study-suggests/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">adverse</a> (and sometimes positive) ways.<br />
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<h3 style="color: white; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold; padding-top: 0;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Can Gaming Worsen Memory by Dulling Emotion?</span></h3>
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As I've discussed before, <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/2018/05/07/power-of-emotion-in-learning/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">emotions</a> play a leading role in learning. And playing games can reduce the emotional intensity of your life experiences, for better or for worse.<br />
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For example, if you go on a first date and feel incredibly happy after a first kiss, going home and playing Tetris, or some other similar game, could erase most of the impact of that first kiss or date.<br />
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It deadens the emotions, and the more engaged with the game you are, the more you will forget or deaden that emotion. You could even forget large parts of your recent experiences or the emotional impact those moments had...<br />
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<a href="https://www.relate.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Erasing-Thoughts-Memories-on-Blackboard.jpg"><img alt="Erasing Thoughts Memories on Blackboard" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3336" height="266" src="https://www.relate.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Erasing-Thoughts-Memories-on-Blackboard.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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On the other hand, you're driving home and see a car crash with a person on the ground covered in blood, dying... Uggh, not a good memory at all! And yet, if you go home and play Tetris to forget the emotional trauma of what you just saw, the impact of the crash scene will diminish incredibly.<br />
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The end conclusion is that gaming screws our minds over when it comes to memory, good or bad. From studies I've done years ago what happens is that brain grooves and goes into loops. Less connections are made and the person in that groove is less capable with language and cognitive skills. Games can literally addict gamers' brains and make them highly unproductive. Not all people will react that way, but many will...<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Does Gaming Really Impact Classroom Learning?</span></h3>
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If your students are in a full day class then go home and play hours of a game, much of what was learned in the class could be diminished. If you don't believe that, just look at the randomicity of answers provided by students everywhere nowadays... It's kinda scary and corporations spend a lot of money training people who routinely un-train themselves...<br />
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Remember, gaming appeals to pleasure centers in the brain and less to areas like the frontal lobes where the executive functions lie...Pleasure and impulsivity tend to go hand in hand...<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Conclusions: Analyze Your Training with Neuropsychology</span></h2>
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I've already covered some conclusions about the two examples given. There are so many other ways to look at training if we look at it from a neuropsychological standpoint. This area of Psychology can be more easily quantified scientifically, unlike the more complex psycho-emotional sub-disciplines.<br />
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The best thing to do is to analyze the training as it stands in your organization. Break it into more pieces, smaller ones at that, and put them back together into a different order. Maximizing some of the principles we talked about could make a huge difference in how we learn and how we produce.<br />
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Please leave some of your ideas and comments below and let's start a conversation. Thanks!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Having Trouble with Course Design?</span></h2>
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Also, if you need more advice on course design or any other assistance on your Training & Development projects, we're here to help. Give us a call at 1-800-428-3708, send us an e-mail at <a href="mailto:connect@relate.com">connect@relate.com</a>, or fill out our <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/contact/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">contact form</a> to learn more about what we can do for you.<br />
<br />Rick Zanottihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17628633134497089507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-40941576671924914752018-08-17T05:41:00.001-07:002021-03-18T23:17:34.049-07:00"Mics for eLearning" Microphone Reviews<p>Hi Everyone!</p><br/><p>I get a lot of e-mails from people wanting to know about this microphone or that one. There are a wide selection of choices out there and when you're looking to buy a new mic for <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/services/elearning/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eLearning</a> voice-over, it can be tough to discern which one would serve your needs best. </p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">Lack of Microphone Reviews for Voice Over</h2><br/><p>There are tons of mic reviews available on YouTube. But the vast majority of them are targeted to singers and musicians. Reviews specifically for voice-over applications are few and far between in comparison. </p><br/><p>Also, unfortunately, many YouTube mic reviews are performed by people who seem to know little or nothing about <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/services/audio-production/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">audio production</a>, causing even some of the best mics out there to sound awful, due to poor vocal technique or a bad setup.</p><br/><p>Now I can understand why so many people are having trouble finding an appropriate mic for voice-over — with the over-saturation of reviews and conflicting opinions out there, the process can be downright confusing!</p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">Naturally, We Started Our Own Series!</h2><br/><p>So, several months ago, we came up with a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhAcNBlNuwkL4YUHXmlBIk1ywx2R8McVv" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new series</a> for our eLearnChat show highlighting a variety of mics that are great for eLearning.</p><br/><p>In each "Mics for eLearning" review, we:</p><br/><ul><br/> <li>Demonstrate mics with the same voice & under the same studio conditions</li><br/> <li>Go through our list of pros, cons, & suitable applications for the mic</li><br/> <li>Discuss pricing & link to the specific model tested</li><br/></ul><br/><p>The playlist on YouTube can be found here:</p><br/><div class="vodbox"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhAcNBlNuwkL4YUHXmlBIk1ywx2R8McVv">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhAcNBlNuwkL4YUHXmlBIk1ywx2R8McVv</a></div><br/><p>The videos play in sequence starting with the first review in the playlist. If you'd like to skip forward to a particular mic review, click the drop-down menu in the top left of the embedded player.</p><br/><p>As we get new mics, we'll add those to the list in order to keep you up-to-date on the growing selection of good professional mics.</p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">Don't Skimp on Audio Equipment!</h2><br/><p>NOTE: Though I realize that everyone wants to save money, we are not focusing on the cheap mics which frankly don't sound all that good. Audio quality is important and we want you to have great audio to make your courses engaging and retentive.</p><br/><p>Honestly, if you think about it, it's a worthwhile investment. You just can't get the clean, professional sound crucial to eLearning voice-over from a mic that costs less than $100 USD or so. </p><br/><p>After all, it's much better to save up to purchase a decent mic that you can actually use with pride than to risk getting stuck with a junker. Why settle for a cheap mic that could harm your reputation with your clients/audience?</p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">What Microphone Brands Are Best?</h2><br/><p>There are a number of reputable brands that are known for one or several great mics. Here are some mic/audio brands we've reviewed or plan to review:</p><br/><ul><br/> <li><a href="https://en.rode.com/microphones/all" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RØDE</a></li><br/> <li><a href="https://www.bluedesigns.com/#microphones" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blue Microphone</a></li><br/> <li><a href="https://www.shure.com/americas/products/microphones" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shure</a></li><br/> <li><a href="https://www.audio-technica.com/cgi-bin/product_search/wired_mics/mics_by_application.pl?lang=eng" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Audio Technica</a></li><br/> <li><a href="https://en-us.sennheiser.com/microphones" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sennheiser</a></li><br/> <li><a href="https://www.neumann.com/homestudio/en/microphones" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Neumann</a></li><br/> <li><a href="https://www.studioprojectsusa.com/products.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Studio Projects</a></li><br/> <li><a href="https://www.electrovoice.com/product-type.php?id%5B%5D=217&id%5B%5D=213&id%5B%5D=214&id%5B%5D=215&id%5B%5D=216&title=Microphones&geolocation=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Electro-Voice</a></li><br/> <li><a href="https://www.akg.com/Microphones" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AKG</a></li><br/> <li><a href="https://www.dpamicrophones.com/microphones" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DPA</a></li><br/> <li><a href="https://www.countryman.com/microphones/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Countryman</a></li><br/></ul><br/><p>In the end, the "best" mic for you simply depends on what you plan to use the mic for and how you'd like your voice to sound.</p><br/><p>For example, consider someone looking to do a lot of small live seminars. The speaker will need to walk around freely. Also, in a confined space, there's no need for over-the-top amplification. So, an over-the-ear mic with a personal, intimate sound, like the <a href="https://youtu.be/rOOIykvv4dw">Countryman E6</a>, would be perfect.</p><br/><p>On the other hand, a podcaster recording in a studio with a preference for a grittier, more commanding AM radio-like sound might enjoy using the <a href="https://youtu.be/_2E_h8Ckfdc">Electro-Voice RE27N/D </a></p><br/><p>Thus, you'll have to think carefully about your needs and let that guide you to your final decision as you watch our reviews. </p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">Need Help with Audio Production?</h2><br/><p>We're doing our best to include a variety of price ranges and applications in addition to voice-over for eLearning in our microphone reviews. We hope you find the series helpful.</p><br/><p>If you have any questions please ask them in the videos or place a comment in the comments area below. </p><br/><p>And if you're having trouble with audio production for eLearning or need any other kind of assistance with your Training & Development projects, don't be shy to call us at 1-800-428-3708, send us an e-mail at <a href="mailto:connect@relate.com">connect@relate.com,</a> or fill out our <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/contact/">contact form</a>. Thanks!</p>Rick Zanottihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17628633134497089507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-59473392506052952892018-08-08T05:00:00.005-07:002021-03-18T23:17:08.982-07:00Easy Paginated Course Content in iSpring 9 Visuals<img alt="iSpring Interactions Icon" class="alignright size-full" height="300" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" src="https://www.relate.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ispring-interactions.png" width="300" />Too much text overwhelms your learners, so today we'll see how iSpring 9 Visuals lets you organize and paginate content.<br />
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Certainly, a lot of new ways to do that are available in iSpring Suite 9, using the Visuals editor.<br />
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In essence, the Interactions you create in iSpring Visuals can be organized like mini websites. This allows you to include a lot of content that is not only familiar in format, but varied and interesting.<br />
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If you're interested in iSpring 9 and its features, we've also done articles on <a href="https://halfemptylearning.blogspot.com/2018/05/ispring-talkmaster-quick-look-easy_16.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">TalkMaster</a> and <a href="https://halfemptylearning.blogspot.com/2018/05/ispring-9-cam-pro-quick-look-fast-and_1.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Cam Pro.</a><br />
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You can either keep reading, or skip ahead to later sections with these links:<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#why">Why Use Paginated Content?</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#easy">How Easy Are Visuals Pages To Make?</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#text">Text Editing</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#appearance">How Does Paginated Content Appear In Courses?</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#conclusion">Concluding Thoughts</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="why"></a><br />
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<h2 style="padding-top: 0;">
Why Use Paginated Content?</h2>
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<img alt="iSpring Visuals Tabs Demo Gif" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3096" height="126" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2028/07/TABSGIF.gif" width="400" /><br />
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With iSpring's visuals options such as Tabs, Accordion, Catalogue, Media Catalog, you can fit a lot on a single slide. For eLearning courses, you'll often have a lot of content to fit on each slide, but little space for it.<br />
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Check out our <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/blogsamples/iSpring_Visuals_Demo/index.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">demo</a> of iSpring Visuals in order to see some of these features in action.<br />
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Therefore, we often struggle to fit everything without boring our learners with big, lifeless blocks of text. Generally, things like pop-ups, fading-in content, and animations help break the monotony.<br />
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iSpring Visuals doesn't necessarily replace those, but rather, it adds a lot of easy-to-use options. Thus, with minimal effort, you can create a nice-looking course with plenty of variety.<br />
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<img alt="iSpring Visuals New Interaction Screen" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3092" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2028/07/iSpring-Visuals-New-Interaction-Screen.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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And when I say a lot of options, I mean it. There are 13 iSpring Visuals options at this article's writing and, last I heard, even more are coming.<br />
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However, I'll only touch on some of the simpler ones here, including Tabs, Glossary, and Accordion. Rather than going over all of the types in detail, we'll go over some general features.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="easy"></a><br />
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<h2 style="padding-top: 0;">
How Easy Are Visuals Pages To Make?</h2>
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When you click on the Interaction button, the active slide creates an Interaction object, and the Visuals editor opens. This also creates a corresponding ".visuals" file which contains all of the data for that Interactions object.<br />
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You can, therefore, import Visuals slides into other PowerPoint files, if needed. In order to make several similar Visuals slides, you can copy the file and import a copy to another slide.<br />
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Once the Interaction object is on your slide, it will look like this, with a small preview of your Interaction.<br />
<img alt="iSpring Interaction Slide" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3098" height="232" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2028/07/iSpring-Interaction-Slide.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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The actual Visuals editor is easy to learn if you know PowerPoint, because the controls use a similar layout. On the left side, rather than slides, you have whatever subpage type applies to the specific Interaction you're using.<br />
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Each Interaction type has its own subpage type, but it's nonetheless intuitive; the button is always in the same place.<br />
<img alt="iSpring Visuals Different Subpage Types" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3099" height="200" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2028/07/iSpring-Visuals-Different-Subpage-Types.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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Once you've chosen your Interaction Type, it's quite simple to start adding tabs, panels, hotspots, and get started! So, let's take a look at how you build these subpages.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="text"></a><br />
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<h2 style="padding-top: 0;">
Text Editing</h2>
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<img alt="Screencap Text Editing Tabs" class="aligncenter fullsize" height="173" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Screencap-Text-Editing-Tabs.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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Above, you can see the text editing interface, which works similarly to something like Microsoft Word. Rather than text boxes which you can move around freely like in PowerPoint, the content automatically aligns and wraps.<br />
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<img alt="Screencap Text Wrapping Options In Visuals" class="alignright fullsize" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Screencap-Text-Wrapping-Options-In-Visuals.jpg" />Therefore, inserting images is also similar to Word, where you can align images with paragraphs, selecting how they wrap.<br />
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This may be somewhat restrictive, but it's for a good reason; making these pages is very fast and streamlined.<br />
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Standard text formatting options are available, such as paragraph alignments and justification, as well as customizable default text styles. Specifically, with the latter, you can set font, size, and use of bold or italic in four different styles.<br />
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These styles determine the subpage's title, that is, Item Title, two types of heading, and normal body text.<br />
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However, note that these are unique to each Visuals file, not each course or PowerPoint file. In order to re-use styles, you'll need to make a copy of the Visuals file to use as a template.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="appearance"></a><br />
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<h2 style="padding-top: 0;">
How Does Paginated Content Appear In Courses?</h2>
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When you're making an eLearning course, it already has pages and, most likely, plenty of them! Therefore, you may be wondering, "how does pagination within pagination work—won't it be confusing?"<br />
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Inside the published course, the main "Next" and "Previous" buttons operate both main slides and subpages of Interaction slides. Therefore, it can work quite seamlessly, eliminating the risk of readers clicking the wrong button.<br />
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However, you can change navigation options in the main iSpring PowerPoint plugin. In order to do this, you need to go to the "Player" options on the ribbon.<br />
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<img alt="Screencap Player Icon" class="alignright size-full" height="67" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Screencap-Player-Icon.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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Here, in case you need learners to easily access other course pages, you can enable Outline navigation. This allows movement from one slide to any other at any time, unless a restriction is present.<br />
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Of course, you'll need such a restriction for most courses, as you won't want users intentionally or accidentally skipping content. In order to do this, you can change navigation options in the aforementioned Player window.<br />
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<img alt="Screencap Playback Navigation Options" class="alignright size-full" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Screencap-Playback-Navigation-Options.jpg" />By default, iSpring will add an Outline sidebar to your course, which then allows users to go to any page. However, you have the option to prevent them from accessing pages in the Outline which they haven't visited.<br />
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You can see an example of the Outline feature in the <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/blogsamples/iSpring_Visuals_Demo/index.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">demo included in this article</a>.<br />
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Access these with the "Playback and Navigation" button, where you can then change the navigation type. This will affect both the Outline feature and the main Next and Back buttons.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="conclusion"></a><br />
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<h2 style="padding-top: 0;">
Concluding Thoughts</h2>
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Firstly, for more info on this handy tool and details about its features, check out the <a href="https://youtu.be/_z3hAiyFIYU" rel="noopener" target="_blank">in-depth webinar</a> by iSpring themselves!<br />
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iSpring Visuals is, similarly to many of the Suite's features, an effort to make interesting and varied content accessible. eLearning pieces are oftentimes a dull affair, as we all know, but not without reason.<br />
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Making a course stimulating and interesting to look at takes time, resources, and people, more than many training departments have. Therefore, generously-featured authoring tools like iSpring which emphasize ease and efficiency of use are a potential godsend.<br />
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All in all, iSpring Suite is a ambitious and rapidly-growing authoring tool. We at RELATE are quite interested to see where it will go next.<br />
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In order to read about other features of the Suite, visit our <a href="https://www.blogger.com/category/authoring/ispring/">iSpring articles category</a>. Otherwise, check out the <a href="https://www.ispringsolutions.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">official site</a>.Harold Muliadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17980411699999991379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-91101077543656996082018-08-08T05:00:00.004-07:002021-03-18T23:15:42.895-07:00iSpring Audio Editor: Quick Audio Editing Inside iSpring 9<img alt="iSpring Audio Editor Icon" class="alignright size-full wp-image-3107" height="300" src="https://www.relate.com/wp-content/uploads/2028/07/ispring-audioeditor-icon-300.png" width="300" />iSpring Audio Editor came out with Suite version 8, therefore, you may already be familiar with it.<br />
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However, we mentioned it in <a href="https://halfemptylearning.blogspot.com/search?q=ispring" rel="noopener" target="_blank">other iSpring 9 articles</a>, so we'll cover how it works inside the Suite and beyond!<br />
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Firstly, we'll go over what it's useful for, then where it shows up inside the Suite.<br />
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If you'd like to skip forward, use these links:<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#whatfor">What Is The Audio Editor For?</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#features">What Features Does The Audio Editor Offer?</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#where">Where Is The iSpring Audio Editor?</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#standalone">How Do I Use The Audio Editor Outside PowerPoint?</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="whatfor"></a><br />
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<h2>
What Is The Audio Editor For?</h2>
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Because iSpring is an eLearning authoring tool, the Audio Editor specializes in voice-over narration.<br />
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Certainly, courses often have a lot of narration in small clips. Therefore, having the ability close at hand to adjust volume, clip out sections, and insert silences is very convenient.<br />
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Convenience is the key, since this editor does not intend to replace things like Audition, Sound Forge, GoldWave, et cetera. Rather, like many of iSpring's editing tools, it provides a quick and effective solution for small tasks.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="features"></a><br />
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<h2>
What Features Does The Audio Editor Offer?</h2>
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This audio editor has a set of tools with a specific purpose in mind, so it's basic but convenient. Therefore, you can quickly tweak and edit VO clips recorded in iSpring with its features.<br />
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The two workhorses will likely be Adjust Volume and Remove Noise, thus they are prominent on the ribbon. Adjust Volume, rather than working on decibel levels, uses percent increases and decreases in loudness.<br />
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<img alt="iSpring Audio Editor Controls" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3122" height="100" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2028/07/ispring-audio-controls.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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It also shows a visual representation of what it's doing to the waveform in real time, which is nice. Of course, if you need clips within specific decibel ranges, you might use another audio editor, but this works well.<br />
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Remove Noise is just as easy, since you only need to select a region without speech and click Remove Noise. Then, it asks you to confirm, and removes noise based on that profile.<br />
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While experienced users with specialized audio software could remove more, I find it does a fantastic job with no effort.<br />
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Other tools are related to cutting and adding silences, such as Silence and Trim.<br />
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When you select an area and click Silence, it preserves the selection's length but removes all sound. Trim, on the other hand, cuts out everything but the selection.<br />
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Finally, Fade In and Fade Out are suited to making small clips out of imported music. Another situation where these would be useful could be voiceover with intentional ambient sound in the background.<br />
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For example, if a character is talking with factory equipment in the background, and you're leaving in those background sounds. Of course, cutting off at the end without any transition will sound bad, so Fade Out would help here.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="where"></a><br />
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<h2>
Where Is The iSpring Audio Editor?</h2>
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<img alt="iSpring Record Audio Button" class="alignright size-full wp-image-3113" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2028/07/iSpring-Record-Audio-Button.jpg" width="300" /><br />
The first way you might come across the editor is when recording slide narration audio. In order to do this, you need to click the "Record Audio" button, the first option in the iSpring tab.<br />
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This opens an interface to record audio and, afterwards, you can click Manage Narration to make changes.<br />
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If you're bringing in audio from an external file, however, you'd just go to Manage Narration first.<br />
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The next place you might encounter it is from within the iSpring Visuals editor. You won't see the Edit Audio interface unless it's relevant, therefore it won't show up unless you use Insert Audio.<br />
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You need to insert audio, but afterwards, to get to Edit Audio, find this icon:<img alt="iSpring Edit Audio Icon" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3127" height="32" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2028/07/editaudioicon.jpg" style="display: inline; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" width="32" /><br />
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Depending on how you're inserting audio, it shows up in the Sound Recorder interface or the Audio Tools tab.<br />
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Check out our video on using the Audio Editor when recording voiceover in Visuals:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZBiBJFL8t6E" width="480"></iframe><br />
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<img alt="iSpring Sound Recorder Interface" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3134" height="144" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2028/07/iSpring-Sound-Recorder-Interface-1.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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The button above appears when you record audio in iSpring Visuals; it opens up the audio editor.<br />
The Audio Tools tab only appears in iSpring Visuals once you've added audio and selected it in the subpage.<br />
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<img alt="iSpring Visuals Audio Tools Tab" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3135" height="146" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2028/07/iSpring-Visuals-Audio-Tools-Tab-1.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="standalone"></a><br />
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<h2>
How Do I Use The Audio Editor Outside PowerPoint?</h2>
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Finally, if you want to use the program outside of PowerPoint or the rest of iSpring, use the Start Menu. It will then come up under iSpring Audio-Video Editor 9.<br />
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The executable itself installs to \iSpring\Suite 9\bin32\AVEditor.exe in iSpring's installation path. Afterwards, it works much the same way it does from inside the Suite; simply open files and edit them.<br />
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<h2>
Should I Use This Audio Editor?</h2>
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To summarize, iSpring Audio Editor is a lightweight, convenient audio editor, perfect for small tasks. As I said above, I find it similar to the old Windows Sound Recorder, but geared to voiceover.<br />
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For simple jobs like increasing volume, reducing noise, clipping and adding fades, it's a good choice. The program lacks controls for compression rates, audio channels, codecs, and only saves in .wav or .mp3.<br />
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Therefore, you might want a beefier audio suite if you need finer control of filesize, mono or stereo channels. Editing is only single-track, as well.<br />
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Overall, if you have or plan to get iSpring Suite anyway, I'd recommend trying this program out.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about iSpring, check out our other <a href="https://www.blogger.com/category/authoring/ispring/">articles</a>. Also, you can visit the <a href="https://www.ispringsolutions.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">official site</a>.Harold Muliadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17980411699999991379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-8656086906083158882018-05-30T01:49:00.001-07:002021-03-18T23:14:19.576-07:00Systems Analysis: Why It's Much More Useful In Training Than Needs Analysis<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">You've probably studied, read about, or done a Needs Analysis. Many schools teach the concepts of Needs Analysis in order to help you understand how to justify the feasibility, results, and costs of performing some Training project. You often graduate with a degree in <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/category/instructional-design/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instructional Design</a> or Technology all ready to perform needs analysis repeatedly, often to find out you may never do one again in your entire career. What happened?</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Needs Analysis Is Rarely Needed</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In most companies, there is often no actual need for a Needs Analysis from a Learning and Development department. Projects usually come to L&D from Operational or other groups that <strong>already know what they need</strong> in order to achieve a certain result, be it performance or compliance.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, in my over three decades of L&D involvement, I've performed exactly <em>two</em> Needs Analyses. Not one, not three, two! That's it.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">"Two?" you ask incredulously. Yes, only two, and I barely even remember the second one...</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">On the other hand, in both my IT and L&D careers, I've used my skills as a <strong>Systems Analyst</strong> to perform many analyses of <strong>Systems</strong>!</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">"Systems?" you utter, "Isn't that the same kind of analysis?"</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">No, it isn't.</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">What Are Systems & Why Are They Important?</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Going back to <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/set-theory/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Set Theory</a> from our days in Math, a System can be:</span></p><br/><ul><br/> <li><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Very large</strong>. Examples of this can be a government, an organization, a food supply, a planet, or a universe.</span></li><br/> <li><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>A combination of smaller systems</strong>,<em> e.g.</em> a company comprised of many departments and processes.</span></li><br/> <li><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>A small, reasonably self-contained thing</strong>, <em>e.g.</em> a plumbing system in your home, or a network system at work.</span></li><br/></ul><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Systems come in all shapes and sizes. They can be extremely complex or pretty simple and intuitive. In the world of Training, including <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/services/elearning/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eLearning</a>, you often have to teach students or employees how parts of systems, or whole systems, work. But you often don't see the training as part of a system or a system itself. The system, while there, often remains invisible to L&D departments.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Why is this?</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In its most basic sense, we are often unaware of the system, or the part of the system, that we are in. We think of processes and controls, rules and regulations, passing a test, or mitigating risk. But we rarely, if ever, think of the system that these items belong to. We don't notice or understand the intersection of systems or events in the organization that trigger actions and responses. We train to items within the system, often unaware that there is a system. I know I'm repeating myself, but it's a very important key point to keep in mind.</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The Why and How of Systems Analysis</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">While a Needs Analysis is often pointless, a Systems Analysis can provide much more information to an organization which can improve performance, cut costs, provide better customer service, enable growth and so on.</span></p><br/><h3 style="padding-top: 0; color: #fff; font-weight: bold; font-family: lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">How to Start Learning About Systems Analysis</span></h3><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you don't know much about Systems Analysis, look up some books on the subject on Amazon or elsewhere. Find primers on the subject. Look at the organization you're in and see if you can identify the "Systems" where you work, earn, or play. Systems are everywhere and they often intersect in many ways and with external as well as internal systems. </span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Systems are similar to the concepts of Macro and Micro Economics. Macro is the whole system, a very complex one. Micro is the magnifying glass or smaller systems or processes that tie back into larger systems. Where you are in a system will frame your point of view...</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">To understand a system, large or small, you need to take a step back to see it. Large systems are often invisible because they are all-consuming. Stepping back allows you to look at the system in either its parts or as a whole. Being aware of a system will help you understand the needs of the learners and training regimens.</span></p><br/><h3 style="padding-top: 0; color: #fff; font-weight: bold; font-family: lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Benefits of Understanding Systems & Their Interactions</span></h3><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Aside from learning about systems, you need to start identifying systems everywhere you go. Once you do that, your viewpoint will become more global and more understanding of the nuances in any corporation. You will understand where data comes from and what they affect. You will also see the intersection of systems and processes more clearly.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">How will this benefit your L&D? It will help you understand that your training may involve other systems within your organization which you never considered. For example, process A may be fed by Process B or C or some other external process. Your training could benefit from this knowledge and it could improve workflows, best practices, and bottom-line results.</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Knowledge of Systems Gives You an Edge in Training<br/></span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not enough to simply know some meta-talk about Training. You need to understand the systems in your organization to better serve your clients (internal or external). This Systems knowledge will provide you with an edge, especially as you move up the ladder.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Think of yourself as a holistic, or integrative, doctor. One that looks at the body as a system of organs and processes all tied together and treats it accordingly—rather administering treatments for individual symptoms that never cure a system, usually causing more harm than good.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Systems are everywhere. See how many you can identify at work today. See if you can identify the relationships and even cause and effects between systems. But always be aware of the existence of systems and you'll learn a lot more easily how things work in the real world...</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Now It's Your Turn!</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">What do you think about Systems? What experiences with them have you had that helped your Training development? Please share them in the comments below and start a dialogue. Thanks for reading, and we look forward to your input!<br/></span></p><br/><p><em><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Need assistance achieving your Learning & Development goals? Give us a call at 800-428-3708 or <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/contact/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shoot us an email</a>. We're here to help!</span></em></p><br/><p><em><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you enjoyed this blog article, <a href="https://relate.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=b4a8a9f659fcc720f6b828030&id=dc8f480403" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sign up for our monthly newsletter</a> to receive more Training articles and other helpful content right in your inbox.</span></em></p>Rick Zanottihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17628633134497089507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-24356406290431780972018-05-21T03:49:00.001-07:002021-03-18T22:45:24.423-07:005 Things That Make eLearning Boring: Mistakes to Avoid<p>I'm sure you've heard that some <a href="https://www.relate.com/services/elearning/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eLearning</a> is boring, not stimulating, forgettable, etc. In order to avoid creating tiresome training, it's essential to be aware of less-than-stellar instructional design choices that tend to bore learners. Here are five things that can make eLearning boring (and therefore, not quite useful):</p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Fig1-Slow-Snails.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2975 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Fig1-Slow-Snails.jpg" alt="Fig1 Slow Snails" width="300" height="300" /></a>1. Pacing</span></h2><br/><p>I'll define 'pacing' as how fast, or slow, the course moves along. Pacing is related to time and we are all very acutely aware of how slowly or quickly time passes. All of us have preferences as to how we'd like to learn from a time perspective...</p><br/><p>Pacing can be:<br/> a. <strong>Continuous and monotone</strong>. <i>i.e.</i> time never speeds up or slows down, it merely proceeds at a very specific speed.</p><br/><p>b. <strong>Time could fly by quickly</strong>, which would result in some learners getting something out of the training while others may be left behind. A pace that is very quick is not suited to the vast majority of people that learn more slowly.</p><br/><p>c. <strong>Time can be very slow</strong>. This can make the fast learners become disengaged and bored very quickly (a paradox).</p><br/><p>d. <strong>Variable speed</strong>. This is where the course can speed up and slow down at different places in the training. This is certainly more engaging than a monotonous pace. But this has a problem too: you are constantly losing and winning student attention at different times thereby losing engagement at different points of the course.</p><br/><p>d. <strong>User-controlled time</strong>. This is usually the best way to pace training because the learner tends to control their own speed of assimilating information and feels more engaged and happy with the course duration.</p><br/><p>User-controlled pacing can be implemented in various ways. For example, it can done by allowing users to control navigation from one place to another in the lesson or by interactive elements which can be done either quickly or slowly based on your preferred pacing.</p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Fig2-Random-Letters-From-Book.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2978 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Fig2-Random-Letters-From-Book.jpg" alt="Fig2-Random-Letters-From-Book" width="300" height="300" /></a>2. Lack of Context</span></h2><br/><p>Think of context as how we frame what we are learning. In other words, what are we learning, why, and how.</p><br/><p>If context is ignored, incorrect, or confusing, the learner will, in turn, be confused and in a short time become bored and possibly give up.</p><br/><p>It is very important to ensure that the learner is learning <em><strong>what they really need to learn</strong></em>, what puts the training into a perspective that is understandable and easily grasped.</p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Fig3-Too-Much-Interaction.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2981 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Fig3-Too-Much-Interaction.jpg" alt="Fig3-Too-Much-Interaction" width="300" height="300" /></a>3. Needless or Useless Interactivity</span></h2><br/><p>You've all heard that interactivity is important in eLearning and that it should be used freely in a course to keep the content engaging, fun and interesting.</p><br/><p>So what do many Instructional Designers do?</p><br/><p>They often create long lists of letters or graphics that you have to click many times in order to reveal something that could have been read more quickly if it had just been visible in the first place.</p><br/><p>Others repeat over and over that you need to "click the Next button to continue." We've all done this one and I have personally experienced what happens when we don't state this: we get calls from clients saying, "one of our learners has been sitting for 90 minutes waiting for something to happen..." Sadly, many of these calls were about PhD learners... Hmm? But that's another story...</p><br/><p>Drag-and-drops done incessantly with no real context are also painful. Matching questions take a long time to complete and are usually badly put together.</p><br/><p>All of these and many more examples of interactivity take time but don't provide much value for the learner or the company paying for their training.</p><br/><p>Interactivity for interactivity's sake is not valuable and not enjoyed by most learners. Boring!!!</p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Fig4-Garbage-Pile-Marked-As-Game.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2984 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Fig4-Garbage-Pile-Marked-As-Game.jpg" alt="Fig4-Garbage-Pile-Marked-As-Game" width="300" height="300" /></a>4. Creating Games That Are Not</span></h2><br/><p>Many people think a quiz or assessment is a 'game'. I'm not sure how taking a test even has elements of game design or how many of these game writers truly enjoyed taking tests in their youth (then again, there are some who did.)</p><br/><p>I've seen many examples of games in eLearning that usually:<br/> a. are out of context and have nothing to do with what's been taught<br/> b. have no worthwhile interactivity and are either too difficult or too easy<br/> c. are simply badly-written (people do notice bad writing)<br/> d. do not have proper audio, video, interactivity, or other elements to make it interesting</p><br/><p>If you're not a game designer or writer, it would probably be better to delegate these tasks to someone who is. It takes a lot of understanding of game design, principles, content, elements of interactivity and more to create an engaging game. Real game design is not cheap—it's actually pretty darn expensive.</p><br/><p>Most games in eLearning are boring, repetitive and have little or no value for non-knuckle-dragging learners.</p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Fig5-Using-A-Pigeon-For-VO.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2987 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Fig5-Using-A-Pigeon-For-VO.jpg" alt="Fig5-Using-A-Pigeon-For-VO" width="300" height="300" /></a>5. Bad Voice-Over Talent</span></h2><br/><p>Everyone loves to hear great voices in eLearning. But often, due to lack of budget, wannabe "talent" with no talent, bad reading, or lousy interpretation of the scripts and other reasons...Sorry, that was a long sentence! That brings up a good point - don't write garbage and then expect the poor voice-talent to read it like a Shakespearean play...</p><br/><p>One of the worst things is when the instructional designer uses their own voice to read their script and it sounds monotone, unemotional, etc. This will kill a course's effectiveness instantly. People judge audio harshly, much more harshly than video.</p><br/><p>Hire a good voice-over artist(s) that can read well, interpret, bring the text to life, and have a pleasant voice that keeps someone's attention. Keep in mind that a "nice" voice is not necessarily a suitable voice for voice-over work.</p><br/><p>If you're curious to learn more what makes good voice-over, you can watch one of our classic <a href="https://www.relatecasts.com/elearnchat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eLearnChat</a> videos on voice-over techniques for eLearning below:</p><br/><p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8KVQ_nvUJvY" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Summary: Avoid These Hallmarks of Boring eLearning</span></h2><br/><p>These are just some of the things that can go wrong when creating courses. Pay attention to these points and you'll be on your way to creating training that is engaging, retentive, and ultimately makes the learners more productive in their jobs.</p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Need Help or Want More Info?</span></h2><br/><p>If you need help writing courses, we have trained Instructional Designers on staff that can help. Send us a note at <a href="mailto:connect@relate.com">connect@relate.com</a> or call us up at 800-428-3708 today.</p><br/><p>Thanks for reading! If you're interested in reading more articles on training and development, you can visit our <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/blog/">blog archive</a>.</p><br/><p>If you would like to receive a convenient monthly digest of our latest articles and other useful eLearning-related content, <a href="https://relate.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=b4a8a9f659fcc720f6b828030&id=8817b58730" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sign up for our newsletter</a>.</p>Rick Zanottihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17628633134497089507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-37274396534895644262018-05-16T05:00:00.001-07:002021-03-18T22:41:20.156-07:00iSpring TalkMaster Quick Look: Easy Conversation Scenario DesignerAlthough iSpring TalkMaster debuted in version 8, we hadn't looked into it until the recent release of <a href="https://www.ispringsolutions.com/ispring-suite/whats-new" target="_blank">Suite version 9</a>.<br /><br />On the surface, it looks like a quiz design utility, like iSpring's QuizMaker, however it's a distinctly different animal.<br /><br />Continue reading to learn more, or click a link below to jump to a section.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#whatfor">What Is TalkMaster For?</a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#features">What Features Does TalkMaster Have?</a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#emotion">Why Is The Emotion Function Useful?</a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#video">Video Quick Look</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="whatfor"></a><br /><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">What Is TalkMaster For?</h2><br /><br /><img alt="iSpring TalkMaster interface overview" class="alignright size-full wp-image-2955" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/iSpring-TalkMaster-interface-overview.jpg" width="300" />Rather than focusing on a linear series of questions which students receive grades for, TalkMaster simulates conversations.<br /><br />Integral to this is the visual interface that allows you to link dialogue options to scenes by dragging and dropping.<br /><br />This makes it less confusing to create and keep track of complex multi-path dialogue trees. <br /><br />Therefore, its primary use is to train by simulating conversations with customers and clients. However, it's also useful for other things that require a complex dialogue tree. <br /><br />Take a look at the quick demo we made to get a hands-on idea of what the program is capable of making:<br /><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/blogsamples/photography-q-and-a-talkmaster-test/index.html" target="_blank">https://www.relatecasts.net/blogsamples/photography-q-and-a-talkmaster-test/index.html</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="features"></a><br /><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">What Features Does TalkMaster Have?</h2><br /><br />Because it has a pretty specific purpose, this program is relatively slim in terms of features. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since this streamlines it, making it fast to use.<br /><br />Graphics are easy to swap out, and interface colors may be changed, but the basic scene layout is always retained.<br /><br />From the student's end, the conversations look like this:<br /><br /><img alt="Annotated iSpring TalkMaster Screen" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2916" height="200" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Annotated-TalkMaster-Screen.jpg" width="400" /><br /><br />Labeled here, we have the components of the conversation:<br /><ol><br /><li>Character speech. This is the main text for the scene.</li><br /><li>Character. There are five different emotions for each character.</li><br /><li>Emotion meter. This corresponds with the character's emotion.</li><br /><li>Responses. You can link these to any other scene in the conversation.</li><br /><li>Background. These are set for each scene.</li></ol><br /><br /><img alt="iSpring TalkMaster Example Of Dragging Scenes" class="alignright size-full wp-image-2950" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/iSpring-TalkMaster-Example-Of-Dragging-Scenes.jpg" width="300" />In order to create dialogue, you drag out branching paths from conversation scenes in the visual editor. <br /><br />The visual interface allows you to organize your conversation any way you need in order to facilitate visibility while editing.<br /><br />You can see how this looks from the learner's end in the demo linked above.<br /><br /><img alt="iSpring TalkMaster Voice Over Interface" class="alignright size-full wp-image-2917" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/iSpring-TalkMaster-Voice-Over-Interface.jpg" style="margin-top: 1em;" width="300" />Voice over audio is also available, and may be recorded in-program, or imported. <br /><br />When recording inside TalkMaster, you may edit recorded clips using iSpring's audio editor. <br /><br />This then gives you the ability to trim out pauses, adjust volume of selected sections, remove noise, or add fades.<br /><br />You also have the option to export voice over audio you've recorded and edited in TalkMaster.<br /><br /><img alt="iSpring Audio Editor example" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2958" height="200" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/iSpring-Audio-Editor-example.jpg" width="400" /><br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="emotion"></a><br /><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">Why Is The Emotion Function Useful?</h2><br /><br /><img alt="iSpring TalkMaster Emotion Options" class="alignright size-full wp-image-2953" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/iSpring-TalkMaster-Emotion-Options.gif" width="300" />As I didn't initially understand the utility of the emotion feature, I didn't use it in the demo above.<br /><br />What it's useful for, however, is immersive call simulations. <br /><br />The emotions combine with voice over to create immersive customer service scenarios.<br /><br />For example, rather than a message reading "The customer is now angry," you can show an angry customer. <br /><br />And in case the learner doesn't pick up the meaning, the emotion bar gives quantitative visual feedback.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="video"></a><br /><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">Video Quick Look</h2><br /><br />You can see what the TalkMaster interface looks like in general by watching the video below. Double-click for fullscreen:<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bF8tEoDIlbI" width="480"></iframe><br /><span style="font-style: oblique;">Double-click the video for fullscreen.</span><br /><br />As shown above in the video, you can easily add custom characters and backgrounds. Even more, these can be given all of the functionalities of the stock characters.<br /><br />Of course, you can also download professionally-made assets from iSpring's <a href="https://www.ispringsolutions.com/content-library?p=issuite&v=9.0.0.24868&hid=JXA8u%2FDVq63sNIZW1Ot9HSDQPxM%3D&said=1101406&gaid=1665057224.1518721405&empty=0&ref=tm_characters" target="_blank">Content Library</a>.<br /><br />Thank you for reading this quick overview of iSpring TalkMaster. We haven't used it much so far, but we're excited to see how it develops, and what uses we can find for it.<br /><br />If you're interested in reading more about iSpring Suite 9, you'll also like our <a href="https://www.blogger.com/2018/05/01/ispring-9-cam-pro-quick-look/">Cam Pro article.</a><br /><br />For more high-quality articles, videos, and other content on eLearning and media development, sign up for the <a href="https://relate.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=b4a8a9f659fcc720f6b828030&id=8817b58730">RELATE newsletter!</a><br /><br /><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">Need Help with Training & Development?</h2><br /><br />If you need professional development services including corporate video and audio production, want some management consulting or are in need of help, send us a note on our <a href="https://www.blogger.com/contact">contact form</a>, e-mail us at <a href="mailto:connect@relate.com" target="_blank">connect@relate.com</a> or call us at 800-428-3708. Thanks!Harold Muliadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17980411699999991379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-42620869826285887162018-05-07T03:36:00.001-07:002021-03-18T22:40:32.851-07:00The Power of Emotion in Learning<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">When was the last time you remembered a boring class? I'm not talking about how boring the class was but how much content from that class was categorized and stored in your brain for later usage...</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Why Boring Training Wastes Time</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Students-Asleep-In-Class.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2813 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Students-Asleep-In-Class.jpg" alt="Students Asleep In Class" width="300" height="300" /></a>If you are like most people, not much was remembered, used or thought about once the class was over and you ran screaming for joy out of the classroom!!!</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We remember boring, but we don't remember <em>why</em> it was boring. </span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In other words, the training was useless, a waste of time, took some minutes or days from your life's longevity and left you with a dull ache in your brain somewhere; if you only remembered where that pain got stored from that unbearably boring class...What to do?</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The above scenario happens daily across the world in classrooms of all types, sizes and needs. People often say:</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">a. The training was really boring</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> b. I hated/loved the instructor but he/she was teaching a horrible class</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> c. I don't remember what I learned</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> d. I don't know what to do with what I learned</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> e. It was all out of context</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> f. It's not my fault I didn't learn anything. No one could learn from that class!!!</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">And the list goes on...</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">LET'S GET EMOTIONAL!!!</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, everything you just read is true. How can you or I change those results?</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">One thing you could do is to add some emotion to the training.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">"Emotion..." you say???</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, emotion! Something simple that we use all the time in our methods of communicating with one another.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you like to tell stories, then you are probably familiar with the role of emotions in those stories. You know that emotions can make a story interesting, dramatic, scary, hilarious, sad or just about anything else.</span></p><br/><h3 style="padding-top: 0; color: #fff; font-weight: bold; font-family: lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Why Emotion in Learning is Powerful</span></h3><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">What does the brain do when something emotional comes its way? It <em>remembers</em> those things. They carry some impact and, well, <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/study-finds-brain-hub-links-music-memory-and-emotion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">emotions</a> etch a little place in our cortex (the flat part of the brain that kinda looks like a big credit card that stores stuff, a lot of stuff!)</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Emotions bring things to life, not always in a good way, but always in a way that we remember! You will rarely remember anything that triggers no emotion at all within you... </span></p><br/><h3 style="padding-top: 0; color: #fff; font-weight: bold; font-family: lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Real-Life Example: Evoking Empathy</span></h3><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In instructional design, you'll find many crucial areas to make good use of emotion, to make the training both more memorable and more effective. For instance, a common scenario in financial services: </span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Oh, if you don't enter the invoice correctly, we can't pay you and you can't pay them, who can't pay us, and so forth. People will get angry and not use your business anymore and the other business will die around you and...</em> </span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, you get the point. There's some potential for real emotion and empathy in that scenario...</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Did you just say, "empathy"?</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes we did, empathy is an emotion and it lets us put ourselves in the mind of another person to feel what they're feeling. For example, in our SMILE Customer Service training, SMILE stands for Service Means Involvement, Listening and Empathy.</span></p><br/><h3 style="padding-top: 0; color: #fff; font-weight: bold; font-family: lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Key Emotions to Work into Training</span></h3><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Some emotions we should add to our training in whatever way we can to highlight points we want remembered:</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">a. Happiness</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> b. Sadness</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> c. Anger</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> d. Frustration</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> e. Satisfaction</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> f. Enjoyment</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> g. Empathy</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> h. Desire</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> i. Greed</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> j. Gratitude</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Each emotion evokes a different kind of reaction. And emotions can be subtle or harsh.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">When you write your 'story' or 'training' then tell a story and don't forget. Whether the training is soft-skills, technical or a hybrid of things, try to always put some emotion into the training itself. Something that people can relate to and not feel embarrassed.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Always make an emotion a key aid in your Learning & Development work. The power of emotion is quite strong and it will always evoke something from someone.</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">About Rick Zanotti</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Rick Zanotti is the founder and CEO of <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATE</a>, a well-known Training & Development company specializing in eLearning, media production and Internet broadcasting.</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Need Help with Training & Development?</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you have more work than you can handle, need professional development services including corporate video and audio production, want some management consulting or just need some help send us a note on our <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/contact/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contact form</a>, e-mail us at <a href="mailto:connect@relate.com">connect@relate.com</a> or call us at 800-428-3708. Thanks!</span></p>Rick Zanottihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17628633134497089507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-85139091089662022682018-05-07T02:33:00.001-07:002021-03-18T22:40:15.597-07:00What an Instructional Designer Needs to Know: 5 Things to Understand<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In today's day and age, as an Instructional Designer, you are placed into many roles you're not fully, or even partially, qualified to do. Here are five things you need to understand to make your job, and life, simpler and easier:</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Businesswoman-With-Too-Many-Targets.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2845 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Businesswoman-With-Too-Many-Targets.jpg" alt="Businesswoman-With-Too-Many-Targets" width="300" height="300" /></a>1. Know Your Limits</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are like most Instructional Designers today, you have been thrown the kitchen sink. </span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">There is so much on your plate, and no mere mortal can truly do all that is asked of you. And yet, you try. </span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes you succeed and other times you fail. People only remember your failures and you are not appreciated for what you were never hired to do or be...</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">As an Instructional Designer you probably want to please everyone including your clients, your managers and the learners that take your courses either online or in person.</span></p><br/><h3 style="padding-top: 0; color: #fff; font-weight: bold; font-family: lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">What's (Unfairly) Expected of Today's Instructional Designers</span></h3><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">You've been asked to:</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">a. Do a needs analysis</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> b. Interview the SMEs</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> c. Write the course</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> d. Author, or program, the course using advanced tools</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> e. Record your own voice-over with an untrained voice</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> f. Take your own videos</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> g. Record your own audio</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> h. Edit everything with tools you've never heard of</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> i. Publish to the LMS (<a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/2011/07/18/your-lms-is-the-menu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Learning Management System</a>) which you have no clue about</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> j. Test and approve everything you've done</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Over a decade ago your job was done by:</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> a. Instructional Designers that wrote the course</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> b. Graphic artists that created or composited the graphics</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> c. Audio and video professionals who recorded and filmed everything</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> d. Audio and video editors</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> e. Authors, or programmers, who created the eLearning course</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> f. Quality control people who made sure it all worked</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> g. Everyone else who helped</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">All those people are now just YOU!!!</span></p><br/><h3 style="padding-top: 0; color: #fff; font-weight: bold; font-family: lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Ask Management for What You Need to Improve Performance</span></h3><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Wow! How did your world turn into this nightmare???</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The answer is simple: bad economy, cost cutting and management unaware of what it takes to really do your job.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In many cases you just tried to do the best you could but that became increasingly difficult. You knew the courses could be better but you had no time and other courses were waiting to be done. You had NO bandwidth.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you can do some of the tasks required, or even if you have the skills to do all of them, you should still let your management know where you need help in order to produce a better, more retentive course that improves performance. Keywords you need to know well: performance, retention and productivity... The less your learners retain, the worse the training is deemed.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The skills required to create good training are many and it's extremely rare to find professionals that can do every one of these tasks. Ask for help explaining the importance of the end result. If you don't, you'll be fighting an uphill battle that will only tire and demoralize you in which case no one wins...</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Know What Gamification Is</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">It's buzzword time now: GAMIFICATION!!! Yaayyyy!!! Ding ding ding... WOW!!!</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Uh, OK, flying monkeys be gone, let's talk about trends, words and results...</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you know what Gamification is? Is it playing a game? Is it creating a game? Is it making your course like a game? The answer is sort of, but not really...</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Gamification is using elements of game design in your stand-up or digital learning.</span></p><br/><h3 style="padding-top: 0; color: #fff; font-weight: bold; font-family: lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Elements of Game Design</span></h3><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">"Elements" means components or pieces of game design. For example, here are some elements of game design which can easily apply to learning:</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">a. Video</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> b. Audio</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> c. Interactivity</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> d. Storytelling</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> e. Special effects</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> f. Engagement</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> g. Assessments or skills testing</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> g. Gathering of points, badges, leader boards, etc.</span></p><br/><h3 style="padding-top: 0; color: #fff; font-weight: bold; font-family: lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Gamification Is Nothing New</span></h3><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Gamification-new-old-tools.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2848 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Gamification-new-old-tools.jpg" alt="Gamification-new-old-tools" width="300" height="300" /></a>Gee, don't these already exist in classroom and digital learning? Why yes, they do. Amazing, isn't it? You already know elements of game design and gamification.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">These elements have been around for decades. But clever new phrases make people think it's new! But, it's not. Been there, done that.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you understand this, you are now an expert in <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/2017/12/19/gamification-or-everything-old-is-new-again/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gamification</a> and can see through the hype that any vendor is spewing at you. </span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Elements of game design have existed for many decades. It's not a mystery and it's all about engagement and retention... It always is and it always has been.</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Know Your Business or Agency</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">This is an area that puts Learning and Development professionals in constant fear of being laid off. </span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you don't understand the basics of the business or agency you work for, you won't be perceived as having any value when the hard times hit. </span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">This is why the top two departments that get laid off during economic downturns are Marketing and Training.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We've had this discussion often on our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCE0B7DDDF880C298" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eLearnChat show</a>.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Business-Team.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2859 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Business-Team.jpg" alt="Business-Team" width="300" height="300" /></a>The more you know about the business processes, activities, tasks, and goals of your company, the more valuable you become.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">For instance, if you work in:</span></p><br/><ul><br/> <li><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">an Operations group, then it's important to become familiar with the workflow and processes.</span></li><br/> <li><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Manufacturing, then you should learn as much as you can about how your products are made and sold.</span></li><br/> <li><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Insurance or Finance, then try to understand how policies and money work.</span></li><br/></ul><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Wherever your are, make it a point to learn as much as you can. It will help you develop better training and also to make an impact on the company's bottom line.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you don't... Let's not ponder that now. Give it your all and learn what your place of employment does...</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Know What Your Authoring Tool Can Do</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you develop digital learning or media-based learning, it would really help your writing if you knew the capabilities of the authoring tool or video editor that your team is using (or that you need to learn).</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Puzzle-Wrench.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2865 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Puzzle-Wrench.jpg" alt="Puzzle-Wrench" width="300" height="300" /></a>Authoring tools come in many different flavors. Here are some of the top ones:</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">a. <a href="https://www.ispringsolutions.com/">iSpring</a></span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> b. <a href="https://www.trivantis.com/">Lectora</a></span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> c. <a href="https://articulate.com/360/storyline">Articulate Storyline</a></span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> d. <a href="https://www.adobe.com/products/captivate.html">Captivate</a></span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> e. <a href="https://www.dominknow.com/platformtours/flow/index.html">Flow</a></span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">There are many more. These tools range from simple/easy to much more powerful in terms of features and capabilities.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll keep this one short: understand the feature set of the tools your company uses. Become familiar with what can or can't be done. Then write or create appropriate content for the course you're trying to develop.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Many tools have tutorials or webinars online. Do your best in learning these tools and your abilities to create content will improve dramatically.</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Understand How People Learn</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Ah, this is one of my favorite subjects, how we perceive and retain information. The cognitive side of things. It's time for a super-brief primer on neuropsychology....</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Information goes into our brains through the senses, including vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch. In essence, these are all a series of patterns which enter the brain through one of our senses and then get stored in our cortex (our memory center).</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Things get stored as memories which contain emotions and other properties. The stronger the emotion, the more we retain it and remember. The less powerful the sense or emotion, the less we remember or retain it. We may even forget it completely.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Learning-Through-Funnel-Brain-Neuroscience.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2874 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Learning-Through-Funnel-Brain-Neuroscience.jpg" alt="Learning-Through-Funnel-Brain-Neuroscience" width="300" height="300" /></a>Ta-dah, complex neuroscience in a nutshell!!!</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you create training that can trigger an emotional response of some sort, there is a very good chance that it will be retained or remembered for a very long time.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you develop something boring, non-engaging or out of context to the learner, it will most likely be forgotten or placed way low in the cortex under a folder named, "BORING." You don't want to create "boring" content, trust me...</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">So when you're creating content, think emotion. Think retention. Think performance improvement and think engaging.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you can write scenarios, or stories, with some emotional impact, or some "gotcha!" moment that ties something together for a learner, then you've succeeded in what you set out to do...</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Summary: What an Instructional Designer Needs to Know</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">You have a demanding job. Try to control as much of it as you can. Remember that it all comes down to engagement, retention and performance. If you can get those three into your training results, you've succeeded!!! </span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If not, keep at it and try again. Get help from others and put your heart into the stories you create...</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Written by Rick Zanotti</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Rick Zanotti is the founder/CEO of <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATE Corporation.</a> Relate is a well-known Training & Development company specializing in eLearning, media production and Internet broadcasting.</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Relate Can Meet Your Training & Development Needs<br/> </span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you have more work on your plate than you can handle, seek professional development services including corporate video and audio production, are looking for some management consulting or just need some help in general, send us a note on our <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/contact/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contact form</a>, e-mail us at <a href="mailto:connect@relate.com">connect@relate.com</a> or call us at 800-428-3708. Thanks for reading!</span></p>Rick Zanottihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17628633134497089507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-31366848503885930262018-05-07T02:11:00.001-07:002021-03-18T22:39:00.626-07:00SCORM Cloud: What Is It & Why Should You Use It?<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">SCORM Cloud has been our go-to testing environment for LMS deploys into <a href="https://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/taleo/enterprise/learn/features/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taleo</a>, <a href="https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/learning" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cornerstone (CSOD)</a>, <a href="https://www.sumtotalsystems.com/solutions/learn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sum Total</a>, <a href="https://www.successfactors.com/en_us/solutions/learning-development.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SAP</a>, and Plateau, among others.</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Why We Use SCORM Cloud</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes implementing eLearning courses into an LMS is time-consuming and yet you get only a few attempts. Using SCORM Cloud makes these few attempts go smoothly.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">You can use it at your convenience, and quickly and easily load many different test scenarios.</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Essential Features<br/> </span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">With SCORM Cloud, you can verify your course runs, scores, and display information like the title and description.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We also use it to test multi-sco implementations, heavy media implementations, and to invite users to test their courses in an LMS environment.</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">How to Get Started: SCORM Cloud Pricing</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Pricing for SCORM Cloud ranges from free to a monthly subscription. Subscription costs increase based on the number of new user registrations you need to accommodate each month.<br/> </span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is the official website if you're ready to learn more: <a href="https://scorm.com/scorm-solved/scorm-cloud-features/">https://scorm.com/scorm-solved/scorm-cloud-features/</a> </span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Need Help?</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you need help with any steps in LMS implementation, contact us today at <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/">Relate Corporation</a>. We have over 20 years of solid experience in the training industry and we are confident that we can help make your project a success! To schedule a consultation, call us at 1-800-428-3708, send us an e-mail at <a href="mailto:connect@relate.com">connect@relate.com,</a> or fill out our <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/contact/">contact form</a>. We'd love to hear from you!</span></p><br/><p> </p>Leslie Zanottihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02780163616533836671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-29581954280325809582018-05-07T01:21:00.001-07:002021-03-18T22:38:49.969-07:005 Things Needed to Manage a Remote Team<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">As it becomes increasingly more difficult to find competent resources where you are, it has become imperative to work with people or vendors that are remotely located. This can be good or bad as there are many factors that influence the success of those remote individuals and yourself. How does one effectively manage a remote team?</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Following are five important things to implement or, at least, keep in mind when embarking on remote resources...</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Establish Rules of Communication</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Remote-Workers-Close-Communication.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2890 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Remote-Workers-Close-Communication.jpg" alt="Remote Workers Close Communication" width="300" height="300" /></a>This may be the most critical thing of all, the ability to communicate clearly and as often as needed for you and your remote workers. </span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">While this sounds simple, many factors can come into play which cause you to overlook the remote worker mostly because out of sight usually means out of mind.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Daily communications, or at worst, weekly touch-bases, are critical for success.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I've managed groups of remote workers for almost 20 years now and have learned that these steps are crucial to letting me sleep better at night:</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">a. Daily check-ins by e-mail or by phone. That sounds easy, right? And it is... until you're really busy or firefighting problems. If your remote worker is out of your mind, then you are probably out of their minds as well...</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">b. Make each remote worker submit a Weekly Status report. It doesn't have to be huge or super-detailed, but it has to be there. It is an important touch-point that also makes the remote worker accountable for what they are doing.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">c. Use tools like Zoom Meetings, WebEx, Skype or others to communicate with your remote workers when needed if they have a webcam. If no webcam is available then the sound of your voice will have to do.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Communications between you and the remote staff cannot be under-estimated. It is a very powerful way to build a communicative team that values the dialogue between a home base and the remote tundras...</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Provide Tools to Chat or Share with</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Using-Tools-To-Chat-And-Share-Interconnection.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2900 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Using-Tools-To-Chat-And-Share-Interconnection.jpg" alt="Using Tools To Chat And Share Interconnection" width="300" height="300" /></a>While this sounds a little like the first point, it's really quite different.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">You want your remote workers to feel a "part of the team," to feel like they are valuable team players that contribute to the success of what your company is trying to accomplish.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Not only do you want your remote workers to communicate with you, but also to their co-workers and other team members. </span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Often remote workers feel isolated, apart from the team and not included in what's happening in the "real" office. These feelings of alienation won't affect all remote workers, but it could affect a lot of them and it will depend on what kind of jobs they are doing and how social they are.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Making a remote worker feel part of a team will greatly affect the productivity and performance of that individual. When all else fails, go back to Point 1, communicate often...</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Recording-And-Taking-Notes.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2896 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Recording-And-Taking-Notes.jpg" alt="Recording And Taking Notes" width="300" height="300" /></a>3. Document Everything!</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Talking with someone remotely is important, and so is documenting what you talked about either before or immediately after a talk.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Verbal talks are great and build camaraderie. But if you don't document what was discussed, there's a good chance that within minutes the talk will be gone along with what was required of your remote worker. </span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't assume that what was discussed will be acted upon.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Part of the documentation process is to establish the following:</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">a. Tasks</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> b. Due dates</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> c. Final deliverables</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you have an on-line project management system, that will go a long way to communication and making clear what is required of everyone, including inter-dependencies between tasks and deliverables. There are many great simple project management tools like:</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">a. <a href="https://www.smartsheet.com/">Smartsheets</a></span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">b. <a href="https://www.proprofs.com/project/">ProProfs Project</a> (formerly called Project Bubble)</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">c. <a href="https://asana.com/">Asana</a></span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">d. </span><a href="https://basecamp.com/"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Basecamp</span></a></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Understand that Not all Remote Workers Should Be Remote</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Separated-Worker-Remote-Worker.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2894 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Separated-Worker-Remote-Worker.jpg" alt="Separated Worker Remote Worker" width="300" height="300" /></a>While many workers can successfully work remotely, it's not appropriate for ALL workers to be remote. In fact, in some cases, working remotely can actually be a detriment.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you run a Learning and Development group which develops media-rich digital learning courses, do you think every one of these team team members could work remotely?</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">a. Project leaders</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> b., Instructional Designers</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> c. Graphic artists</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> d. Voice-over talents</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> e. Video editors</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> f. Quality control reviewers</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> g. Social Media posters</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Did you answer, "Yes", to everyone one of these?</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Did you say, "No remote work..." for some of them?</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In both cases you would be right!</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Every job listed could work remotely. What would change with each of these is the amount of extra effort it would take to make each worker successful.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In my experience, those workers having the most to do with media, like graphics creation, are better kept in-house.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not that they cannot work remotely, it's that the amount of communication required to make this type of worker successful may make it very difficult to achieve quick turnaround times when the person is remote. The more creative the individual, the more it's like herding cats when they are remote and not understanding your vision...</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If a particular worker is part of a vendor providing services to you , then anyone can work externally because the vendor should have the necessary staff to manage and ensure completion of tasks and designs.</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Make Sure You Have Adequate File Sharing</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/file-sharing.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2898 alignright" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/file-sharing.jpg" alt="file-sharing" width="300" height="300" /></a>It is often amazing to see how many remote workers don't have a sense of Risk Management and how crucial it is to make backups of the work they do. </span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">This often causes millions of dollars in wasted time and lack of productivity because things can and will go badly (that old Murphy guy always shows up).</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">To ensure that your remote workers, especially if they are developing things that are not necessarily on-line, provide them with tools like <a href="https://www.dropbox.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dropbox</a> and <a href="https://products.office.com/en-us/sharepoint/compare-sharepoint-plans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SharePoint</a>.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">There are many other online services that will allow teams to work well together remotely. In my case I use Dropbox and we're about to implement SharePoint.</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Make sure the remote workers are saving their work often and definitely at the end of the day. If a remote worker often loses the work they did, forgets to save it, or simply doesn't follow your guidelines, then maybe that's the wrong person for you...</span></p><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I would also recommend that remote workers not have 'Delete' rights to anything . We have had people that inadvertently deleted 30 GB or more of information. Not a good thing. And while it can usually be retrieved and restored, it can delay your team for hours.</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Summary: How to Best Manage a Remote Team</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In closing, using remote workers can be a life-saver. Make sure you interview the remote workers well and try as best you can to ascertain their sincerity and discipline. Not everyone is good at working remotely and not everyone should.</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">About the Author</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Rick Zanotti is the CEO of <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Relate Corporation</a>, a Training and Development company developing media, corporate video, eLearning, ILT, broadcasting and more.</span></p><br/><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In Need of Help?</span></h2><br/><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you need help with training & development, we offer professional development services including corporate video and audio production, as well as management consulting. Feel free to send us a note on our <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/contact/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contact form</a>, e-mail us at <a href="mailto:connect@relate.com">connect@relate.com</a> or call us at 800-428-3708, and we'll be happy to help you out. Thanks for reading!</span></p>Rick Zanottihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17628633134497089507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-22503746986637928552018-05-01T01:45:00.001-07:002021-03-18T22:37:31.460-07:00iSpring 9 Cam Pro Quick Look: Fast And Easy Integrated Video EditorIf you're not familiar with iSpring, it's essentially a full-featured eLearning <a href="https://www.relate.com/category/authoring/" target="_blank">authoring tool</a> that integrates with Microsoft PowerPoint. <a href="https://www.ispringsolutions.com/ispring-suite/whats-new" target="_blank">iSpring Suite 9 Cam Pro</a>'s new video studio is the forefront new feature of Suite 9, released on April 24, 2018.<br /><br />We were eager to see what iSpring's team came up with, so we've done some tests of the editor.<br /><br />This is separate from both the "Record Audio" and "Record Video" features for presentation narration, and their corresponding editors. Cam Pro, accessed from "Screen Recording," lets you create and edit videos and save them as .mp4 or other video formats.<br /><br /><img alt="iSpring 9 Menu Ribbon Recording Options" class="size-full wp-image-2768" height="97" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ribbonsection.jpg" width="400" /> <br /><br />The video studio is a new addition to iSpring Cam, the screen recorder tool available since Suite 8. Similar to something like Camtasia or OBS, Cam Pro chiefly focuses on eLearning and instructional presentations.<br /><br />Keep reading for our first impressions on this handy new feature of iSpring Suite 9. You can also check out article sections with the links below.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#canvas">Interactive Canvas</a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#editing">Video Editing in Cam Pro</a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#cursor">Cursor Recording</a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#performance">Performance</a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?blogID=4906973467114810733#conclusion">Conclusion</a><br /><br /><h2>Capabilities of iSpring 9 Cam Pro's Video Editor</h2><br /><br />Continue reading for our quick look at the abilities of this powerful new feature.<br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/null" name="canvas"></a><br /><h3 style="color: white; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; font-size: 1.05rem; font-weight: bold; padding-top: 0;">Interactive Canvas</h3><br /><br />Cam Pro has the ability to insert shapes, text, images, audio, and video with ease. These then go into your video timeline, where you can adjust volume, transparency, add transitions, or split them into segmenmts.<br /><br />All of these elements can be overlaid above each other, moved around, resized, and made more or less transparent. This is the Interactive Canvas. <br /><br />Cam Pro accepts most image and video formats. Similarly to PowerPoint, it accepts PNG transparency. However, animated GIFs will not play. <br /><br />If you'd like to see an example of this, please watch the video we made to demonstrate these features:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RN92TXi3KfU" width="459"></iframe><br /><span style="font-style: oblique;">Double-click the video for fullscreen.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/null" name="editing"></a><br /><h3 style="color: white; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; font-size: 1.05rem; font-weight: bold; padding-top: 0;">Video Editing in Cam Pro</h3><br /><br />Because the editor is a new addition, many of the features feel like they have room for expansion. <br /><br />For example, the noise reduction feature in the Narration section's Video Editor is not available in the Cam Pro editor. However, the options you do get already greatly improve iSpring Cam's usefulness.<br /><br />Although the available transitions are similar to PowerPoint's, they are all animated on a whole-frame basis. This is unlike PowerPoint, where transitions are scaled to the size of the animated element.<br /><br />For example, watch the following animations:<br /><br /><img alt="iSpring 9 Cam Transition Test Big Face" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2751" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/bigsmiley.gif" width="300" /><img alt="iSpring 9 Cam Transition Test Small Face" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2750" height="300" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/smallsmiley.gif" width="300" /><br /><br />Both animations were made with the same transition settings and timing. <br /><br />Overall, I think the transitions work very well, and I like their smooth appearance. However, the entire-frame nature of the transitions means they're less suited to animating discrete lines of text or small images.<br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/null" name="cursor"></a><br /><h3 style="color: white; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; font-size: 1.05rem; font-weight: bold; padding-top: 0;">Cursor Recording</h3><br /><br />Cam Pro has good functionality for showing and emphasizing the mouse cursor during a presentation: <br /><br /><img alt="iSpring 9 Cam Pro Cursor Options" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2756" height="245" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/cursormenu.jpg" width="512" /><br /><br />You can show or hide the cursor in a presentation, which takes effect in all screen recordings in a project. Also, you can highlight the cursor for easier visiblity, with different colors shown for left and right clicks. <br /><br />Screen recording in Cam Pro always captures mouse movements and actions, therefore, they can be shown or hidden easily.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Another thing I noticed, though minor, was that the tool cannot record itself.</span> <span style="font-style: oblique; font-weight: bold;">UPDATE</span>: I was mistaken. In fact, you can have multiple copies of iSpring Cam Pro open at once, able to record each other if needed! <br /><br />Certainly, the ability to record multiple screen regions at once opens some interesting possibilities, especially for computers with multiple displays. See video below for a demonstration of recording Cam Pro with another instance of Cam Pro:<br /><br /><video controls="" width="400"> <source src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ispring_selfrec.mp4" type="video/mp4"></source> Your browser does not support HTML5 video. </video><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/null" name="performance"></a><br /><h3 style="color: white; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; font-size: 1.05rem; font-weight: bold; padding-top: 0;">Performance</h3><br /><br />I did notice that, when recording 4K video from a camera, the program chugs a bit and records at a lower framerate. Hence, the video above is 800x600, since the webcam I used only records at those two resolutions.<br /><br />Therefore, for best performance and quality, I'd recommend an HD, not 4K, webcam. At any rate, 4K video is not particularly essential for the talking-head-type videos that most users will record with this.<br /><br />Even though it's lower, the framerate in 4K was still good enough for a presentation. To illustrate, I'm including an image below:<br /><br /><img alt="iSpring Cam Pro Framerate Test 4K Webcam" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2753" height="168" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/haroldwave_scaleddown.gif" width="300" /><br /><br />Aside from recording, I didn't observe any performance slowdown, so far. I was able to play back several 1920x1080 videos in a project simultaneously and the program still ran smoothly. <br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/null" name="conclusion"></a><br /><h3 style="color: white; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; font-size: 1.05rem; font-weight: bold; padding-top: 0;">Conclusion</h3><br /><br />So far, iSpring 9 Cam Pro's video editor is shaping up to be a very useful and convenient editing tool. <br /><br />I did have one PowerPoint crash over several days of testing, however I'm not sure if Cam Pro caused it. I haven't been able to reproduce the crash so far.<br /><br />Overall, it's performed well and the videos I've made with it have come out nicely.<br /><br />Therefore, this video editing tool promises the same high level of quality we've come to expect from iSpring. I'm looking forward to see how iSpring will continue to develop and improve this function.Harold Muliadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17980411699999991379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4906973467114810733.post-87280790494245830332018-04-17T02:00:00.002-07:002021-03-18T22:36:39.834-07:00Leslie's Findings: Adobe Captivate 2017<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This post is the second in my series of blog posts on authoring system findings. My first post dealt with various issues encountered while publishing to an LMS using <a href="https://halfemptylearning.blogspot.com/2018/04/some-findings-using-articulate_94.html">Articulate Storyline 360</a>. This time, we will look at Adobe Captivate 2017.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The following are findings on publishing in <a href="https://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/features.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Adobe Captivate</a> and text entry in HTML5.</span><br /><br /><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1. Publishing in Adobe Captivate 2017: Choose One Output Format</span></h2><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Publish window seemingly allows you to select both Flash and HTML5 output at the same time. However, when I tried doing this, the published content didn’t load using <a href="https://scorm.com/scorm-solved/scorm-cloud-features/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Scorm Cloud</a> or <a href="https://www.litmos.com/in/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Litmos</a>. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The publish has to be <b>only for Flash</b>, or <b>only for HTML5</b> to load successfully. The screenshot below shows publish options in Adobe Captivate:</span><br /><br /><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Publishing-Flash-And-HTML-In-Adobe-Captivate.png"></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Publishing-Flash-And-HTML-In-Adobe-Captivate.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="800" height="324" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Publishing-Flash-And-HTML-In-Adobe-Captivate.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here is the SCORM Cloud error message you will see if you attempt to publish for Flash and HTML5 simultaneously:</span><br /><br /><a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Scorm-Cloud-Error-Publishing-From-Adobe-Captivate.png"><img alt="Scorm Cloud Error Publishing From Adobe Captivate 2017" class="alignnone wp-image-2712 size-full" height="50" src="https://www.relatecasts.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Scorm-Cloud-Error-Publishing-From-Adobe-Captivate.png" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><h2 style="padding-top: 0;">2. Text Entry with a Tab Key: Tablet Hard Keyboard Only</h2><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From my experience using a Samsung Galaxy Note Pro Android tablet, I've found that text entry with a tab key does not work in HTML5 on tablet soft keyboards. It doesn't work on desktop, either.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">However, it did work when using a <b>physical keyboard for the tablet</b>. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is because <b>seamless tabbing</b>, where the selected area moves throughout the screen and is not focused on the text entry object, is turned on for the tablet soft keyboard and for the desktop.</span><br /><br /><h2 style="padding-top: 0;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Still Having Trouble with Authoring Tools? We Can Help!<br /> </span></h2><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thanks for reading — I hope my Captivate findings were useful to you. Keep an eye on this post and the <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/blog/">Relate blog</a> for updates, as I will be posting more helpful findings. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you're struggling with any steps in LMS implementation, contact us today at <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/">Relate Corporation</a>. With our</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> 20+ years of solid experience in the training industry, we can assist in making your project a success. Feel free to call us at 1-800-428-3708, send us an e-mail at <a href="mailto:connect@relate.com">connect@relate.com,</a> or fill out our <a href="https://www.relatecasts.net/contact/">contact form</a>. We'd love to hear from you!<br /> </span>Leslie Zanottihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02780163616533836671noreply@blogger.com0