INSTRUCTOR EDUCATION
E-Learning
For this assignment I wanted to incorporate elements of infographics. I personally find them very engaging, as I am a visual learner. Besides requiring lots of interesting facts to make the infographics, I also wanted to make it kind of like a sales tool as my training team is currently trying to convince our employer to incorporate more e-learning. I researched a couple different software options and decided on PowToon.
The most challenging part of this assignment was learning new software, I could have gone with something I am familiar with but I wanted the challenge and I am glad that I did. I started out by doing all my research, and then I dove right into creating the page content. This is the number one mistake made by all amateurs, I should have recorded my audio first, although at the time I wasn't sure I was going to even have audio.
Anyways, my manager at work also gave me some advice and suggested I keep my slides more simple and explain the content in more depth with my audio. I was all for that considering it took me about an hour to create one 20 second slide. But then I went to go record my audio and realized that I had to do it all in one go. To make things even more complicated, PowToon only allows you to create 20-second slides, so I had to talk faster during some parts to get my points across. But I think I overcame all of my challenges and I am proud of the outcome. Even though I had to hide in my dark basement while all my friends got to go to the beach and play in the sun, I really enjoyed this project and I secretly want to do it again! (When the weather isn't as nice.)
This is me when I finally finished this project and got to go outside and enjoy the sun!
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When creating an e-learning video for PIDP 3250 I did some research on free online e-learning platforms. So far I have used two different platforms, here are my findings:
Storyline 2 - I use articulate at work, there is a free one month subscription available. Articulate is great for creating avatars and characters, the design is easy to follow and there are thousands of resources out there to help you with tips and suggestions. It is great for teaching software with its record screen, teach me and try me options that engage the learner. The downside is that it is quite expensive once your trial is over ($1846).
PowToon - I choose to use PowToon in the end (free option) because I wanted to incorporate that infographic look into my video. I love the graphics to choose from, and the different styles available. Since I had limited time, I started working off one of their templates, which I would recommend any beginner do to get a better understanding of its capabilities. The biggest challenge I had with it was that I had to record the entire dialog in one go, and each slide could only be a max 20 seconds long.
