Jennifer Valley: free

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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

My eLearning Toy Box

At the end of 2013 I came across a series of pictures taken where the artist (Andrew Whyte) took breathtaking photos using lego people on Pinterest (follow me!) (I went back and found a couple and made sure to pin them this time.) I was so inspired that I grabbed my son's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures and my phone and decided to take pictures of them brushing their teeth. I posted the pictures on my personal Facebook page and got a laugh. But this week, I actually got to use them in a fun and creative way. Here's my entry for Articulate eLearning Heroes Challenge #74 - Using Toys for Storytelling in E-Learning.

Challenge

"This week your challenge is to design a short interaction using toys as your primary characters. You can combine toys with photographs, illustrations, or hand-crafted scenes and backgrounds.

The objective this week is to replace your usual e-learning graphics and characters with toys."

Work

I took the pictures and turn them into black and white since the quality was so low. I wasn't that good about taking pictures using proper back lighting and using editing techniques to fighting the yellow tint in 2013. Thank goodness for my introduction to image editing software and Instagram lol I knew that I would need a background for my cover page, a bar code and a picture of all of them together so I went on the hunt for items I could use (see my resource links). I also wanted some custom fonts since the logo is very distinct. I found the perfect pair in Turtles and Cowabunga on DaFont. Using the pictures I previously shot I arranged them into my logical order to try and make a story. From then on it was just adding colors and text onto the screen that fit their character personas.

Result

I created a short storyboarding using PowerPoint that's the start to a children's lesson on brushing your teeth. If I were to turn this into a full blown learning course then I think outlining the steps or having the learner put the pictures in order would be pretty fun.

Download the TMNT ToothBrush PowerPoint

Resources

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dental_office.jpg
http://geek-news.mtv.com/2012/02/01/mtv-geek-exclusive-tons-of-tmnt-toys/
http://www.dafont.com/turtles.font
http://www.dafont.com/cowabunga.font

Thursday, March 12, 2015

5 Tips for Creating the Perfect Video (FREE Template Download)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/catch21/6481937097/

Videos are an important media for learning. With the rise of Youtube, the lowering of attention spans, and the recent push for microlearning it offers content that can easily be shared in a quick and interesting format. Before getting started you should create a video style guide that'll help direct producers, videographers, actors, set staff and editors (or the all in one!) get the correct look and feel the first time and then every time afterwards. Here are my 5 tips (with a free downloadable style guide template!) for creating the perfect video.

Always start by thinking about the broad feelings.How do you want the learners to feel? What message are you trying to get across? How do you want your company to be perceived? Do this by establishing a tone, stage presence, general standard on visuals and production. Strive to understand how elements within the video can effect (both positively and negatively) these feelings.
Go into detail on the things you can control. Sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate or your subject gets sick but there are a lot of elements in a video you can and should control. Be sure the logo and colors of the video are compliant with marketing or your brand department. Get approval to use specific colors and state their intended purpose especially highlight colors. Set up standards for the subject’s attire. Know your output size, delivery method, file type and player. Put together a list of approved and unapproved aspects of different elements like: locations, shots, transitions, and text placement.
Put together your steps for pre – production to form a habit.
Be sure the script is ready and has gone through the proper review channels. No one likes unprepared talent or workers. Be sure to provide your subject(s) with a script a few days before and encourage they read through it ahead of time. Reiterate the attire standards a couple days before shooting. Have a shot list ready. Stage the shot to test the lighting, sound and background. Have the subject read the script with the camera on but without formal direction for a base line and hopefully collect bloopers.
Scrutinize the first draft and but not a minute before it's ready.No one likes to be editing something with a person over your shoulder or worrying over every little detail. Let your person in charge of editing sit down with their specifications and create a first draft cut before stepping in. Plenty of producers, writers and actors have said that sleeping on something or waiting for a few days to review will help to make sure you don’t become too close to a project. Be sure to leave enough time to space out the reviews for a fresh mind.
Polish that turd till it shines.Even if the video isn’t Oscar worthy, know when you’re “that’s good, now publish it” point is. Being a perfectionist is something we all strive for but there’s a point where you have to say we’ve done enough and I like it the way that it is. If you have your standards in place and the video meets all or most of your standards then what more can you ask for? Publish it, market it, pat everyone on the back, and start all over again!

Are you new to video creation? Check out Vimeo's Video School, Wistia's Learning Center or Lynda.com for videos on how to create videos.

Want a Free Video Style Guide Template?

Don't forget to follow, share and comment please. Can't get enough of yours truely? Follow me on social media! I post helpful articles I find on the internet Monday thru Friday on Twitter and I have a Pinterest problem ;)

Monday, February 16, 2015

Free (or Cheaper) Tool and Resources for eLearning (February 2015)

In August 2014 I published my first version of this article which is still view able here. Since then I've been slowing adding to the list as I find new tools and resources that I can afford to implement into my life (items marked with asterisks are tools or resources I use regularly). I think the list has nearly doubled which is crazy (even for an internet and app obsessed person like myself). With my last post reached over 600 people and was shared over 20 times on Google plus alone I felt like another installment was due. I'm thinking about making this a regular series where I randomly update the list when I come across something new or in clumps of a certain number. To reduce the size of this article I didn't go into great detail on each tool or resource. Find me on Twitter or comment below if you want to chat about my experiences.

Other

http://www.onlinecharttool.com/ - Not near Excel….have no fear

http://dictionary.reference.com/ * - Because who doesn’t need help spelling

http://thesaurus.com/ * - To help you pick the right word

http://lite.launchlist.net/ - Check your website before it goes live

http://www.speedtest.net/ - Speed test for your computer

http://www.feedly.com* - Keep all your bookmarks in one place

https://bitly.com/* - Chop your links for easier social sharing
https://www.goodreads.com/* - Need to create a "to read list", set a yearly goal or read reviews?
https://openlibrary.org/ - Free online library
http://evernote.com/skitch/ - Free annotation creator
https://en.gravatar.com/* - Keep your avatar consistent across all sites
https://www.google.com/alerts* - Set Google Alerts to stay up to date on important topics
http://www.zamzar.com/ - File converter
http://calibre-ebook.com/ - Ned help creating an eBook?
http://www.lynda.com/* - Professional development for $25 a month. Uh yes please!

As before, please leave me your suggestions in the comments below or find me on Twitter (@jvalley0714).

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Free Download: Color of the Year (2015) - Marsala (and Flowers) PowerPoint Template

Bonus blog post! That's right.....I'll be back again on Thursday!

For challenge #63 we were asked to create something using Pantone's Color of the Year (2015) -Marsala. Here's a "Wine and Flowers" PowerPoint I created that is free to view, download and use. Let me know if you like it in the comments below or on twitter (@jvalley0714).

Download | View

Monday, August 11, 2014

Free (or cheaper) eLearning Tools

While working on a recent project I found myself going on a frantic search for just the right picture. Having the right resources at your disposal can definitely make or break the amount of time you spend on a eLearning project. So, I decided to update my toolbox and possible solutions with some resources that are free or lower cost than the mainstream product. The items marked with asterisk are ones I've personally used for one project or another.

Do you have an "I can't live without" website or service? Please feel free to add any resources I missed by commenting below or tweeting me (@jvalley0714).

Audio

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ *

http://download.cnet.com/SoundCapture/3000-2168_4-10079089.html

http://krut.sourceforge.net/

http://camstudio.org/

http://vocaroo.com/

http://www.chirbit.com/

Course Authoring

https://www.easygenerator.com/

https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/lcds-tool.aspx#tab1

http://www.smartbuilder.com/product/smartbuilder

http://www.authorgen.com/authorpoint/index.htm

http://www.jetdraft.com/eng/index/