Videos and eLearning

Video has several meanings to me. I see video in my learning environment as software simulations for the demonstrations that need to occur. As a trainer, folks will get more through a software simulation than a traditional video of me training.

Even with software simulations, I like as a narrator to be me. I try to keep my tone conversational, I try to incorporate humor as much as I can, where I can, as though I were still standing in front of a group.  As long as the humor (considered cute or not) is appropriate and can help engage the learner to continue learning I see no harm. That being said, I firmly believe the humor needs to stay “cute” and should never include three big no no’s: Politics, religion and death. It’s bad when you are standing in front of a class and you say something that falls flat, However, you have time to redeem yourself. It’s even worse when they can turn you off.

In order to include Closed Captioning in Captivate, I needed to script the entire module. This is certainly time consuming as a 5-8 minute video took about 6 hours to complete. In all fairness that includes the 4 recordings, the stripping of what would be the final then the editing and finalizing. The good news in all of that is that your slide notes can serve two purposes. One, if you have to re-record, you have a script in front of you and two, the closed captioning can be created from the script. There is still to be done regarding the timing of the closed captioning but all the content is there.

Our class did a great job engaging multiple intelligences. There were not only narrations but some had video in video, others used graphics to display content. For me, I think I will certainly need to use a blend of graphics, highlights, maybe text to display a review would be best. The last two Captivate projects I created were more tutorial based where my learning environment would be a lecture, demonstration and practice environment so there should be plenty to keep my learners engaged. A blended learning environment is the best way to go when recording a video.  Although I didn’t use it here, my final learning environment will have an avatar to guide them around.  Similar to the Programming Basics eLearning module on my site.

Third times a charm, Right? Not for me.  Every time I create one of these, I realize that I still have so much to learn. This is my third time using Captivate 9. Although it is a great tool, I still have other things to worry about when I use it. For this exercise, I learned that my computer is loud. If you listen to the Learning tutorial, the background you hear is my computer. I have a great microphone but it wasn't accessible to me for this assignment, so this is what I get. My headset, although it recorded great narration wasn’t enough to hide the background noise. I won’t make that mistake again. The narration kills me every time. I still can’t believe how much time and energy it takes to use a product such as Captivate. Honestly, I recorded another segment to my software simulation using a pie chart but I cut out 60 slides because I knew I wouldn’t have time to edit the sound, timing and closed captioning for this assignment. I struggle with whether or not it is cost effective for me to do something like this for our clients. I’m hoping the value add is something they really appreciate.

I posted the following list of highlights on my website

 Here are the highlights: 

·         I created data for my tutorial in Excel 2016

·         I used the Software Simulation feature of Captivate 9 

·         I narrated the simulation

·         I then went into Captivate to edit the narration, even redo some of the narration. This is a fairly detailed process since it entails listening to each slide in the project then editing by highlighting and cutting out the parts of the narration that I don't want, such as the mouse clicks. In some cases, I highlighted narration and re-recorded it.

·         I added elements such as highlights to the words or Excel components that you see. Captivate does some of that during the software simulation but I didn't keep those.

·         I then typed my entire script into the module so if you choose, you can see the Closed Captioning. I did not match the closed captioning to activities but that is a possibility. 

e-Learning, It Doesn't Have to be Boring

I know, e-Learning modules, boring right? If done correctly, they don’t have to be. In my world, e-Learning modules as a learning environment fit nicely. Just following the standards of designing e-Learning, I will have encapsulated all the important aspects of creating a highly engaging and effective learning module. Add in accessibility, usability, and assessments I will have created a superior learning tool. Based on the timeframe in which I have my clients, sometimes a day, maybe two, I need to have something for them that will either supplement our learning or continue to test their skills. With that, understanding the features to create an Excel Dashboard it is. A large number of organizations use e-Learning modules either as a sole resource for training or as a supplement to organizational learning. Even educational organizations, such as, SUNY Empire State College have given each student access to Lynda.com as a resource for e-Learning.

As a computer training firm, my organization typically teaches instructor-led courses. Training that occurs in a classroom environment where each learner is following the course with a series of hands-on activities. Certainly an effective way to learn for those who can take the time of their work day.  However, these days most of our clients want hands-on training but only have time to learn the things they know they need, which may not translate into the features of a tool they really need to be more productive. Using a tool such as e-Learning will help our clients understand not only what they have a good handle on but where they might have a skills gap.  This will allow them to create a training plan to best fit their needs. For my company, being able to access skills is something we have not done and can hope to achieve through this module. 

Although the concept of my learning environment is similar to Lynda.com, it is not my intent to replace Lynda.com. It’s my intent to create a value add for my clients and an assessment of their learning either after a course or before. To help them understand what they know and what they still have to work through to create dashboards in Excel. I have dabbled in designing e-Learning through one course and the need to create something quickly for my organization’s 30^th year celebration. I hope to hone my skill through my coursework in the MALET program so I can create the perfect tool for my clients.