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penny for your thoughts simplifying e-learning for business five things to consider when choosing elearning authoring tools graphics 1st in a series of 9

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what is an authoring tool · a pencil and a piece of paper · a knife and a tree large enough to carve something in the trunk · an elearning authoring tool is software that allows us to create and publish our material in electronic format wikipedia says an authoring tool is a software package which developers use to create and package content deliverable to end users pennymondani.com © 2010 all rights reserved albany analytical inc graphics page 2

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five things 1 will it add value based on the training design for my audience 2 3 4 what features and functionality do i need which are nice to have which are not relevant do we have the skill to do it or the time to learn it what can i or my employees do and what should we contract out to others is this how we should be spending our time what are my options what applications are out there and what are the trade-offs regarding price ease of use and capability which is better open source or proprietary software what functionality do i need what do i need the application for to create to edit to view all of that what will my students want it for and what is best for them what applications are highly specific and which are multi-taskers that i can get more value from will it work in my lms how will these applications work together in my elearning environment 5 pennymondani.com © 2010 all rights reserved albany analytical inc graphics page 3

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features of great elearning · graphics pictures illustrations tables etc · moving media audio video flash animation screen casts · assessments quizzes tests surveys · news forums rss streaming · file sharing students and teachers uploading and downloading · collaborative efforts web meetings chats wikis · student records grades participation profiles · html text links etc content · lms to package it all up together and deliver it to the students pennymondani.com © 2010 all rights reserved albany analytical inc graphics page 4

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will it add value yes every elearning course is improved with graphics as long as it reinforces and doesn t overpower the lesson sketches for an event planner teaching room layouts photos to show just about anything from food display to how to recognize water damage in a wall screenshots for teaching how to use a software application clip art to tell a story or soften a difficult topic tables and charts to show how to collect and display data pennymondani.com © 2010 all rights reserved albany analytical inc graphics page 5

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do i have the skill · can you draw by hand or with a software application · do you have an eye for color · can you imagine graphical ways to show something you want to say · are you skilled at moving objects around clipping copying uploading pennymondani.com © 2010 all rights reserved albany analytical inc graphics page 6

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what are some of my options · crop size save as other formats organize in an album ­ picasa free ­ easy thumbnails free · basic shapes simple recolor ­ powerpoint or freelance also has clip art usually part of suite ­ paint or paintbrush usually free with your computer ­ photoshop elements also crops sizes and organizes for $70 · really awesome images with layers and effects ­ photoshop 700 · don t have the skills buy images starting at $1 each ­ istockphoto ­ dreamstime ­ veer pennymondani.com © 2010 all rights reserved albany analytical inc graphics page 7

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what functionality do i need in an authoring tool you need whatever functionality you have the skill for plus what you need to suit your audience and topic · must have ­ right format gif .jpeg .png ­ right size inches or pixels · should have ­ ability to crop out the white space and junk ­ basic clip art simple shapes and recoloring · nice to have ­ layering ­ special effects ­ ability to edit and reuse · don t need ­ anything that does not fit the audience or situation ­ anything that does not reinforce the lesson pennymondani.com © 2010 all rights reserved albany analytical inc graphics page 8

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will this tool work in my lms · almost certainly yes · check to see what format it accepts · check to see what file sizes bytes and image sizes pixels are acceptable pennymondani.com © 2010 all rights reserved albany analytical inc graphics page 9

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next time · moving media ­ audio ­ video ­ screencasts screen recordings · outputs of moving media ­ ­ ­ ­ mp3 mp4 html swf pennymondani.com © 2010 all rights reserved albany analytical inc graphics page 10

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follow me contact me read the rest of my posts at pennymondani.com follow me on twitter/pennymondani join me on linkedin in/pennymondani view moodle demo courses at beelearn.com learn more at albanyanalytical.com pmondani@albanyanalytical.com pennymondani.com © 2010 all rights reserved albany analytical inc graphics page 11

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