E-Learning

DIY E-Learning Icons (+ Free Download!)

April 12, 2015 By Jackie Van Nice 8 Comments

This week’s ELH challenge is to create and share a set of icons for the e-learning community. (I’m in!)

Theme: Language Learning

Arts & Culture

List or Knowledge Check

Listening

Reading

Role Play or Discussion

Speaking

Viewing

Writing

For last week’s emoji challenge I created a language learning demo. It’s a topic near and dear to my heart, so I kept the theme going this week. These are the icons, and they align with most of the basic activities you engage in when learning a language.

Design

I created them in PowerPoint and made them simple and flat. To save time I took one of David Anderson’s challenge suggestions and pulled the basic images from The Noun Project. Credit and links back to the original images are in the file.

Colorize Your World

Snack Pack Colors

To show how you can customize them I mocked up a few color combos. They’re in the PowerPoint file, too. To color the PNG images I used Format > Color, and to add texture I used Format > Artistic Effects.

Download Them Now!

Black & White

If you’d like to download the PowerPoint file with these fully-customizable icons, you can grab it on the download page.

Feeling Neutral

Icon Feel the Blues Coming On

Texture Becomes Electra

Getting Emoji-nal: Teaching Vocabulary

April 3, 2015 By Jackie Van Nice 6 Comments

Select Image to Launch Demo

This week’s Articulate ELH Challenge is to create an interaction using emojis – or basically to use simple graphics in place of text.

The Idea: Vocabulary Practice

Anyone who has learned or taught languages knows pictures are indispensable for vocabulary practice, so I thought I’d create one with emojis.

I wanted it to be in Turkish, partly because it would be way cool and partly because I need the practice, but to save time I stuck with English.

The Design: Simple

I kept it emoji-simple. From layout to images to instructions it’s easy to figure out, easy to navigate, and easy to understand the teaching points.

It’s technically a drag-and-drop I made into a free practice activity. The feedback – even for incorrect answers – is designed to help you learn vocabulary, so I didn’t see the point of keeping score. Sometimes it’s just nice to play.

So Much More

There’s a ton more you could do with the concept, including adapting it to work on listening skills or writing skills rather than reading skills. Maybe I’ll get the chance to adapt it in other challenges down the road!

Give It A Try!

Ready to test your vocabulary skills? You can check out this emoji-nal little demo right here.

Select Image to Launch Demo

Using Toys in E-Learning: Employee Meeting

March 22, 2015 By Jackie Van Nice 16 Comments

Select Image to Launch Demo

This week’s Articulate challenge is to use toys to help tell a story in e-learning. My toys were game, so we went for it.

It’s Just a Meeting

The Idea

The toys I grabbed for the challenge were a little funny-looking, so for contrast I put them into a perfectly serious staff meeting.

I exploited what might be their challenges if they really worked in an office, then built the learning points around that.

Over-the-Shoulder Shot

Issues in the Office

Image Production

I took still shots of each character and had to work at getting the right angles, lighting, images sizes, etc. It took a few tries, but I eventually got what I wanted. I especially like the over-the-shoulder and head-on shots.

Audio Production

Though I wrote the script, I decided to ask Dan Sweigert if he’d do the voices. Lucky for me, he did – and I recorded it directly into Storyline.

The Benefit of Using Toys

Even in a quick demo like this it’s easy to see that using toys to mimic real-life touchy situations makes it easier to address them, and adding humor never seems to hurt.

Time to Play!

Ready to see how this meeting went? You can attend it right here.

Select Image to Launch Demo

Keeping It Odd

March 14, 2015 By Jackie Van Nice 12 Comments

Select Image to Launch Demo

This week’s challenge is to make up an odd-sounding course title, then design the cover slide. I got inspired by some of the fauna here in South Carolina and went with it.

Our Gators

I love that we get to share this area with the local alligators. Sometimes on our walks we’ll stumble a bit too close to a guy and calmly give him a wide berth, but we all get along famously.

Our Golfers

Since golfers are also rife around here, especially near gator ponds, I considered what an e-learning course about alligator safety for those guys might look like.

The E-Learning Course

Teaching the golfer how to stay safe by showing him the alligator’s perspective seemed like an engrossing way to go. Especially if you realize, from screen one, that you may be dinner. Of course the goal would be to keep both parties safe.

Visual Design

I purchased my well-dressed golfer, but made the alligator out of PowerPoint shapes. For fonts, I liked the chunkiness of Clarendon against the fancy-restaurant deliciousness of Edwardian Script. All in all, I’m pretty happy with it.

Check it out!

Grab your golf clubs and enjoy this tantalizing title slide right here.

Build & Share Your Own Image Library!

March 2, 2015 By Jackie Van Nice 9 Comments

I Took This Photo, Added Some Text, and Voilà! My Title Image

This week’s challenge is to create a set of e-learning images to share with other course designers. Recently I’ve been contributing images to MorgueFile via their daily challenges (which I wrote about here), but was excited to put together a full set of related images.

The Setting

I was headed to a nearby island with a friend on Saturday anyway, so I grabbed my camera and spent a chilly afternoon snapping away. This location is often used for group retreats, and I tried to capture as many types of usable images as possible.

Simple Backgrounds

It’s easy to make simple background images. Below left you can see my pictures of wine glasses and some dry plants. On the right are the same pictures after I applied a couple of PowerPoint effects. It’s simple and I love the result.

Left: My Unretouched Images. Right: The Same Images With Simple PowerPoint Effects

Left: My Unretouched Photos. Right: The Same Images With Simple PowerPoint Effects

Scenario Backgrounds

When I create e-learning scenarios, I try to treat them like a movie. I go for the wide establishing shot, the group shot, the two-person shot, the one-person shot, and all sorts of close-ups. I took lots of pics with that approach in mind, where you can easily add in characters. These images are also HUGE, so they’re easy to crop to focus on any area you’d like.

Here Are a Few of My Scenario Backgrounds: Just Add Characters!

Objects & Themes

Recycling? Home? Nature? Recreation? Food Service? I found lots of image subgroups to play with. With a little creativity, they can be used in endless ways.

I Love These Images For Their Great Colors and Shapes

This is a Cottage Where I Focused on Photographing Everyday Objects & Scenario Backgrounds

I Just Love These Recycling Bins – They’re Fantastic Images to Work With

These are Just a Few of the Objects I Found at a Community Dining Hall

Download Them for Free!

Update: I’m not seeing these up on MorgueFile anymore – but if you can find ’em, you can use ’em!