Credit: peasap
Yes. I can put your PowerPoint slides online.
Big deal. A lot of people can.
SlideShare alone has an abundant amount of presentations.Listen up. Getting content online is not e-learning’s greatest benefit.
In my opinion, e-learning’s greatest benefits can be that a learner is immersed in an environment where they’re actively asked to make decisions―decisions in a safe place.
In this safe place, our learner can experience the results of their decisions because you’ve actually been able to create a space that is responsive to their particular choices.
Now, consider what happens once you place content first, which is what you’re doing with your PowerPoint.
Read more: Why You MUST Avoid the PowerPoint Trap―And Stop Shortchanging e-Learning.
Tag Archives: PowerPoint
PowerPoint: Create an Infographic
If you need to create an Infographic, there are better programs than PowerPoint that you could use. Photoshop would be a good choice, or maybe Fireworks. That being said, PowerPoint is likely on your office computer right now. Additionally, PowerPoint is often underutilized as a design platform and is surprisingly agile.
One reason PowerPoint isn’t the first program people think of for Infographics is that infographics are traditionally not the same size as a PowerPoint slide. To convey a hearty amount of information you’ll generally want it to be much longer. You can actually change the slide size pretty easily from within PowerPoint by choosing Design > Page Setup > Page Setup. From there you can adjust the width and height of the slide on the Page Setup dialog box. The issue with this is that it can be difficult to work within PowerPoint on that long of a canvas. Additionally, the proportions of any shapes you insert will automatically change if you change the slide size. If your infographic isn’t super big and if you know the size ahead of time and don’t change it, however, this might not be a bad option for you. Otherwise, if you’re willing to perform one extra step, there’s still no reason why you cant use PowerPoint. The following technique is similar to printing out slides on different pieces of paper and taping them together, but digitally instead.
First you’ll need to design your infographic. Think of it like any other presentation, but with a couple caveats, which I explain below.
Read more: I Came, I Saw, I Learned…: PowerPoint: Create an Infographic.
5 Steps To A PowerPoint Redesign
Years ago I felt a certain sense of pride because I didn’t know how to use PowerPoint. Those days are long gone. Now, PowerPoint slides are often the currency exchanged between subject matter experts and instructional designers and developers. I’ve accepted this protocol and probably, you have too.
The catch to this arrangement is the nearly guaranteed issue of poor slide design. We need a consistent process to transform messy slides into ones that will be instructionally effective. Here are some guidelines—with before and after examples—that you can use for PowerPoint makeovers.
Read More: 5 Steps To A PowerPoint Redesign: Instructional Design and eLearning.
5 Super-Secret PowerPoint Tips
PowerPoint is a powerful tool, but I’m often surprised that some of the most useful features are hidden. Here are the top 5 tips that would have saved me many, many hours of work over the past few years if I had only known them. I hope you find them as useful as I do.
Full Text: 5 Super-Secret PowerPoint Tips I Can’t Live Without.
10 tips for making great presentations
Great set of slides from Edahn Small on how to make great presentations.
5 Tips to Make Rapid E-Learning Interactive
When building rapid elearning with PowerPoint it can be a challenge to get away from linear courses. For one, PowerPoint’s original intent is creating presentations. And they are usually linear. On top of that, many of us have limited time and resources. So building linear, info-centric courses tends to be an easier way to get the projects out the door.
The good thing is that PowerPoint isn’t limited to linear elearning. Building interactive elearning is just a matter of learning a few techniques. And in this post, we’ll review some examples built in PowerPoint that demonstrate non-linear functionality.
It’s easy enough to take any of these types of interactions and incorporate them into an interactive, decision-making elearning course that allows the learner to explore, pull in content, and make decisions.
[Shows a good selection of the types of interaction you can build with just PowerPoint]
Full Text: 5 Tips to Make Rapid E-Learning Interactive » The Rapid eLearning Blog.
Here’s a Bucketful of Free Office Themed E-Learning Templates & Media Assets
I get a lot of questions about how to move past the PowerPoint look when building rapid elearning courses. My first suggestion if you’re working with PowerPoint is to step away from the original content. Start with a blank screen and then based on the context of the course, build the look and feel that’s appropriate for the content.
With that said, sometimes you can get away with a pre-built template. A good example is with office-themed templates. They work because they’re generic and can fit the look required for a lot of corporate elearning. The template isn’t a replacement for analyzing the appropriate design needs for your course, but if you do determine that this type of template is appropriate, it’s a good head start, especially for those who have no graphic design expertise or access to graphic design resources.
Here are some free office-themed templates and assets. The first is a new one and the rest are ones I’ve given away in previous posts.
[Some interesting themes to ring the chnages]
Full Text: Here’s a Bucketful of Free Office Themed E-Learning Templates & Media Assets » The Rapid eLearning Blog.
Now You Can Import PowerPoint into Prezi
Gone over to using Prezi, but still have a hard drive full of PowerPoints. Well now there is a solution. Prezi have created a PowerPoint import feature. Watch the video below for how it works.
For more info see http://prezi.com/pptimport/
5 great tips for better presentations
Slides That Rock designs presentations that regularly catch our eye. Strong design elements and smart subject matter have landed their presentations on the SlideShare home page more than a couple times. Based in Hong Kong, founder Tomas Bay recently told us how using SlideShare has taken them to ‘the next level’. Interested in using SlideShare to grow your business? Take a look at these 5 ways Slides That Rock has rocked SlideShare throughout its business.
Full Text: 5 ways SlideShare can rock your company, from Slides That Rock | SlideShare Blog.
5 PowerPoint E-Learning Tips & A Free Template
One of the topics we cover in the eLearning workshops is how to quickly create templates to help move the eLearning courses out of that PowerPoint look.
At a previous workshop someone wanted to see how this was done so we created one quickly in class. I like to do these templates because they help bring out a few ideas.
Full article: 5 PowerPoint E-Learning Tips & A Free Template » The Rapid eLearning Blog.