e-Learning Blog
Supercharge Rapid e-Learning Content with Flash Animations
Adding life to your PowerPoint Presentations is effortless when you use Snap! by Lectora® rapid e-Learning software. With Snap! by Lectora, you can easily wow your audience by using electrifying Flash animations and videos. Check out the short video tutorial below to learn how to supercharge your content in just three simple steps:
Flash animations can breathe life into dry and sterile presentations. Using Flash in Snap! by Lectora presentations is a great way to:
-
Engage your learners and hold their attention
-
Identify key takeaways and important information
-
Bring an element of surprise – your learners won’t know what hit them!
Learn how to utilize all of the amazing capabilities and features of Snap! by Lectora to the fullest by visiting the Snap! by Lectora video tutorial page on our website. You’ll find tons of great resources, tips, tricks and more to take your PowerPoint presentations to another world.
$99 Snap! by Lectora gives users the power and tools to create engaging and interactive rapid e‑Learning content quickly. Try out the dynamic duo of Snap! by Lectora and Snap! Empower™ Flash interactions builder today with your free 30-day trial.
Like uson Facebook
Follow uson Twitter
Connect with usand Follow us on LinkedIn
 |
Molly Horn is a Content Evangelist at Trivantis Corporation. She graduated from University of Cincinnati with a degree in Communication and focus in Public Relations. |
e-Learning Blog
3 Quick Tips for Customizing Your Snap! by Lectora Table of Contents
Snap! by Lectora rapid e-Learning software makes it easy to quickly customize your rapid e‑Learning courses and presentations using the Slide Explorer. The Slide Explorer is the organizational “hub” for your Snap! by Lectora® course or PowerPoint to Flash creations. This is where you can customize your table of contents, rename and reorganize slides and indicate navigation and branching for your content.
Within the Slide Explorer, you’ll find customization options for the Snap! by Lectora table of contents. The table of contents displays the structure of all your slides and how they relate to one another within your course to give learners a better overall picture of the content as they progress through the course.
These simple steps included in the tips below make it easy to customize your table of contents for your learners. Change the slide title, slide level and hide slides from the table of contents – all within the Snap! by Lectora Slide Explorer. *These tips are only necessary to apply if you choose to display your table of contents upon publishing.
1. Re-name Your Slides: Provide your learners with more detail about the course with short, descriptive slide titles aside from “Slide 1,” “Slide 2,” etc. You can name by topic, chapter title, goal, objective or any number of ideas.
-
How to Change the Slide title: Find the slide in the TOC Slide Title column within the Slide Explorer. Once you click on a slide title, you can then edit it to display what you choose.
2. Define the Overall Course Structure: You can change the slide level in the table of contents to indicate where a particular slide fits in the overall structure of your course. This is useful when you want to organize your slide by unit, then by chapter, then by section and so on, for each part of your course.
-
How to Change the Slide Level: In the Slide Explorer, find the slide you would like to change, then, click the left or right arrows within the TOC Slide Level column to set the slide’s level.
3. Decide What Is Visible to Learners: Since each slide is included in the table of contents by default, you can choose to hide a slide from the learner’s view. You may want to hide a slide if you don’t want a learner to know the location of quizzes in the course, for example.
-
How to Hide Slides from the Table of Contents: To do this, simply locate the slide in the TOC Slide Title column in the Slide Explorer and check the “Hide in TOC” box.
Note - you do not have to display the table of contents if you do not want to; it is a matter of preference. If you want to display the table of contents to your learners, make sure that when you publish, you check the box next to “Info Pane” in Advanced settings so your TOC is visible.
The simplest customizations to your Snap! by Lectora courses can make a big difference your learners’ experiences. As course creators, you may know and understand the structure of your course, but for a learner who is new to the material, a table of contents can provide a great guide to the course.
Haven’t tried Snap! by Lectora? Download your free 30-day trial today to transform your PowerPoint presentations into interactive, exciting Flash experiences.
e-Learning Blog
Snap! Empower Rapid e-Learning Tricks from Rick Nielsen
Rick Nielsen, of eLearning Radio, is back again with another great podcast to share his knowledge about rapid e-Learning software and the power of fantastic Snap! EmpowerTM Flash interactions builder. In his latest podcast, Rick shares how he was asked to create a flash animation for a client, but did not have time to do the hard coding. Snap! Empower stepped in to save the day, as Rick discovered how to harness and manipulate elements to provide a fast and easy solution.
Want to learn how to leverage Snap! Empower to complete what could be a potentially time consuming task in just minutes? Check out the short video below to see how you can take advantage of this great tip from Rick and turn page elements into button interactions:
Along with this fantastic tip, Rick shares some simple tricks you can use in any Snap! Empower project to save you time:
- When working in the Page Elements tab, toggle it on and off so that the menu collapses and expands to make it easier to work with.
- When working with multiple copies of the same element, name them sequentially. For example:
- Arrow 1
- Arrow 2
- Arrow 3
- Select the option to arrange elements by name in the Page Elements tab so that they sort alphabetically, making it easy to select the correct element.
Use the great knowledge shared by Rick, and the power of Snap! Empower in your future projects to push your presentations to the next level. Do you have any success stories about uncovering a fabulous new way to use a familiar tool? Share your tips with the rapid e-Learning community in the comment section below.
Haven’t had a chance to check out $99 Snap! Empower Flash interactions builder or Snap! by Lectora® rapid e-Learning software? Try out this dynamic duo today with a free 30-day trial. Looking for more great tips for Snap! Empower? Visit Snap! Empower Tutorials for Flash.
|
Molly Horn is a Content Evangelist at Trivantis Corporation. She graduated from University of Cincinnati with a degree in Communication and focus in Public Relations. |
e-Learning Blog
Easy Ways to Motivate Learners with Storytelling in Rapid e-Learning
The best rapid e-Learning courses include all of the information, tools and resources to arm learners with the best possible set of skills for their careers. But, what about instilling motivation? Building morale? Storytelling through e-Learning can be an effective way to engage and motivate your learners using stories of success and hard work to convey the determination, achievement and success at your organization. According to Shawn Achor in the Harvard Business Review, a happy and engaged workforce raises sales by 37%, productivity by 31% and accuracy on tasks by 19%.
While storytelling is a powerful tool to motivate and spark productivity and innovation for your employees, it doesn’t have to be intimidating and can be easily accomplished with the right approach and the best rapid e-Learning tools. Use this simple formula to leverage your rapid e-Learning courses and presentations to tell great stories.
Choose Your StoryWhat story do you want to tell? Is it the company’s story? Is it the success story of an employee? Is it a story of the day in the life of an employee?
Determine what fits best for the overall goals in your training and how you can effectively incorporate the story into your learning materials. Does your company or organization have a “hero” whose story you can tell? Maybe you can tell the company’s story through employees’ experiences. Or, you can showcase multiple employees and how they’ve found success and happiness at the company.
+ Determine Your StrategyDepending on the immediate needs and goals for your training, storytelling may have a very different place in each training initiative. Perhaps it’s weaved into the content itself; perhaps you create the story as a separate part, or branch, of the training that learners can explore.
Only include the most important elements of your story and only use facts, quotes and other content that directly add value to the story and to your learners. This will keep your learners interested and engaged and will also keep your story relevant to the overall training.
+ Convey the StoryWhat materials and tools can you use to convey the story you want to tell? Stories have an amazing way of sticking with us and motivating us when they instill emotion – whether it be happiness, excitement, compassion or any other emotion. Use different types of media to convey your story in a powerful way that will have an impact on your learners.
Images & Video
Words alone can communicate a lot of meaning, but dig deep to find expressive and powerful images and video to tell your story. Combine an image with a short, strong sentence or phrase. Make a montage of images or video clips to help you tell the overall story in a unique way. Do a video interview, follow employees on the job – whatever adds depth to your overall story.
Tip: You can instantly add a YouTube video into a Snap! by Lectora course or presentation so your video is embedded directly within the training.
Audio
Use powerful music or audio recordings to add another dimension to the story. Find audio recordings of motivating remarks. Or, if the story is about a particular person, go to the source and do a short interview to gain some insightful pieces of audio you can weave into the story.
Tip: Import audio or record your own in Snap! by Lectora and even edit it right there within the course.
+ Translate Your Story into a Call to Action for Your LearnersWhile stories alone are fantastic examples and motivators for employees, it is essential to make sure your story reflects the values you want to instill in your learners and provides a call to action for your learners. Couple your story with ways your learners can achieve the same success for their own careers. Provide resources for further learning or include additional skills to practice, for example.
= Successful Storytelling
If you create a powerful way for your learners and relate it to the organization, they will likely be more motivated to learn to be more productive on the job and to achieve success in their careers. With the right rapid e-Learning software like Snap! by Lectora and Snap! Empower, it’s super simple to tell your organization’s story in an engaging way with video, audio and excitement to wow your learners.
|
Molly Horn is a Content Evangelist at Trivantis Corporation. She graduated from University of Cincinnati with a degree in Communication and focus in Public Relations. |
e-Learning Blog
Lectora User Conference Showcase: Jane Peller & Barry Shaeffer
Session Information:
Developing Pedagogically Sound Interactive Modules with Snap! by Lectora and
Snap! Empower
Thursday May 24th
1:30-2:45 p.m.
Learning how to create interesting, informative and pedagogically sound modules can be overwhelming when you don’t think through a production. Join Jane Peller and Barry Shaeffer as they examine sample modules and teach you how to use appropriate features in Snap! by Lectora rapid e-Learning software and Snap! Empower Flash interactions builder.
Experience & Expertise
Jane Peller is a professor of social work with over 32 years of experience in teaching and consulting as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She has published two books, numerous articles and is an international presenter on the topic of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. During the past several years she has used Lectora to develop modules for online education in social work. Additionally, Jane presented at last year’s Lectora User Conference and received one of the highest presenter satisfaction ratings from attendees.
Barry Shaeffer is a undergraduate social work student at Northeastern Illinois University. Barry completed an independent study to develop educational modules in Snap! by Lectora this past year and has taken his new found talent to community health agencies.
"My name is Barry Shaeffer and I am an undergraduate social work student at Northeastern Illinois University. Last year, Professor Peller asked me to take an independent study course with her to build learning modules for the online Introduction to Social Work course she was teaching. I was apprehensive at first, as I have always enjoyed telling stories through writing, but have never considered myself all that technologically savvy.
Snap! by Lectora makes the technological component of creating online modules pretty easy. The challenge was making them interesting, informative and pedagogically sound. Through a lot of trial and error and through research into best practices, Jane and I have formulated a model for creating learning modules that incorporates all these aspects, resulting in an effective and engaging learning experience. I have taken the skills I have developed this year and am now working at a non-profit agency on a project to take their services directory online and make it interactive for users. Through the evolution of my work with Jane, I learned that creating online learning really is just another way of telling a story, except instead of just using words, I could use a variety of media to paint the picture I want people to see. Join us and we’ll share with you the steps to take to tell the story that you want to tell."
Why You Should Attend
This session will examine sample modules built for use in higher education and for community health programs. Attendees will learn how to choose appropriate rapid e-Learning tools that reinforce Bloom’s levels of learning pairing it with desired learning outcomes and desired user experience. The presenters will dive into specific uses of Snap! by Lectora and Snap! Empower. Participants will also walk through a series of questions and steps to help make sound decisions in the module building, and learn to layer other free software and social media to create interactive environments.
The annual Lectora User Conference, held May 22 – 24, is quickly approaching. Check out the full conference schedule, and learn more about the jam-packed agenda on the Lectora User Conference website. The first 500 attendees to register will receive a complimentaryLectora User Conference Appreciation Pack, filled with more than $800 worth of e-Learning goodies – so register today. We hope you’ll join us in Chicago!
"Like" us
Follow us
Connect with us
|
Molly Horn is a Content Evangelist at Trivantis Corporation. She graduated from University of Cincinnati with a degree in Communication and focus in Public Relations. |
e-Learning Blog
Must Haves for Rapid e-Learning Development
Today, rapid e-Learning software gives designers the opportunity to create out of this world e-Learning courses while using multiple types of media. This may sound like a time-consuming task, but there are some quick and easy ways to use numerous tools, save time and create engaging presentations all at once. Here are a few must have tips and tools to consider when creating your rapid e-Learning masterpiece:
Infographics
Information overload is a common trend in e-Learning. Sharing too much information can cause learners to become overwhelmed causing them to miss essential content they need to know. Using visuals to convey critical information helps learners connect with this information, and focus on key points. Infographics are a fantastic tool to implement in to your e-Learning to share all the information you need to communicate while focusing on key points in a visual way.
Customized Texts and Images
Bring activity to your content while sharing visuals that grabs your audience’s attention by integrating customized text and images to jazz up your courses. Flash animation is just one way to bring your presentation to life, and is a quick and easy way to add instant interaction with your learners and get them engaged quickly. Customizing your texts and graphics lets your presentation shine and become more than just words on a screen. It gives it personality and helps create a connection with your audience.
Audio
Authoring tools today make it super simple to use multimedia in a variety of ways. Your courses can not only include animated text and images, but you can also use music, videos and even narration to give your content that extra eye and ear appeal to your learners. Adding sound to your presentation can enhance the interactivity and effectiveness to your content. Whether it is background music or a sound played when someone answers the question correctly, these small add-ons can zest up your presentation quickly.
Social Media
Create even more engagement with learners by offering them access to share with others through social media outlets. This gives learners the opportunity to share key learning with one another by posting and answering questions, providing insight and communicating additional resources. There are many social media outlets that you can use to help increase the interactivity between learners. Whether it is a special hashtag created on Twitter or a group on Facebook or LinkedIn, each outlet has advantages to keep your learners interacting and interested.
All of these must haves are just a few great ways that you can add a spark and interaction to your presentations. Use these tools and tips as a springboard for your organization to consider when looking for that something extra in your rapid e-Learning courses. To make your presentation the most effective, make sure you utilize each element with your brand in mind and use meaningful content to share with your audience. Think about each of these ideas and how it can effectively fit into your e-Learning presentation.
Interested in adding more spark to your presentations? Download a free 30-day trial of Snap! by Lectora rapid e-Learning software and Snap! Empower Flash interactions builder today!
e-Learning Blog
eLearning Radio’s Rick Nielsen Shares Tips for Snap! Empower
If you want more great tips for Snap! Empower, you’re in the right place! This easy-to-use tool is so powerful, that your possibilities for interactive Flash animations are seemingly limitless. Because there are so many capabilities, it’s great to have an expert with lots of Snap! Empower experience “show us how it’s done.”
After his great tips for using the Snap! Empower templates, Rick Nielsen, eLearning Radio, is back again with another great podcast that demonstrates how to create an interactive flow chart in Snap! Empower. Using numerous tools, Nielsen shows us how quickly and easily you can create – not just flow charts – but any type of Flash interactions – using his handy tricks.
Watch Nielsen’s tutorial below for a firsthand demonstration of how to create an interactive flow chart in Snap! Empower:
Nielsen also includes some great time-saving tips as he quickly creates his flow chart. Try these techniques to shave valuable time off your rapid e-Learning projects!
7 Time-Saving Tips for Snap! Empower:
- Easily drag-and-drop and resize Elements just using your cursor.
- Copy Elements to create multiple objects of the same shape, size and properties.
- Name Elements for a simple way to organize, find and work with all your elements.
- Quickly move a group of elements by drawing a box around the group with your cursor, select the group and move them to the desired location.
- Create one single element or object from multiple by drawing a box around the elements with your cursor, right click Grouping, and select Group.
- Perfectly align objects by drawing a box around the objects with your cursor, right click, and select Left, Center, Right, Top, Middle or Bottom.
- Save a Page to reuse the in the future by right-clicking on the Page, select Save Page to Library and then name however you choose. (You can now find it in the Snap! Empower Library.)
What a world of a difference it makes when you get a look inside others’ techniques, tips and processes for creating great Flash content. The best way to shave development times is to explore Snap! Empower and practice these great tips and others in your own rapid e-Learning courses. You’ll create one-of-a kind, interactive and engaging Flash animations in no time!
For more great Snap! Empower how-to videos, please visit: Tutorials for Flash.
Like uson Facebook
e-Learning Blog
Free Translation Tools for Global Rapid e-Learning
Take your rapid e-Learning presentations around the world with today’s fabulous, free Friday Find. In today’s global world, the need for bridging language gaps is bigger than ever. Use these free finds as a great starting point for creating fantastic presentations that will leave your audience wowed, no matter where they’re located. Here are two free tools that you can use to transform your fabulous rapid e-Learning content from one language to another:
FreeTranslation.com
Get up and running quickly with the easy translations provided by FreeTranslation.com. To translate content, simply enter it in to the textbox and then select the desired languages from the “From” and “To” languages dropdown menu. Hit “Translate” and voila – you’ll have your translated content instantaneously!
Google Translate
The straightforward layout of Google Translate makes it a breeze to use for translating content. Simply select the “From” and “To” languages that you want to translate between, type in your text in the text box and hit “Translate.” Google Translate also provides the option to “listen” to your translation by clicking on the small speaker icon in the right hand corner of the screen. In seconds you’ll have the content you need to make your presentation a smash!
FreeTranslation.com and Google Translate are fantastic resources for quick and easy translations to make your rapid e-Learning presentations work double time. For full, comprehensive training initiatives, be sure to check out professional, fully qualified translation services to ensure that your training is in tip top shape.
This week’s Friday Fan is a bona fide e-Learning rockstar who knows that Snap! EmpowerTM packs a big punch with a tiny price tag:
Patti Shank PhD CPT @pattishank: Testing Snap! Empower and it's pretty amazing. #elearning
Thanks for the kind words, Patti!
Add your fantastic and free translations to your Snap! by Lectora® and Snap! Empower presentations to take your content around the world. Haven’t tried out this dynamic duo yet? Download a free 30-day trial of Snap! by Lectora rapid e-Learning software and Snap! Empower Flash interactions builder today!
|
Molly Horn is a Content Evangelist at Trivantis Corporation. She graduated from University of Cincinnati with a degree in Communication and focus in Public Relations. |
e-Learning Blog
Use Global Elements to Save Time with Snap! Empower
Snap! Empower™ already saves you time, making it super simple to create professional and polished Flash animations. In this blog, we’re sharing how you can save yourself even more time, by using the Global Elements tab to set specific options to be consistent throughout your entire Flash masterpiece. Prepare to be blown away.
Applying Global Elements to your project is a great way to save you time in the long run. Global Elements can be used for items or themes that you want to continue throughout your entire project, like your company’s logo or branding requirements. Instead of tediously setting the same options for each page, using the Global Elements lets you apply specific items to the entire project, including logos, navigation and background images.
Add a dose of professionalism to your next Flash animation project, and use the Global Elements setting – it’s easy! Here’s how:
- Select an element on the Page Editor (an image, text box, whatever!)
- Next, move to the Properties tab and check the Global checkbox
- Or, simply right-click on the element in the Page Editor and click Global from the flyout menu
Voila! Your desired element will now be applied to every page within your presentation – saving you time. Here are some good tips to keep in mind when using Global Elements:
- In the Page Elements tab, Global Elements are indicated by an icon so you can tell with just a glance what elements are a constant throughout the entire project
- Making a change to the Global Element will update the element anywhere it is located within a project
- To remove a Global Element, simply uncheck the checkbox from the Properties tab. You’ll then be prompted on whether you’d like to remove it from all of the pages, or just that specific page
Taking advantage of Global Elements in a Snap! Empower project proves why this Flash interactions builder is truly a snap. In one click you can ensure that your messaging, images and more stay consistent in just one step. Updating Global Elements is a breeze, too – Snap! Empower works hard to save you time.
Try out $99 Snap! Empower or Snap! by Lectora® rapid e-Learning software to see what all the buzz is about for yourself. Download your free 30-day trial to get started creating fantastic Flash masterpieces and fabulous PowerPoint presentations today.
|
Molly Horn is a Content Evangelist at Trivantis Corporation. She graduated from University of Cincinnati with a degree in Communication and focus in Public Relations. |
e-Learning Blog
Manage Project Properties and Page Elements to Maximize Snap! Empower Rapid e-Learning Software
Creating fun and engaging content is a snap with Snap! Empower™. The Flash interactions builder makes it super simple to produce high-quality, professional presentations quickly – but wouldn’t it be great to speed up the entire design process even more? We’re highlighting fantastic tips to help you get the most out of Snap! Empower Flash software – read on to learn how you can manage the project properties and adjust the page elements to make Snap! Empower really work for you while maximizing the effectiveness of your next project.
Manage Project Properties
Take advantage of the Properties tab to customize a variety of settings for your project, including:
- Tailor the presentation page size to fit your specific needs, or choose from common preset dimensions
- Adjust playback options, including Auto Start and Loop Project options
- Save time and choose a background image or color to apply universally to the project
- Add music from an existing folder that will play no matter what page the learner is on
You can access the project properties quickly by clicking on the View menu and selecting Project Properties or by opening the Properties tab and clicking in the empty area of the Project Map. It’s that easy! Check out the video below to learn more about putting Project Properties to work for you.
Adjust Page Elements
Once you drag components onto the Page Editor, they become Page Elements that you can easily modify to suit your individual needs. Customizing Page Elements is super easy, just click on the Page Elements tab to see every element included on the page. Once you have the Page Elements tab open, you can set a variety of options, including:
- Multiple sorting options, including alphabetical or chronological order
- Lock or unlock certain aspects of a project by clicking on the padlock icon
- Show and hide elements on the Page Editor by clicking on the eye icon
- Easily edit the text, shapes and more of specific elements by clicking on the horizontal bar to expand
- Apply the lock/unlock, show/hide, expand/collapse settings to the entire list by selecting the “All” checkbox at the top of the tab
Taking advantage of the Project Properties and Page Elements tabs are just two ways that you can customize your next Flash animation masterpiece. Snap! Empower gives you the control to individualize your next rapid e-Learning project by making it a breeze to change settings. Check out more incredibly informative tutorials for Flash videos to really get to know the astounding capabilities of $99 Snap! Empower.
Haven’t had a chance to try out the dynamic duo of Snap! Empower or Snap! by Lectora® rapid e-Learning software yet? Give them a spin with your free 30-day trial – you’ll be amazed by the quality and professionalism produced for a $99 investment!
|
Molly Horn is a Content Evangelist at Trivantis Corporation. She graduated from University of Cincinnati with a degree in Communication and focus in Public Relations. |
