Finding Good Sources for Better Learning

I learned a little bit today about authoring tools that could substitute a cost effective training solution which are used by companies. There are actually good tools that are free on the net.

Besides Google Docs and other Google collaborative tools which I always depend on, there are actually a lot of other applications to around the net to improve my study through electronic learning. As a student, I really didn’t like studying alone before so I thought maybe I should find some people on the net that can help me or perhaps be my online co-learners. This is when I stumbled upon a lot of applications that I could use as back up in the lessons that the cost effective training solutions have been giving us, the employees.

Applications like Audacity and Talk Shoe are quite convenient to use. The fact is elearning authoring tools like these are hard to come by nowadays especially with a lot of learners thinking that they should just solely rely on their system. Many reviews and reports on electronic sites claim that using applications like Audacity, which its main feature is using podcasts for learning, and Talk Shoe, which uses an older approach to learning through a radio-inspired program, actually works good for general learners and also enhances learning for specific types of learners like the audio learner.

Another application which only a few people make use of is Dimdim. Youtube of course is the largest video site out there but Dimdim keeps everything on the learning side. This application is good for video conferences and actually outplays some of the big names in the internet like Yahoo, Google and Skype when it comes to hosting videos conferences. For learners who live far away from each other or from their online lecturer’s not only is Dimdim a good substitute for places like Skype but also a good and convenient way of learning through video and at least a lot easier to search in as compared to the video jungles of YouTube. I can say that I won’t even need to take those cost effective training solutions the company is force feeding the employees.

Generally when I get lost in lessons, there are sites like Wikispaces that I go to for a mini research on the lesson but then visiting forums and other online communities proved to be more useful in terms of gathered data. There are many other elearning authoring tools out there that may be useful to the type of course you have especially those which goes beyond words in order to study. Have you tried searching for it?

At the beginning, elearning software solutions were especially designed and created for learning institutions like schools and colleges. Throughout the years, educators have observed the evolution of students which gave rise to different and more complex needs. It was necessary for them to come up with a solution that keeps up with this change by combining learning and technology.


learning management system

Elearning is an ideal innovation, and educators were spot-on with the mash up of lessons with technology. Students, who are now stifled by a traditional classroom set up, and all its restrictions and limitations, are drawn to this new method which features a more customized, convenient, and easier learning experience. The increasingly more engaging courses appeal across generations and learning styles, making it the favorable option for acquiring new knowledge and skills.

Corporate training and your usual learning in school is not all that different, if you think about it. In a way, you simply take an academically prepared person into a work setting and enhance the knowledge and skills he or she already possesses. The development of a company’s workforce is a vital component of a successful business operations strategy because employees comprise the whole corporation. Each person should be an asset so as to provide the company with a stable base to take on the challenges and problems of their respective industries.

Old training methods were also done in a classroom setting, complete with lecturer, notes—the works. However, educational institutions aren’t the only ones equipping themselves for the more competitive market of today. Corporations have to join the bandwagon if they too want to succeed nowadays. This is why it is inevitable that various corporations have taken an interest in elearning software solutions. The more efficient, cost-effective and convenient learning delivery method contributes to improved business operations and more well-prepared employees.

Do Former Teachers Make Good Elearning Instructional Designers?

rickie fowler

As a successful instructional designer for elearning solutions (or at least I think I am successful enough since I’ve already made a steady and fruitful living out of this career), this question has been asked of me many, many times before. This is of course because I was a former teacher myself. I loved teaching even before I went full time. But of course, teaching was not as lucrative as I would have hoped.

I got into instructional design completely by accident or completely by a twist of fate. It was back when I got a freelance teaching gig at a business seminar that got me some connections which referred me to freelance instructional design gigs. I was successful at it and I found it to be very lucrative, so I went full time.

So what are the characteristics of a former school teacher that is applicable to an instructional designer? Everything. Instructional design for elearning solutions is basically just creating a program course that will help teach a lesson or a field. Therefore, the rules that determine whether the training or teaching method is effective or not are the same and applicable to both. This is why a lot of instructional designers started out as teachers. But of course, this is not an iron clad law. However, it is a trend.

There are some skills for instructional design however that you can’t learn as a teacher. Translating the teaching method into software frames for example is quite a challenge on its own. However, learning that while being unfamiliar with the software itself makes it nearly impossible. Hence, one thing that a teacher must have in order to be able to cross into an electronic learning career is familiarity and adequate or relative mastery of the software tools for e learning design.