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Thursday, November 29, 2007

Facebook Alfresco Platform

Found via Publishing Enterprise Content To Facebook -

Alfresco - a content management system has provided hooks for it to be used to deliver content to Facebook users.



This model, where Facebook becomes a platform for application development has some really interesting aspects. However, the open aspect of OpenSocial likely will win out in the long run. Especially with some of the pain of developing Facebook apps.
Posted by at 6:48 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

eLearning Guild Research Reports

In my last post on Flash Quiz Tools, I mentioned how I had used the eLearning Guild Research to streamline my effort of find the right tools.

This post is probably long overdue, but the use of the data from the guild has been a really great resource and has lead to posts such as:
I personally get the most value by having direct data access to the reports. That way I can slice and dice the reports as I need. However, the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT:

The eLearningGuild recently announced that they would give copies of the PDF reports to all Associate Members (which is free with a profile completion). This level of membership also gives you several other nice things such as the eMag, access to data behind eLearning Buyers Guide, Training Modalities, the e-Learning Salary & Compensation Report, and the e-Learning Projects Database.

And, if I'm not mistaken this includes direct data access to the Tools Satisfaction data that I just used in my last post!

It's definitely worth the price, i.e., the time it takes to fill in the profile.

The PDF research reports include the following, but I believe that you also get access to some of the slightly older reports such as Informal Learning, Future Directions, Extended Enterprise, etc. You can click on the images to see more information about each report.

Immersive Learning Simulations
Learning Management Systems
Synchronous Learning Systems
Mobile Learning
Measurement
Posted by at 8:00 AM 1 comments

Flash Quiz Tools

Update June 2008 - added one free flash quiz tool based on a question I received. This tool is listed at the bottom.

A client wanted to create online quizzes that would live inside of a larger site. They didn't really need tracking of user responses, instead they wanted them to be fun. I suggested a couple of tools, but then wondered if I had given them the best list of tools.

So, the eLearningGuild research again to the rescue... Here's guild member satisfaction ratings for tools in the test / quiz category. Note: there are additional rating items such as would use again, vendor responsiveness, etc.



Note - the empty column now contains links to more information on the tools. So I could quickly gather specific data on the product. Unfortunately, it didn't tell me how they produced output and the desire was for self-contained Flash. But, I could quickly link to the sites to find out more and finally recommended that they should look at:

Articulate Quizmaker allows you to easily create Flash-based quizzes, surveys, and assessments. And, Quizmaker allows you to track your results with your standards based Learning Management System as Quizmaker output is SCORM and AICC compliant.

Adobe Captivate is the easiest way to create professional-quality, interactive simulations and software demonstrations in Adobe's Flash format. Without any programming or multimedia skills, users can automatically record onscreen actions, including editable mouse movements, text captions, and scored click boxes. Add e-learning interactions like data-entry fields and customizable quizzes.

Respondus StudyMate is a Windows authoring tool that lets you create numerous Flash-based activities and games using four simple templates. StudyMate provides an authoring environment that requires no experience with Flash programming, game design, or HTML. Questions and items can also be imported from MS Word, IMS QTI, Respondus, rich-text, and other formats. This makes it possible to create interesting, interactive activities from existing content. Other features include an Equation Editor, a spell checker, the ability to include image files and web links, and question/answer randomization. The Flash activities that can be created with StudyMate include: Fact Cards, Fact Cards Plus, Flash Cards, Fill In the Blank, Pick A Letter, Matching, Glossary, Crosswords, Quiz, and Challenge. It is also possible to generate three activities that can be used with iPods, PSP players and other portable devices.

OnDemand Presenter provides the ability to develop robust multi media content allowing you to easily incorporate both conceptual and transactional information into interactive presentations. Creates interactive questions and tests using 14 different question and survey types.

Rapid Intake Flashform Rapid eLearning Studio creates interactive Flash-based AICC or SCORM-conformant e-learning courseware. Quickly create Flash-based e-learning courses, quizzes, and tests. Add an integrated glossary - Add external audio, video, and images into the course content Flashform is customizeable and extensible by any knowledgeable Flash developer.

So, I had missed a couple that we've not used in the shop. And, I'm sure I'm missing others as well, but since these were at the top of the satisfaction list, I figure it's pretty reasonable.

New tool added June 2008 -

Class Marker - Free. Create multiple choice, true false, free text, short answer, fill in the blank and punctuation quizzes
Posted by at 6:25 AM 17 comments

Monday, November 26, 2007

Camtasia and SnagIt for Free

Found via Leonard Low.

TechSmith is giving away SnagIt and an older version of Camtasia Studio for Free.

SnagIt is a handy tool for capturing screen shots, especially portions of the screen. If you frequently do this (and then copy and paste into your graphics application to cut the portions you want), then go get this tool. It also gives you some nifty delivery options.

Click here to download SnagIt 7.2.5 (English)
Click here to download SnagIt 7.2.5 (German)
Click here to download SnagIt 7.2.5 (French)

Click here for a key to register SnagIt 7.2.5 demo as a fully licensed version.

Camtasia Studio is a great screen recording tool. It consistently gets pretty good satisfaction ratings. You are able to get a full, but older, Version 3.1.3 for free download.

Click here to download Camtasia Studio 3.1.3.

Click here to request a software key to register Camtasia Studio 3.1.3 as a fully licensed version.

Posted by at 3:51 PM 3 comments

Top eLearning Posts

Given the nomination, I'm not sure how much new traffic will come to check out this blog, but I know that it's always hard to come to a blog and get a sense of what the person talks about. This is the reason I created the First Time Visitor's Guide. However, it's been a while since I last updated this page.

Based on my Aha Moment - del.icio.us as Indicator of Valuable Content I've tried to go back and figure out what people were finding valuable.

I first took what I was getting from Google Analytics to see what was viewed over the past six months (approximately 125,000 page views in total). You'll notice that it skips from roughly 600 to 300 in the number of views. That's because I started including pages based on number of del.icio.us bookmarks. Roughly pages that were saved five or more times, I included. See another sort below...

Post Views Comments Bookmarks
18,308
247
6,890 16 152
4,337 11 35
2,345 17 67
1,988 6 40
1,820 9 24
1,724 2 11
1,655 6 98
1,503 0 1
1,500 22 52
1,368 1 22
1,206 17 21
1,199 3 23
1,155 8 6
1,147 2 28
1,140 9 43
972 1 6
967 0 1
959 38 16
949 1 1
911 10 20
880 2 5
847 7 3
837 4 11
832 4 10
814 8 5
754 3 40
702 5 25
701 6 13
667 5 1
602 2 20
298 15 8
276 5 5
237 5 12
180 2 5
109 1 15
107 4 8
106 1 12
57 9 9
51 2 5
46 4 6
31 0 5
19 5 7
16 2 6


Then I did it again, but this time sorted based on number of del.icio.us bookmarks:

Post Views Comments Bookmarks
18,308
247
6,890 16 152
1,655 6 98
2,345 17 67
1,500 22 52
1,140 9 43
1,988 6 40
754 3 40
4,337 11 35
1,147 2 28
702 5 25
1,820 9 24
1,199 3 23
1,368 1 22
1,206 17 21
911 10 20
602 2 20
959 38 16
109 1 15
701 6 13
237 5 12
106 1 12
1,724 2 11
837 4 11
832 4 10
57 9 9
298 15 8
107 4 8
19 5 7
1,155 8 6
972 1 6
46 4 6
16 2 6
880 2 5
814 8 5
276 5 5
180 2 5
51 2 5
31 0 5
847 7 3
1,503 0 1
967 0 1
949 1 1
667 5 1

In my mind, this second list order is a much more accurate representation of what's good to read on this blog.
Posted by at 9:14 AM 2 comments
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