Or, Do It My Way…

With apologies to Frank Sinatra, then there’s my way of organizing and managing e-learning project files. The “system” I use I borrowed from my early Web site design days. Our Adobe Dreamweaver and Flash instructor showed us a system that works well for both individual designers and those who work on multiple projects shared by several designers. See my screen shot below:

On my local drive (my C: or hard drive), I have a directory, or folder, named “Articulate Presenter”. Inside that folder I file all of my Articulate e-learning project files. In the image to the right, “00ProjectFolders” I keep as a template for future projects. I simply copy that folder and paste it with a new name, such as, “ACME New Hire Orientation”. That folder is the main project folder, and it contains lots of subdirectories (subfolders) inside. Those subfolders contain the precious assets for my projects. They are:

ACME New Hire Orientation (example project name)

• Assets
• Engage
• PPT
• Published Output
• Quizzes

The “Assets” folder really helps me keep things straight, and is organized this way:

Assets (folder)

• audio
  • music
  • vo (for voice overs/narration)
• docs (for PDFs and Word files)
• img
• swf (for Flash *.SWF files)
• video (FLVs, MP4s)

I know I’ve described this structure quickly. So, if you have questions about how I organize and manage my e-learning project files, please send me an e-mail message.

And, help us all to learn more as well. Please share your ideas in the Comments below, and be sure to visit Tom’s blog and add your 2 cents there.

This year, I finally submitted an entry to the Guru Awards. I’ve been using Articulate’s suite of e-learning software since early 2007. I’ve sat on the sidelines and watched as previous entries earned an honorable mention as well as those who win the top three awards each year.

However, as I submitted my entry, I knew in my heart that others would have more bells and whistles, more whiz-bangs, more wow-factor than the project I submitted. And yet, that didn’t bother me because I submitted an entry for a particular reason. (See my entry at the end of this post.)

LINGOs and the e-Learning Community

Earlier this year, through The eLearning Guild, I learned about LINGOs. The Guild and LINGOs promoted the first-annual Global Giveback Contest. They challenged e-learning instructional designers and developers to donate time and talents to help Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) with their online learning initiatives. (Tom Kuhlmann and David Anderson of Articulate also created a course through LINGOs.)

Mauricio Gutierrez - Click to view LinkedIn Profile

Mauricio Gutierrez, Leadership Development at World Vision International (WVI), had listed a project request for designing and developing an online orientation for World Vision International’s Global Leader Orientation (GLO) program.

I partnered with Mauricio, and over a couple of months, we created a brief and fairly simple Orientation, or overview, of WVI’s eCampus, its online learning activities, and the three phases of the GLO program.

About the Course

The learner audience consists of newly hired and existing WVI leadership staff. And, many of these staff members work in very remote locations in countries with limited Internet access. Bandwidth, a key issue, played a huge role in the course’s simple design. In addition, WVI’s standard PowerPoint template provided the required framework for our design elements.

Mauricio wanted the course to tell the GLO story, so I created a basic look-and-feel of an open book for most of the screens. The Engage Flipbook interaction didn’t provide the screen real estate we needed, so I used an image of an open book from my image library.

As the learners “turn” each “page” of the story, they discover more about the three phases of the GLO program.

Oh, and Mauricio had previewed some of my voice over demo reels, and he asked me to record, edit, and produce the audio narration for the course. As Murphy’s Law would have it, I was scheduled to record the narration the day after I was down three days with an nasty, summer flu bug. The show must go on, and it did.

How We Worked

Mauricio and I both have Skype accounts, and we communicated constantly either via Chat or Skype voice calls. We also used email messages, my DropBox account, and WVI’s CMS for larger messages, the transfer of files, and communication with Mauricio’s colleagues in Australia and other countries.

We also began with a written storyboard in Microsoft Word so we could establish and refine the design with his colleagues in other countries before I began the rapid development of the course itself.

Mauricio was great to work with! And, in June, we met in person at The Guild’s mobile learning conference, mLearnCon, in San Diego, California.

Conclusion

When I think about the GLO program, and the WVI staff members in remote locations around the world who may view this Orientation, I feel connected to a larger purpose, one far beyond my own client work and my billable projects.

I submitted my Guru Awards entry for two reasons: (1) to thank Mauricio and World Vision International for the privilege of assisting them with their initiatives, and (2) to encourage my e-learning colleagues to visit the LINGOs site and then do the same for another NGO. I hope they don’t wait for another Global Giveback Contest. NGOs are waiting for help now, and people can begin at any time.

Click to view the course.

And now, the course! Just click the image on the left, or this link:

http://www.ridgeviewmedia.com/WorldVision/player.html

This week, I found an iPad app that, for me, demonstrates the amazing benefits that tablet devices will bring to society. When I saw this free app, I had to write a review.

PhraseBoard: iPad Medical Application

Imagine you’re in a hospital bed, or you’ve been in an accident, or a natural disaster. You’re unable to speak, yet you need to communicate with those around you: nurses, doctors, emergency personnel, etc. If the person attending you has PhraseBoard (currently, only for the iPad), you can use the touch screen to indicate your basic needs:

• Answer “yes” or “no” to questions
• Indicate your pain level and location, if any
• Point to specific answers to specific questions

PhraseBoard also has a Custom feature that allows the device owner to enter and save phrases geared toward specific needs, such as “I need to see a … [add religious advisor or Chaplain]“, or, “I need a pepperoni pizza, NOW!” (That one is on my PhraseBoard.)

Video Demo of PhraseBoard

I’m not a videographer, but as a rank amateur armed with my Nikon CoolPix, I created a brief demo so you could see PhraseBoard in action….

PhraseBoard iPad App from JeniseCook on Vimeo.

Developer’s iPad App Web Site

http://www.eamonnandian.com/index.php

Visit their site to learn a bit more about PhraseBoard. Remember, PhraseBoard is free.

Spread the word!

And, I want to add my voice to the blog carnival to say that we –dear colleagues– need to close that gap. I try on as many occasions as I can. If I’m offered $25 or $35 an hour for instructional design work, I refer that potential client to someone else. I have also found that the clients who pay me the best and honor my rates are women-owned businesses.

This first of several charts in the report gives you a sense of the survey results. Click the image to enlarge it. If you’re a woman, don’t just sit there: Know what your skills and experience are worth and pursue that dollar amount.

This post is part of a blog carnival on the subject of the gender salary gap. Read more from Kelly Garber: Shark Attacks and Salary Reports, Julie Dirksen: Ranting on the Gender Pay Gap in E-Learning, Cammy Bean: The eLearning Salary Gender Gap, and Janet Clarey: The Salary Gap in the US eLearning Industry.

Have something to say on the subject?  Join the ride and contribute with your own rant, er post.  Then share a link to your post in the comments on one of our blogs.

My Blog Posts about mLearnCon 2010

On Twitter: @jenisecook

June 14-17, 2010, in gorgeous San Diego, California, The eLearning Guild hosted and facilitated their first annual conference on mobile learning, or mLearnCon. I registered to attend several seminars, plus a full-day workshop on Monday, “Think Different: Getting Your Mind Around mLearning Design”, facilitated by Dr. Clark Quinn, @Quinnovator on Twitter.

The week was filled with exciting seminars. If you attend mLearnCon in 2011, I strongly suggest you go with several colleagues, schedule seminars in advance, and then share notes. I made some hard choices that week on which seminars to attend…there were many good ones available.

Everyone felt that we are at the point of seeing mlearning take off exponentially in the next few months and years, and yet, there are many issues to discuss and resolve…particularly how to track and report mlearning in the various Learning Management Systems (LMSs), and data security issues.

For your enjoyment, here’s a list of my mLearnCon 2010 posts:

1) Bill Brandon’s Recap: First Annual mLearnCon

On Twitter: @billbrandon

http://ridgeviewmedia.com/blog/2010/07/mlearncon-2010-recap-the-elearning-guild/

2) B.J. Schone: 20 mLearning Tools in 60 Minutes

On Twitter: @bjschone

http://ridgeviewmedia.com/blog/2010/07/mlearncon-2010-b-j-schone-20-mlearning-tools/

3) Joe Welinske: iPad Panel – iPad App Resources

On Twitter: @jwelinske

http://ridgeviewmedia.com/blog/2010/07/mlearncon-2010-ipad-joe-welinske-resources/

4) Featured Panel Discussion on the Apple iPad

http://ridgeviewmedia.com/blog/2010/07/mlearncon-2010-ipad-panel/

5) Patti Shank: Your First mLearning Initiatives

http://ridgeviewmedia.com/blog/2010/07/mlearncon-2010-patti-shank-mlearning-initiatives/

6) Tomi Ahonen: Keynote – Mobile in Learning

On Twitter: @tomiahonen

http://ridgeviewmedia.com/blog/2010/07/mlearncon-2010-tomi-ahonen-mobile-in-learning/

7) Qualcomm’s Mobile Learning Journey

http://ridgeviewmedia.com/blog/2010/07/mlearncon-2010-qualcomm-mlearning-journey/

8] Richard Clark: Surviving without Flash

On Twitter: @rdclark

http://ridgeviewmedia.com/blog/2010/06/mlearncon-2010-richard-clark-surviving-without-flash/

9) Mimi Ito: Keynote – What the User Wants in mLearning

http://ridgeviewmedia.com/blog/2010/06/mlearncon-2010-dr-mimi-ito-what-user-wants-mlearning/

On a Personal Note…

On Monday afternoon, while in Dr. Clark Quinn’s workshop, my husband texted me some very sad news. His mom died that day. My mother-in-law Donna had suffered a long, hard battle against lung cancer, won the battle, but had lost to COPD. We knew we’d have her for this year only, but her death came sooner than we expected and it was a shock.

I notified members of The Guild, drove home (we live near San Diego), and was able to return to the conference on Tuesday and forward at my husband’s urging Monday evening. His mom had made advanced preparations and arrangements, so we had no tasks to attend to that week.

The eLearning Guild staff not only host amazing conferences, they also, during very hectic conference days, take time to be human. I cannot express enough thanks to those staff members who reached out to me for a few minutes with their kindness and compassion. I specifically want to call out Brent Schlenker, whose concern and thoughtful words meant more to me than I can ever express.

Thank you, eLearning Guild.

The American Cancer Society helped Donna through some very hard times. If you can, help me pay it forward through donations of either time or finances. Thank you.