Comments on: Why Dissecting an E-Learning Course Will Improve Your Skills

By: How Fonts Take a Starring Role in Your E-Learning Courses » The Rapid eLearning Blog

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:12:45 +0000

[...] designers and typographers. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, a great way to learn is by deconstructing and replicating the work of others. The same goes with analyzing good typography and design. Pay attention to how the [...]

By: Expert Academy

Expert Academy — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 11:52:10 +0000

I’m still amazed by what can be done with PowerPoint. It’s really a fantastic and often underrated tool.

By: Greg J

Greg J — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:56:49 +0000

The idea of breaking down an example and trying to replicate it in PowerPoint makes sense to me. I think I can learn from this. Does anyone have a list of “good” examples we could use?

I found one example that was well done on Global Warming, but I did not bookmark it and I cannot find it again. It had a cool page by page navigation tool in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. I was able to replicate the idea in PP 07. Wish I could find it again.

Collectively I am sure we could come up with a great list.

By: MaryLea

MaryLea — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:12:08 +0000

No offense but the frog demo, I could not even look at it…poor frog and do I really want to look at the inside of a frog (barf) but the PPT ungrouping and the tips that came with it are great I will put it into use as much as I can. Unfortunately I will be doing a lot of Demo screen shots of applications for the next 5 years…wish me luck!

By: tom

tom — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 16:51:18 +0000

@Jim: That’s a good question. My guess is that size does impact this. I’ve also noticed that the straight motion paths seem to render a smoother path than the hand drawn or curved paths.

By: Jim Dickeson

Jim Dickeson — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 05:39:58 +0000

Aha! I had worked out most of your animations and hyperlinks in my head. But the scalpel had me stumped. I thought, “Pretty complex motion paths.” They weren’t motion paths at all but a series of very fast “flash once” entrances, which, after all, is what an old celluloid movie is, and probably what a Powerpoint motion path really is too.

Any magician knows that there is no such thing as magic. Just illusions.

I’m inspired.

But I do have a question. Often my motion paths are jerky, not smooth like your pushpins. Can it be that my images are too large?

By: Patty J

Patty J — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:32:40 +0000

Tom,
You are my hero!

What you do with Articulate, PP, etc. is just jaw dropping and I am completely jealous that you can be and are so creative. Thank you for all of your excellent ideas that give me so many more ideas that my head hurts.

Where to begin!!!!!

By: Showing How Much You Can With PowerPoint, Part 2 | Workplace Learning Today

Showing How Much You Can With PowerPoint, Part 2 | Workplace Learning Today — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:00:46 +0000

[...] Tom Kuhlmann follows up his previous post about using PowerPoint for Flash-like animated e-learning. [...]

By: Kat

Kat — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:18:46 +0000

Tom, I thought this was a great post, and will be a useful resource. I have been telling my higher-ups for quite some time that I don’t necessarily have to know flash to still get some great results!

By: tom

tom — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:57:40 +0000

Mark also brings up a good point. There's a point where a rapid elearning solution isn't always the best for your project. That's why I use the hierarchy I mentioned in this post on saving time and money. Use the tools to sort your resources. Low hanging projects can be done rapidly and frees up your multimedia developers to work on the projects that need more customization. The only thing I'd add is that you want to get the most out of the tools which means that you can do more with less. As you can see with this post, you can stretch PowerPoint's capabilities and do something that might have required a Flash programmer in the past. Also, you'll see more hybrid development. For example, Engage is really easy to use. However someone with Flash skills can create custom interactions. So you get the best of both worlds. The easy development and customization within a template that already has the SCORM capabilities and infrastructure. If you use Engage, you can go to the community site and already download three new custom interactions: a stair, flash card, and flip book.