Instructional Designers usually receive content in "raw" form from SMEs that needs to be nurtured into good instructional content. Usually I advocate that shorter is better, less is more, etc., but sometimes it helps to flesh things out a little bit to make the content come alive. One way to enhance a dry scenario description is to turn it into a little play. If you only have budget for a single narrator though, you can write it in novella format and have the narrator tell a story. Here's how it could work. The following three examples are based on actual Workplace Harassment court cases. MORE >>

I've been seeing this a lot lately. Not that the confusion is surprising. After all, Adobe Presenter and Articulate Presenter are both plugins to PowerPoint that convert presentations to SCORM-compliant SWF eLearning modules. Adobe Presenter ([link] includes a Quiz Manager, whereas Articulate Presenter does not include quizzes. However, you can buy Articulate Studio ([link] which bundles Articulate Presenter with Articulate Quizmaker, thus giving you similar features for more money (and arguably better all around). For high-end results, upgrade to Articulate Studio Pro and add Engage. MORE >>

At Amadeus, we were encouraged to replace the word "but" with the word "and" in our writing, especially in professional communications. This is not always easy to remember or accomplish! recently had the opportunity to explain the concept to a friend who has been sending out requests for informational interviews: Starting your letter with "I am not looking for a job from you, but." says the opposite of your intent. I guarantee people will not hear what comes after the BUT. Consider softening that statement and putting it later. No BUTs! MORE >>

Web 2.0, Learning 2.0, blogs, forums, wikis, etc. There's a lot of hype, but also a lot of potential value. However, there's also a lot of risk and hidden costs, especially if your organization has strict guidelines about what content is allowed on its information systems. In addition to planning and setting up the technology, not to mention marketing it, you'll have to devote a considerable amount of resources to forum moderations, blog comment reviews, etc. And you'll want to draft guidelines and train people to follow them. People thought if you built it, then you were done. MORE >>

Blogging is kind of about Ego (let's face it). Instructional Design is sort of the Super-Ego of Learning. And we should strive to put more Id in our ID. This means stories, games, humor -- the stuff of life. Because learning is a non-stop part of life. And in eLearning in particular, the human guide disappears to be replaced by the learner's personal relationship with -- the computer. Do you like your personal relationships to be dry and stiff? No, you probably swap stories, play games, and share jokes. That's probably what learners do online for the most part anyway. My pledge to you.) MORE >>