EDITOR'S NOTE:

New Beginnings

Once again Easter is upon us and the stores are overflowing with an assortment of delicious chocolates to ruin your diet (and resolve to abstain).

If you're a parent, you are probably looking forward to hiding Easter Eggs for your children to find on Easter morning while their adoring grandparents take photos. The pleasure you get from seeing the excitement on their little faces somehow gets you through the "sugar high" effects you have to deal with later on in the day. For the children, this is a time to cash in on candy and maybe even receive a pet bunny or little chicks. For the retailers, it means sales. For those with a strong religious faith, it is a sacred time that celebrates the ressurrection of Christ and is associated with many rites and rituals. One observed holiday - "Easter" - many different responses. Why?

The answer is we all see things from our own perspective - within our own context, we give it meaning. In this month's Feature Article we will be discussing how this truth must be taken into account when designing effective courses. Is context important and how do you stimulate and challenge those learners who think they already "know it all"? What can you do to create meaning for the learner? A well designed course will address these issues from the outset. Discover how you can use them to your advantage.

Whatever Easter means to you, I think we can all agree that it is a time to celebrate new life; Spring; a new beginning. If you are one of the fortunate ones who are able to take a vacation during this time, then relax and enjoy the break; but if you just happen to think about work while you're away, then think about new ideas you can use to add spark and life to your course design.

Happy Easter and Happy Spring.

Laureen

EXPERT'S CORNER:

Working with basic screens:
Here is a new set of Udututorials that deal with Assessments and Quizzes. Each one is designed as a quick "POP Feature" approximately 1 minute long. No frills, just the facts.

Udututorial 12 - Overview of Assessment Templates
Udututorial 13 - Create a quiz using a Multiple Choice template
Udututorial 14 - Create a quiz using the Labels and Images template
Udututorial 15 - Create a quiz using the Order The Steps template

TIPS, TECHIQUES AND IDEAS:

"Nice to Know"

• When creating audio files to use in myUdutu, ensure you leave a couple of seconds blank space before it starts playing. This will ensure that the audio won't be cut off as the learner screen is loading the first time.
  
  
• Did you know that you can customize the learner interface? Change the colour, upload your logo, change the size, colour and style of the font. You can even change the navigation buttons as well as where they will display on the screen. We have designed a complete tutorial covering this topic. Take a look.
  
  
• If you are working with Camtasia files, ensure you break your captures into short, bite sized chunks. This will ensure they load quickly in myUdutu.
  
  
• If you know how to convert movies to FLV files, you can do so before uploading them in myUdutu. This will save time as raw video files are generally very large and can take longer to upload.

FEATURED ARTICLE:

4 Steps To Successful Course Design

In last month's Newsletter, we gave a brief outline of four basic design aspects to consider when creating your course. They were the "4 Ms of Course Design". Make it Meaningful, Memorable, Motivational and Measurable.

In this issue we will explore the first aspect - Meaningful - in more depth. There are four steps to consider in order to make a course meaningful for the learner:

Read more ...

RAVE REVIEWS:
AG Inegrated Courseware (AGIC).
By Gerry Beltgens, President
Tel: 604-952-5546 Email: gerryb@agcourseware.co

"I initially met Roger when our company tendered an RFP for upgrades to the training system for the Canadian Home Builders Association of BC. Roger and Udutu submitted a proposal that was by far the most innovative of the responses that we received. We contacted several of his references and were very pleased with the response.

Even before it was decided to use Roger's company, he was very willing to spend hours reviewing CHBA BC's needs and made many recommendations that made the project better and more cost effective. The project is now proceeding and CHBA BC will continue to build their new training programs on the Udutu platform quite a while to come.

We were so pleased with the relationship that my company (AGIC) has since decided to enter into a strategic working relationship with Udutu, providing courseware design, consulting and support for our clients using Udutu's development tools. We have not regretted that decision. The technology and support have been excellent. We look forward to long and mutually beneficial relationship."