Using video for eLearning is here to stay. But it’s almost impossible to answer fundamental questions about whether or not your training video is reaching its goals. In many cases, you don’t even know if the viewer is still in the same room after they’ve clicked play.

In this revealing and interactive session, you will learn practical tips and tricks to produce interactive training and eLearning videos. You will explore real-world examples of how corporations and other large organizations are using video combined with seamless interactivity to provide traditional training and on-demand performance support. You will learn secrets to share with your colleagues and staff on how you can transform existing training and eLearning videos into learning workhorses and how to give your learners access to the information that matters most at just the right moment leaving them energized, empowered, and ready for the task at hand.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to produce video with interactivity in mind
• How to enhance memory retention and behavior change with video
• The three secrets to interactive-video success
• The must-have tools for interactivity
• Interactive videos that worked

Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers, project managers, managers, and directors who have used video to try to meet learning objectives or managed others who have done so.

Technology discussed in this session:
YouTube Annotations, Interlude, HapYak Interactive Video, Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, and various video-hosting solutions.

You’ve created a video, and visually it looks great. At the same time, something about it feels flat to you. You’ve shared the video with others and it seems sort of flat to them as well. The problem is often not with the visuals; it’s with the audio. Video often needs more than just voices to be engaging.

In this session, you’ll explore how to build a memorable soundtrack for your eLearning programs. You will discover how a soundtrack can take videos to new heights and facilitate higher levels of understanding among viewers. You will examine a number of techniques that eLearning developers can leverage to create soundtracks for learning programs. You will leave this session understanding the value a soundtrack can add to eLearning, and tips for how you can build one yourself.

In this session, you will learn:

• Why you need to think beyond the sound your voiceover is making
• When music can enhance and when it can detract from your training
• What makes a good soundtrack and how to form it
• How to do multi-track mixing and mix-down for your training video
• How easy it is to imagine great sound and create it
• Where to get sound effects (SFX) and how to integrate them into your eLearning video soundtrack

Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers, developers, project managers, and managers.

Video will become increasingly important as a method of imparting knowledge as our populace transitions from a linear written-word culture to a global and visual culture. Many instructional designers and developers would like to implement “how-to” videos in their programs but do not know how to go about it. Practitioners are unable to leverage the power of video instruction into their presentations and eLearning projects.

In this session you will explore the practical problems associated with incorporating video in eLearning. You will discuss utilizing both desktop and camcorder video regarding content, planning, size, format, streaming solutions, and accessibility from a learning management system. You will examine the challenges of transitioning from a linear- and text-based information structure to a mainly non-structured visual knowledge culture. You will leave this session equipped with the knowledge to record and produce appropriate videos for your eLearning projects.

In this session, you will learn:

• The value of video learning in instructional design
• From practical examples of video-based eLearning
• How to leverage video in eLearning with common tools
• The steps required to create a short video and import it into Storyline

Audience:
Novice designers, developers, and project managers with basic instructional design, eLearning development, and computer software skill and knowledge.

Technology discussed in this session:
Microsoft Windows, Office, Articulate Studio, Camtasia Studio, Adobe Captivate, microphone, video camcorder, and associated editing software.

Participant technology requirements:
Laptop computer, Camtasia Studio (evaluation copy available), and Articulate Storyline (evaluation copy available).

Rapid instructional development tools provide us with the ability to add narration and text-to-speech to eLearning courses, but many instructional designers aren’t using the audio medium to its full potential. Bringing quality audio design together with engaging stories can transform a click-and-read presentation into an immersive experience.

In this session participants will learn how to produce high quality audio for eLearning projects and how to combine this audio with storytelling techniques to create engaging eLearning experiences. You’ll explore inspirational examples from video games and radio that are directly applicable to eLearning. You’ll examine the equipment required and learn the basics of how to use Audacity, a free  open-source program, to record and optimize content. You’ll also explore strategies for recording and manipulating audio in order to tell better and more engaging stories.

In this session, you will learn:

• How easy and cheap it is to create high quality audio
• Examples of combining audio and storytelling to create powerful experiences
• How to choose a microphone that suits your needs
• How to use Audacity to record, manipulate, and optimize audio for eLearning
• Basic guidelines for writing engaging narrative
• How to use and manipulate audio in the service of that narrative

Audience:
Novice designers and developers with basic knowledge and experience using rapid instructional development tools.

Technology discussed in this session:
Video games, Audacity, basic microphone equipment.

Participant technology requirements:
Have Audacity installed and bring earbuds or headphones to the session if you plan on following along.

Currently, a lot of eLearning can be defined as a high-level PowerPoint presentation that includes animated text, images, and narration. The problem is that this type of eLearning doesn’t grab and hold the learner’s attention. Many times the learner can’t relate to what is being presented to them, or understand how they can apply it to future situations.

In this session you will learn how to address the boring-eLearning issue by introducing story-based animated eLearning. You will explore how to transform a traditional eLearning course into an effective scenario-based animated story that learners can relate to and most importantly learn from. You will examine a current traditional course and see how you can convert each phase into an animated problem-based scenario. You will leave this session able to identify and create stimulating eLearning content.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to translate bulleted text into a scenario-based story
• How to develop effective storyboards to support video production
• How to produce high-quality audio narration
• How to develop a scenario-based GoAnimate video
• How to effectively insert a video into Articulate Storyline

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and managers.

Your course looks fantastic, but how does it sound? Learning is most effective when it takes advantage of both audio and visual pathways into the brain. Adding quality voiceovers to your eLearning program can greatly enhance knowledge transfer. But hiring professional voiceover talent can be expensive, and subject-matter experts may not always be available. That leaves just one person: you!

In this interactive and engaging session, you will learn what to do once you receive an eLearning script. You will receive a small portion of a script on which to practice mark-up techniques. You will make minor modifications to the script to make it as natural as possible to read. You will also learn which words or phrases to emphasize to match the instructional content, and to clarify any issues with the SME or content provider. You will explore four simple audio editing techniques for reducing background noise, improving the quality of the narration, removing unwanted portions of the audio, and optimizing the audio for playback. Participants will also learn how to set up an inexpensive recording studio to further improve the quality of voiceovers.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to review, prepare, and modify a voiceover script to ensure narration quality while maintaining instructional integrity
• Techniques you can immediately use to sound your best during the recording phase
• Four easy steps to enhance the quality of your narration and remove unwanted sounds and noise with audio editing software
• How to optimize your audio for playback and make post-production changes
• How to create a very inexpensive recording studio

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, and project managers with an elementary knowledge of instructional design principles and the courseware development process.

Technology discussed in this session:
Adobe Audition or Audacity.

The heart of many eLearning solutions is a video presentation. A recorded lecture, voiceover PowerPoint, or training video transfers information in a scalable, anytime, anywhere manner. They are also often passive, isolating, and dull. Ruth’s Chris Steakhouses have over 500 hosts working in almost a hundred restaurants around the world. How do you teach such a disbursed group the meaning of hospitality that makes the Ruth’s Chris experience unique? Training videos were not working.

In this session participants will explore a case study showcasing an instructional method that flips the use of traditional talking head training videos. You will learn how this method, based on research funded by the National Science Foundation, asks learners to record themselves roleplaying a response to a typical scenario. You will discuss how learners then review a sample of their peer’s submissions, and only then are they shown the training video. You will discover that when watched after the self-practice and peer review steps, the training video is significantly more engaging for the learner who is now primed to engage with its content.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to deliver asynchronous roleplay exercises
• How to turn training videos into active learning
• How to share best practices among a disbursed group of learners
• How to motivate learning in a large, distributed group

Audience:
Intermediate designers, developers, project managers, managers, and directors with a basic understanding of eLearning design and some experience crafting roleplay exercises.

Technology discussed in this session:
ApprenNet.