Showcase - Tips and resources

Here is a selection of handy tips and resources for elearning content developers

Where to start

Instructional Design

Video resources

PowerPoint Resources


Do you have some public domain resources that you are willing to contribute to the eLearning author community ?

Please email us with your resource(s) and we would be pleased to include them here.

Where to start

Australian Flexible Learning Framework

The Australian Flexible Learning Framework site contains a wealth of information on how to justify, design, funding options and execute an elearning strategy in your organisation. The site also contains a range of excellent resources and contact information, and an excellent Practical Guide to eLearning for industry.

834 Tips for Successful Online Instructionk

A Digital Book, 834 Tips for Successful Online Instruction is a collection of tips compiled by 336 of your professional colleagues. Nowhere will you find a more comprehensive set of tips that you can use to improve your knowledge and skills in online instruction. This eBook is available for everyone regardless of their affiliation with The eLearning Guild

This FREE Digital Book was made possible by a generous contribution to its development from WebEx Communications.

This information originally provided by LearnScope SA

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Instructional Design

What is Instructional Design ?

Wikepedia says: Instructional design is the practice of arranging media to help learners and teachers transfer knowledge most effectively. The process consists broadly of determining the current state of learner understanding, defining the end goal of instruction, and creating some media-based "intervention" to assist in the transition. Ideally the process is informed by pedagogically tested theories of learning and may take place in student-only, teacher-led or community-based settings. The outcome of this instruction may be directly observable and scientifically measured or completely hidden and assumed.

The Training Foundation

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Video Resources

Tips on shooting good video

Digital video formats

A fundamental decision for the content creator is to determine the most appropriate digital video file format. This decision will be influences by a range of criteria typically:

  • Desired video quality
  • Image size
  • Available Bandwidth
  • File size considerations
  • Support for the digital video format on the destination systems
  • Organisational standards and/or preferences

The following information sourced from Wikipedia describes typical digital video formats

Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)

The Moving Picture Experts Group or MPEG is a working group of ISO/IEC charged with the development of video and audio encoding standards. Its first meeting was in 1988 in Hanover. As of late 2005, MPEG has grown to include approximately 350 members from various industries and universities. MPEG's official designation is ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29 WG11.

MPEG (pronounced EM-peg) has standardized the following compression formats and ancillary standards:

  • MPEG-1: Initial video and audio compression standard. Later used as the standard for Video CD, and includes the popular Layer 3 (MP3) audio compression format.
  • MPEG-2: Transport, video and audio standards for broadcast-quality television. Used for over-the-air digital television ATSC, DVB and ISDB, digital satellite TV services like DirecTV, digital cable television signals, and (with slight modifications) for DVD video discs.
  • MPEG-3: Originally designed for HDTV, but abandoned when it was discovered that MPEG-2 was sufficient for HDTV.
  • MPEG-4: Expands MPEG-1 to support video/audio "objects", 3D content, low bitrate encoding and support for Digital Rights Management. Several new (newer than MPEG-2 Video) higher efficiency video standards are included (an alternative to MPEG-2 Video), notably, Advanced Simple Profile and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC.
  • MPEG-7: A formal system for describing multimedia content.
  • MPEG-21: MPEG describes this future standard as a multimedia framework.

Source: Wikipedia

Windows Media Video (WMV)

Windows Media Video (WMV) is a generic name for the set of Wikipedia link streaming video technologies developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Windows Media framework. WMV is not built solely on Microsoft in-house technology. From version 7 (WMV1), Microsoft has used its own non-standard version of MPEG-4 Part 2. The video stream is often combined with an audio stream of Windows Media Audio. WMV files are played by players such as MPlayer or Windows Media Player, the later being only available for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh systems. Many third-party players exist for various platforms such as Linux that use the FFmpeg implementation of the WMV codecs. Raw WMV video is packed into an AVI or Advanced Streaming Format (ASF) container. The resulting files may be named .avi if it is an AVI-contained file, or .wmv or .asf if it is an ASF file, but .wmv files are to be ASF files with audio/video content only. WMV is found in the AVI file container when encoded with Microsoft's proprietory Windows Media Video 9 VCM software for Windows. Microsoft's Windows Media Player for the Mac does not support all WMV encoded files since it supports only the ASF file container. WMV includes certain controversial digital rights management facilities.

Source: Wikipedia

Audio Video Interleave (AVI)

AVI, an acronym for Audio Video Interleave, is a multimedia container format introduced by Microsoft in November 1992, as part of the Video for Windows technology. AVI files contain both audio and video data in a standard container that allows simultaneous playback. Most AVI files also use the file format extensions developed by the Matrox OpenDML group in February 1996. These files are supported by Microsoft, and are known unofficially as "AVI 2.0". It is a special case of the Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF), which divides the file's data up into data blocks called "chunks". Each "chunk" is identified by a FourCC tag. An AVI file takes the form of a single chunk in an RIFF formatted file, which is then subdivided into two mandatory "chunks" and one optional "chunk".

Source: Wikipedia

Video Software

  • Windows Movie Maker *free download*
    Windows Movie Maker 2.1 makes home movies amazingly fun. With Movie Maker 2.1, you can create, edit, and share your home movies right on your computer. Build your movie with a few simple drag-and-drops. Delete bad shots and include only the best scenes. www.atomiclearning.com/moviemaker2 A tutorial series on Movie Maker using short videos with voiceover. Well worth a look !
  • Windows Media Encoder *free download*
    Windows Media Encoder 9 Series is a powerful tool for content producers who want to capture audio and video content using the many innovations in Windows Media 9 Series including high-quality multi-channel sound, high-definition video quality, support for mixed-mode voice and music content, and more.

Video Sources

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PowerPoint Resources

Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program developed for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS computer operating systems. Being widely used by businesspeople, educators, and trainers, it is among the most prevalent forms of persuasion technology: according to its vendor, Microsoft Corporation, some 30 million presentations are made with PowerPoint every day.

Source: Wikipedia

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