The Adobe Learning Summit kicked off today, and if the measure of success is based on just a fraction of the wonderful people I met, spoke and shared dinner with tonight, well, it's going to be an amazing event. One, in fact, that won't soon be forgotten, and I couldn't be more honored to be playing a small role in it.

The line up of sessions is packed with exciting topics, offered by those who truly share a passion for Captivate, creativity, and earning those 'Ah-ha moments' from our learners and audience alike!

Stay tuned in the coming days for recaps and highlights from the Summit, and just maybe a bit of casino action!

When in Rome (I mean Vegas), right!?

Join me this September at the Adobe Learning Summit where we can talk about all things Learning and Development, with maybe a smidge of gaming elements that can impact your audience ;) See you there!

Hello, all. Just a quick one today. 

If you're a working professional and have never heard of Stephen Covey's 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People', please comment below with the location of the rock you've been living under for years. (just kidding!)

Otherwise, take a look at the quick video I made regarding his take on the quadrants of time. Feel free to use this video in your relevant training. All we ask is to be cited where the video is played.

For a copy of the real deal (in your choice of format), click HERE.

Enjoy! And go BE the YOND.

Hello, all! Just a quick note this time with some exciting news! eLearning Prose has been rebranded and has expanded!

We are proud to go live under our new brand, Training Outlaws!

Hello, all. I'm proud to announce that I've started a new podcast! And you guessed it, it's all about learning and development and everything that revolves around that industry. We'll talk about everything from traditional training methods to those that lay on the horizon.

Initially, it'll be focused on my time at the Training 2019 Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida. However, we'll extend the topics to run the gamut of all things we as trainers face on a daily basis.

But don't worry, this podcast won't be preachy, it'll address the practical things we need to do, fix, address, etc. in the widely unknown world of training.

So what are you waiting for? Feel the Learn. Because training, is a workout.

Listen to EPISODE 0 now.

Hello, all. Just a quick post to share some exciting news! I'll be speaking at the Training 2019 Conference & Expo in Orlando, Florida on February 27th!

If you'd like to attend, save $200 by using the code in the image below. See you there, I hope!

Until next time, Cadets. Go BE the YOND!

2: Simultaneous Webcam and Screen Recording – As my efforts continue to involve video software (Premiere Pro, Presenter, Camtasia, etc.), so too does the burden of exporting, rendering, and syncing assets to one another. I am very excited about this feature for its ability to help streamline media-rich projects, which in our world makes a drastic impact on ROI. A few additional feature notes are detailed below:

• One file, as opposed to separate audio and video files
• Audio and video are automatically synced on the timeline
• No external resources are needed
• Will help to reduce project size having audio, video, and screen captured as one.
• NOTE: Notice the YouTube tab, thus confirming there was no PhotoShop magic tricks. This process was incredibly easy, and with a little practice I’ll be quite polished at this. And by the way..."I'm on a boat!"

3: Interactive Videos (Enhancement) – While the interactive video feature is not new, the folks at Adobe have added a couple rather impressive tools to the existing feature. See the bullets below for an overview.

• Overlay slides allow designers to ‘layer’ an entire slide over the existing video to further reiterate a point, to add interactivity, or to merely help break the video up a bit and keep learners engaged.
• Bookmarks can now be added to videos directly in the timeline, and are independent. That is, they are not reliant on any overlay slides that are preexisting in the project.
• A new action has been added that allows for the incredibly robust manipulation of the timeline. After adding one or more bookmarks, create a button and choose ‘Jump to Bookmark’ to see it in…action! 😂

In summary, Captivate 2019 is a must get for the modern trainer, instructional designer, and beyond!

​Until next time, Cadets! Go be the YOND!

​Hello, everyone!  Today, I want to share a link to something pretty exciting to me - a podcast that I was interviewed on!

Several months ago, I discovered the Roundabout: Creative Chaos podcast that is created by, for, and with, creative folks ranging from professional artists to humble authors (guilty as charged), and everything in between. As I listened to episode after episode, I began to realize that there are countless people out there whose lives heavily revolve around being creative, professionals and hobbyists alike!

So if you are a Creative, I promise you’ll enjoy the Roundabout: Creative Chaos podcast. Click the image below to listen to my episode, but don’t stop there…you can subscribe on any major podcast app (iTunes, Overcast, etc.) so you never miss another creative dive into a creative mind!

Until next time, go BE the YOND!

Hello, everyone! With the holiday's officially upon us, and the countdown to Christmas underway (at least in my house!), I thought now would be the perfect time to talk about a special little surprise found in Captivate.

And quite fittingly enough, it's called GIFT, or General Import Format Technology to be precise. But me? I'm sticking with GIFT. That said, let's take a quick look at the words that define the acronym to get a better understanding for what it can do for your eLearning project.

GENERAL - Think of this word as 'Universal', meaning it is generally recognizable by most programs.
IMPORT - A great techie word that means I can bring something pre-existing into my project.
FORMAT - Like formatting you've done in Microsoft Word, except less alignment and more symbols. 
TECHNOLOGY - Electronic. Hmm, maybe they just needed another word because GIF was taken?

In a nutshell, GIFT formatting allows for the incredibly simple addition of quiz questions into your project. Yes, simpler than what you may be thinking! (NOTE: While this blog pairs GIFT formatting to Captivate, it is by no means the only program with which GIFT can be used; some learning management systems allow the use of the GIFT formatting as well.)

So, how does it differ from the typical quiz layout you've likely seen hundreds of times? To answer that, let's take a look at what some GIFT-formatted questions look like.

MULTIPLE CHOICE EXAMPLE
What is the largest planet in our Solar System?{
~Earth#Sorry, Earth is not the largest plant in our Solar System
=Jupiter#Correct! Jupiter is truly massive!
~Pluto#Sorry, Pluto is incorrect. In fact, Pluto is no longer even recognized as a planet.
~The Sun#Sorry, that’s incorrect. While the sun is in fact the largest celestial body in the Solar System, our Sun is a star, not a planet.}

TRUE/FALSE EXAMPLE
Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar System.{TRUE#Wrong, that's incorrect.#Right, well done!}

MULTIPLE ANSWER
What are the two largest planets in our Solar System?
~Earth#Sorry, Earth is not one of the two largest planets in our Solar System.
%50%Jupiter#Good job! Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar System.
~Mars#Sorry, Mars is not one of the two largest planets in our solar System.
%50%Saturn#Good job! Saturn is the second largest planet in our Solar System.}

As you can see, GIFT-formatted quizzes rely on symbols, like the equal sign (=) to identify correct answers, the tilde (~) to mark incorrect answers, the percent sign (%) to note partial credit, and the pound sign (# ...yes, that is a pound sign folks) that precedes unique feedback for each answer choice.

What you don't see, are question numbers, lettered answer choices, and feedback appearing on a different lines than the answer choice.

So now that we know what GIFT Formatting is, let's see what Captivate can do with a file formatted in this fashion.

• Open a Captivate project
• When you are ready to add your quiz to the project, click the 'Quiz' tab at the top and scroll down to 'Import GIFT Format File', like you can see in the image below.​

• ​Presto-chango, ​your quiz has been imported into Captivate! 

Allow me to point out that the correct answer is selected, and all unique feedback has also imported over - appropriately paired with each answer choice (NOTE: True/False answer feedback does not import into Captivate, likely because learners will know without a doubt what the correct answer is if they get it wrong initially). 

From personal experience in the pain-staking process of writing quizzes over and over multiple times, the GIFT Import feature will certainly save you time, and most likely frustration to boot.

To learn more about GIFT formatting, click HERE.
​
Until next time folks, go BE the YOND!