Independent Instructional Designer’s Toolbox
I’m not a free lance instructional designer, although I have played one on TV. No, not really, but I have been a freelance ID in the past. Back then, the only tools I really used were Word, PPT, Visio, Project…not a single authoring tool in sight. How does that landscape look like today? If you’re a freelance ID, what authoring tools do you claim you know? (I say that in the most loving of ways, but you know what I mean…) And by authoring tool, I mean a tool that allows you to create self-paced eLearning courses. What’s in your toolbox? Independent-contractor, freelance instructional designers – please answer the poll! Your colle

eLearning Guild Authoring & Development Tools Research Report (2008)
After my session at ISPI earlier this week, someone commented that what would have really been useful is a list of the top 10 authoring tools in the market.  During my presentation, I flashed up on the screen a list of the 122+ tools listed in the Brandon Hall database.  It was meant to be a bit tongue and cheek (breaking all rules for text font sizes!), just to show how big and overwhelming the marketplace really is. Then I went on to show about 12 tools in more detail – some of which would probably make it onto a top ten list (Flash, Captivate,  Articulate, and Lectora) – the remaining tools trying to hit at some of the other options out there (Smar

e-Learning Authoring Tools Crash Course -- Follow Up
I had the great pleasure of speaking last night at the Massachusetts chapter of the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI).It was a lively conversation and a wonderful opportunity for me to meet some of my online colleagues from the twitter sphere (thanks for coming, y'all!) as well as connect with some new folks in the Boston e-learni

Kineo e-Learning Development Survey
We have already gotten over 100 responses to our survey. Take a few minutes to answer a few questions about e-learning development at your organization and you'll get a free Articulate skin! We'll be analyzing your responses over the coming weeks and let you know what trends and patterns we find.

Finding Good Photos for Your eLearning Scenarios
Do you struggle with finding good stock photos to use in your eLearning scenarios? You might find the right guy to play the role of the client in your story, but there’s only three shots of him and he looks like a goofball in one of them. So then do you go do a custom photo shoot? Maybe you have the time or the budget. But usually not. eLearning Art to the rescue! eLearning Art provides royalty free stock photos, images, and other assets to help you create some cool stuff in your own authoring tools. Character packs include models in up to 75 poses, giving you lots of choices. They are normal l