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Can Online Education Replace Classrooms?

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Today, the Internet is widely regarded as a major bridge linking the small and big, the possible and impossible, creating extensive possibilities across a wide spectrum. It strategically empowers the small guy to set up a home-based business, charities to fundraise with ease and anyone to access information from anywhere.

 In reality, the whole world, on a daily basis, is currently under the spell of the phenomenal growth of the Internet. And one of such areas that Internet has drastically changed forever is EDUCATION – yes, education is now being carried out online and popularly called E-Learning!

 However, despite the beautiful advantage of online education, there are raging controversies against it. Which is superior to the other?

 Online education is being used by both secondary and tertiary students. Due to the fact that secondary students still require adult guidance, e Learning is not yet as deep at this level as it is for tertiary level.

 E-learning has changed the lives of students worldwide and it’s proven that the majority of secondary students are presently hob-knobbing between classrooms and sitting in front of computers, undergoing intense lectures and prep-work with great successes.

It should also be noted that online education is making it possible for rural-based schools to favorably compete with schools in urban centers. It also allows rural schools to improve academic curriculum to meet international standards. On a general scale, the worry of overcrowded classrooms has become a thing of the past. How? Because a well-laid e-learning program can admit hundreds of students from many countries to access the same course at the same time.

Can online classes ever replace physical classrooms?

From what has been said so far, it is clear that supplanting online education to physical classrooms cannot be possible. Just as Internet can’t supplant our cultural ways of life, but it is meant to add more benefits and opportunities to our lives. Online education has successfully helped the growth of basic classroom education and it is presently widening inherent opportunities of education.

How To Hire A Voice Over Talent

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It’s not just commercials on television and radio that need actors to read information off-camera. There are a myriad of ways to use voice to educate, inform, guide, entertain, and, of course, sell. Places where you can use voice over talent include PowerPoint presentations, training videos, eLearning courses, flash introductions, voice mail greetings, on-hold advertisements and website audio messages.

So, look at your media and if you would like to add some zip to your presentations then find a competent voice over talent. Here are vital steps that you should take to get the right voice for your job.

1. Search for a Voice Over Specialist Online

You are looking for that perfect voice. Where can you find it? If you are a big company or an advertising agency then you will probably turn to a big talent agency to offer voice over talent for your project. Alternatively, large agencies and companies use www.voicebank.net . This site feeds a description of your need to all the big agencies.

However, if you are a small company you will not be able to afford the union fees that are added on to the cost of hiring actors and voice talent via an agency. Your best alternative is to search online for a freelance voice over specialist. Voice 123.com and InteractiveVoices.com are the two main casting portals for finding a voice over. The good news about these sites is that there are thousands of voices in one place. The bad news is that you have to look through them until you find the voice that is best for you.

The voice over portals have a filtering tool so you can find people who have ISDN or home MP3 studios, who can do kids voices or senior citizen voices, etc. However, because these sites are so large, anybody who has ever wanted to do voice over, regardless if they have talent, can sign up and clog your inbox with their bad auditions.

You can widen your choices by searching on Google or Yahoo for “voice over talent.” This search will bring up top quality voice over actors sites. Usually the very successful voice over artists don’t use the voice over portals mentioned above, but just rely on word-of-mouth and the traffic that comes to their well-ranked web sites.

 2. After you have found many voices, you need to choose the best one.

 When business folks step into the hybrid world of art and business, they need a way to discern what they are looking for.

Just because a voice sounds smooth or really deep, doesn’t mean it will be right for your project. Who is your market? What do THEY sound like? That’s a good starting point. Find a voice that sounds like your market.

Once you do that, the next question is, do they sound like they know what they are saying when they read your copy? Are they convincing? Are they natural? Did they follow your directions? If you said in your audition request “need you to be casual” and their recording has them bold and loud, then you might want to avoid them.

 3. Determine if the quality of their home recording is up to professional standards. A good voice recorded badly helps no one. Once you’ve clarified these things, the right choice will be apparent.

 4. Finally, the last step is to negotiate a price.

Sure, some voice over talent will work for $50. If you find a good voice over talent who will work for that, then their audition was luck, not talent. Any voice over talent worth their salt usually works for fees that hover just under the union minimums. Your savings come from not having to pay residuals, agency commissions and contributing to their pension and healthcare. You can find union minimums at www.sag.org.

 And last, but not least, be nice to the talent. They work alone in dark booths all day!

Good Distance Learning Study Habits

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Learning at home has great benefits, like the ability to learn whenever and wherever you like. But distance learning is still getting an education and that means paying attention to the course material and presentations you receive online, as well as studying and doing your homework/assignments. In order to be successful, you will have to learn to avoid the day-to day distractions that exist in your current living arrangements and you will need to develop good distance learning study habits. Create a routine and environment that is conducive to learning.

The basics of creating good distance learning study habits start with your physical surroundings. Your study space needs to be well-lit and ventilated. It needs to be free from outside distractions like people, telephones, loud music and the greatest distraction of all, television. You wouldn’t let your kids do their homework in front of the big, blinking screen, so why do you think that you can learn while you are watching your favorite soap opera or reality show?

Create a special place in your home for your distance learning study program. It can be your kitchen if that is separate from the rest of your house. It can be your recreation room, a newly cleaned storage area or your living room, as long as you turn off the television. As long as it is clean, uncluttered, and quiet it will work for you and your studies.

If you have enough room in your house or apartment then you might wish to consider purchasing a desk and organizing it so that you have everything you need at hand and all in one place. Find a good chair with strong support for your back as you listen and learn. It should be comfortable enough to study in, but not too comfortable that you want to take a nap, you can do that after you have done your work. Organize all of your supplies and material around you and you are ready to get to work.

You also need to organize your time in order to develop good distance learning study habits. Set aside regular times to go online for your lessons, unless they are pre-scheduled. Allow for adequate time to study and complete assignments.

Stick to your routine religiously unless an emergency happens and tell everyone, especially your friends that you will be unavailable during this period of time. Follow the basics to create a distance learning program that fits your life and your schedule and you will be well on the way to a productive and successful distance learning program.

Defining Your Course Objectives

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objectivesBefore creating content stop and plan your course objectives. They will ensure you create a coherent course that is easy for the learner to follow and they will keep you focused during content creation.

What is the purpose of the course?

  • Define the end goal – “At the end of the course learners will be able to…”

What is the purpose of each module?

  • “At the end of module 1 learners will be able to…”

Are your learning objectives measurable?

  • Create quizzes and assessments that when completed show the learner is on track for each modules learning objective.
  • What percentage or level should a learner achieve to have successfully achieved the learning objective and completed the module/course?

Are your objectives interesting?

  • You will most likely add your course objectives to your course description – do they sound convincing and interesting enough to entice someone to sign up?
  • Are they meaningful and motivating for the learner?

And lastly…

Are learners made aware of how each element of the course relates to their achievement of a course objective?

Next Steps…

Now you can go ahead and create your course. Make sure you look at your course objectives regularly – all your material, assignments, activities and assessments should align with the course objectives.

7 Top E-Learning Books You Must Read

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Top 7

  1. E-Learning Uncovered: Articulate Storyline by Diane Elkins and Desiree Pinder
  1. E-tivities: The Key to Active Online Learning by Gilly Salmon
  1. E-Learning: Strategies for Delivering Knowledge in the Digital Age by Marc Rosenberg
  1. Moodle 2.0 E-Learning Course Development (Community Experience Distilled) by William Rice
  1. E-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumes and Designers of Multimedia Learning by Ruth C. Clark and Richard E. Mayer
  1. ELearning: NOW! How To Create Successful Elearning Courses and Teach Online Today by Nicolas Francois
  1. E-Learning Skills by Dr Alan Clarke

7 Helpful Tips for Using the Dojo Learning Creator

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  1. Go through our ‘How to use Dojo Learning’ course when you login.
  2. Need some inspiration? Have a look at some of our top courses, such as Brian Mayne’s Goal Mapping for ideas: http://liftinternational.dojolearning.com
  3. Browse our blog for checklists, getting started guides and more!
  4. Use social media sites to enhance your learning. Follow us and top e-learning influencers on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus and Facebook.
  5. Gather all your resources (graphics, course objectives, content etc) in 1 folder on your computer before you start.
  6. Don’t expect to put your course together in 1 sitting – although many have achieved this remember you are learning how to use a new tool and we recommend going through 1 module of our course a day.
  7. Not sure about adding graphics or have some questions? Get on a call with us, we are here to help!Helpful Tips

 

 

8 Super E-Learning Tips

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8 Tips#1 – Add a quiz at the end of each module.

#2 – Use case studies and examples to explain key points.

#3 – Add a variety of media to the course – videos, animated pictures, layered pictures etc.

#4 – Add a FAQ question for learners who need extra assistance on the course

#5 – Make mindmaps part of the course. Encourage your learners to use mindmaps as they go through your course

#6 – Supply an audio version of your course to your learners so they can listen, learn and revise on the go

#7 – Create downloadable info sheets summarizing the main points at the end of each module

#8 – Check the spelling, grammar, layout etc for mistakes! An easy tip but often overlooked.

Exciting Times Ahead at Dojo Learning!

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Dojo Learning Icon

After great feedback we are now offering two additional services alongside our re-branded Dojo Learning Creator™ – Dojo Learning Institute™ and Dojo Learning Trainers™.

Dojo Learning Creator

Our online course creation authoring  tool is perfect for creating your own branded course/portal from scratch or from existing material.

 

We are also offering an Authoring Service where we do it ALL for you  – We create the course content or use your existing content to create your online training modules for you to use either with your own LMS or ours.

Dojo Learning Institute

The Dojo Learning Institute provides affordable off the shelf e-learning soft skills courses created by our team at just $99 each or a discount for access to the whole soft skills library.

Dojo Learning Trainers

Dojo Learning Trainers are International certified experts hand-picked by us to deliver various online video based training courses from just $297. They cover a range of topics and include LIVE support via our LMS. They are also available for face-to-face training at your workplace through our trainers bureau.

E-learning Checklist

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ChecklistA quick list of things to check BEFORE you publish your course…If you’ve already published your course DON’T PANIC!

Use this checklist to ensure your course is the BEST it can be…

 

1.Are you keeping your students hooked throughout?

Enthusiastic engaged students retain 25-60% more!

Have you added 2-3 of the following:

  • Quizzes,
  • Media e.g. photos, charts, graphics…
  • Storyboards,
  • Downloadable worksheets to fill out.

Using a variety of teaching method caters for more learning styles.

2.Have you provided scenarios, case studies or examples of how to apply your training?

Providing your learners with solid examples of how to use the training at the end of each module/lesson will solidify their learning, increase their confidence and give them the necessary tools to implement the training immediately.

3.Do your learning objectives + content match?

If not, change your learning objectives, content or both so your learners know what to expect.

Have you included the learning objectives in the course description or at the beginning of every lesson?

Don’t overcomplicate this - use simple bullet points.

4.Is the course organized logically and effectively?

Are the chapters/modules organized by topics, learning objectives or date?

Have you included a table of contents for quick reference?

Including a description at the beginning of each chapter/module/lesson as described above will add structure to the course.

5. Does your course have a clear, consistent design throughout?

Are you using the same templates, colours, writing font and layout throughout?

Have you used colours logically in your course to enhance learning points? e.g. black for the main points/words.

Are the main points easy to see? Are the pages cluttered or clear?

6. Have you created an action plan for the learner following the course?

Is there a higher level or related course your learner can progress onto?

Can the learner continue to contact you after the course?

Do you have a workbook or any homework the learners need to complete?

*SUPER TIP *

7. Are there any content gaps?

Set your course to private using our in built tool and invite a handful of learners to test it before your official release. Ask your test learners:

Did they discover any content gaps?

Did they stay focused throughout? Were there any chapters in particular where they lost focus?

What else could you add to improve your course?

Are there any points that needed further explanation? or where an example would be useful?

At the end of the course, did they feel they had accomplished the learning objectives?

Did you find this checklist helpful? Do you have any further suggestions we can add to this checklist? Let us know!

Beta User Feedback and Current Changes to Dojo Learning

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At the start of January 2014 we launched a new beta version of Dojo Learning for the first time since it was acquired.

Thank YouThe ambition of the re-design of Dojo Learning was to create a no technical knowledge needed e-learning platform for trainers + consultants, training companies, consultancies, companies offering staff training through e-learning, schools and colleges. It’s a big change to the previous platform, which was aimed at individuals who could create courses on any topic. The response to this change has been positive and we are really excited about the feedback and level of engagement we are getting.

Initial response

We have made it easy for users to provide us with feedback, the most popular route for providing feedback we found was through social media, namely Twitter and LinkedIn and through our CEO, Sohail Khan who is on hand for any questions from our beta users. The main themes of feedback are outlined below.

Target Market

It became evident that our customer base is made up of consultancies, companies offering staff training, training companies and established trainers/consultants. We are now creating resources and providing support geared towards these markets. 

‘How To Use Dojo Learning’ Video Tutorials

We are glad that users have found these tutorials so valuable. We have increased the number of video tutorials we have available to fill any knowledge gaps you experienced. We have identified a need for extra resources, which will be available on our resource page over the coming weeks. Additionally we are developing more training videos that will be available to our customers through the Dojo Learning Institute.

Trial of ALL features + packages

A key point of feedback that became evident was that the initial 30 day free trials were limited to our professional plan, which does not allow for a branded portal or multiple instructors. We received a huge amount of feedback from customers who wanted to test these features. In response from February onwards all our plans are available with a 30 day free trial.

Certificates

The beta phase is still in progress and currently users can issue certificates ,manually to learners from the scoring results received from our testing features. We are developing an automated feature which will issue certificated to learners upon completion of tests. 

Promotion of Courses

We received feedback from a number of beta users who asked if we could promote their courses through targeted marketing and why this feature is not openly available on our site. Our platform is B2B and the majority of our customers have private learning networks/portals.

Course Authoring

Our Authoring service has been a huge success and we are expanding our authoring services to include e-learning modules using Articulate.

Off The Shelf Courses

A key finding was that some companies do not want to create their own training 100% or would like access to a library of off the shelf training courses or use as supplementary learning material to their course(s). We are pleased to announce that we have taken your feedback onboard and we are now creating ready made training courses on popular topics, which can be used by our customers as stand alone or supplementary material to your courses.

Beyond the Web

We are pleased to announce that our branded portal sites are now tablet/mobile interface compatible. We are in the process of developing an app, it is taking longer than other apps as we are ensuring that it is 100% security enabled but will be available in the app store very soon.

International Availability

To confirm, our site is available throughout Europe, the US and the Middle East. In response to comments regarding language barriers in the Middle East, you are now able to create a branded learning portal in a number of languages including Arabic. We are investigating whether an Arabic version of the main website is beneficial to our customers in the UAE. 

We would like to thank all our Beta Users for their feedback, which has been crucial in the development of Dojo Learning. As a way of saying thank you we would like to offer all beta users an additional extension of their 30 day trial and for existing clients a free month added to your existing plan.

If you have any questions or feedback you would like to share with us in the future then please get in touch with me at: eva@dojolearning.com

 

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