Any substitutes for eLearning?

Hi Vara,

Here are some articles about creating software tutorials that I think will be helpful to you:

• Follow This Process to Create Software Simulations and Systems Training Like a Pro
• Use Storyline to Turn a Boring Process Video Into an Interactive Software Simulation
• Creating Software Sims: Setting Your Recording Size & Area

:)

Thanks Allison. For my first release we have done interactive simulations to show how the application works. But we had noticed very poor learning analytics. 

Hi Vara, using videos to guide instantly when there is a need is good. You don't need to have these videos inside the app to guide. If you can have QR codes on whereever they need, they can scan and open the video via cellphone or tablet and have an instant guide video. Microlearning is very suit to this situation.    

Thanks Joanne. Can you help me with more information on QR codes?

We are creating videos which are 2-3mins duration .

It's a bit awkward to watch a video and use a software application at the same time: you have to keep flipping back and forth between the two windows, pausing and unpausing the video as you try to perform the steps in the software application, and so on.

A simple, printable "how to" would likely be more useful to learners. I'd try to find out what are the top 5-10 tasks people need to do in the software, and then create a how-to card or cards for each. Some screen-captures + a few arrows/call-outs to annotate the steps should get most people through the tasks. If these are tasks they will be performing on a regular basis, they'll learn by doing and pretty soon they won't need the "how to" any more.

Alternatively, there are also some tools from other vendors that allow you to create a help system that runs in the context of the application. Whether these suit your budget, timeline, and particular technology is something you'd have to investigate. I haven't personally used a tool like this, but I've seen demos of one: WalkMe (about which you can learn more here: https://www.walkme.com/digital-adoption-platform/).

Good luck with your project!

    -Ray

Thanks Ray.  How to Guides are really a good option which we are doing now but how about people who don't like to read, who prefer to watch and learn?  You can also have html help pages inside a product which I have looked at. But it doesnot work in my context because of some technical issues.

Hi Vara,

My feeling is that for any operation in the software that requires more than a small number of steps, a video is not really the best solution. 

It's like when you're driving and get lost and you pull over and ask for directions. If there are only 2 or three street names and turns to remember, then great. But if there are more, it's unlikely you will be able to remember them all just from having someone tell you. The video is like "having someone tell you."

On the other hand, if you write down the directions, you don't need to commit them to memory. That's the analogy for having printed guides. So from my perspective, it's not really about whether or not people like videos; it's more about whether videos are the right tool for this particular job.

Video has the advantage that I can pause and rewind it, unlike with a live person who gives me directions. But as I said in my previous post, doing a lot of pausing and rewinding is awkward because both the video and the software package are presumably running at the same time, so that requires me to do a lot of flipping back and forth. A printed guide just seems more practical and easier to use. But maybe that's just me.

Cheers!

    -Ray

Thanks Ray for your explanation. Point taken.

Hi Vara, 

I second that sometimes a printed guide is good enough if the application and the operation steps isn't complicated. But what I don't agree with Ray is that watching a video and use a software application at the same time isn't awkward at least to me. In fact, I found myself learn software best via this way. And this is the way I learnt Articulate Storyline. 

If you store all the videos on a server, you could have URL for each video file.(You may refer that to your IT team for support) Then you could generate QR code for each one by using QR code generator. Have these generated QR code shown on where and when you like users to scan. 

Thanks Joanne, Ray for your valuable inputs. You represent to me different kind of audience which helps me design a blended learning approach to suit audience with different learning styles.