Hey guys im looking for feedback on my weebly tutorial if anyone has the time id appreciate the feedback, im looking to use more of the features available and still keep the lesson simple and easy to use for my audience.
Im considering adding in a quiz feature also at some point.
Change the player from the drab grey color. You can customize buttons and move the menu to be a link at the top instead of taking up screen real estate if you want to.
Use the Notes tab as your transcript. It's important to include a transcript of the audio, not only for the deaf/hard of hearing community, but for those who don't have audio when they access your tutorial.
Other than that, I think it looks good. It fun to watch and your audio is clear. :)
I don't mind the grey colour. It keeps my eye more focused on the content of the lesson and I think it has enough contrast in it's screenshots.
I've gotten into the habit of putting the menu as a top tab if it is a nice to have for navigation and not a necessity. This just gives me more screen space.
Definitely was missing onscreen text/popups to let me know what you were doing. Or, a notes panel with a transcript. I was in a coffee shop watching and was unable to hear any of the voiceover. It can be a lot of extra work, but is important when including voice over/video.
Setup triggers to auto-forward to the next slide when the audio completes.
Add notes tab and include transcript. I agree with Elizabeth on this.
Another tip would be to engage the learner in the process. For example, there are several places where you could ask the learner to click on this or that. Example: When talking about "Choosing a Theme"... you could ask the learner to click on the Slick theme and then continue on with the narrative. This approach would engage them in the setup of the site as you explain the process.
Great tips from everyone above. I don't mind the grey player, but would consider changing it if you need it to match your branding (unless your brand is grey :) Certainly not necessary.
Yes, a transcript and some on screen prompts to know where you are on the screen. I like Richard's idea of adding learner engagement.
Regarding Ashley’s comment on screen height, you could also set the player to fill the user’s browser. This is the closest Storyline is to responsive (until new player is released, yay!)
The look of the module is fine, the audio is well spoken.
(As a German ;)) the beginning seems very fast. Maybe there could appear a photo of you first. Perhaps it would be good to explain weebly in 1-2 sentences (What is the aim of weebly / What do I get afterwards as a product if I am using weebly?). It starts quickly before you have fully discovered the first screen. To listen to a small introduction, could also be offered as an option.
And maybe you could even give a message what to do if the learner hears no sound (for example a lightbox for the typical first-level-support).
And I'm missing little interactions that involve the learner in the process and lead to new chapters or at the end lead to a small summary / small list of significant benefits.
I would change the player, grey is the default and i would alway recommend changing the default as it differentiates your work.
I think you need to script out your voice over, we all have little vocalisations that we do not realise we do um, ah, and using filler words such as OK, so etc. These are just verbal static and can be distracting, don't convey meaning and can be removed without affecting the meaning.
By scripting out you can help remove these.
Adding a Transcript to the slide notes will help and I would keep as a side bar if you want a transcript. IN the player text settings you can change the Notes name to Transcript.
You are definitely missing something happening on the screen, try to get something happening every 5-10 seconds to maintain interest.
With the menu I would collapse the items (in the player>menu settings choose the cog)
Try and make it more interactive, if not you could do this as a video.
Nice course, but I do agree the default player lets it down slightly.
Personally, I'd be tempted to go with a relatively blank player and menu system, to give the learner the best view possible. Perhaps remove the side bar and place a drop down "menu" at the top. You could also add further resources and attachments if you wish.
My comments are similar to others. First off, great job, Bryan. I have never used Weebly before, so this was a very good tutorial. I personally liked the voice of the narrator and her rate of speech. I've taken other tutorials where the voice narration is so bad that I can't concentrate on the material being presented.
Some things you may want to look at:
Consider adding a transcript
Some of the mouse movements in the screen recordings were distracting or hard to follow
While I don't mind the gray player, I still think it can be "dressed up" a bit
Consider adding hotspots to allow the user to click on certain areas themselves
Great job! I've never used weebly and feel confident I could after watching the tutorial.
You might want in include a transcript to people can follow along if they don't have speakers/can't use sound for some reason.
Also, you can dress up the player just by playing with a few settings. It's very easy and can make the presentation look a lot better.
You might consider adding click effects into the projects to that people can see that the mouse was clicked. You see the mouse move places then the screen changes. If it wasn't for the narration, I wouldn't know that the mouse was clicked.
This is good and very clear. The audio does make sense as the learner watches so they should do well.
I agree with the comments that a transcript would help for those who have hearing issues and for English as a Second Language.
I also agree to having click effects to draw attention to the places where something should happen in the program. Another option is to have the learner do those clicks as a separate try me or as part of the presentation.
Many good suggestions here. I should do this with one of my projects!
First, I haven't used Weebly, but I plan to look into it now...
I personally hate the menus showing all of the time. They tend to take up too much of the screen and encourage users to skip parts of the course that may be very important. If you put it at the top as a drop down menu, be sure to have a brief note in the course about the way to access the menu.
I am like all of the others, I would change the color of the player.
The zoom feature is great for highlighting items on the screen, it might be helpful to you.
I agree with hiding the menu, although I did appreciate that by looking at the menu, I was able to see what the course was going to cover more specifically than when the narrator said it was to build the site from scratch. I would seriously consider hiding the menu, but listing these more granular objectives on the screen during the introduction.
Great narrator. I think the content is very clear and well paced. I know that there was some mention of click effects, but sometimes instead, an arrow, or outlining something with a box can also be effective.
Good job! I never used Weebly before, but after watching this tutorial, I'll go and play with it. I see many people have commented the same which is farfetched for a novice learner. :) However, there is the following feedback which I think will polish your video tutorial.
1) Remove the menu - there is no need divert learner's attention toward the menu. It should appear once the topic ended. 2) Use Transcript - will be helpful for a learner to understand your content. 3) Highlight specific areas - Use different shapes to highlight the area. It will help to grab learner's attention. 4) Narration - Keep revising the script so, it will increase your confidence. Record different versions and evaluate yourself.
Really liked the basics, Can't really add much to what has already been said, but I do disagree with one point. I am not a fan of having the slide automatically advance at the end of the narration. I know many end users who are either still taking paper notes, or in some cases having the actual program ( in this case weebly) up on another screen and are working through the project screen by screen.
Giving the user control of the speed feeds the need for these users.
on an related note, I've submitted this feature request a few times to Articulate, but them ore the merrier. it would be great to bring back the option to click on the menu to show/hide it.
Thanks for all the info guys, I really appreciate it. Ive been busy this past week developing my resource website for my course, I actually used the weebly site builder to create the site which gave me further insights into using the service and shows my class some of the features of weebly.
For those of you interested Ive posted a 2nd lesson on the home page!
Both lessons are pretty much the same format, I plan to add in rollover interactions to develop these further, up to now my focus was on allowing users to navigate through the screens and search for and jump to any particular topic as they required (Knowledge on demand per say).
I have also put together a short quiz for my class to use as a revision exercise, its not aimed at measuring learning outcomes or as a formal assessment (even though the results are recorded on articulate) its more a useful method to identify areas for revision in class, I plan on developing this further also but still keeping it simple and not distracting.
Again its more of the grey and white but as i mentioned im trying to get it all functional first.
18 Replies
I love Weebly and this is a great tutorial.
A couple things to consider:
Other than that, I think it looks good. It fun to watch and your audio is clear. :)
I don't mind the grey colour. It keeps my eye more focused on the content of the lesson and I think it has enough contrast in it's screenshots.
I've gotten into the habit of putting the menu as a top tab if it is a nice to have for navigation and not a necessity. This just gives me more screen space.
Definitely was missing onscreen text/popups to let me know what you were doing. Or, a notes panel with a transcript. I was in a coffee shop watching and was unable to hear any of the voiceover. It can be a lot of extra work, but is important when including voice over/video.
Well done, thanks for sharing.
Great job Bryan.
A few things to consider but not mandatory! :)
Great job! Hope this helps.
Richard
1 - I too don't mind the grey interface.
2 - I would also use the notes tab to display a transcript as it was sometimes hard to follow what you were saying.
3 - I would change the height of the player as the bottom portion was cut off in my resolution (the next button was cut in half).
4 - You used title case in the main headings in the menu, but the sub-headings varied. For consistency, I would apply title case to the sub-headings.
I agree with Tracy when it comes to onscreen text or popups to add clarity about what's going on.
A transcript would also be a step in the right direction.
Great tips from everyone above. I don't mind the grey player, but would consider changing it if you need it to match your branding (unless your brand is grey :) Certainly not necessary.
Yes, a transcript and some on screen prompts to know where you are on the screen. I like Richard's idea of adding learner engagement.
Regarding Ashley’s comment on screen height, you could also set the player to fill the user’s browser. This is the closest Storyline is to responsive (until new player is released, yay!)
Looks great!
The look of the module is fine, the audio is well spoken.
Great job and thanks for sharing!
Ramona
I would change the player, grey is the default and i would alway recommend changing the default as it differentiates your work.
I think you need to script out your voice over, we all have little vocalisations that we do not realise we do um, ah, and using filler words such as OK, so etc. These are just verbal static and can be distracting, don't convey meaning and can be removed without affecting the meaning.
By scripting out you can help remove these.
Adding a Transcript to the slide notes will help and I would keep as a side bar if you want a transcript. IN the player text settings you can change the Notes name to Transcript.
You are definitely missing something happening on the screen, try to get something happening every 5-10 seconds to maintain interest.
With the menu I would collapse the items (in the player>menu settings choose the cog)
Try and make it more interactive, if not you could do this as a video.
Nice course, but I do agree the default player lets it down slightly.
Personally, I'd be tempted to go with a relatively blank player and menu system, to give the learner the best view possible. Perhaps remove the side bar and place a drop down "menu" at the top. You could also add further resources and attachments if you wish.
My comments are similar to others. First off, great job, Bryan. I have never used Weebly before, so this was a very good tutorial. I personally liked the voice of the narrator and her rate of speech. I've taken other tutorials where the voice narration is so bad that I can't concentrate on the material being presented.
Some things you may want to look at:
Thanks for sharing this, Bryan!
Great job! I've never used weebly and feel confident I could after watching the tutorial.
You might want in include a transcript to people can follow along if they don't have speakers/can't use sound for some reason.
Also, you can dress up the player just by playing with a few settings. It's very easy and can make the presentation look a lot better.
You might consider adding click effects into the projects to that people can see that the mouse was clicked. You see the mouse move places then the screen changes. If it wasn't for the narration, I wouldn't know that the mouse was clicked.
This is good and very clear. The audio does make sense as the learner watches so they should do well.
I agree with the comments that a transcript would help for those who have hearing issues and for English as a Second Language.
I also agree to having click effects to draw attention to the places where something should happen in the program. Another option is to have the learner do those clicks as a separate try me or as part of the presentation.
Many good suggestions here. I should do this with one of my projects!
First, I haven't used Weebly, but I plan to look into it now...
I personally hate the menus showing all of the time. They tend to take up too much of the screen and encourage users to skip parts of the course that may be very important. If you put it at the top as a drop down menu, be sure to have a brief note in the course about the way to access the menu.
I am like all of the others, I would change the color of the player.
The zoom feature is great for highlighting items on the screen, it might be helpful to you.
I agree with hiding the menu, although I did appreciate that by looking at the menu, I was able to see what the course was going to cover more specifically than when the narrator said it was to build the site from scratch. I would seriously consider hiding the menu, but listing these more granular objectives on the screen during the introduction.
Great narrator. I think the content is very clear and well paced. I know that there was some mention of click effects, but sometimes instead, an arrow, or outlining something with a box can also be effective.
Overall, nice project!!
Good job! I never used Weebly before, but after watching this tutorial, I'll go and play with it. I see many people have commented the same which is farfetched for a novice learner. :) However, there is the following feedback which I think will polish your video tutorial.
1) Remove the menu - there is no need divert learner's attention toward the menu. It should appear once the topic ended.
2) Use Transcript - will be helpful for a learner to understand your content.
3) Highlight specific areas - Use different shapes to highlight the area. It will help to grab learner's attention.
4) Narration - Keep revising the script so, it will increase your confidence. Record different versions and evaluate yourself.
Really liked the basics, Can't really add much to what has already been said, but I do disagree with one point. I am not a fan of having the slide automatically advance at the end of the narration. I know many end users who are either still taking paper notes, or in some cases having the actual program ( in this case weebly) up on another screen and are working through the project screen by screen.
Giving the user control of the speed feeds the need for these users.
on an related note, I've submitted this feature request a few times to Articulate, but them ore the merrier. it would be great to bring back the option to click on the menu to show/hide it.
Thanks for all the info guys, I really appreciate it. Ive been busy this past week developing my resource website for my course, I actually used the weebly site builder to create the site which gave me further insights into using the service and shows my class some of the features of weebly.
For those of you interested Ive posted a 2nd lesson on the home page!
http://tcdwebdesign.weebly.com/
Both lessons are pretty much the same format, I plan to add in rollover interactions to develop these further, up to now my focus was on allowing users to navigate through the screens and search for and jump to any particular topic as they required (Knowledge on demand per say).
I have also put together a short quiz for my class to use as a revision exercise, its not aimed at measuring learning outcomes or as a formal assessment (even though the results are recorded on articulate) its more a useful method to identify areas for revision in class, I plan on developing this further also but still keeping it simple and not distracting.
Again its more of the grey and white but as i mentioned im trying to get it all functional first.
You can place the menu in the top bar and it does this.
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