What's New in CSIT
Toolkit Essentials
It's been a busy couple of weeks here at Toolkit Headquarters - I've been uploading tons of files from Robin's Toolkit Essentials CD that was handed out at the Toolkit training sessions in Davis and San Diego.
So what's new?
First up - the ANR Brand 2025 Style Guide is now available. The last word on how to use elements of the Toolkit.
Next- lots of bits and pieces, starting with:
The ANR "logotype" stacked and horizontal and in a variety of colors is now available. This is a great option for situations where you need something simple and in logo farms
And the ANR logotype is now available in Spanish.
We now have a color header incorporating all 4 of the "Healthy's," along with individual art for each of the "Saludables."
There is a simple, bar graphic to use in your e-mail signature. And e-mail signature blocks with a transparent background have been added for those of you who use a colored background in your e-mails. No more chunky white or gold block on top of your background!
And finally, zip files containing art for each of the 4 major sub-brands.
And in case you missed it, black-and-white versions of "The Wave" newsletter template are available. These work best if you're using colored paper stock, or just want to save on toner!
Thinking A-Z
Some of the hardest decisions I make in Web site design are about the order of the left navigation.
A couple of years ago when we did the Carewords research, I preached the gospel of making better informed decisions about how content is placed on a home page instead of defaulting to an alphabetical listing.
Now it seems there's additional research that A-Z sorting is not user-friendly.
According to Jacob Nielsen, people rarely think A-Z. Either "users don't know the name of the thing that they want, making A-Z listings worthless" or "the items have an inherent logic that dictates a different sort order, which makes A-Z listings harmful because they hide that logic."
Users only think A-Z if they know the entire set. Nielsen further asserts that only lazy design teams use A-Z!
Better sorting? Read the full article.
Adobe Connect Update
Learn about the new features of Adobe Connect Pro 8 coming March 2011.
Presentation Success: It's all about the learner--not you.
3rd in a 5-part series
"Build it and they will come" does not work in real life. You need a carrot or a stick. Administrators use sticks. We're talking carrots here.
In this post we'll discuss creating your presentation learner-centrically.
Misunderstanding what is important for the audience is a sure way to have your audience not accept the invitation in the first place, or if they do show up, put them to sleep. You need to invest in your own success.
Your first task is to first find out what your audience knows to be relevant and applicable to them. Remember, the audience will always be asking themselves, "What's in it for me?" You need to address that. Tell them how the information you are presenting directly contributes to their job success. You need to do this in the invitation and in the first minute of your presentation. The rest of your presentation should support that fact.
People learn differently and various types of instruction can be effective for each individual. Fifteen years of neuroscience, biology and cognitive psychology research findings on how humans learn offers this powerful and singular conclusion: “It is the one who does the work who does the learning” (Doyle, 2008). Traditionally, the teacher does all the work and the student just sits there expecting it to soak in. At first that may be satisfying but a week later up to 95% of the knowledge transfer has evaporated. Now what?
You can't expect your audience to sit there and absorb your pearls of wisdom and expertise. The learner must be involved in your presentation. Ask them questions. Have them hypothesize.Take polls. Make them calculate. Give them something to do besides sitting there. This is especially important in online or webinar situations. They can be easily distracted by email, their to-do list, etc. Let's face it, they will find any excuse to multi-task if they are not fully engaged in your presentation.
Learner Centric Teaching (LCT) is a major topic is today's field of education. Search for it by name. You'll find plenty of information and ideas on how to engage your audiences regardless of your teaching technology medium.
Up next, how not to bombard your learners.
In this series:
Presentation Success
- How did you screw up your last presentation?
- Accurately introduce the topic
- Plan your presentation learner-centrically (this post)
- Avoid covering too much
- Don't rely on PowerPoint.
This just in! Site Builder 2 administration to be taken offline July 1!
That's right folks!!! The old Site Builder 2.0 allowed us to create sites in ways we hadn’t before, but now, it's time to take it to another level! Site Builder 3.0 adds many new features while simplifying familiar tasks. You can now embed surveys, Datastores, image galleries and content from other ANR systems directly into your sites....
Don't Forget!