The Trades e-Academy has seen a significant increase in 17th Edition First Amendment sales since December 2011. The increase in sales came ahead of the call for all practicing electricians to act in accordance with the changes outlined in the first amendment to the 17th edition, designated BS7671:2008 (2011), on 1st January 2012.
Sales of the First Amendment online course, developed in partnership with the NICEIC, continue to increase daily and the Trades e-Academy stress that it is not too late if you haven’t completed the course already.
The changes result from the improvement of equipment that could cause problems due to overvoltage in systems.
Purchase the online course today for just £49.50! This gives you access to approximately 2 hours worth of training material which you can complete in convenient stages and revisit at any time. Upon completion of the course, you may print a Virtual College certificate.
Please note that learners wishing to take the First Amendment course must have completed and passed the 17th Edition.
Those who haven’t completed the 17th Edition course can purchase the full 17th Edition incorporating Amendment no.1 by clicking here.
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Synchronising your events using Doodle
Ever had that problem where you need to arrange a meeting with your team but find it difficult to pick a date as everyone's calendars are jam packed with a variety of dates and times?
In comes our hero to the rescue Doodle! You can even use this tool without registering. Simply go to this site: http://www.doodle.com and you can schedule an event on the fly. Put all the dates into the calendar provided then create the event and they give you a link to send to all the event participants. They then go to the site and highlight any date they are free; the tool then shows which dates where everyone is free! So easy to use - give it a go!
In comes our hero to the rescue Doodle! You can even use this tool without registering. Simply go to this site: http://www.doodle.com and you can schedule an event on the fly. Put all the dates into the calendar provided then create the event and they give you a link to send to all the event participants. They then go to the site and highlight any date they are free; the tool then shows which dates where everyone is free! So easy to use - give it a go!
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Say Goodbye to PowerPoint and Hello Prezi
Prezi is a presentation tool. “So, I’ve got PowerPoint, why would I want to learn how to use another” I hear you cry.
Well, read on you’re in for a treat. Prezi is to PowerPoint what an iPad is to a traditional home PC. They do similar things but one makes it look and feel cool as hell.
PowerPoint is essentially a throw back to when presentations were produced and shown on individual slides that were shown one after the other. Prezi throws of the shackles of a technology that we all stopped using 20 years ago and is essentially one GIANT piece of paper that you can zoom around to your hearts content.
Anyway enough of me trying to explain what it’s all about, I’ll let a Prezi take over;
http://prezi.com/hgjm18z36h75/why-should-you-move-beyond-slides/
Now you’ve seen it you may think sure that’s cool, but what’s that got do with training. Well I think Prezi could be the ace up your sleeve in the battle to keep people engaged during training. Prezi is so versatile that with a bit of thought, it can put the wow factor into even the driest subject. One again I’ll hand you over to Prezi to explain:
http://prezi.com/rfsnedhqmhqa/thoughts-on-using-prezi-as-a-teaching-tool/
If you’re a little nervous that these look so good, it must be complicated, don’t be. There are actually a lot fewer options than in PowerPoint and there’s some great Prezis about how to make great Prezis, including this one;
http://prezi.com/recyyolzxm3e/how-to-create-a-great-prezi/
So what are you waiting for? Get over to www.prezi.com and have a go, you may as well it’s FREE!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Bob's Blog!
Click on the link below to check out 'Bob's Blog' by our very own Bob Gomersall!
Bob's Blog
Bob is Chairman of Virtual College and developed it from conception. He is also Chairman of Multimedia Sector Innovation Board, Yorkshire and Humber which is responsible for the Regional Innovation Strategy for the Multimedia Sector.
"The future is definately with those businesses that are prepared to be innovative and move quickly on their feet, if you can't find somebody else to do it, you do it yourself."
Bob's Blog
Bob is Chairman of Virtual College and developed it from conception. He is also Chairman of Multimedia Sector Innovation Board, Yorkshire and Humber which is responsible for the Regional Innovation Strategy for the Multimedia Sector.
"The future is definately with those businesses that are prepared to be innovative and move quickly on their feet, if you can't find somebody else to do it, you do it yourself."
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Raptivity
Raptivity is a programme which allows you to create rapid e-learning modules.
To download a free trial click here
The Raptivity Software is available to buy in a vast range of packages with different add ons available. See here for pricing.
The cheapest package available comes in at $395 and this contains only 12 interactions (with the option to purchase add on packs later on)
The trial version that I tested also has just 12 interactions which is a fair amount to experiment with.
I set about creating a short e-learning module on 'blogs' with interactive segments and quizzes. Unfortunately my trial has now expired and I have failed to export all of the slides I made in the correct format so the only one I can show you is below (anyone in the office can come have a look at the other ones if they like!)
Click here to download the PowerPoint
Now I personally have never created an e-learning module before although I have seen different softwares that are on offer and have tried different types of e-learning courses. I found Raptivity rather confusing to use, for computer novices I would say it is a complete non starter!
It has a very clinical interface with far too many complicated looking functions involving numbers (most of which don't really need to be altered, I would put them in an 'advanced' category if at all)
As far as useability is concerned I would rate Raptivity pretty low unless you are already quite coherent with coding and design.
The options available were fairly limited on the trial version, it seems that to get some of the fantastic interactive segments that are demonstrated on the website you have to spend a fair amount of money.
The templates I had access to were pretty standard. You could change the look and feel of them but not particularly easily, for example to change the background colour on my slides I had to go through each one individually and colour pick my selection for each one.
The potential is definately there to create some fantastic looking slides but I you would have to be very confident with using software like this and have a knack for online design in order to make anything look vaguely good!
The different slide templates I had access to included several types of quizzes, these had a good range of answer types and marking systems but weren't very easy to set up.
The information slides like the one in my example again have the potential to be quite engaging but the difficulty of performing simple processes such as changing the font size and colour make it a hard task to get the look and feel that you would like.
I think Raptivity has a lot of potential, from looking at the interactive slide templates available with the more expensive packages on the website, there are some really engaging ideas. However I think it needs to rethink the interactivity of the software itself. As someone who is fairly confident with new software and adapting to new technologies, I found using the software tricky, frustrating and confusing. It is definately not suitable for people with novice IT skills.
If you are confident with IT and design then I would say that it might be worth your while downloading the free trial, it is quite interesting and the results are good after a lot of perceverence. Be warned though you will recieve a lot of pushy phone calls from the Raptivity team in the days following your sign up!!
So all in all mixed reviews, potentially a fantastic rapid e-learning tool, I thing Raptivity need to pay as much attention to the creators interaction with their product as they do to the learners.
To download a free trial click here
The Raptivity Software is available to buy in a vast range of packages with different add ons available. See here for pricing.
The cheapest package available comes in at $395 and this contains only 12 interactions (with the option to purchase add on packs later on)
The trial version that I tested also has just 12 interactions which is a fair amount to experiment with.
I set about creating a short e-learning module on 'blogs' with interactive segments and quizzes. Unfortunately my trial has now expired and I have failed to export all of the slides I made in the correct format so the only one I can show you is below (anyone in the office can come have a look at the other ones if they like!)
Click here to download the PowerPoint
Now I personally have never created an e-learning module before although I have seen different softwares that are on offer and have tried different types of e-learning courses. I found Raptivity rather confusing to use, for computer novices I would say it is a complete non starter!
It has a very clinical interface with far too many complicated looking functions involving numbers (most of which don't really need to be altered, I would put them in an 'advanced' category if at all)
As far as useability is concerned I would rate Raptivity pretty low unless you are already quite coherent with coding and design.
The options available were fairly limited on the trial version, it seems that to get some of the fantastic interactive segments that are demonstrated on the website you have to spend a fair amount of money.
The templates I had access to were pretty standard. You could change the look and feel of them but not particularly easily, for example to change the background colour on my slides I had to go through each one individually and colour pick my selection for each one.
The potential is definately there to create some fantastic looking slides but I you would have to be very confident with using software like this and have a knack for online design in order to make anything look vaguely good!
The different slide templates I had access to included several types of quizzes, these had a good range of answer types and marking systems but weren't very easy to set up.
The information slides like the one in my example again have the potential to be quite engaging but the difficulty of performing simple processes such as changing the font size and colour make it a hard task to get the look and feel that you would like.
I think Raptivity has a lot of potential, from looking at the interactive slide templates available with the more expensive packages on the website, there are some really engaging ideas. However I think it needs to rethink the interactivity of the software itself. As someone who is fairly confident with new software and adapting to new technologies, I found using the software tricky, frustrating and confusing. It is definately not suitable for people with novice IT skills.
If you are confident with IT and design then I would say that it might be worth your while downloading the free trial, it is quite interesting and the results are good after a lot of perceverence. Be warned though you will recieve a lot of pushy phone calls from the Raptivity team in the days following your sign up!!
So all in all mixed reviews, potentially a fantastic rapid e-learning tool, I thing Raptivity need to pay as much attention to the creators interaction with their product as they do to the learners.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Twitter for PowerPoint!
I found this fantastic website which offers free tools to embed flash twitter tools into your PowerPoint presentation that give you real time twitter feeds in an array of interesting ways allowing you to get your audience to vote, share their comments, and generally interact with you via twitter! So what better way to explain myself than through a presentation!
Click Here to Download Presentation
The flash parts will only work on PowerPoint 2003-2007. If you are having problems then check this website for troubleshooting tips. You will need ActiveX and will also need to enable Macros and ActiveX in your PowerPoint Trust Centre Options.
To enable the 'AutoTweet' function you will need to download the 'AutoTweet' add-in for PowerPoint from here.
Click Here to Download Presentation
The flash parts will only work on PowerPoint 2003-2007. If you are having problems then check this website for troubleshooting tips. You will need ActiveX and will also need to enable Macros and ActiveX in your PowerPoint Trust Centre Options.
To enable the 'AutoTweet' function you will need to download the 'AutoTweet' add-in for PowerPoint from here.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Yudu - Online Magazine Publisher
I've always been impressed by online magazine formats and while working on the new Housing e-Academy magazine I decided to see how it was done. Within seconds of googling I found myself on www.yudu.com, a site offering free online magazine publishing and hosting. I set up a free account in minutes and was ready to start publishing!
The free package is more than ample to get started publishing your own work. The interface is extremely clear. Simply upload the document or photo you want to use ( I used PDF files joined using the PDF join website). You then add a title, a description and tags to your work and hit 'publish'.
Publishing/uploading can take about 15-20 minutes depending on the file size and number of pages involved. Once uploaded the content has to be processed. They send you an email when this is done (five minutes tops), et voila! Your magazine is ready to view. You can embed it into websites or email links to easily share your new publication.
Yudu couldn't be simpler and the results are good quality. The free package is great to try out and gives you a good range of options.
Yudu Plus and Yudu Pro packages start from £99 per year and allow you many more options which I am dying to try out including:
(Yudu Plus)
- Ability to add audio, video and flash
- Sell your publications online
- Flexible publishing options
- Remove advertising
(Yudu Pro)
- Own branding options
- Customize page '0'
- Fully accessible text only version (for viewers without flash)
- Exportable stats
- Digital rights management system
- Bespoke feature development
- Email collection facility
- Catalogue digital order form
Yudu is a fantastic free online tool and has a wide range of uses. I am thinking about using it for the following: in house magazine, online user guides, flyer/information packs, booklets, course catalogue, photo slideshow, handout packs from events, newsletters and i'm sure many more things in the future!
To view my Yudu's so far click on the links below...
Hou-Zine magazine (Work in Progress)
Click to launch the full edition in a new window
Digital Publishing with YUDU
Top ten tips for e-learning info pack
Click to launch the full edition in a new window
Online Publishing from YUDU
Learner User Guide
Click to launch the full edition in a new window
Online Publishing from YUDU
The free package is more than ample to get started publishing your own work. The interface is extremely clear. Simply upload the document or photo you want to use ( I used PDF files joined using the PDF join website). You then add a title, a description and tags to your work and hit 'publish'.
Publishing/uploading can take about 15-20 minutes depending on the file size and number of pages involved. Once uploaded the content has to be processed. They send you an email when this is done (five minutes tops), et voila! Your magazine is ready to view. You can embed it into websites or email links to easily share your new publication.
Yudu couldn't be simpler and the results are good quality. The free package is great to try out and gives you a good range of options.
Yudu Plus and Yudu Pro packages start from £99 per year and allow you many more options which I am dying to try out including:
(Yudu Plus)
- Ability to add audio, video and flash
- Sell your publications online
- Flexible publishing options
- Remove advertising
(Yudu Pro)
- Own branding options
- Customize page '0'
- Fully accessible text only version (for viewers without flash)
- Exportable stats
- Digital rights management system
- Bespoke feature development
- Email collection facility
- Catalogue digital order form
Yudu is a fantastic free online tool and has a wide range of uses. I am thinking about using it for the following: in house magazine, online user guides, flyer/information packs, booklets, course catalogue, photo slideshow, handout packs from events, newsletters and i'm sure many more things in the future!
To view my Yudu's so far click on the links below...
Hou-Zine magazine (Work in Progress)
Click to launch the full edition in a new window
Digital Publishing with YUDU
Top ten tips for e-learning info pack
Click to launch the full edition in a new window
Online Publishing from YUDU
Learner User Guide
Click to launch the full edition in a new window
Online Publishing from YUDU
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