Hints and Tips
Add metadata as you create or upload assets
Get in the habit immediately of adding the metadata to assets as you create or upload them - it is very tiresome to do this later, if ever you get around to it! Image metadata includes a description which is used for the 'alternate text' which appears when a learner hovers their mouse pointer over a graphic - an important accessibility feature.
Add tables to your information pages
The Acce-Lerator editor includes the capability to create simple tables. It is not practical to create a table from text that you've already entered into the editor, so follow this procedure: (1) select the Insert Table button - this creates a table with two columns and two rows; (2) use the Insert Row or Insert Column buttons to add extra rows and columns as required; (3) type or paste your text into the cells or drag images from the Asset library. If you know some HTML, you can refine the table further by selecting the HTML tab and editing the code directly.
Add lists to your pages
The Acce-Lerator editor includes the facility to create bulleted and numbered lists. This will not work properly on text you have already pasted into the editor. Instead, select the Insert Unordered List or Insert Ordered List button and then type or paste your text in line by line.
If you find this method too cumbersome and know some HTML, you can instead paste in your whole list in one go, then switch to HTML mode (see below) to add the list tags.
Enhance your pages by HTML editing
Sometimes the Acce-Lerator editor will not allow you to do exactly what you want. In this situation you can switch from what-you-see-is-what-you-get view (wysiwyg) to HTML view and edit the code directly. You'll find the wysiwyg and html buttons to the bottom left of the editor.
HTML editing requires some technical expertise, but does allow you a great deal of extra flexibility. For example, you could link directly to a Flash movie, audio or video file on another site and introduce an additional multimedia component to your materials.
Plan your course in detail before using Acce-Lerator
It is much easier to try to plan out the educational content and sort instructional design issues before you start using Acce-Lerator. Use a text editor e.g Notepad, to plan out your course just as you would normally, but try to think much more as to how you are going to involve the learner - otherwise you may as well design a paper handout! The Screencraft course, free with Acce-Lerator, will give you a basic understanding of instructional design and you can also attend one of our workshops or courses if you wish. Your script will also help define the graphics that you will need to develop or resource; this enables you to make this a concurrent process instead of a sequential one, and hence save time!
You can paste your text from Word
As you may know, Microsoft Word embeds lots of hidden characters in your text. Acce-Lerator will strip out these characters allowing you to paste your text into your Acce-Lerator project.
Creating engaging questions
It is important to keep your learners thinking by using a variety of question types and providing helpful and supportive feedback. You can even add images into your question options and feedback - get creative.
