Spring 2015 Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less Series

December 18, 2014 | In Wellness

The Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less program focuses on lifestyle habits that help you achieve a healthy weight.  Losing weight is only a small part of your journey—feeling better, having more energy, and becoming more mindful are all positive changes you can expect.  It is built on strategies proven to work, including mindful eating and physical activity.

The goal of Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less is to inform, empower, and motivate you to live mindfully as you make choices about eating and physical activity. An experienced instructor trained in weight management leads each weekly one-hour lesson.

Each lesson includes:

Information about why the behavior is important for weight loss/maintenancePractical strategies for adopting the behavior3-5 minute physical activity breakWays concepts can be adopted by the whole familyOpportunity for sharing and celebratingSuggestions for living mindfullyGuided discussion of strategy for the week

Each participant receives:

Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less Magazine—a full-color magazine with recipes and more.Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less Journal—a small booklet that helps participants keep track of their weight, food eaten and physical activity.Invitation to participate in the Eat Smart, Move More—Maintain, Don’t Gain Holiday Challenge—a campaign that encourages participants to maintain their weight during the busy holiday season. The Holiday Challenge helps participants learn how to enjoy the holidays without adding extra pounds.

Cost:

The cost of attending the program is a check or money order of $30 per participant made out to NC Public Health Foundation. Please note that cash will not be accepted. The program fee includes the cost of a program magazine and journal. A $25 refund is provided to all those who are State Health Plan members and attend at least 10 of the 15 sessions.

Class Schedule and Location:

The Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less sessions are on Tuesdays from 12:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. in the Giles Horney Building, Sycamore Conference Room.  The first day of class begins on January 27th and ends on May 5th.

Wednesdays from 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m. in Mary Ellen Jones Building (MEJ) room 202.  The first day of class begins on January 28th and ends on May 6th.

How to Register:

Participants can register in one weekly session of the program. This session is limited to 25 participants, but needs at least 15 registered for the class to take place.  Payment is due on the first day of class. Want to register, Please Click the link below to fill out the online registration form. The deadline to sign up is Jan 15.

https://unc.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_87XqZBnrlM0GKtn&Q_JFE=0

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E-Learning Design Series: Branding Your Course

I probably review at least two hundred elearning courses each year. Most of them are designed by people just getting started so they then to look for feedback that can cover a broad range of topics.

Many of the courses I review have common design issues. Often it’s those little issues that make the difference between a course that looks like it’s built by a beginner and one that’s a bit more polished.

In a previous post I highlighted three common design issues and offered tips to fix them. Today’s tips are based on some things I see quite a bit related to the branding of courses.  

While I don’t necessarily agree with all of the branding that happens in many online training courses, I understand why organizations do it. However, often the branding goes beyond common sense.

Look at the example above, how many times do you need to see the organization’s name or logo? It’s in the title, the logo panel, and on the screen at least three times.

What’s the point of this? Does all of this branding even do anything positive? I can’t imagine that it actually makes people feel better about taking courses or being part of the organization. What’s next, a company tattoo?

With all that said, the copyright is a good idea. Don’t want anyone to steal that design.

If you have to add the branded items to your course then try to limit when you do so. A few simple ideas may be to make the logos smaller or watermark them so they’re less obvious.

Something I’ve done in the past is create an animated splash screen that I can add to the beginning or end of a course. It’s a bit more elegant and consistent with the brand requirements, but it doesn’t interfere with the course content. By moving the branded elements off your content screens you’ll have more room for the important stuff.

If you need to add branding to your course, then do it where it makes sense. Most authoring tools have a place for you to add a logo and you can also add brand colors to the template and player.

Click here to view the elearning example.

In the example above, a course on social media guidelines, Hitachi customized the template (and course colors) to match the branding in the logo. This helps meet the organization’s guidelines and still gives more control over the content on the screen.

I’m sure this will upset some people, but one thing I can’t stand about going to a kid’s play is that the play may only be 45 minutes long, but then after they spend another 30 minutes thanking everyone who helped out. That’s all good and I truly appreciate those who volunteered, but come on! No one came to the play for the credits. Do all of the back patting at a cast party.

The same can be said for elearning courses. Seems like I’m seeing more and more courses that begin with a series of screens like the ones above that are more like commercials and production credits. They have little to do with the course content so it’s probably a good idea to drop them.

If you do need to add all of that information, then take it off of the course screen. A simple solution is to create an “About Me” tab to hold all of that type of information. It’s in the course for those who want it, but it’s not part of the content flow.

Also, here’s a bonus tip. If you create a live action video don’t use the outtakes to create a gag reel. Unless you’re a master comedian like Emo Philips odds are the gag reel isn’t as funny as you think it is.

You don’t need to use all of the features in the player template that comes with your software. Here’s an example: many elearning templates offer a side menu. However, that feature can be turned off if it’s not needed.

In the example below, the only reason the side menu area exists is because the developer inserted the branded logo. Other than that, all of the space below the logo is wasted. It’s also confusing. If the learner is used to a side menu and then sees this example, she may think that something’s broken.

If you’re not using the side menu, a more elegant solution may be to get rid of the logo panel. This gives you a different course profile that doesn’t have a big empty area.

Like it or not, branding requirements exist. The key is to work them into your course design so meeting them makes sense. What do you do to deal with branding requirements that may interfere with your course design?

January 23 & 24: Las Vegas, NV (TechKnowledge): Mike Taylor will host two creation stations on Building Interactive E-Learning with Articulate Studio ‘13. January 29-30: London (Learning Technologies): I’ll be doing a quick presentation on interactive video using the Articulate applications. If you’re at the conference, swing by the Articulate booth. February 4-6: Karlsruhe (LEARNTEC 2014): I’ll be at the conference working in the Articulate booth and would love to meet you. March 11-12: Phoenix, AZ (ASTD). Details coming. March 19: Sydney (iDESIGNX): I’m excited to attend my first conference in Australia. Looking forward to meeting many of the blog readers there. I’m organizing a workshop while in town. Contact me if you’re interested and I’ll send details as soon as we know.Place I’ll be in 2014: Indianapolis, Lincoln, and Dallas. More to follow.

Post written by Tom Kuhlmann

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