Your 10 Most Popular Posts of 2007

2007 has been a wild ride.  Five minutes after launching this blog, our servers crashed.  And then five minutes after that I got a few hundred emails telling me that the servers crashed. 

After a few hectic minutes, we got the servers back online.  I answered all of those emails (with the help of a Starbucks Venti Americano).  And, it’s been smooth sailing ever since.

Highlights for 2007

• You are 14,000 strong.  In less than five months, over 14,000 of you have subscribed to this blog.  Thank you to all who subscribe and participate in the blog.  I appreciate the emails I get and all of the kind comments.  I even appreciate the critics…most of the time. 🙂
• You have written close to 800 comments.  I enjoy the comments and the many great ideas and links that come from you.  In addition to the comments, each Tuesday after the post goes live, I get a few hundred emails.  This makes for an exciting and busy day, as I try to respond to all of the emails I get.
• You are global.  My favorite part of the blog is communicating with people from all over the world.  I’ve connected with people from all of the continents, except Antarctica (they’re too cold to build elearning courses).  I’ve even gotten emails from countries that I didn’t know were countries.  Shhh!  Don’t tell my kids.  They still think I’m smart.

And Now for the Top 10…Drum Roll, Please

I assembled my crack team of blog researchers and analysts and we were able to pull together the top ten most popular blog posts of the year.

1. What Steve Jobs Can Teach You About Designing E-Learning
2. Warning: Using the Wrong Images Can Confuse Your Learners
3. 5 Ways Web 2.0 Can Make You a Better E-Learning Designer
4. What Everybody Ought to Know About Using PowerPoint for E-Learning 
5. Little Known Ways to Create Your Own Graphics Using PowerPoint
6. Go Beyond Information Sharing – 5 Ways Your E-Learning Courses Can Create Understanding
7. Why Course Navigation is Less Important Than You Might Think
8. Create Engaging E-Learning Courses You Can Be Proud Of
9. How to Get Your Learners to Remember More
10. The Secret to Creating Your Own PowerPoint Templates for E-Learning

Tip:  A good way to quickly scan the blog post titles is to click on the archives link on the bottom.

Final Thoughts

It’s no surprise that three of the top ten posts reference PowerPoint.  While it’s fashionable to criticize PowerPoint, many in our industry still use it to build their elearning.  It’s a good tool and easy to use.  In fact, I think it’s still one of the best tools to build elearning, period. 

Speaking of PowerPoint, here’s a bonus template to bring in the new year.  The zip file includes the .pot, background images, and the color scheme for those who use Articulate Presenter.

Click here to see the demo template.

Thank you for reading the blog posts, adding your comments, and sending emails.  I truly enjoy hearing from you. Keep the comments coming.  Also, if you have ideas for things you’d like to see me cover in the blog, send them my way.

2008 is going to be a great year! I look forward to what’s coming down the road.  Wait until you see the next generation elearning tools.  They’re pretty slick.

Have a great New Year!

Events

Free E-Learning Resources

Want to learn more? Check out these articles and free resources in the community.	Here’s a great job board for e-learning, instructional design, and training jobs	Participate in the weekly e-learning challenges to sharpen your skills
Get your free PowerPoint templates and free graphics & stock images.	Lots of cool e-learning examples to check out and find inspiration.	Getting Started? This e-learning 101 series and the free e-books will help.