BE OPEN Academy Poll. Best online course in Product Design

Full end-to-end Product Design course available from Reed.co.uk has won in our online poll about the best online course in Product Design. A comprehensive course covering research tactics, design thinking, stakeholder management, product management and user experience (UX design) – all of which play an important role in making successful design decisions.

It has gained more votes than other online courses in Product Design:

  • Product Design by Udacity
  • Product Design by Janets
  • Ultimate Guide to Product Design: Design Thinking Approach by Udemy

BE OPEN Academy Poll. Best offline course in Urban Planning in European University

Urban Planning programme available from Technical University of Valencia, Spain has won in our online poll about the best offline course in Urban Planning in European University.

The other entries in the poll were:

  • Urban Planning by HafenCity University Hamburg, Germany
  • Urban Planning by Loughborough University, UK
  • Urban Planning by Stuttgart Technology University of Applied Sciences, Germany
BE OPEN: How Online Education Truly Helps

BE OPEN: How Online Education Truly Helps

As we move into the 21st century, we see a growing interest in the role of eLearning and online education in the world of education. This is not a new phenomenon, as we have seen this idea come and go several times throughout history.

However, it is not just an idea that is gaining traction, but one that is gaining strength in popularity. For this reason, many institutions are finding ways to embrace the idea of eLearning and online education to their benefit.

However, while there are many institutions that are using this approach to their advantage, there might be others that still believe that this concept should be left in the past where it belongs. With all of these different opinions on eLearning and online education, it is important to take a closer look at the issue at hand so that we can better understand what makes eLearning so appealing to students today.

It is also important for us to take a closer look at how online education truly helps individuals by exploring its benefits and drawbacks.

What Makes Online Education So Popular? Online education has become very popular due to several reasons, including:

  1. An increased level of accessibility
  2. Better learning environments
  3. Greater convenience
  4. More efficient processes
  5. Less expensive education
  6. Greater focus on personal development
  7. More personalized learning
  8. More flexibility in choosing classes
  9. Faster course completion time
  10. Less stress

These are just a few of the benefits that online education offers. However, it is important to note that online education can offer these same benefits, but also has its drawbacks as well:

  1. Less personal interaction
  2. Limited support services
  3. Difficult to track progress
  4. Difficult to collaborate with others
  5. Lack of control over course content

With all of these different benefits and drawbacks, it is important to understand how online education truly helps individuals by exploring its benefits and drawbacks.

Usually, a student can learn at their own pace as opposed to being forced to complete a certain amount of work within a specific timeframe. In addition, this type of education also allows students to choose the topics that they would like to learn about. This type of education also allows students to easily create their own learning schedule without having to be limited by other people’s schedules.

This means that a student can focus on the things that they want rather than being forced into doing work that they do not want or care about. With this type of freedom, many students are able to concentrate on what they enjoy most, which allows them to improve their skills at a faster rate.

This is not to say that online education is perfect. However, it is important to understand that many students are able to succeed in this type of education because they are able to find the best online education course that suits their needs.

How eLearning Affects The Education System And Society? One of the most interesting aspects of eLearning is that it can benefit both the education system and society as a whole. One of the main reasons why we see this happening is because eLearning makes it possible for students to access courses and programs from anywhere they want. This means that students can choose to access these programs from their homes, workplaces, or anywhere else they would like. The main benefit of this approach is that it provides students with the opportunity to learn at their own pace and whenever they want to.

When a student uses online education in this way, they are able to take advantage of a number of different benefits that come with this approach. For example, there are many people who have been able to use online education to increase their job skills as well as improve their performance at work. In addition, many people have been able to utilize online education for other purposes as well, such as improving their personal life or raising a family.

Using eLearning can help students become more independent and more responsible members of society as well. It should be noted that students are no longer dependent on the teachers in their schools or on their institutions for access to courses and programs. They can now use these programs to improve their skills and become more responsible members of society if all resources are used properly.

What The Shift To Virtual Learning Could Mean For The Future Of Higher Ed? While many people see the shift to online education as a positive change, there are others who believe that this change could negatively affect the future of higher education. In particular, there might be those who believe that online education will eventually replace traditional education as we know it. This means that students will no longer be interested in attending school and college, as they would rather spend their time learning from home.

It is important to note that the use of online education is not going to completely replace traditional education as we know it. Instead, it will become a more popular alternative for students who want to learn at their own pace and on their own terms. In addition, this can be seen as a positive change because it allows students to have more control over their educational experience, which allows them to focus on what they want instead of having someone else dictate what they should learn.

BE OPEN Academy Poll. Best online course in Character Animation

Learn Basic Character Animator course available from Simpliv LLC has won in our online poll about the best online course in Character Animation. By the end of this course you’ll gain complete proficiency in Basic Character Animator even if you’re currently a beginner.

It has gained more votes than other online courses in Character Animation:

  • Character Animation by Reed.co.uk
  • Character Setup and Animation by Unity Technologies
  • Ultimate Guide to Drawing Animated Characters by Udemy
BE OPEN: Animation as a powerful tool in eLearning

BE OPEN: Animation as a powerful tool in eLearning

The strength of animation holds up when brought to the test of corporate training. It helps break down complex concepts into digestible content pieces and keeps learners engaged while making sure that the information is absorbed fully. Compared to videos with a “talking head,” which looks like a sci-fi villain, or plain slides with black text on a white background, animation can do wonders. And last but not least, don’t think animation is unfitting for a professional environment because it will certainly boost your audience’s learning and productivity.

Before going into more detail on animation’s benefits, we should clarify the conditions of a successful training session. The end goal is for employees to learn to train themselves and get actively involved in something new and more challenging. That leads to two key elements that a corporate training session needs: knowledge and motivation.

Animations Can Help Boost Engagement and Motivation:

Creates A New Learning Atmosphere

One big strength of animation is that it makes way for storytelling, a powerful tool for triggering emotions. Storytelling can make the content much more relatable and interesting to learn than a PowerPoint slideshow with dull bullet points. It’s simply a “dressing” to make the information more digestible, but you have to be careful. Understand your audience first and utilize what makes them tick. Success in this aspect will make employees much more willing to learn just because they’re interested in your training session.

Shortens Learning Time

Employees are busy and stressed enough without training sessions, so they probably don’t have much mental strength to spare for them. Animations succeed in doing them a favor by saving their time by making the content compact and easy to memorize. Shorter learning time conveniently fits our shorter attention span, meaning more engagement, and employees don’t have to constantly ask themselves, “How long is this going to take?”

Not only employees benefit from animation-based training, but the company does as well. Less time spent on training means less money spent, and companies can use this money on more practical matters.

Choosing The Right Animation Type in Corporate Training

Animations are super diverse, but don’t worry, making choices won’t be too difficult. In essence, animation comes down to 3 types that are most commonly used: whiteboard animation, 2D/motion graphics, and 3D animation.

Whiteboard Animation

Whiteboard animation is the combination of hand-drawn elements on a white background and a timely voiceover. Some videos feature a hand quickly drawing on the whiteboard to add a sense of live action.

This style of animation is particularly popular, and you can easily find examples of it after a few minutes of browsing YouTube. Audiences love to watch whiteboard videos because they are clean and academic looking, making it suitable for multiple purposes. It’s also the most digestible of all as it contains no distractions. Here is a typical example of a whiteboard MOA (Mechanism of Action) animation.

An MOA animation is one that typically explains the working of a drug or processes in your body that take place on a microscopic level. It perfectly wraps up the information into a bite-sized lesson, while also being budget-friendly and visually pleasing.

2D Animation/Motion Graphics

This is essentially a glow-up version of whiteboard animation. For this style, animators add in 2D characters or motion graphics to spice things up. It’s more colorful than whiteboard animation and usually presented as a story. Here is a typical demonstration of a 2D animation.

The animation is from a Permaculture Design online course that specializes in knowledge and practical solutions to develop sustainable ecosystems. If you watch it, you will notice a lot of motions and movements bringing the images to life, and this is a strong suit for 2D animation, something whiteboard animation cannot do.

3D Animation

This is a very popular choice in the medical field, but not favored by corporations because they are costly and unnecessary. 3D animation is usually used to depict extremely difficult concepts that are invisible to our naked eyes, thus the common use in medicine. 3D animation is extremely good for depicting real processes and phenomena, as well as storytelling. This will bring new life to corporate training, provided that you have resources to spare. That said, here’s a perfect example of 3D animation.

And that is all about animation-based corporate training. Considering the benefits it brings, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t deploy this magnificent piece of technology. And if you’re interested, start by choosing the right animation for your company. There is no particular rule identifying what types of animation you should use in corporate training. We hope our introduction to animation types can give you an overall look at the advantages each type brings and how to apply these benefits. Moreover, you can definitely combine several styles at the same time to make the most out of them.

BE OPEN Academy Poll. Best offline course in Art and Design in Canada

Media Arts taught by Alberta College of Art & Design has won in our online poll about the best offline course in Art and Design in Canada.

Media Arts students learn how to use sensors, circuits, mechanical devices as well as video, film, sound, performance art, and multimedia to express themselves.

The other entries in the poll were:

  • Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories from Ontario College of Art and Design
  • Art and Design from University of Alberta
  • Arts and Contemporary Studies from Ryerson University