Converting Corporate Speak into Plain Language

Do you struggle converting "corporate speak"?

Then check out this website:http://www.plainlanguage.gov/index.cfm

http://www.plainlanguage.gov/usingPL/privsector/hidcost.cfm

The site contains "how-tos", references and examples. It's aimed at improving communications from the government to the public.

I loved the before and after examples: http://www.plainlanguage.gov/examples/before_after/index.cfm

A word about "plain English." The phrase certainly shouldn't connote drab and dreary language. Actually, plain English is typically quite interesting to read. It's robust and direct—the opposite of gaudy, pretentious language. You achieve plain English when you use the simplest, most straightforward way of expressing an idea. You can still choose interesting words. But you'll avoid fancy ones that have everyday replacements meaning precisely the same thing.

Bryan Garner, from Legal Writing in Plain English, 2001, pp xiv

TIME WARP TRIO

The TIME WARP TRIO television series offers a wonderful opportunity to get kids excited about history. Its lively humor and irreverent attitude combine to make the programs refreshing and appealing, while providing solid historical facts. It's on the Discovery Kids Channel - in Houston, it's 336- Comcast. Check your local listing. The accompanying website is a great resource to spark some ideas for your training.

Check out the Sandwiches of time game - if you get the answer correct, you build parts of a sandwich.

Put it back Jack is a research game. It has an interesting twist. The questions display on screen and the information is a pop-up book that you page through. You can read the information, find the answer and then enter it. You get feedback along with hints. This may be a different way to present content to students?

http://www.timewarptrio.com/

Top new features in Adobe Captivate 4

• Text-to-speech functionality
  Keep learners tuned in to your content thanks to automatic voice-over functionality that turns text to high-quality speech in a few clicks. Need to change the text? Just click once to update the audio.
• Table of Contents and Aggregator
  Enable learners to easily navigate through content and track their progress with a multilevel Table of Contents. Also, use the new Aggregator to combine multiple content modules to create a complete eLearning course.
• Variables and Advanced Actions
  Use Variables to personalize the learning experience by using learner-provided data, such as the learner's name, throughout a scenario. Use Advanced Actions to further configure and modify the experience by enabling conditional actions, or more than one action in an interaction

Check it out: http://www.adobe.com/ap/products/captivate/

Wikipedia leads to great new resource

Sometimes one resources leads to another ... which provides you with a real gem.

One of my first sources for information is Wikipedia. I spent some time reading about the history of the presidents. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States

A link on this page lead me to http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/ containing info on the presidents.

The Internet Public Library is a site to bookmark. The Internet Public Library is a public library for the world wide web.Students from a consortium of colleges and universities with programs in information science develop and maintain the IPL.

Martin Luther King - test your knowledge

In keeping with MLK day, take this short quiz to test your knowledge about Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement.

Check it out: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/special/mlk/king/quiz.html