Corporate training and presentations with Knoodle
Studies show that many companies don't do enough to provide effective training for employees. If you're in a position to direct or provide training for coworkers and employees, do you have the tools to do your job effectively? In the past, I've described training tools like Snap!, Prezi and Reel, but here's a compelling new alternative that might be the best yet.
Knoodle is a tool that lets you combine PowerPoint, video, Office documents and PDFs in an interactive online presentation. The service lets you easily upload content and record voiceover or video using a webcam or microphone, and synchronize your content. You can create single- or double-pane presentations (double-pane presentations let you show video and slides side-by-side), as well as picture-in-picture.
You can share your presentations in a number of ways. In addition to sharing a link to the Knoodle site, you can embed the presentation in your website, or make it completely portable, to be downloaded and played offline or on a mobile device. To keep everything on brand, you can customize your Knoodle presentations with your corporate colors, logo and URL.
The real appeal of Knoodle becomes evident when you add some of the service's more interactive elements to your presentations. For example, you can incorporate tests and surveys, and then see the results via a management dashboard. Knoodle also supports social media extensions, like online chat, discussion forums, and shared notes and annotations.
Knoodle also has a unique -- and simple -- pricing model. After the 30-day free trial expires, you can step up to a plan that matches the number of hours per month you plan to use the service. Knoodle charges about a dollar an hour, and you can create your own plan. Expecting to use 55 hours per month? That's $55. Or just 41 hours? That comes to $41. I really like the name-your-own-pricing plan; more web services should do something similar.
