We've been giving some thought as to how you can squeeze more from your online learning and communications. Mindful of the need to 'achieve more for less' we've put together 5 ideas that use technology to help you work smarter (not harder!).

• Transform your PowerPoint slideshows into dynamic multimedia episodes for business presentations and e-Learning
• Host online meetings or seminars and cut travel time
• Publish visitor polls (in less than 1 minute) and sample public opinion
• Help online visitors pinpoint their requirements fast with an easy-to-use profiling tool
• Use video to really connect with your audience

Video is a unique medium for conveying information quickly and effectively, and suits a wide range of learning styles. Training videos (on tape or disk) have been around for a couple of decades now and remain popular with learners. Despite this, only a relatively small proportion of online courses feature video. Why is this?

A visual polling tool (like vizVote) allows you to create a poll in under 60 seconds and embed it directly into your presentation or online course. A poll simply consists of a topic and a series of alternative options. When a visitor casts their vote it is recorded automatically in  an online database. Once the visitor has voted a summary of all votes is shown graphically. This simple tool can be used to great effect.

Rich Internet Applications (or RIAs) are smart web-based tools that are becoming increasingly common. But do you know what a RIA is or how they can be used?