BP_14 Adobe Captivate 5

One of the issues with using video as a training tool is that video is very bandwidth and storage intensive. My network at schoolk will basically bog down to a standstill if I try and have my students utilize video tutorials.

Another issue is that videos aren't really all that interactive, nor can they be used as an assessment tool. I can use a video to show my students things, but they then end up in this back and forth between the video and the actual application they are training on as they try and keep up with what is going on--not something that is particularly conducive to learning as it splits their attention.

Captivate 5 allows me to move beyond simple video demonstration because it provides the capability of creating demos, training simulations and assessments.

The demos are fairly straightforward. The software basically records what you do in the software you are demonstrating, providing pop-ups and other enhancements to help the viewer to see what you are doing more clearly. You can also provide narration. The output can be published in Flash format.

The simulations and assessments are very similar, but with the simulations you introduce a level of interactivity--the student or trainee actually follows along in the presentation and actually performs the required actions, thus advancing the simulation to the next step. In the simulation the student can work at it until he or she gets it right.

The assessment is built upon the same framework as the simulation, but you can control how many tries that the student gets in order to complete each step--and the results of the assessment can be recorded and reported.

Right now, I am in the process of learning how to use Captivate, thanks to the free trial. If the software proves as useful as I suspect it will, then I will likely buy it for my own use, particularly since I need the latest versions of Flash and Photoshop for my PC anyway (thus killing multiple birds with one stone).

It seems pretty easy to use so far--the uniformity of Adobe products and the ability to jump across products makes it a bit easier and simpler to figure out what is going on and what I need to do, even without looking at tutorials or other forms of training (not that I recommend trying to wing it, especially if you have limited Adobe experience).

At this point, I am in the "playing around" stage, assessing how easy the software is to figure out and exactly what it can (and can't) do for me and I am trying to build some basic demos that I might be able to use with my classes in the coming school year.

If you are involved in software training and education, I recommend that you take a look at this software. You might find it useful--at the least, it might give you some new ideas.

BP_13 More on Adobe eLearning Suite

When I started the Master's Certificate program at Full Sail, I did not really have a clear idea of what I wanted to do or even could do with regards to updatng my instruction methods and materials--I only knew that what I was doing was not as effective or as fun as it could be.  I had some vague ideas of what might work--but how was I going to actually create the things that I sort of half-imagined?

The ECT class has exposed me to a variety of tools that could potentially address my needs, either through direct encounters or through other Full Sail students blogging and talking about things that they use or have come across.

Looking around on the Adobe website I came across the Adobe eLearning Suite--and after looking it over in the light of my experiences in this course, I was a bit surprised that this was not part of the software package that came with the course as it seems to fit right in with some of the things we are trying to accomplish.

The suite offers tools to help create instructional materials (Flash and Photoshop), but the centerpiece of the suite is Adobe Captivate 5.

While there are a variety of screen capture and screen recording packages out there (screenflow, for example), most of them really do not do much more than enable you to record and edit a video from your screen. This is useful, but it does not really go far enough or have enough flexibility, in my opinion.

The problem is that Captivate, like most Adobe products, is a bit on the expensive side--even with an educators discount the eLearning Suite 2 runs around $600. While that is not super expensive, its nothing to sneeze at, either. Luckily I was able to download a trial version of the software and play around with it a bit.

BP_12 Adobe eLearning Suite

I have been using Adobe products since the early 1990s, starting with Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. I have been teaching Photoshop and Illustrator since about 2000. While the Web has a wide variety of tutorials available (particularly for Photoshop), many of these tutorials are not exactly well suited to the classes and skills that I wish to teach.

Tutorials are often done to show people how to do the "cool" things that the software can do, but not some of the more basic things--the assumption being that people already know the basics.

I find many of the tutorials are actually fairly poor in quality--that is, the directions are often confusing, incomplete, or (in some cases) actually wrong. Often the tutorial is done on the wrong platform. I teach on PCs rather than Macs, and the resulting cross-platform confusion can make things difficult for many of my students who have never seen or used a Mac, many of whom are barely computer literate in the first place.

In the end, while there are a lot of materials out there on the web, as a trainer and educator I prefer to tailor my materials.

The issue becomes, HOW do I put together course materials for my students that I feel are effective?  I think that Adobe eLearning Suite 2 is one potential way to do that.

BP_10 Schoolology

Bruce Kramer has found a piece of software similar to Classrunner, but based on a different framework. This might be an alternative that people who are interested in Course management Software might want to check out. See my comment here.

BP_9 Aimoo

Bryan Antos has found some message board software(Aimoo) that could potentially address some issues at my department at school. See my comment here.

BP_8 Classrunner

Classrunner (http://www.classrunner.com/)  is a simple Course Management Software suite that is available for free or, in a slightly expanded and better supported version, for a low monthly cost. The cost depends upon the number of courses/students you wish to have active.

I am giving serious considering to implementing this software in my Graphic design courses in the coming school year, because of the combination of features and the low cost--and I can subsidize the cost through either a grant or through the technology fee that I charge my students, so it isn't a burden to me financially.

Here is a schedule of fees and features from the site:

I see three features as being of primary interest and usefulness to me: the forums; the ability to upload resources; and the photo gallery.

The forums provide an area where I can expand upon the assignments, providing additional details and commentary. They will also provide the students with an area where they can interact with me and other students in a less location and time-fixed manner on things that might be related to the content of the course, but not directly related to a particular project or assignment.

Classrunner also provides a server side resource storage capability, enabling me to provide my students with resources for projects (images, typefaces, links to tutorials) that they can access from anywhere they can access the internet.

There is also a photo gallery where students can dispaly their projects. I think that this will create more of a sense of having a completed project and the posibility of showing that project to friends and family.  Being able to showcase your work and to see the work of fellow students tends to be botha motivating and inspiring factor.

The following images present a closer look at some of the things potentially available, should you decide to use them:

The package provides for online assessment, surveys, lessons, and even has a wiki, so there seems to be a lot of flexibility there, enabling you to package a wide variety of courses and curriculum through this interface.  I should be able to collapse some of the more boring, but necessary, things I do into a format that is more accessable to the students--that they can access and review as needed, rather than having me spend class time going over material that they need, but that is not effectively presented in a classroom situation. This will free up more time for us to concentrate on doing things rather than on lectures or presentations.

The possbilities in a apckage such as this have me a bit motivated to play with it and implement it. I had considered doing some of these types of things before, but I would have had to develop the interface and techology myself (or pay a lot for it). With Classrunner I can hit the ground running.

BP_6 Getting the Spark

As a design, art and graphics teacher I know how difficult it can be to spark a new creative idea for a project--both from personal experience with my own work and from observing my students as they work on their own projects. Here is an interesting tool that might help people in a creative rut get some fire into their ideas.

BP_5 A Simple Survey Tool

Sometimes you need or want to collect information from a group of people to improve your training or develop new approaches. Information can be a key asset in develop content and training for particular audiences. Look here to see a nice tool Bryan Antos had found for doing this.

BP_4 Screentoaster

My latest find is a video screen capture application called Screentoaster (www.screentoaster.com).  This is a nice, but simple piece of software without a lot of features, but it gets the basic job--making a video of what you are doing on the screen--done.

The nice thing about this application is that it works on both Mac and Windows machines and it is essentially a server side application--you do not have to download the application in order to record. You can save the resulting movie as either a .mov file (for further editing) or as a flash file.  You can also record sound with it to go with the video.

This is a basic but handy tool to record software demos with. I find applications like this useful for recording a project or part of a project and having the video available as a reference tool for my students--in essence, creating a tutorial that they can view as many times as they need to.

An image of the save screen after the video is complete:

There is more comprehensive video capture software available, but screentoaster is quick, easy and, most importantly, free.

BP3_photoXpress

I teach graphic design and traditional art at the high school level, mostly grades 10-12.  I ooften require stock images for use in examples or projects--or as source images for my traditional students to work from. My students often require access to images, as well.

While it is possible to find images out on the web via a Google image search or through some other general search engine, there are problems associated with this:

• The images are usually of low quality (72 dpi) and small size;
• It tends to be difficult to find a suitable image due to the vast amount of images out there and a non-uniform nomenclature system that often leads to strange search results;
• There are issues with rights to and attribution of images found at large on the internet; and
• You very often end up with non-appropriate images or on non-appropriate sites--or, if you have filtering software in place, you cannot necessarily access items you wish to access.

Specialized image databases are a way to alleviate some of those problems. One of the problems with such databases is that they are usually fairly expensive to access and download from--or the free content from them is watermarked or of lower quality.

PhotoXpress offers images of reasonable size and quality royalty free and with looser use requirements than many of the other sites I have seen. The site is also very simple to access and use. For a small fee ($9.99 per month) you can have access to their premium database. On other sites you can often pay more than $9.99 to download one image.

The search engine is very basic and simple, you merely type in the keyword or words that you are looking for. This provides you with the images that match your keyword search. Mousing over the images gets you a slightly larger version of the image to examine.

Search result page:

Clicking on an image takes you to the image page. This page supplies basic image information and a link to download the image. it also shows similar or related images, based upon the tags.

Image page:

Clicking the download link takes you to the download page:

The download page provides a list of the terms and conditions--although a user of this tool should read the terms and conditions provided in detail on the site to insure full understanding of use of the images.

PhotoXpress would be a good tool for other teachers such as myself and would also be a reasonable source of free or low cost stock images for school publications and web sites or for curriculum-related activities.