Posted by Laura Dickson on August 12, 2009 at 11:22am
HiWe have Captivate and Presenter and these applications are working well for our product related online training, however I am now tasked with delivering online courses on management, leadership etc. and feel that I need to build on the capabilities of these applications to provide more interaction. I have done some research and it seems that I need to learn Flash thoroughly and ActionScript, and possibly JavaScript and XML. I went on a Flash course last year but it was so heavily focused on website development that I didn't gain an awful lot from it.Does anyone know of any courses or useful books that would help me to develop these skills? This is going to be self funded, I have some previous coding experience (a bespoke coding language though) and I am motivated to develop in this area, so any ideas would be gratefully received!Thanks!Laura
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if you are looking to develop your flash skills for example, i like the 'for dummies' books - i've been teaching myself photoshop and adobe premier and have found them very helpful because they have a friendly feel about them and tend to be written in english instead of jargon! http://www.dummiesbooks.net/flash-dummies-books.html
they might also have books on the other areas you are interested in.
Time and budget are huge constraints for me, and I don't intend to ever become a 'techy'. The solution I use, which works, is to record 'live' presentations via the Webex training centre, including slides and captivates shown as part of the whole thing. I then make the link available to managers so that they can refer to them. I send a registration link so that I can see who's logged on and also compulsory post session tests that I can then review and pick up with individuals/managers on any key points.
In addition I hve signed up to the CMI Managers website, with access for 20 managers. This gives a wealth of management learning material, elearning modules on core competencies and personal development planning area.
Overall annual investment, excluding my time which I would have spent in the classroom for one session anyway, £3K.
It keeps it simple, uses best practice already in existence and saves loads of effort.
Cathy
This is being led by expectations of stakeholders. They would like to add self analysis questionaires that give customised feedback based on the answers selected, and show the learner their results against the results of others that have taken the course. Another thing that has been requested is enabling the user to create a print out or summary of their "think about" reflection questions in order to bring it to the classroom portion of the course / allow the trainer to prepare for the classroom session using the answers given. I have searched and searched and cannot find a simple way of doing this in Captivate. I was under the impression that Articulate had the same capabilities as we find in Presenter and Captivate, however, if I am wrong, please do let me know as that might be an avenue to explore.
I would honestly rather find the easiest way to do this with no budget for buying in the content or another LMS (we have Adobe Connect Pro 7), but if there is a need to use coding or flash, then I am motivated to find the answer that way.
I wouldn't do this either, - like Dennis I would suggest looking at somthing like articulate to build courses rapidly. Otherwise good flash books have always been the friends of ed series or the flash bibles.
I would say your outcomes depend on the expectations of your audience and budget.
With what information you have provided - I personally wouldn't go down that path because of the technical nuances.
I would look for an alternative simpler solution (s) i.e. Articulate converting your media to swf.
Tip:
Do your utmost to reduce source file size within content to the lowest level without losing quality.
This simple rule will ensure media functions effectively on the hosted site.
Replies
http://www.dummiesbooks.net/flash-dummies-books.html
they might also have books on the other areas you are interested in.
Time and budget are huge constraints for me, and I don't intend to ever become a 'techy'. The solution I use, which works, is to record 'live' presentations via the Webex training centre, including slides and captivates shown as part of the whole thing. I then make the link available to managers so that they can refer to them. I send a registration link so that I can see who's logged on and also compulsory post session tests that I can then review and pick up with individuals/managers on any key points.
In addition I hve signed up to the CMI Managers website, with access for 20 managers. This gives a wealth of management learning material, elearning modules on core competencies and personal development planning area.
Overall annual investment, excluding my time which I would have spent in the classroom for one session anyway, £3K.
It keeps it simple, uses best practice already in existence and saves loads of effort.
Cathy
This is being led by expectations of stakeholders. They would like to add self analysis questionaires that give customised feedback based on the answers selected, and show the learner their results against the results of others that have taken the course. Another thing that has been requested is enabling the user to create a print out or summary of their "think about" reflection questions in order to bring it to the classroom portion of the course / allow the trainer to prepare for the classroom session using the answers given. I have searched and searched and cannot find a simple way of doing this in Captivate. I was under the impression that Articulate had the same capabilities as we find in Presenter and Captivate, however, if I am wrong, please do let me know as that might be an avenue to explore.
I would honestly rather find the easiest way to do this with no budget for buying in the content or another LMS (we have Adobe Connect Pro 7), but if there is a need to use coding or flash, then I am motivated to find the answer that way.
Thanks for your help!
Laura
I wouldn't do this either, - like Dennis I would suggest looking at somthing like articulate to build courses rapidly. Otherwise good flash books have always been the friends of ed series or the flash bibles.
Sam
I would say your outcomes depend on the expectations of your audience and budget.
With what information you have provided - I personally wouldn't go down that path because of the technical nuances.
I would look for an alternative simpler solution (s) i.e. Articulate converting your media to swf.
Tip:
Do your utmost to reduce source file size within content to the lowest level without losing quality.
This simple rule will ensure media functions effectively on the hosted site.