Anyone here use flash for e-learning?

**TNB74** · 09-11-2003, 01:19 PM

Just curious. How many people here use Flash MX to develop e-learning courses? If you don't use flash, what do you use? Authorware?

**haikumania** · 09-12-2003, 08:16 AM

I do.

Either for basic content delivery or more complex systems simulations to provide training for customer service reps.

**swampy** · 09-12-2003, 09:18 AM

yep.

heres an example.

**TNB74** · 09-12-2003, 09:22 AM

Haiku,

Thanks for your reply. That's basically the audience that I will initially be developing e-learning training for also (customer service reps). Any advice on how I can brush up on my skills? Any good books or training classes that deal with flash development for e-learning?

**TNB74** · 09-12-2003, 09:31 AM

Swampy, thanks for the link to the example. NICE! Did you use any other software besides flash to make that?

**TNB74** · 09-12-2003, 09:32 AM

Swampy, thanks for the link to the example. NICE! Did you use any other software besides flash to make that?

**swampy** · 09-12-2003, 09:36 AM

The short answer is: Yes, it is all FLash and XML

The long winded answer is: We use and a custom built VB content production environment that compiles screens from swfs, jpegs etc.

It has built in drag and drop question type components (gapfill, drag and drop, image map etc) and outputs the screens with an XML mapping document that gets loaded into a flash content engine at runtime that puts them back together from the constituent parts.

This is what an individual screen will look like:

Code:

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16" ?> 
- <root>
- <storyboard>
  <scene id="0" name="Main Scene" mainStageVisible="1" /> 
  </storyboard>
- <component id="12781" componentType="HTML" zOrder="999">
- <item type="HTML" id="14328" x="18" y="131" width="336" height="240" style="0" scrollbarexistence="0" texttype="dynamic" textselectable="" delay="0" transition="0" recorded="2" visibility="0" zorder="900">
- <TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2">
- <P ALIGN="LEFT">
- <FONT FACE="BTL" SIZE="12" COLOR="#000000">
  Look at each key point and, in your own words, explain what each one means. 
  <P /> 
  <P /> 
  You must not copy whole phrases from the original, although it's alright to use specialist words or abbreviations. 
  </FONT>
  </P>
  </TEXTFORMAT>
  </item>
  </component>
- <component id="12778" componentType="image" zOrder="998">
  <item type="image" id="14325" x="383" y="121" width="320" height="240" cAu="0" style="0" delay="0" transition="0" recorded="2" visibility="0" zorder="900" /> 
  </component>
- <component id="12779" componentType="AudioClip" zOrder="997">
  <item type="audio" id="14326" x="8" y="5" style="0" delay="0" transition="0" recorded="1" visibility="0" /> 
  </component>
  </root>

the engine grabs all the bits and pieces from the server and sticks them together in the flash engine.

**erova** · 09-12-2003, 10:47 AM

damn swampy i'm jealous.

building e-learning for the department of defense is SOOOO much drier.

curious--how many people are on your staff/or were staffed on that project you sent over (including instructional designers, subject matter experts etc.)

thanks--

**haikumania** · 09-12-2003, 11:40 AM

Originally posted by TNB74
Haiku,

Thanks for your reply. That's basically the audience that I will initially be developing e-learning training for also (customer service reps). Any advice on how I can brush up on my skills? Any good books or training classes that deal with flash development for e-learning?

Nothing specific to e-learning, sorry. Most of what I know has been self-taught (with much assistance from this site

). I did go back to school and get my Masters degree in Education (specializing in ID for WBT) but that really focused on the Education side and there was very little time spent on the actual tools used to design.

**TNB74** · 09-12-2003, 12:52 PM

I am basically self-taught too. I have been playing with flash for a few years and was curious about how many people actually do e-learning development for a living. I graduated last May with a degree in Computer Science. I got a job last year with local company and just recently they started an e-learning team and I am now part of it. I got my degree with the hopes of becoming a Software Engineer, but the job market is pretty rough in IT right now. To all of you who have replied to this post, can you make a decent living in the E-learning Development field (Instructional Design, multimedia programmer jobs)?

**swampy** · 09-13-2003, 06:44 AM

Originally posted by erova
damn swampy i'm jealous.

building e-learning for the department of defense is SOOOO much drier.

curious--how many people are on your staff/or were staffed on that project you sent over (including instructional designers, subject matter experts etc.)

thanks--

1 full time project manager who also writes the content scripts (subject matter)

2 full time graphic designers who design the interface elements and the templates for the look and feel of the graphic elements.

2 developers - 1 on the content engine, one (me) on the navigation engine and the more complex flash interactive elements.

3 full time content producers (basically these are people who would previously be employed as secretaries, they produce the content screens in the same way that they would have created powerpoint projects) who can produce around 20 screens per day each.

1 full time tester.

If anyone is in the UK I can arrange for you to visit and see how it all fits together, show you the content producer app etc.

**BlinkOk** · 09-13-2003, 07:07 AM

this is an interesting article on a particular e-learning effort;
http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,59855,00.html

**Owen Sutton** · 09-15-2003, 04:43 AM

Yeah, I've developed a couple of Flash tutorials for Vertex Data Science. Flash is ideal, beacuse the possibilities are endless. It's also possible for people to learn from their own PC over the company intranet.

**webcorps** · 09-16-2003, 04:30 PM

Any good books or training classes that deal with flash development for e-learning?

A good book to start learning elearning (

) is macromedia's mx elearning advanced training from the source

Also go to macromedias elearning section to get the latest info on Learning Objects and elearning architectures and models

**TNB74** · 09-16-2003, 06:36 PM

Originally posted by webcorps
A good book to start learning elearning ( ) is macromedia's mx elearning advanced training from the source

Also go to macromedias elearning section to get the latest info on Learning Objects and elearning architectures and models

Thanks, I ordered that book last Friday from Amazon and I'm just waiting for it to come in. I am eager to check it out!

**swampy** · 01-30-2004, 05:29 AM

http://www.keyskills4u.com recently completed by our company.

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