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Adobe Flash

Drag-and-Drop Interactions

A simple multiple-choice quiz can be effective in testing situations, but drag-and-drop interactions can add many useful features of an interactive process. With drag-and-drop interactions, you can simulate experiences that mimic the real world.
Using Flash and Action Script, drag-and-drop interactions can be created from scratch, using hit Test properties and if conditionals to test whether an object has been dropped on a specific target. If the object has landed on its correct target, the application shows a correct response or visual/audio feedback. If the object is not dropped on its correct target, an incorrect response or visual/audio feedback can occur.

The interactions are Action Script 2.0 only, but have all of the features necessary to create many desired interactions. You can then use the Flash Component Inspector to configure interactions, change their text, and alter the conditions of their tests.

At Cyber Works, we created drag-and-drop interactions to meet the many custom-content needs of our clients.

Components

Flash comes with ready-made user-interface components that you can add to courses and configure through the Component Inspector and the Parameters panel. These components include: Radio Buttons, Checkboxes, Text Fields, clickable Selection Buttons, List Boxes, and Combo Boxes. Components in Flash CS3 are easier than ever to customize; simply double-click on a component and edit its “skin.”
You can even use Action Script to test for specific conditions and return certain values, to create your own quizzes and test interactions.

You can also dynamically update the text for components from an external text file. So application development is much easier now, using Flash Components and Action Script.

3D Flash

Dynamic Text

As mentioned above, Flash lets you pull text into Dynamic Text fields. You can import variables from a simple text file, or load text from an HTML or XML file. Flash CS3 has expanded its capabilities to handle XML files, with E4X.
You can also use a loader object to bring external text into text fields. Dynamic text can be formatted through an external CSS file, or using simple HTML tags. But any text field that will be accepting dynamic text should have all font characters embedded or set to a system font.

The major advantage of using dynamic text is flexibility. When the content of your application changes, it’s much easier to change an external text file than to change text embedded in a Flash file. Text that is imported dynamically is cached by the Flash Player, so be sure to clear your cache when you update the content of your app.

Built-In Quiz Templates

In addition to its built-in learning interactions, Flash also offers Quiz templates. Simply go to File, then to New, and in the Templates section, select the Quiz category.

There are three Quiz styles to choose from. You can make adjustments to the entire Quiz and choose result options. Each frame in the Quiz template has its own set of learning interactions for you to choose from. So when you need a multiple-choice question, you can copy and paste the frame for multiple-choice questions and modify it as needed.

Built in SCORM/AICC Supports

Flash supports the SCORM 1.2 and 2004 standards, as well as AICC. Any application that you develop in Flash (that needs to communicate with the Cyber Works LMS) must be “published” using these templates. Go to the File menu, and then to Publish Settings.

In an HTML file that has been published by Flash, you will find a large JavaScript file, containing all of the functions and variables necessary to populate the Application Programming Interface for the LMS. There are also functions for connecting Sharable Content Objects with the LMS.

(A manifest file is a library of all of the assets required for a course, including SCO’s, HTML, SWF, and other files.) The Cyber Works LMS supports all SCORM 1.2- and AICC- compliant courses, and our customer-service representatives can help you configure your manifest files, for hosting on our LMS.

Summary

If you want to give your courses a lot more zing, Flash is a perfect tool for building richer learning experiences. Custom Flash development may take longer than traditional course development, but the extra time it takes is more than offset by improved, more interesting learning experiences for students.

Built-in components, learning interactions, and quizzes, plus support for SCORM and AICC standards, make a Flash an attractive choice for creating compelling e-Learning courseware.

Adobe Flash

Creating Simulations

Some software tools, such as Camtasia and Captivate, are designed solely for creating software simulations. They have advantages and disadvantages, and Cyber Works does use them, along with other simulation software packages.

Since the Palm software only resides on the Palm Pilot, I couldn’t use a PC-based software-simulation tool to capture screens. So I used my scanner and Photoshop, imported the screens and artwork into Flash, and created the simulation.

At Cyber Works, we are currently working with an Internet company whose proprietary software (for security reasons) only works on computers behind their firewall.

Video

Video is becoming more prevalent on the web these days, with the rise of YouTube and other video-streaming services. Video can significantly enhance course materials, but (as with audio) it can be difficult to manage, due to multiple video formats and players. On the PC, AVI is the dominant format and Windows Media Player is the usual player. On the Mac, MOV is the format of choice and the Quicktime Player from Apple is the dominant player. However, there are other video formats and players, including Real media / Real Player and others.

When Flash MX 2004 was released, video was a major component. And with Flash CS3, video has become even easier to incorporate. You can deploy video on your own server or on a dedicated Flash Streaming Video Server, for extra bandwidth. Flash has its own video format, called Flash Video (FLV). Flash videos can be played by any Flash movie (SWF) file, so no additional player is necessary.

A short demonstration video, not longer than 1 minute, can be embedded in a Flash movie. If you are expecting a lot of traffic and have longer movies, you should use a Flash Video Streaming server.

Cue Points can key off of specific video frames, to control other events. And the new captioning feature can add closed captioning for video segments. At Cyber Works, we created a video of a speaker presenting a slideshow.

Consider your audience and the minimum system requirements necessary to view streaming Flash videos. Dropped frames and inconsistent playback can occur on slower machines.