Adobe Presenter 7 still a Breeze to use
I've got the new Adobe Presenter 7 on a month's trial and have spent the past hour giving it a thorough working over. I'm interested in this sort of PowerPoint-based tool both for myself, because I like to package up my presentations with audio for web delivery, but also because I meet so many trainers who want to produce some simple e-content for themselves and want the process to be as simple as possible.
Presenter 7 installs as a PowerPoint add-on (including the 07 version if you have this). At its simplest you can just export your slides as a Flash movie, along with any existing animations and any slide notes you have. More likely you'll want to add narration, which you can capture directly or import from an existing file. Alternatively, you could record a narration using your webcam and play the video in the sidebar. If you want more multimedia, import Flash movies (including Captivate output) and videos onto new slides.
I like the fact that the quizzing tools can be configured directly from PowerPoint and that you can customise them using all the usual PowerPoint features. I'm not a great fan of these simple correct / incorrect question formats, but I know they work for many people.
Output is as a bundle of web files or as one of the latest generation of PDF files. I wasn't sure why you'd want to do that, until I realised that the whole output could then be contained in a single file, which is handy for downloads and emailing around. You can also export in a mobile-friendly format, though I didn't try that.
All in all, I'd have to say that I had no trouble at all in using this product and never had to resort to the help files. This is what rapid development tools need to be like if teachers and trainers are going to do it for themselves.
Labels: PowerPoint, rapid e-learning
posted by Clive Shepherd @ 5:46 PM #
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Thanks for the review Clive - I was thinking about trying this myself so will give it a go now.
Chris
http://learn2develop.blogspot.com
If all you want to do with it is convert ppt to flash, then it works okay. Anything beyond that and it's very buggy and basically just a polished turd....I've had a license for Adobe Breeze/Connect Pro (with the Training module) for 5 years now and it's still a huge disappointment. And I'll say it again...I have *yet* to see a *quality* elearning course (ie, not a 10 minute 'example') that was developed solely in powerpoint using one of these turd-polishing tools. A presentation is still a presentation, even if wrapped in a sco!
Clive, nice to hear your comments.
Few examples of content created by users of Presenter can be found here
Incase you want to give it a try you can download a 30 day trial
I've used it a lot. It's very good for lecture/presentation capture. It's a bit buggy, but not too bad. Here's my review:
REVIEW OF MACROMEDIA BREEZE
Robert Alton
6th February 2006
Introduction
Breeze is a tool that allows rapid development of elearning and presentation materials. It can also be used to host online meetings. It is a plug-in to PowerPoint.
Once Breeze has been installed, it can be accessed from the tool bar in PowerPoint. The basic method of operation is to set up a presentation in PowerPoint and then add to it using the features contained in Breeze.
These features include:
§ Use a variety of pre-designed Skins, completion with navigation buttons
§ Record a voiceover track and key it into slide/slide animations
§ Import sound files (must be .flv)
§ Import video (must be .flv)
§ Import Flash files
§ Sync PowerPoint animations with video and audio
§ Set Multiple choice, True/False, Cloze Text, Short Answer, Matching, Lickert Scale questions
§ Set up and deliver Surveys
§ Track user responses and performance
§ Manage student groups
§ Import Flash files
§ Set up and run synchronous Breeze meetings
So, it is fairly quick and easy to develop sophisticated looking elearning. Of course, there is a trade off as you lose some of the finesse and control that you often get with products developed in a more programming reliant environment such as Flash.
Breeze – Some Advantages
§ Based on the popular PowerPoint product – instantly familiar
§ Rapid development with no requirement for coding
§ No need to build a user interface as Breeze supplies its own
§ Built in question templates and student reporting
§ Can be run from a VLE or as a raw file
§ Control of media elements (video, audio)
§ Breeze outputs to SCORM/AICC/IMS standards
Breeze – Some Disadvantages
§ Manual, rather than code based authoring – lots of mouse work - may bore programmers.
§ What you see isn’t necessarily what you get. Breeze reserves some screen space for its interface, so you may need to re-format existing PPT presentations, particularly text objects. This may have been solved with Breeze 5.1 SP1, but this has not been tried yet.
§ Possible usability and accessibility issues – can’t re-size text on the fly, some Breeze controls are a little small as is the Notes feature.
§ Breeze outputs lots of files when a Breeze presentation is published – you need to manage your files and folders, particularly if you hot desk.
§ Syncing animations with voice or video is fiddly and hit and miss for complex build-ups. Needs finer controls.
§ Formatting applied to quiz questions after they have been created can be lost when adding new question items. This also happens if you edit quiz settings. It’s better to format after authoring the whole quiz.
§ Button that allows users to clear question answers if they change their mind doesn’t seem to work consistently.
§ You can use .flv (Flash 8 movie) integrated using the Breeze editor, but you cannot load an .flv in PowerPoint. Therefore, you cannot use video full screen, only in the Breeze window. A workaround for this might be simple to write.
Nice to Have Improvements
§ Global editing of question formatting.
§ Safe area marking on PowerPoint slide to indicate what will show on a Breeze screen (this issue may have been resolved with S P 1.
§ A table to allow finer control when syncing animations/objects with video/audio.
Prerequisites for using Breeze Effectively
1. Basic ability in authoring presentations in PowerPoint – you must be familiar with the PPT interface and the package’s basic features. The ability to set up and manage a Master page is crucial.
2. A Storyboard that describes what you want to do. If you don’t have a plan, things become confusing.
3. Basic layout and design skills.
Would I Use It?
Definitely. But only for fairly simple types of elearning, where information is presented and then understanding is checked. The package is great for re-purposing the outputs of presentations/lectures and chunking this up into modules.
Breeze would also great for prototyping/visualising a new project.
I wanted to say that you can not only capture video from a webcam and post it on the side bar - but also onto a slide.
I would agree that the correct - incorrect questions aren't always desirable, but you can also include feedback for each answer option. I believe that with rich feedback you give the learner another opportunity to learn the content.
Adobe Connect (Breeze) Presenter is a good tool for converting PowerPoints to Flash and adding some interactivity - but I would say is not intended for an entire elearning course.
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