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#1 2008-12-24 02:36:44

**_mark2741_**

Multiple Gripes With Connect....any Solutions?

I've had Connect since v4 and we're just now trying to use it for asynchronous training. I love the tool for live web meetings/support/demonstrations/training, but for the self-paced stuff I just don't think it is up to snuff. Hopefully others who have more experience with the tool can provide some solutions/workarounds/advice on the following:

<RANT>

1. Fuzzy PowerPoints

Everything is fuzzy. It's really annoying, and there appears to be no way around it. It has something to do with the conversion to swf, because if I upload a single Flash IDE generated swf as content it looks crystal clear. I'd ditch PowerPoint altogether if it weren't for I can't get tracking to work for anything other than a single SCO, which is just crazy to have to force learners to launch an entire new window just to show a quiz. And Captivate has its own set of major shortcomings, at least in the current/previous versions.

2. Forced to use Presenter (PowerPoint), and no ability to develop courses in Flash *properly*

I cannot stand using PPT. It's impossible to get a decent meta-view of the course structure, branching and the like gets really confusing on anything other than a handful of slides, etc. I've seen plenty of nifty ppt-based examples but not surprisingly they are all 10 minutes max in length.

I much prefer creating my own flash-based templating system and course development environment, but Connect gives no legitimate way to track, and it doesn't support delivering straight swf content properly. What I mean by that is - if I have a 60 minute course, I certainly wouldn't want a 60-minute swf. I'd want a wrapper/container swf with UI, that loads in assets as needed (like other swf's, xml, images, video, etc).

In the Connect documentation it states that a single swf, so long as it is named index.swf, can be uploaded as part of a zip file containing other assets like other swf's (to be loaded into the parent swf), xml files, etc. That is just not true - it doesn't work and never has. In order for it to work an html file named index.htm, that loads in the index.swf (can be named anything) has to be included. But that results in a small window being spawned (I've tried resizing via js but no luck) and, yet again, fuzziness.

3. No ability to set scores/bookmarks/tracking data via simple method calls. Basically the only tools we can use to develop 'elearning' that Connect will support are Presenter and Captivate (with limited support). And please don't give me those old, horrible Flash Quiz templates! For a few years now I've been asking if anyone has gotten elearning developed in a 3rd-party tool to track (ie, with a score and not just 'complete/incomplete') in Connect. Finally, just this past week, Andrew Chemey put together a great tutorial for this site that lists the steps, along with a prototype that works well, for using SCORM-based content with Connect. And it works great. But we still have the limitation of the single SCO (Connect doesn't support multiple SCOs in the same content package).

4. On that note....no formal SCORM support. No 3rd-party tool even bothers supporting AICC anymore. And rightly so - ever try to get the test environment from the AICC website? You have to sign an agreement, email it, then wait weeks for some guy (yeah, one guy!) to get back from vacation and then he may send you the link to download it. It's ridiculous. The documentation sucks, and there's no support for it.

5. The user interface that Connect provides (with no source fla) has some serious flaws that my users consistently gripe about. Yet Adobe won't let anyone have the fla to modify it. I read somewhere that Macromedia used to back in earlier versions. Not anymore.

There's more I'm forgetting. I love Connect for synchronous stuff. But for asynchronous....it's a powerpoint presentation with audio voiceover tool and nothing more. Please prove me wrong : )

One thing would solve all of my gripes with Connect for asynchronous training:

Give me SCORM support, with the ability to have multiple SCOs in a single content package, so I can write my own UI and do everything in Flash (or one of the many 3rd-party elearning development tools, many of which are free, that publish to SCORM). This would clear up the UI issues, the fuzziness issues, the synching/playback glitches (due to the content being broken up into chunks and loaded as needed), etc.

</RANT>

mark

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#2 2008-12-26 08:14:13

**_20108_**

Re: Multiple Gripes With Connect....any Solutions?

1. Set Image Quality to High  - always! (Adobe Presenter > Presentation Settings > Quality (Tab)
Then choose Publish for Adobe Connect and also enable: Use the settings for new presentations
2. It is possible to produce all content in Flash and track it correctly - a bit tricky but absolutely doable! We've done plenty of courses in Flash and the all track well in Connect.

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#3 2008-12-26 09:57:57

**_mark2741_**

Re: Multiple Gripes With Connect....any Solutions?

20108,

Can you share a sample of how you got an all Flash course to track properly? Or at least discuss how you did it?

mark

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#4 2008-12-27 11:18:48

**_dyun_**

Re: Multiple Gripes With Connect....any Solutions?

This article, while it refers to "Macromedia Breeze" still applies to Connect Pro Training.  I'm working to get this article updated.  It also includes some sample content in a ZIP file:


Publishing Flash Quiz Template Content to Macromedia Breeze Training

Download PDF (80 KB): http://www.adobe.com/resources/breeze/t … breeze.pdf

Download zip file with sample content (ZIP, 7K): http://download.macromedia.com/pub/bree … acking.zip

Hope this helps,
david

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