eLearning on DVD Anywhere, Anyone, Anytime

Engage Interactive completes its cycle of providing universal training by adding a new dimension to electronically delivered education: interactive training delivered on DVD.

(PRWEB) November 21, 2004 -- eLearning on DVD brings our dream of providing training to anyone, anywhere at anytime closer to reality," said Eric Gale, Senior Instructional Designer for Engage Interactive. For more than a decade, weve been working on ways to make our courses available on as wide a variety of platforms as possible."

We design courseware for desktops through CD-ROM, intranets and the Internet," said Mr. Gale. We have media rich courseware for use on handheld pocket computers, and our courseware runs on every major browser and operating system. We design courseware for low and high bandwidth connections, and we can convert PowerPoint presentations into courseware with full interactivity. We were looking for ways to expand our platforms and TV seemed like the logical next step."

There are more televisions in the world than computers," said Mr. Gale. And most people are more comfortable using a TV than a computer. In fact, we had already received requests from some of our clients for training on video cassette, but we went one further."

The problem with video cassettes," said Mr. Gale," is the lack of interactivity with the actual visual presentation. The cassette might have a workbook or some other form of print media to provide student interactivity, but the video cassette itself is completely passive learning. You watch and listen. You dont get the same level of interaction between the learning program and the learner as you get with multimedia courseware. You dont get to answer questions, drill into the content through 'more information pop-ups, participate in simulations or complete certification tests."

With these considerations in mind, Mr. Gale and programmer Brad Parks set out in mid-2003 to explore the potential of providing interactive training on television through DVDs.

DVDs are digital, as opposed to their analog counterpart, the video cassette," said Mr. Gale. The digital medium opens the doors to possibilities for interactivity. The only problem was...people dont use a keyboard and mouse to watch TV. They use a remote control device."

This created a huge challenge in reproducing questions in the Flash components (which are manipulated with a mouse) so that users could select question options and navigate through the course using a television remote.

We had to re-design our Flash-based courseware content, which includes animation, simulations, questions, and other multimedia elements, in DVD format," said Mr. Gale. For instance, we had to capture the right number of frames per second from the Flash content to create a smooth flow of content in the video format and then do the same with the audio to make it smooth and avoid hiccups."

And who would use this type of courseware? Well," said Mr. Gale, people who dont have a computer at home, but would like to do certification or job upgrade training at home. Also, some people work all day long on a computer. If they do their training at night, they may be more inclined to do it in their living-room, remote in hand, or lying in bed."

Its a more informal, or relaxed, medium to train in," said Mr. Gale. And it brings us a step closer to our vision to make training available to anyone, anywhere, at anytime."

Plans for the future of Engages DVD courseware include increased interactivity in areas like simulations, integration of reference materials within the content, and the inclusion of more complex question types such as drag-and-drop.

Eventually, we hope to reproduce the complete functionality of our Flash-based courseware in the DVD format," said Mr. Gale. There is currently a new breed of DVD player that connects to the Internet and this will allow us to include features like links to certification exams so that a doctor can take a certification course at home and then take the exam without leaving the living-room."

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