Elluminate

I just finished a pilot program using Elluminate. This is an online “classroom” tool. Everyone in a course connects to a web site. For the most part it looks like an interactive chat with a whiteboard. The most important “extra” is a microphone. The teacher controls the microphone. It can be passed around so students can actually talk to everyone in the session. If you want to talk, you will need a microphone. I use a $10 headset from Wal-mart. In addition to the voice, any application or the entire desktop of the teacher can be shared with the class. The experience in some ways is better than an actual classroom. Let me explain how that is possible.

I teach a multimedia class which includes several activities using Flash. When I introduced the basic concepts of Flash, I shared my Flash program with the whole class. I “talked” my way through the basics and everyone could see the program and hear my voice. There is a “hand up” button that participants can use to get the instructor’s attention. As students had questions, I could stop and answer them.

On top of all of this, everything was being recorded. After the session, anyone absent could watch the whole thing on tape delay. As we worked through the activities I learned that even people that attended the live sessions were going back through the recorded sessions. In fact several people commented that they were replaying small parts over and over to see exactly how something was done.

If you have ever used Flash, you know how complicated it can quickly become. Objects on the stage are connected to frames, scenes, properties, actionscripts… all sorts of things that aren’t easy to follow the first time through. It is easy to get lost in how objects are associated with different properties. Having the frame-by-frame review tool helped everyone. Participants actually commented that this was better than a live classroom because of the recording.