Course Design Specification Document

The CDS is a plan for the design or a multimedia training program. The CDS will allow us to schedule the project, identify team members, plan and create outlines. This layout will allow us to effectively plan our multimedia training. Because we have outlined what will be our modules for training it will ensure that we stay on track and our modules will match up well with what was laid out in the initial plan. Because we have devised the activities, plan, and established standards this ensures that all group members will be able to make the material consistent and the final result will prove to be fully consistent and well flowing.

Distance Learning

Distance learning can come at many costs, it is hard to implement, support and ensure that users on the other end will successfully learn the material. I have had one distance class and that was TSTM 345 Networking. Because the class was not hands on it was much easier to do over the distances. There were problems however because sometimes the voice or powerpoints did not transfer well over the internet or there were problems with the video feed. Being in a traditional classroom is a much more preferable way to learn rather than being feed the information via video or internet. The distance learners were thankful they were able to get the powerpoints so they could review the material after the lecture.
I hope the teacher would follow the design steps in the book.
- Develop script and materials
- Shoot and edit video
- Rehearse the presentation
- Broadcast the session
Following these steps should ensure a successful course.

Camtasia for audiotory/visual learners.

In class Thursday we discussed the software program Camtasia. I have never used camtasia but have seen productions from it, because it is auditory and visual I was able to learn very well by watching the video productions. Camtasia allows you to record the screen and audio of what you are doing. Being able to record video and audio make the output easy to learn. Camtasia will be a great program for auditory and visual learners. This program will work great for our design project because it is both auditory and visual, this will help the people who are viewing presentations learn better.

Internet delivery

Internet delivery is meeting the requirements of training on demand:
- It is available as the desktop
- It eliminates the need for travel
- It is cost-effective compared to traditional delivery methods
- Text-based web interventions can be quickly developed

Designing web training uses the same process as developing other media.
Including establishing the framework, developing the media elements, and review, revise and implement the process.

Implementation of internet media has been successful there are many reasons for this.
1) Universal Access - Because almost everyone has access to a computer and internet access this method of training is growing phenomenally.
2) Ease of use - Because getting on the internet is very easy it is providing more options for an audience with limited experience
3) Multimedia content - Because the web enables multimedia including text, graphics, audio, and video it is opening the training to a wide variety of audiences.

Internet delivery is allowing training to be broadcast to a wide variety of individuals. There are problems with web delivery including CBT software not providing standard based output and the lack of necessary bandwidth to properly display the output. With the advancement of the internet and new standards in the future web delivery may become much more powerful

Designing a Project Schedule

To create a project schedule there are three steps
1) document general project information
This document will describe the project that must be performed and what needs are addressed. This step includes gaps or obstacles, the desired outcomes, high-level performance requirements and the project constraints or issues, and any assumptions that are made.
2) project deliverables
This part will list the dates that are specific to the project. Including dates to create scripts, video scripts, prototype interfaces, etc.
3) Schedule project activities
ALL team members must
1) know their roles and responsibilities
2) be aware of the project timeline
3) deliver their project components at the appropriate time
Everything in the output must be reviewed on a schedule so that the final project will be accurate and successful. If the reviews are not completed the project may fail.

New considerations for multimedia project design

There are many things which are changing the considerations for multimedia projects.
The first is SCORM: Sharable Content Objects Reference Model which is working to assemble content on the fly to meet the learners needs. LETSI (Learning, Education, Training, Systems, Interoperability) is going beyond SCORM, this is being developed by the Masie center to make "Plug and play learning". LMS (learning management systems) such as blackboard change the way learners get their data. Other technologies including web 2.0 will be instrumental in changing the way people learn, web 2.0 will offer many options for internet learning such as podcasts and blogs.

Moderating a discussion

Moderating a discussion is a unique ability. The moderator must have a solid grasp of the topic that is being discussed. The moderator must be able to successfully answer the questions that are being posed by posters and must be effective in quickly responding to the posters. Being able to moderate a discussion successfully means you should be a highly qualified communicator.

Testing on the web

Testing on the web can introduce many issues with the process of testing. If they tests are created to have have generated questions this ensures a much better security. The tests should also have security implementation to prevent the printing of test solutions. If they are designed to generate random questions it is much harder to collaborate thus helping to eliminate the possibility of cheating. If tests do not use random questions the chance of collaboration is much greater resulting in several students with the same grades.