{"id":7198,"date":"2016-12-30T01:27:09","date_gmt":"2016-12-30T01:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/darngoodsolutions.com\/blogB\/?p=7198"},"modified":"2016-12-30T01:27:09","modified_gmt":"2016-12-30T01:27:09","slug":"evolution-of-education-and-authoring-software","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/darngoodsolutions.com\/blogB\/2016\/12\/30\/evolution-of-education-and-authoring-software\/","title":{"rendered":"Evolution of Education and Authoring Software"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"wtdvzfyu_how-to-compare-authoring-software\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In The Beginning<\/strong><\/p>\n

First there was machine language and the nerds saw that it was good.\u00a0 Then came programming languages from Fortran to Basic to Java to C++ and the average teacher saw that it was still way too complicated and the learning curve prohibitively high.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile teachers found solace in being able to use their chalkboards and overheads which turned into Smartboards and PowerPoint presentations.\u00a0 In many ways PowerPoint was the first of many examples of authoring software designed to create programs without programming.<\/p>\n

But programs like PowerPoint, while relatively easy to use, did not have the power to create interactive or game like presentations or software.\u00a0 This led to the era of \u201cdeath by PowerPoint\u201d in many classrooms.\u00a0 PowerPoint is a great tool but came to be used too often.<\/p>\n

The Internet<\/strong><\/p>\n

Somewhere during all of this the Internet began. Teachers saw great potential for the Internet to create content to reach students and allow students to do their own research online and to communicate with the teacher and each other.\u00a0 Again teachers were put off by the complexity and difficulty of creating their own web sites.\u00a0 So, another type of authoring software emerged, only online.\u00a0 Web services like Moodle and Blackboard allowed teachers to create more sophisticated online content than they could create using PowerPoint.\u00a0 And this content was online.\u00a0 Of course, if your school didn\u2019t have access to a server to run Moodle, or the money to buy a subscription to Blackboard, or high speed Internet service, or access to computers, you were out of luck.<\/p>\n

The Trade Offs\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

It seemed that as each new way of accessing and creating content evolved, the problems for teachers remained the same.\u00a0 Were they able to create content without a large learning curve.\u00a0 Was the content more powerful and interactive than PowerPoint.\u00a0 Could the teacher and their students get to the content easily?<\/p>\n

For many teachers, it was a lot easier to search and use the free materials available on the web, than learn and take the time to create their own.\u00a0 But, then teachers had to design their teaching around those materials whether that worked with their own ideas and curriculum or not.<\/p>\n

Game Makers & Coding<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another set of authoring tools also became available, game makers.\u00a0 Two of the most popular are Scratch and Gamemaker, both of which have free versions.\u00a0 Teachers could use these programs to help teach their students basic programing and coding or use them to create their own teaching games.\u00a0 While the learning curve is fairly easy, it takes time to create good games.<\/p>\n

Here is an article about my experiences running a high school game creation club<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is where I started to create my own classroom games, demonstrations, simulations, and tutorials, using an authoring program called Clickteam Fusion.\u00a0 Clickteam Fusion, which also has a free version, is a more powerful version of game maker authoring software.\u00a0 It is very affordable and has a learning curve similar to the other low end game making software.\u00a0 This is the program I would recommend for teachers wanting to create their own software for classroom use.<\/p>\n

\"fusion\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the important things to consider, is which platform you want to have your software run on: PC, MAC, Android, or iOS, or web based.\u00a0 Most authoring programs favor one or another of these platforms, and most do not support all of them.\u00a0 Clickteam Fusion, for example, is made mainly for the PC but has exporters for Android, iOS, and HTML5. But the exporting takes another level of effort and expertise.<\/p>\n

Here is an article about my experiences using Clickteam Fusion entitled How Multimedia Science Began \u2013 The Molecule Doesn\u2019t\u00a0 Stop Here<\/a><\/p>\n

From there, one can move on to more complicated and 3D programs like Unity which are both much more complex, require the use of a programming language, but vastly more powerful.<\/p>\n

Next Generation of Web Based Authoring<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the Internet became more popular, the number of and power of Internet based authoring took off.\u00a0 We have already mentioned Moodle and Blackboard that incorporate content creation with student date collection.<\/p>\n

One of the newer content creation Internet programs I ran into was called Versal.\u00a0 A summary a review of Versal follows:<\/p>\n

Versal is a set of Internet based tools that allow teachers (or others) to create Internet courses.\u00a0 There are core tools (like text), viewers (like Prezi), and labs (like Typing test), many of which are both useful and creative.\u00a0 A course could be created with text, graphic, and video content; utilizing a number of types of assessment tools;\u00a0including mathematical simulations, world maps, and other special content.\u00a0 While not complete by any means, Versal is a tremendous start on a course creation tool of the future.\u00a0 There are a few bugs in implementation and there is a definite but easy learning curve.\u00a0\u00a0The included tool tips and video tutorials help immensely in making the learning process easy.<\/p>\n

Versal has a lot of content creation power along with ease of use.\u00a0 Unfortunately the price is not cheap and must be paid on a monthly or yearly basis.<\/p>\n

Here is the full Versal review<\/a>.<\/p>\n

mAuthor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently, I had a chance to check out one of the newer Internet based authoring programs, called mAuthor.\u00a0 While the program has a number of similarities to Versal, it seemed much more powerful.<\/p>\n

\"mathor\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of the highlights of mAuthor are:<\/p>\n