Re: CBT (long) -Reply

[David Hailey <FAHAILEY -at- WPO -dot- HASS -dot- USU -dot- EDU>]

Like Richard, I have done a number of CBT titles.  I agree with his advice,
but I would add one caveat:  There is such a thing as too much planning.  When
we produce traditional documents, we are forced to live with the final
results.  Digital environments, on the other hand, are organic and available
to change right up till the instant they are pressed (if they are ever
pressed).  With that in mind, while I am planning, I am rapid prototyping.
That way I immediately know if something I am planning will work.  I plan
around a working model of the project I will finally produce.  I would highly
recommend this approach, since you can really only plan (predict the future)
if you understand the future's nature.

Dragon>>>
I would do the project in a linear environment unless  I thoroughly understood
the nature of learning in hypermedia.  Tests we have done here indicate that
all other things being equal, hypermedia instructed students make three-times
the mistakes as multimedia taught students.

I would recommend ToolBook's CBT edition because it has excellent test
building capabilities, unless you need cross-platform to Mac.  In that case, I
would recommend AuthorWare or Director--although Director offers no internal,
interactive test building that I know of.   If you need a cross-platform
application, you will have lots of dragons to slay--and good luck to you.

Dave Hailey
Assistant Professor
Professional Writing/Hypermedia
Utah State University
fahailey -at- wpo -dot- hass -dot- usu -dot- edu

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