Introduction:
In the past web based tutorials were difficult to create and required a degree of web programming knowledge or alternatively required that the user downloaded a file (usually Powerpoint) that would need to be opened in a separate program from the browser. With the creation of Shockwave flash this has all changed. Shockwave Flash (swf, hereafter referred to simply as Flash) in its turn requires some knowledge of the computer language it is based in. Thankfully though there are several programs that make the creation of tutorials based on this language simple and easy — even for the novice librarian .
A note about the competition:
I am going to review some of the features in one such program that I have found very simple to use called Wink which is a free downloadable program. Before I do I just wanted to mention one of its competitors that is perfectly suited for web-based tutorial creation: Adobe Captivate 3. This software allows you to do screen recording demonstrations, quizzes, podcasts, Powerpoint type demonstrations, scenario training, podcasting and software simulations. All of this flexibility however comes at a cost: the full install version of Adobe Captivate 3 costs $699 ($299 for an upgrade) and therefore may be out of the range for many institutions. This is especially so since libraries already have access to separate programs that can do many of this programs features as well or nearly as well. Libraries either already own the license to these alternative programs (Powerpoint) or because they can download freeware or open source programs that do the trick quite adequately (for example Audacity and Wink). If you are interested to read more about this program visit the product website: http://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/
Wink: What is it and what does it do?
Wink is a freeware program that can used in the creation of software and database tutorials. It essentially works as a real time screen capture program. The user selects the area of the screen to be captured and then, when they are ready, starts capturing process. The default for the program is set to four frames per second and the user can do a complete database search going through all the steps that they want to show the user. When they are finished they simply stop the recording (Shift + Pause).
The next step is the editing of the captured screens. The user can add a variety of text bubbles, arrows, circles, pictures and sounds (imagine adding a spoken running commentary!). In addition there is possible to give the tutorial user the chance to choose between several options or possibly skip content within the tutorial.
Wink Screen Capture
To download a copy of WINK 2.0:
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Follow the following link: http://debugmode.com/wink/
Key Advantages:
Professional results without technical knowledge: there is the opportunity to create professional looking tutorials with little technical expertise.
Price: Free versus several hundred dollars for commercial competitors.
Format: Flash is available on the majority of users’ computers and requires no other software to download other than the Flash plugin.
Disadvantages:
There are no disadvantages to the product itself as far as I have been able to tell. However, there is one caveat regarding the format that it produces. Shockwave Flash files can easily grow to be several megabytes in size even for a shorter presentation. There are a number of ways these files can be kept smaller. For example by deleting unnecessary frames and keeping the window as small as possible. This is more of a consideration for individuals with slower connections who may not be able to access these files if they are prohibitively large. For the creator my suggestion is to always cut anything that does not add to the presentation. This consideration should also be taken in mind when using the advance frame arrows which give the possibility of building several tutorials on the same theme into the same .swf file. Such collating should be avoided as much as possible in preference for separate files for separate tutorials.
In the coming weeks I am going to create tutorials with this program. At that time I will upload them to my website and add the links here.