Investigating the Software-Based Classroom - Software Review - Evaluation

ENT, June 28, 2000 by MARK McFADDEN

Can computer-based technical training software really deliver? In the past, computer-based training suffered from a failure to interact with the student. Older delivery methods concentrated on telling a student a fact and then turning around and seeing if he or she remembered it moments later. That one-dimensional educational experience soured an entire generation of technical staff on computer-based training.

A new generation of software-based training, however, is arising that attempts to merge the older style -- the simple question and answer presentation -- with multimedia and animation. Can quality training that is available when a student has time and that is delivered wherever a student has a workstation compensate for the lack of a live teacher? It's worth taking a look. For this survey we looked at three software-based training solutions. For each, we asked for software that provides in-depth technical training on one of the most important topics for enterprise Windows 2000 administrators: Active Directory Services. The software we chose to test came from LearnKey Inc., Transcender Corp., and Microsoft Corp.

Two tracks are clearly evident with this type of product: software training materials that are built to help a student come to terms with a particular technology and software that attempt to help a student pass an MCSE exam.

LearnKey

Installing LearnKey Inc.'s multimedia engine is a breeze, and it worked on all the platforms we tested. It is designed as an intranet application, but it worked in our standalone environment. There is a dilemma here for the vendors: Should a training software vendor make the course available on a range of platforms so anyone can view the lessons, or should they only support the course materials on a machine where you can also do hands on lessons? LearnKey takes the view that supporting multiple platforms provides flexibility for students.

LearniKey's material came on four CD-ROMs. Each disk groups together a set of related modules. Transitions from module to module were natural and accompanied by a presenter who explained the relationships between the sections. Much of the material is shipped as presentations with a synchronized voice-over stored as AVI files. Each CD-ROM contains the AVI's for that set of modules.

LearnKey's software requires each student to register with a username and password. When we logged in we were immediately taken to the first lesson of the first module. That worked well when we first started our course, but the system didn't keep track of where we were in the course after we took breaks. The ability to establish a bookmark while progressing through material is essential: We missed it in the LearnKey course.

We also noticed a related problem. When e-mail came to our inbox, we naturally switched to our Outlook window. LearnKey didn't detect when focus was removed from the class material. It kept going through the presentation while we were looking at our mail. Clearly, it would be nice to have a mechanism for the program to detect when the window focus has been moved to another program. We would have also liked to have volume controls built into the user interface and the ability to move backwards and forwards inside an individual presentation.

The videos were simply talking heads, but the animated demonstrations were excellent. Even though we found a few errors, the technical material presented in LearnKey's CD-ROM was outstanding.

Transcender

Instead of concentrating on technology first, some organizations concentrate on delivering training materials that help technical staff succeed at MCSE tests. A good example of this strategy is Transcender Corp.'s TranscenderCert exam simulation.

Transcender's products are designed to help technical staff achieve Windows 2000 certification. The training software provides a series of MCSE exam simulations along with a quiz feature that works much like the flash cards of days gone by. Transcender calls the exam simulations TranscenderCert and the flash card technology TranscenderFlash. Transcender delivers four core Windows 2000 exams: We looked at the flash card technology for the MCSE Directory Services Installation and Configuration exam.

Installing TranscenderFlash worked well on a variety of platforms. When we started up the program we were presented with the option to take one of eight prepared quizzes, take a quiz built from random selections of the prebuilt questions, or to take a custom quiz. Once a quiz is selected, the user can either take a timed test or simply go about answering the questions at his or her own speed. The interface gives the user the ability see the question, the cumulative score, and -- once the user clicks on the flash card -- the answer to the question.

A nice feature of the quiz decks is the ability to mark cards for later review. The program can also go back and find the cards in the quiz decks you had trouble answering.

It was nice to be able to select a set of cards from each deck to create custom quizzes, but we would have liked more control. TranscenderFlash allows you to build a custom quiz deck using the existing database of questions, but it doesn't allow you to add new cards of your own to the deck.