rl:ID ramon lazo instructional design

Video killed the Flash star….

I’ve been doing quite a bit of video work lately.  Funny thing — my background prior to becoming an instructional designer was a recording engineer and then, later, a record producer.  I got my Broadcast Communications degree (really, on my diploma it says Radio & Television) from San Francisco State University, one of the best programs in the country.  I hadn’t shot much video in years — just making hit records with Spearhead and other bands and artists.  However, I did have a background in it — I shot video for years and even learned how to direct a piece or two prior to becoming super serious about audio and recording.

In any case, this blog will talk about video and how I think this will shape e-learning.   First of all, video is a very compelling medium for communication (do I really need to explain why…okay..YouTube).  Video, historically has been the cornerstone for effective e-learning since closed circuit TV and later, Telecourses became available to higher ed in the 1960’s.   Since then, e-learning has evolved into computer based learning, multimedia based learning (you remember CD-ROMS and *gasp* Zip drives??), web-based learning and now slightly back to multimedia with Flash being all the rage as well as cheap and easy to use ‘rapid e-learning development tools’ like Camtasia, Articulate and Captivate.

So..what’s next.  I think it will be BACK to video because digital video production, editing and mastering has become affordable and accessible to more people than ever.  Check this out: for ANYONE to come up with a very simple video is as easy as holding up your cellphone to whatever you are looking at and posting it on one of a number of Internet sites.  Seriously…as long as people can see what it is that you are trying to tell them, it works.

So then, I believe that the next serious explosion of media development for e-learning will be video and will touch every aspect of the technology.  For example, current video editing technology allows the use of multiple video formats, multiple audio formats, still images and Flash animations all in the same environment.  This means that any type of training material can be created from a myriad of sources, quickly, easily and with transparency.

With that, check out my latest project on YouTube.  This is an entry to the DevLearn2008 competition and we are trying to teach people about conservation practices in the office:

So…how does Flash figure in all this?  As many instructional design people know, Flash is a very difficult medium to use in developing e-learning content.  For the design houses that use Flash on a sophisticated level, this means a great understanding of the complexities and density of Flash and the dreaded Action Script.  Most instructional designers have yet to have this skillset and the ones who do have it,  seem to only do this and command high fees.  For the rest of us, Flash is a way to create cartoons with some simple interactions and, let’s face it, to make the content look cool and hip.

Coolness and hipness relate completely to how well one does ActionScript.  If you know ActionScript, this is great.  If you don’t chances are that you won’t ever learn it and instead try to find a diffrent way to develop content or design the process and interactions but leave the actual hacking to a (relatively) high-priced American Flash developer or to their tremendously talented offshore brethren.

Modern video production on a small scale is cheap, easy to learn and is immediately compelling.  There is no code monkeying and literally, what you can imagine and shoot is what you get.  The large majority of educators will figure this out soon and quickly and development exclusively in Flash  will no longer be a viable choice for e-learning content development.