Using Adobe Presenter 8 with Moodle

This semester I have had the opportunity to teach an online class for one student that needed the course to graduate. Fortunately for me, I have had access to Adobe Presenter 8 and Moodle to teach and thought that it would be a great way for me to deliver the course to my student. We are now half way through the semester and using these tools has made it easy for me to deliver learning modules to my student that he is able to work through. The beauty of using Adobe Presenter 8 is that I have plenty of PowerPoint presentations that I have done over the years which I have been able to convert to learning modules. Having access to the features found in Adobe Presenter 8 has allowed me to add video, audio as well as quizzes to my modules which really has enhanced the learning experience for my student. Adobe Presenter 8 is great at wrapping up your PowerPoint presentation and delivering them as a stand alone eLearning asset.

One of the features that has really worked well for me using Adobe Presenter 8 is the ability to create a SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model)  compatible course from my PowerPoint presentations that I can then upload to Moodle. Using the Quiz feature found within Adobe Presenter 8, I am able to create a variety of different types of questions that allows me to assess what the student has learned during the session. It also provides a valuable way for my students to receive feedback after they have worked through the module. Creating the SCORM compatible file from your course is a cinch when using Adobe Presenter 8 which makes it really easy to upload to Moodle. From within the Quiz Manager select the Reporting tab and simply select the SCORM option. Now you simply have to Publish your course from within Presenter 8 and save the course using the Zip package format.

Now that you have saved the course in the zip package format it is time to upload it to your Moodle course. First select the week that you would like your students to have access to the learning module and from the drop down select SCORM activity. Upload your course that you saved in the zip format to Moodle and you are done. If you like you can customize and control how many times the students can attempt the course. That's all you need to do. Now when your students access the course and take the quiz Moodle will report the students score to you and whether they passed or not. Using Adobe Presenter 8 along with Moodle has been a really fantastic experience and has allowed me to quickly create courses and provide a way for my student to receive immediate feedback. As a professor, I am always looking for new ways to efficiently develop eLearning materials and using Adobe Presenter 8 really foots the bill!

Using Adobe Presenter 8 for eLearning

Having used Adobe Presenter 7 to create eLearning material it was exciting to learn that Adobe had released a new version of Adobe Presenter with a slew of new and exciting features. I have had a chance to work with Adobe Presenter 8 for the past two months to learn the ins and outs of the program and am really impressed with the product and some of the new features that have been added. Adobe Presenter 8 remains a plug-in for PowerPoint on the Windows platform which when installed appears as a new Tab on the PowerPoint Ribbon. Once you click on the Tab you will see a host of features that are specific to Adobe Presenter 8 that you can utilize. To get started with Adobe Presenter 8 just open an existing PowerPoint, click on the Adobe Presenter Tab and you can then bring in video, record audio and build an eLearning module complete with navigation and quizzes. Subject matter experts will enjoy the easy to use interface and be creating modules in no time. One of the real strengths of Adobe Presenter 8 is the intuitive interface which will ensure a fast learning curve.

As more and more students are learning online it is essential that as subject matter experts that we have easy to use tools to create rich online materials. Using a HD webcam you can bring in high quality video into your eLearning courses with Adobe Presenter 8 and display it on a slide or on the Navigation pane.  Adobe Presenter 8 lets you customize the Navigation pane and gives you control over the color selection. In the current version of Adobe Presenter 8 you can have the Navigation pane inherit the color and theme of your PowerPoint presentation giving it a lot of pizzazz and visual appeal. Narrating your presentation could not be easier with Adobe Presenter 8. When using the recording feature you can import all of your Slide notes and have them ready to access as you add audio to your eLearning module. If you have animations on your slides Adobe Presenter 8 makes it easy to synchronize the animations to your audio thus ensuring that the audio and animation matches during playback.

Adobe Presenter 8 has added a host of new features like Interactions, Characters and Scenes which will make your presentations more compelling and interactive. It is now easy to add a scene to your PowerPoint presentation by selecting from any of the built-in scenes provided. You can then overly that with characters that have added to Adobe Presenter 8 to give your eLearning module a polished and professional look. To add more interactivity into your module you can now select from several new Interactions that have been added to Adobe Presenter 8. When the eLearning module has been published students can interact with the presentation making it a more dynamic experience.

What has always impressed me about Adobe Presenter 8 is the ease of use and the way that it can wrap up your material up complete with navigation to make for a very professional looking course. Since so many professionals have legacy PowerPoint presentations-having access to Adobe Presenter 8 makes sense for those of you who are considering putting together online courses. Adobe Presenter 8 eLearning courses can be published to your Adobe Connect account,  or as a PDF that can be viewed with the Adobe Acrobat Reader 9 or above. Adobe Presenter 8 can also be viewed on an iPad using the Presenter App. Please note there are some limitations viewing eLearning courses on the iPad.

One of the most innovative new features in Adobe Presenter 8 is the addition of the Video Creator tool. Now it is possible to create highly engaging material with high quality video without the need for an expensive video creation application. Using a high quality webcam like the Logitech 920D-it is now possible to produce great videos right within Adobe Presenter 8. After hitting the record button you have the option to record within your PowerPoint presentation or you can use it to demonstrate any software application that you have access to on your computer. The editing tools are easy to access and use and the published video allows you to be on the right or left side of the screen as you demonstrate whats on your computer screen. Once you have finished creating your video you can easily output and share it via Vimeo or YouTube right from Adobe Presenter 8.

While creating engaging material for your online courses is one of the goals of Adobe Presenter 8, when it comes time to assess your students, Adobe Presenter 8 includes the ability to create Quizzes which can capture what they have learned. Adobe Presenter 8 supports AICC and SCORM making it easy to connect to existing Learning Management Systems (LMS). I have used this feature within Moodle which worked well and provided me reports as to how my students performed on the learning module. Adobe Presenter 8 allows designers and teachers to include True/False, Multiple Choice, Fill in the Blanks, Short Answer, Hotspots, Likert Scale, Matching and Sequence style questions. Adobe Presenter 8 will automatically create a summary slide to provide feedback and scores to the students.

Adobe Presenter 8 hits that sweet spot for individuals that are comfortable using PowerPoint and have made an investment in creating presentations over the years. Utilizing Adobe Presenter 8 gives them the ability to quickly convert their legacy presentations into interactive presentations that can be uploaded and utilized within a LMS or published to a server. Users will appreciate the easy to use interface and now having access to the Video Creator adds a new dimension to the program allowing users the ability to create high quality video demonstrations without the need for expensive equipment. You can download a trial version of Adobe Presenter 8 and kick the tires- you will be glad you did.