eLearning & Deliberative Moments

Mike Richards, who I have known for over a decade here in Australia, writes a heartfelt post to the AWARE listserv, an online forum for Authorware developers that has been running actively since early 1994. Mike now manages (e)learning projects for Catalyst Interactive, which no longer uses Authorware as a development tool.

Here are some edited extracts where he explains why we still need Authorware:

Every contract I currently have could have been made in Authorware - for less cost, in a tighter time frame, and (here is the kicker for me) at better quality. The reason I can't use it is that it's "not supported" and "not popular" and "not part of our Standards Operating Environment".

Authorware can do almost anything. So can Flash - but finding people who can use it properly and retaining those people in an eLearning business is next to impossible.

I cannot find a good Flash Developer - note the word Developer - I have people who know Flash art side applying every day. Ask them about ActionScript and they are self proclaimed Kings of it. Ask a simple OOP question, and they look at me like I've grown a second head...the very best ones can barely manipulate a string - and they resent it when you ask them to try.

People who know Authorware are people whose careers are based in learning. Flash may be sexy, but eLearning is (for the main) not. The [typical] lowest bidder mentality on the part of the client...results in me training [a junior] in eLearning production who then leaves to start their own business making websites for local rock bands.

Other tools tend to stun me with their limitations...anyone who thinks that [Captivate or Epiplex] is an eLearning Solution should be shown a nice sunny wall, given a cigarette and a blind fold and assured that everything will "be all right". Not surprisingly these people will believe it.

I have to say that no longer having Authorware in my toolkit extremely limits my options.

Posted by rlubensky on 23 June 2007 at 9:06 PM | Permalink