Narrative: Communicating Knowledge about Adobe Character Animator 

 

• Communicates effectively in oral and written formats

• Effectively communicates content through the design and delivery of teaching/learning activities that integrate content and pedagogy (andragogy)

• Demonstrates the ability to adapt instruction and assessment techniques to the needs of diverse learners

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To communicate effectively in oral and written formats, I created an online Adobe Character Animator (CH) tutorial website. These tutorials target fellow Instructional Designers to integrate engaging content through andragogy, fulfilling a requirement for EDCI 546, Technology Integration. The online lessons adapt instruction and assessment techniques through the use of screen capture (Camtasia), including a performance Rubric with peer assessment via a user Community Blog. While all fictional and lackng suffcid, it was a good exercise in learning how to communicate a program.

 

Effectively communicates content through the design and delivery of teaching/learning activities that integrate content and pedagogy. This CH tutorial effectively delivers content speaking to the integration of content and pedagogy. In this case, I use Andragogy (a form of pedagogy which targets adults with problem-based, relevant learning), delivering content through delivering the tutorial learning experiences via the use of five software platforms: Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, Camtasia, Audacity, and Adobe Character Animator. I also created a “7 Things to Know” about CH document to communicate the capabilities of the software, and the pre-requisite knowledge necessary of Adobe Premiere, Illustrator or Photoshop, and After Effects.

 

I first used the software, Adobe Character Animator, to create a Virtual Professor for my Digital Photography Fundamentals course, which resides in password enabled Canvas (a sample video lesson seen here). The course is the first to utilize the software, which was still in beta version at the time of creation. I worked with Dave Werner of the CH design team at Adobe. He was an invaluable SME, helping me troubleshoot and add function to my “puppet.”

 

Demonstrates the ability to adapt instruction and assessment techniques to the needs of diverse learners. In the Introduction video, I specifically point to the use and voice of diverse characters for diverse learners. An Instructional Designer (learner in this case) must target their audience with the script, voice, and character for effective results.

           

I also used my multimedia skills to create the online tutorial with integrated technology including mind mapping (Popple), multimedia design (to create the videos), web design (to create the course), visual design (for the website and videos), and working in Canvas LMS (Learning Management System used for many universities in lieu of BlackBoard. I can grant access to Canvas. All I need is your email). The assessments created for the Digital Photography course were developed within Canvas, Adobe Captivate, and Storyline 2.

 

Upon reflection, I found that implementing new technologies, particularly those under development, proved to be a steep learning curve and computing challenge. As I would just begin to master the CH version, a new version would emerge which rendered my puppet obsolete. Another lesson I learned to this effect was the use of Zaption for my assessments, which were neatly integrated within each video. The software would pause the video, an assessment would pop up, and then play again upon completion. Workday purchased Zaption, and all videos were taken down. It would have been better to take the extra time to create this same stop and play function in a more tried and true Captivate or Storyline 2. Live and learn. But I was very happy to have been the first to implement a new technology, just as I was the first to create a video in HD on non-linear platforms Final Cut HD and After Effects (NASA ISS: Realizing The Dream).