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Macromedia Flash Article |
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Portions of this article have
been excerpted from "Flash
MX for Interactive Simulation,"
by Jonathan Kaye and David Castillo,
published in November, 2002 by Delmar
Learning. Emily Castillo also provided
content for this article. If you have
questions, please visit www.FlashSim.com.
The objective of training is to shape
learners into proficient or master
performers, working towards a specific
goal such as operating a device properly,
negotiating a sale, coordinating a
team, or performing other tasks and
procedures. Effective training involves
equipping learners with foundational
knowledge and operational skills relevant
to all the situations in which they
are expected to perform. |
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Most people would agree that they prefer to
learn by doing, rather than by reading documents
or watching videos—particularly for tasks
that involve using equipment. Interactive, computerized
device simulations, such as flight simulators,
enable learning-by-doing when it is impractical
or inconvenient to use the real device. Device
simulations can be used as part of training customers
or employees to achieve competency performing
tasks or procedures, helping potential customers
evaluate products to buy, assisting product designers
with rapid prototyping, games, and other applications.
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| While
there is a lot of talk today in the e-learning world
about the need for more interactivity and simulation,
few if any tell you exactly how to build them. Designing
and programming device simulations of even moderate
complexity can be quite challenging. However, with
today’s software development tools such as
Macromedia Flash MX, designing and programming even
complex, highly-realistic simulations is not as
difficult as you might imagine—provided that
you have a good methodology for managing the complexity
of system development. |
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article introduces such a methodology, based on
real engineering best practices, namely statecharts
(Harel, 1987) and the UCM architecture (akin to
MVC and MVP). This methodology is very valuable.
The benefits of following these practices are not
limited to making your development more efficient—these
practices also standardize the way in which you
design, implement, and document your simulations.
Furthermore, it is an effective way for subject
matter experts, designers, and developers to work
together. It ensures that if you need to extend
or change the functionality of the simulator six
months or more after the original work was done,
your developers will understand exactly how and
where to make the changes, even if they were not
the original developers. |
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begin by examining the critical issue of why device
simulation is not the same as simulation-based training.
Following this, we'll identify the four primary
tasks that allow you to manage the complexity of
building a device. Next, we'll discuss the basic
principles of statecharts and the UCM architecture,
and describe how these principles are applied to
the tasks. Finally, we'll take a look at an example
application that uses the methodology in the design
and implementation of a simple multi-modal analog/digital
watch, and briefly discuss more advanced applications.
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| Table
of Contents |
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| About
the Author |
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Jonathan Kaye, PhD is the President of Amethyst
Research LLC , an award-winning interactive
design firm specializing in the development of
realistic, interactive simulations and performance-based
training. He has recently coauthored the book
Flash
MX for Interactive Simulation: How to Construct
and Use Device Simulations, published by Delmar
Learning in November 2002, and will appear at
ASTD TechKnowledge and FlashForward 2003, among
other conferences, to speak on this subject. A
Macromedia Flash MX evangelist wannabe, Jonathan
enjoys developing meaningfully-interactive content
a little too much, but he attributes that zeal
to mental imbalances probably caused during his
Computer Science PhD program on modeling cardiopulmonary
interactions in trauma. |
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