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| Training
a large group of people from a variety of backgrounds
and age groups is a challenging task. People respond
and learn differently. One of the primary benefits
of multimedia is that the viewers’ interest
is held longer and information retention is improved.
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| Faced
with training thousands of volunteers, we looked
to Macromedia Director. With this tool, we designed
training presentations that combined a wide variety
of media types and broadened the appeal to the widest
possible audience. One of the key strengths of Director
is its ability to create high impact applications.
We managed to create a presentation that not only
informed the audience but entertained them as well. |
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Training
Goals
Volunteers came from all over the country—and
even from other parts of the world—to be
part of the Olympic 2002 workforce. The ‘Job
Specific Training’ had the following objectives:
- Provide information about volunteer's games-time
roles, duties, and responsibilities
- Present an opportunity for volunteers to
meet each other
- Motivate the volunteers and show appreciation
for their contribution to the Olympics
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Delivering
the Presentation
The ‘Job Specific Training’ was projected
in an auditorium-type setting, allowing volunteers
to take notes, relax, and have refreshments during
the presentation. Audience participation was integrated
into the training session to maintain interest,
excitement, and make the session more fun. |
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| Although
each volunteer only watched the presentation once,
the trainers needed to present the material many
times, in subsequent sessions. Several trainers
delivered the same presentation repeatedly. The
application had to be designed so that all of the
trainers could control it in a clear and easy way. |
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Preparing
the Training
Before beginning the development of any multimedia
application, you must first research your subject
and establish finite goals. Proper pre-production
planning makes the development of any application
easier—while minimizing the chance for mistakes
along the way. |
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Research
Checklist
Our first step in the planning process involved
assessing the audience and the needs of the project.
The following is a checklist of the questions
we asked ourselves:
- What are the objectives of the training?
- To educate volunteers and provide them
with critical information
- To expose the volunteers to games-time
operations
- To motivate volunteers
- To entertain volunteers and present an
enjoyable training
- Who is the audience?
- Age range: 18 to 80 years
- Education: Mostly college students and
some retired professionals
- Cultural background: A wide variety,
with local participants and visitors
- What are the audience’s expectations?
- To be informed of their duties
- To participate in a group effort and support
the event
- Technical considerations: What platform? Delivered
on the web or on CD?
- Windows-based presentation on laptop computers.
- Full-screen display required
- What are the creative considerations?
- Information must be clear and concise
- Text must be easy to read and understand
- Vivid graphics delivered at a rapid pace,
to hold viewer's interest
- Present a strong message, but avoid overwhelming
elements
- Engaging and fun to watch
- What elements should we include?
- Video scenarios
- Static images and text
- Animated demonstrations
- Sound effects
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| The above
list is an abbreviated research outline of the project.
The key thing about planning is to clarify the needs
of the project and identify what must be done to
meet those needs. |
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Meeting
Project Goals and Objectives
We used a variety of elements to ensure that the
training was successful. People absorb information
in different ways, so we reiterated our training
information using different elements. |
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Video
Video played a big part in the training, because
we wanted cinematic realism. A film crew was hired
to film the various volunteer roles and scenarios
they would face. A key part of understanding the
job was to watch people performing the roles.
Not only did we create short clips, we also created
a ‘Day in the Life’ segment, which
presented a typical day for a volunteer. |
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| The
video was recorded and displayed at the highest
possible quality. We decided to use DVD video linked
into the presentation at key points. We used the
Onstage
DVD Xtra to support this integration. |
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Static
Slides
The slides outlined key points, so that the trainers
would be sure to cover the most important details.
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Animated
Demonstrations
2D animation was used to demonstrate how to perform
various tasks. For example, we created a simple
animated clip illustrating the security procedures
to be followed as the guests entered the event areas. |
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Involving
the Audience
To add interest to the presentation, a character
was created to guide the audience through the presentation.
This character, named Stan the info man, was the
typical host (general volunteer). Stan's behaviors
were staged in advance to show volunteers how to
deliver good customer service. The audience was
entertained by Stan’s singing and dancing,
and at the same time they learned how to meet and
exceed visitors’ expectations. |
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| The training
session took over two and a half hours. It was a
long time to retain the attention of the audience.
To provide some relief from the lecture-style training,
two interactive activities were included in the
training session. The first used a game-show metaphor
for teaching a Games Volunteer's role of checking
accreditation (staff member's ID). The activity
used Stan as the Game-show host and the volunteers
interacted with him as he asked questions from the
audience. The audience participated by shouting
the answers to the contestants and Stan provided
the appropriate gong, buzz, boo, or cheer. |
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Contextual
Referencing
It is important to orient the user within a presentation.
This was especially true for our training session,
because we didn't want the audience to become bored
or distracted, wondering how much of the training
was left to see. By integrating the main sections
into a footer ‘timeline’, the audience
could, at any time, know where we were in the context
of the entire presentation. |
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Structuring
the Presentation
The content had to be delivered in a consecutive
order. A linear structure appeared to best suit
the project. However, an element of flexibility
needed to be built in to allow for backtracking,
skipping sections, or jumping ahead if needed. While
it was desirable to go through all the content in
the order it was supposed to be presented, we also
needed the ability to adjust in case of unexpected
circumstances. Question time can take longer than
expected, the power can go out, and fire alarms
can go off. All of these situations were encountered
during the delivery of presentations. Luckily, our
navigational structure allowed for a quick recovery
every time. |
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| The success
of any application can only be measured by its effectiveness
in communicating the intended message to the intended
audience. If the knowledge and competence of the
volunteers was any indication of their training,
then Macromedia Director proved a most effective
tool in integrating of all the components in a project
of this magnitude. |
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| About
the author |
Dean
is an architect turned multimedia consultant,
with experience in teaching Director and other
digital applications. He runs two courses at the
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia,
and has been a consultant for the Sydney 2000
Summer Olympics and Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games.
Dean also runs a multimedia company called Multimedia
Creative, that offers training and project
support as well as development of a wide range
of multimedia applications, 3D visualizations,
and exhibition installations. Dean has co-written
a book on Director (Foundation
Director 8.5), and maintains a set of
online
tutorials and resource information. In his
spare time, Dean enjoys sports and painting. |
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