Raptivity strengths
Figure 3: This menu drop-down list makes it easy to choose the design methodology you prefer.
There are several key strengths of Raptivity that I would like to elucidate.
Instructional Design methodologies support
Many tools that designer use to create or support e-Learning do not tie themselves to instructional design approaches. Raptivity helps you by mapping its interactions to four of the most popular instructional design methodologies: Bloom's Taxonomy, Keller’s ARCS Model, Experimental Theory and Gagne’s Nine Events. The interactions are mapped to various stages of the instructional design methodologies. You can also build your own taxonomies by creating your own learning theories.
For instance, if you wish to use Bloom’s Taxonomy as a guide, you choose it from the menu list in Figure 3, at which point you would see a breakdown (Figure 4) familiar to anyone with this approach.
Figure 4: Choosing a design methodology leads to a diagram that makes it easy to choose the interactions.
Choosing any of the categories on the screen will then show you a subset of those interactions you own that address that category. This is a very nice aid!
One file delivery
The resulting published file is completely self-contained: one file delivery. You can then run this file on its own anywhere you can run Flash files, such as in a browser, or you can insert it in other files you create.
Great support
The Raptivity users with whom I spoke indicated to me that they find Harbinger’s technical support very helpful and responsive. You may take this as a given but there are plenty of other software products that have very poor support and have created legions of critics. Standard support is included in the price of the product. There are extended maintenance one-year and two-year plans at additional cost. The online community of users also appears to be very active. The fact that great support is not considered standard with all tools is a sad fact of life, so when a company does provide good support, it warrants a mention.
Versatile tracking options
You can track learner progress via JavaScript, Flash, SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 or AICC. That means that the interactions you create can be delivered on a variety of platforms without losing the ability to track a learner’s progress. Every interaction can be tracked.
Color themes
Raptivity provides the ability to pick from several color themes in the interactions. This lets you make the interactions look more seamless when placed in a course you’re creating because you can match an interaction color theme as closely as possible to that which you are using in your course. You can also apply your own backgrounds if desired.
Built-in audio recorder
For those interactions that use audio (and most do), you can record directly from a microphone or line-in source. You can import a sound file immediately or record your own voice to provide narration wherever audio is needed. You can subsequently replace your recording at any time by importing or re-recording.
Multiple language support
Raptivity supports Unicode which means you can set the locale in Windows to your desired language and start adding content in that language. There is also a Snapshot utility which also helps multi-language support, especially languages that are written right to left.
Import/Export feature
This allows you to output the text in an interaction to an Excel spreadsheet or to an XML file. You can then make a copy of the interaction, change the text you exported to the language you wish, and then import it into the copied interaction. You will now have two copies of the interaction, one using the original language and one using the new language. You can do this as many times as you wish if you need to deliver to several languages.
Layout customization
There is only so much real estate in any given interaction. But even with that, Raptivity allows you the flexibility to rearrange and resize the different elements in an interaction to some degree.
Global settings
This allows you to set font and text preferences at a global level. Once the user sets these, they are applied by default to all interactions. Of course you can explicitly override them during customization if required. This feature is especially useful if there are corporate standard fonts and backgrounds to be used.
Raptivity limitations
As is true with all tools, I found some limitations in Raptivity. While I don’t consider any of these show-stoppers, if any of these are important to you, be aware of them before you begin using Raptivity.
No import of SWF (Published Flash) files
None of the interactions allow for the inclusion of SWF files. This may not be as big an issue as may initially be indicated because the way you use the interactions does not lend itself to the need for external SWF files. However, it is worth mentioning because those of us who have used authoring tools (and remember, Raptivity is an interactivity builder, not an authoring tool) have become accustomed to the idea of importing SWF files. In this case, reverse the idea: the SWF files that you create with Raptivity can be inserted into files you create with your authoring tool. Note that you can insert FLV (Flash video) files in those interactions that accept video (Videos Turbo Pack, Simulations Turbo Pack, Active Learning Pack and WordPlay).
No communication between Raptivity interactions
One interesting omission is the inability to pass information from one Raptivity interaction to another. Let’s say that you include 10 interactions, either of the same or differing types, in an e-Learning lesson. It would be very cool to be able to pass information from one interaction to another, for instance the learner’s answer on the first interaction to be used in the second interaction. Harbinger has indicated to me that they are considering this feature in a future version.
No text-to-speech ability
The interactions do not include the ability to have included text read aloud by text-to-voice utilities. This can be a hindrance if this is a requirement for you.
Software simulations may not be what you think
If you’ve used a product like Adobe Captivate, when you hear software simulation, you may immediately think of a fully animated demonstration that you create by opening the application that you want to simulate and pressing a button to record your movements. Raptivity software simulations are not of this type; they are the simpler types that ask the learner to click a part of a screen capture. These are perfectly good interaction types but if you are accustomed to full-motion types of software simulations, you may need to lower your expectations.
Other Raptivity elements
There are three other elements of Raptivity I believe I should mention because they may be important to some who read this review. I don’t think of these as overwhelming strengths of the product but you may if any of these are important to your needs.
Hypertext links
In many of the interactions that allow for text, you can also include hypertext links to open new browser windows and jump to websites. This can be used in a variety of ways, not the least of which to place those areas of a learning curriculum that are volatile to a medium that is more easily updated, a web site.
Integration accelerators
This is a fancy term for the ability to integrate Raptivity with Moodle and Blackboard more quickly and easily. If you use either of those platforms, you will want to be aware of this feature.
MyRaptivity
MyRaptivity is a Flash Developer’s Toolkit that lets you create your own interaction models for Raptivity. The cost for the product is around $4,500 and requires a good working knowledge of Flash programming to use.
Conclusion
Raptivity certainly has a place in almost any e-Learning shop. The cost is reasonable considering the wealth of interactions provided. The fact that you can quickly and easily create so many different types of interactions and use them in so many venues makes Raptivity an easy choice. While there are improvements I would like to see in future versions, and not just more interaction types, I see no reason to wait to use Raptivity. Its excellent reputation is well-deserved, and I’ve included two case studies here to illustrate the reasons for this.
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Case Study – Beaufort County Schools Cynthia Brower is Director of Instructional Technology for Beaufort County Schools in North Carolina. She designs and develops all their e-Learning in house. I am the Director of Instructional Technology for the entire school district. I am the only trainer/facilitator at the central office level. Therefore, I find Raptivity an asset to assist me with many uses at the school level. Once Authorware died, Raptivity fulfilled many of the interactions that I used to create in Authorware. What tools beside Raptivity do you use in your organization? PowerPoint and Articulate, Suddenly Smart Of these, which do you use directly with Raptivity? All three How easy do you think it is to integrate Raptivity with other tools? Very easy; it was very user friendly. Describe the ways in which you use Raptivity. My intent is to help teachers to introduce new concepts to students and reinforce concepts that have been taught in the classroom. I use it to create interactions that will assist teachers with the teacher-learning process. How long have you been using Raptivity? I have been using Raptivity for 1 year. Which packs have you purchased? All of them Which do you use on a regular basis? I have no specific one. It depends upon the need. Which interactions do you consider indispensable or very important? Games, simulations and software simulations What do you consider Raptivity's strengths? It is user friendly and not time consuming. It’s easy to create interactivity with no programming. It helps me to create engaging e-Learning for the students. What do you consider Raptivity's weaknesses? There is no Learning Management System included. My district does not have an LMS. After the learning activity is completed, it would be helpful to upload it right from Raptivity to its own LMS. Do you consider Raptivity's pricing fair, too high, or should be higher for its value? If you are going to purchase a few packs, it’s very inexpensive but it you are trying to buy all the packs, it can be cost prohibitive for a K-12 school system. What has been your experience with Harbinger's Raptivity's technical support? They are very customer service oriented and very professional. They have great follow-up to ensure that everything is going well. |
Case Study – The Bob Pike Group The Bob Pike Group has provided train the trainer workshops and consulting services to individuals and corporations for more than 30 years. Clients have been applying Bob's Participant-Centered Instructional System to build their learning organizations, to strengthen retention and to enrich desired results. I think that for anyone in the training world or education arena Raptivity is one of the most comprehensive tools I have found and used to date. I am proud to use it and am comfortable telling clients about it because I know they will have a great customer service experience and the ease of use will not leave them frustrated. What tools beside Raptivity do you use in your organization? We also use Bravo! from C3 SoftWorks and Gameshow Pro to design online interactivities. We have also utilized Captivate and Articulate in a limited capacity. When we deliver live online sessions, we use the Elluminate Live! webinar platform. Of these, which do you use directly with Raptivity? While conducting webinars on Elluminate, we will send links to Raptivity games that we have created and hosted ourselves in order to show ways to encourage participant engagement in their own learning. This is more of an indirect use. We have also linked Raptivity with Articulate on a trial basis as well as within PPT for use within a live classroom. How easy to you think it is to integrate Raptivity with other tools? I found it really easy to use within Articulate and PPT. We are only in the testing phase but truly have found it amazingly easy! Describe the ways in which you use Raptivity. We send links to participants to during courses to learn new vocabulary through matching and maze interactivities. We have also used as a static game for clients to preview and see how easy it is to utilize within some of their blended approaches. How long have you been using Raptivity? For just over a year. Which packs have you purchased? All of them Which do you use on a regular basis? Honestly it varies depending on the need of the client and what our goals are. I LOVE having the variety to choose from. The biggest challenge is remembering what all of the choices are! I have not utilized all 225. I have a tendency to fall back on Essential Pack 1, Booster Pack 1, 2 and 3. I just wish I had more time to fully utilize everything! Which interactions do you consider indispensable or very important? Anything that helps learners to meet an objective. I like Raptivity for its use of color and range of learning objectives it meets. For example, I can have learners basically just get to the cognitive elements of learning through a matching game, crossword or flashcard exercise. It quickly allows them to get up to speed. However, when wanting the learner to be able to combine learning and utilize higher order cognition I would tend to use the video pack or simulations pack. I first think about the outcome I am looking for before deciding on which type of interactivity I will be using. I believe each has its place but the important piece is knowing what the objective is and to what level of knowledge a learner needs to be at when finished. What do you consider Raptivity's strengths? Breadth of options and ease of use. The wizard is really easy to use. What do you consider Raptivity's weaknesses? I need to have a solid understanding of adult learning in order to select the best interactivity. Someone new to designing may select based on color or ease of creation and not take the time to really think through and assess the end goal. Do you consider Raptivity's pricing fair, too high, or should be higher for its value? I think it is a great value. It is expensive to have a custom Flash-based game developed. With Raptivity’s library of templates, it truly does feel custom. What has been your experience with Harbinger's Raptivity's technical support? They have better follow-up than most. If they didn’t get hold of me, I received e-mails asking how they can help and if I had resolved the issue on my own. |
