The fallacy of: We use Flash…

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the phrase “we have people develop eLearning for us using Flash”.  This is usually followed by “…so I know we are o.k. when it comes to maintenance and such…”.  This is a dangerous and somewhat naïve comment.

 Why is this naïve?

Because there are literally dozens (if not 100′s) of tools people can use to create Flash…saying “we use Flash” is almost like saying “we print on paper”.  No kidding. 

 When it comes to Flash, the question is (or should be): “Which Flash development tool(s) were used to create your content?” Was Flash CS3 or CS4 from Adobe used?  Or, was Wink from “Debug Mode, Inc.” used?  Was Camtasia or Captivate, or Snag-It?

 Why is this important? 

When it comes to maintaining your course content if any number of random Flash tools were used – you will have to use these same tools to maintain the content.  (technically, some people resort to de-compiling…but that is another story).  We have seen cases where 4 completely different “Flash tools” were used to create 1 course.  Maintenance was a nightmare – it seemed like every time we wanted to change a page/interaction, etc. we had to download a new tool.  Ouch.

 Overall we believe in a best-of-breed approach to eLearning development.  However, too often we have seen “functional owners” or non-technical eLearning purchasers be oblivious to the myriad of Flash tools out there.  Only after trying to maintain a course do they learn the painful lesson the “We use Flash” is not good enough.

 FYI – Using CourseAvenue Studio lets you mitigate the risk of rogue Flash tools being used on your project.  Incidentally, we use Adobe’s CS3 and CS4 tools for Flash development.

-   Joe