PLA MULTIMEDIA PROJECT SELIA KARSTEN MARCH, APRIL ,1994 1. LIVE AND LEARN CD ROM Following revisions of the storyboard, assignments were given to the two field placement students from the School of Communication Arts chosen for Team Two: Dan Barbosa and Stavroula Laloudakis. Dan was assigned to use the photographs I had taken of the four leading characters in the TVO series, Beverley, Elena, George and Simon. He took these and ideas from the storyboard to develop graphics for the Role Model part of the program. Stavroula was assigned the Theory part of the program. The challenge here was to illustrate this text with inanimate objects whenever possible in order to eleminate any particular gender or cultural identification for the user. With both students, the process was to give them storyboard and text for reference as they did rough sketches. The sketches were then presented and discussed; revisions were made before the final graphics were developed on the Mac. Once the graphics were created, further revisions were made if necessary. Due to personal problems, Stavroula found it necessary to withdraw from the project. Two subsequent students were tried for two weeks without success. The solution was to enlist Nelson Caetano who did graphics for the Storytime parts on Team One. An arrangement was made through Johanne Daoust, the Placement Coordinator for permission for Nelson to return to the project. Ian Stewart, his instructor for the semester, met with me and we came up with a workable plan for Nelson to work on the project in lieu of his term project. In addition, it was arranged for Nelso to receive a small stipend for the seventy graphics he created. Nelson took over Stavroula's assignment for the Theory part. PLA-MM Mar/Apr page 2 I decided to use my own photographs as graphics to illustrate text in the Introduction and More (appendix) part of the program and began creating these graphics, saving them in the Navigational folder. Working on the Mac in Photoshop to manipulate and alter these photos became the new challenge. I received some basic tutoring from Allen Booth, technical support for the project and from Dan Barbosa. Dan and Nelson have worked together on ideas for packaging for the CD ROM, using a Live and Learn logo they have created. During this period, I continued to revise all text for the four modules. Colleen Curruthers, PLA Facilitator in the CED program at Seneca, met with me on weekends to go over my revisions for clarity and course content. Currently, the voice scripts have been developed and revised and are due for input into the program. I am also working on a short animation to open the CD ROM. Lynda has completed inputting files and data into the Mac version. As soon as the needed resources are in place, the IBM version will begin. The overall model in Authorware has been completed pending minor revisions. On April 15, the presentation for participants in the PLA pilot projects for the Ministry of Education and Training took place. Louis Lizotte also had invited a few observers from his staff at the Council of Regents. I showed the group the Live and Learn photo album as I introduced the Role Models for the program. They were also shown the comprehensive production notebook, bible for the project. They gathered around the computer to see a short presentation, which gives a sampling of the work in progress for the CD ROM. The response was very favourable and PLA facilitators in attendance were most enthusiastic about using the program in their classes. PLA-MM Mar/Apr page 3 Presentations have been made to members of the PLA Advisory committee at Seneca, as well as to Seneca VP, Cy Flacks, and presidential assistant Terry Verity. Terry has shown interest in having a presentation made to Seneca's Board of Governors. Notice of the project appeared in a PLA Update in April. As the project takes shape, I would expect more demonstrations will be requested for those interested in the project. Plans are developing for a presentation at the First Nations conference in Belleville in May. 2. The Workbook Dan Barbosa agreed to stay with the project after his placement in order to do the layout for the workbook. I referred him to a number of workbooks as models. Dan did a rough sketch and developed a style sheet to use with the IBM 486, Pagemaker program. I met with Coleen for assistance in developing examples for the workbook which would represent the four characters in the TVO program. I propose to include examples of each document developed in the course. Barb White has agreed to proofread these examples and put them into the final draft form. Carol arranged for a printing of the first draft of the layout. Graphics have been chosen to illustrate each module. The Live and Learn logo developed by Dan and Nelson will be used on the cover sheet. The plan is to use three-ring binders with a plastic sleeve to insert the cover sheet. This style is cost efficient and will also allow the various colleges more flexibility in adapting the materials. The binder also allows students to add their own notes as they progress through the course. To further reduce costs in printing, the graphics will be done simply in grey scale. The preferred paper stock used will be a cream stock, using a dark blue ink for printing. PLA-MM Mar/Apr page 4 3. TVO SERIES The video series has been in edit since March. I took part in a number of long editing sessions as the rough cuts were prepared of the four shows. In these sessions I worked closely with the editors on cutting decisions. I also took part in an additional shooting session. For this I located specific materials from the course to be seen in close-ups and catalogged them for the director. I assisted the cameraman and director at the shoot with suggestions for framing, timing, etc. I keep regular contact with the director and producer as to the progress of this post production work. There have been delays in the projected schedule, primarily due to budget restraints. At present the series is being scored and final editing is being done on the computer prior to mixing and sweetening of sound. At meeting April 27 at the Council of Regents, a preliminary discussion was held concerning the packaging, marketing and distribution of the final products. Attending were Louis Lizotte, Carol Henry, Selia Karsten and Cathy Boak. The consensus was to aim for August in sending out packages to all of the colleges in Ontario. Each package would consist of a hard copy of the workbook, diskettes containing the workbook material, a master copy of the 2 hour video material and CD-ROMs in both PC and Mac format. At this meeting, a low-resolution fine cut of Program One, "On The Road", was shown. The response was very favourable and it looks as if the series will be an attractive, stimulating, informative and viewer-friendly portion of the Live and Learn project. PLA-MM Mar/Apr page 5 4. SUMMARY The work at this stage of the project demands long hours and great attention to the many many details involved in all aspects of this project. The greater concentration has been on the CD ROM production, trying to keep everyone on track with a high volume of work without sacrificing the quality necessary to create and enduring product. In a way, the project has created a momentum of its own, yet those involved on a parttime basis have many other pressing concerns in other areas that could take priority. It was extremely beneficial to me as the project leader, to go to the Fifth National Teaching and Learning Conference in Jacksonville, Florida in April. I had an opportunity not only to present to educators drawn by the theme, "Teaching, Learning, and Technology: The 21st Century", but also to benefit from attending a full schedule of provocative and relevant workshops and presentations. I was able to get a better prespective on the project and I felt energized by leaders in the area of multimedia educational software. I presented on the subject "MultiPlatform MultiMedia" and submitted a paper on this topic for possible publication along with other submissions for the conference. Allan came to the conference and provided technical support. At that stage of development, it was difficult to show the CD ROM in its unfinished state. Seeing this, I realized that subsequent presentations would need to be done in a different format until the material is entirely packaged. Lynda put together a short presentation for me as requested. It was this presentation that was used at the Council of Regents. I would like to have something more comprehensive to display at the scheduled First Nations conference in Belleville in late May. I hope to include a showing of the first program from the TVO series as well. PLA-MM Mar/Apr page 6 In process now, I am developing the opening animation using photographs and illustration. I am searching for music for the animated opening. Allan has agreed to assist me in recording the voice script. Each step in each part of each module has a voiced version of the instruction to the user. Allan has been working on the installation of the required card on the IBM needed to develop the IBM version of the program. I have proofread all of the text input by Lynda in the Mac version. She is currently carrying out all of the revisions noted. As soon as the Mac version is complete, work begins immediately to construct the program for IBM. My hopes have been renewed that both IBM and Mac formats can be put on one CD ROM disk - this was the original concept. We will not be sure of this until all of the sound and animation is completed and the file sizes are complete. Attached: Multiplatform Multimedia Schedule Update Mastering costs