RoboDemo E-learning Edition allows users to record actions in any application or on-screen activity and instantly create a movie simulation in Flash format without knowing Flash, Macromedia’s development program widely used to create rich Internet content. And speaking of Macromedia, they want to buy eHelp Corporation, makers of RoboDemo. If the sale goes through, only time will tell whether it will help eHelp products exploit Flash even more effectively.

If you watch the demo of how to create a training simulation, you’ll be ready to buy the program today. The demo I watched coaches a user through sending an e-mail attachment. The screens included balloon text, prompts, encouragement, and intelligent choices, both on-screen and through audio instruction. To start a RoboDemo simulation, you choose a file from among all open applications on your computer, and the file becomes your working simulation document.

If you have IT people who create Flash, you can import files into the simulation, either as a single frame or an object within a frame. RoboDemo E-learning Edition is Flash-based SCORM- (Shareable Content Object Reference Model) and AICC- (Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee) compliant.

Very busy people must have been created this program because every step seems geared to save time for training developers. The simulation process is likened to the macro commands in Word or Excel, but your keystrokes are not simply tracked and repeated. What’s more stunning is that it turns your cursor movement into prompts for the user, with a balloon illustrating your mouse or keyboard movements. So in creating the simulation, you click “File / Print,” and when you run it, a balloon follows the mouse up to the upper left corner of a screen and shows “Select the File menu, Select Print.”

For trainers, developers of instructional design, and subject matter experts, this is a tool to bring the work from your desktop right to the audience for step-by-step learning that’s both visually stimulating and personalized.
With the addition of playback controls, users can easily navigate through simulations with basic computer skills. Familiar icons for Play, Back, Forward, and Restart are available on every screen.

The E-learning Edition includes all the features of RoboDemo plus the ability to insert interactive quizzes, text entry fields and click boxes plus scoring on true-false and multiple-choice questions. Add interest with visible and audible mouse clicks or by inserting captions, highlight boxes, and animation files. Users can receive instant feedback if they get a question right or wrong, and you can modify the default message boxes to tailor your responses to your audience.

In the e-mail attachment example, the training is anything but boring, with the sound of a phone ringing, as “Alice” calls from the airport to say a file on her laptop is corrupt. Real skill building and teamwork were evident as I was asked if I could send an e-mail attachment. I could either choose “Sure,” and the simulation would branch to let me go ahead and practice sending an attachment, or if I checked “I’m not sure I know how,” I could continue with a full demonstration of the process.

In truth, I’ve known how to send email attachments for years, but I found myself so committed to helping Alice get that client file, I was fully engaged in the practice session and quite relieved when I learned I had passed the test. It’s extremely authentic to have audio involvement, hearing conversation and ringing telephones, as well as motion on the screen, photos, and animation.

While running a simulation you can click “Edit Frame” to make instant modifications. I found this useful to improve the instructions and appreciate being able to make text changes on a PowerPoint document right in RoboDemo. This is a big timesaver, eliminating the need to re-record since you can always change existing content. I quickly found you can also remove or duplicate a frame in a single click.

Use branching to let your simulations take a different direction based on the respondent. When the user makes a choice or completes a task, the software can continue, jump to another simulation, or direct them to a website.

By selecting frames to export, you can convert the simulation to print training materials in Microsoft Word and control the number of frames per page for handouts. To integrate with an LMS (learning management system), the quizzes and scoring can be set to require a student to pass a quiz and report the grades to the LMS.

Besides seamless integration with Flash, RoboDemo E-learning simulations can be exported to Authorware projects and you can generate a QML file, the output format of Questionmark’s Perception tool for simulation-based assessments. You can import AVI, SWF, and GIF files into RoboDemo projects, making it simple to create simulations with fully animated "talking head" videos with small file size.

I especially liked the ability to edit frames as a preview of a film strip. After editing, frames can be locked to prevent changes to assure your final project file can’t be modified.

Files can be exported into flash SWF and HTM for viewing compressed files via the web, or you can export executable files (EXE) to run automatically, such as a training or promotional CD. You can also output as Macintosh HQX projector files or Linux projector files. RoboDemo supports Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes for viewing in e-mail (RD, EXE, SWF, and export to Microsoft Word as DOC as well as Pocket PCs).

Depending on what you pack into a simulation, expect efficient bandwidth. The program uses very low resources and includes a bandwidth monitor to show the kilobytes per second for each frame and the seconds to run each frame. A separate graph shows typical transmission time over bandwidth from 28K up to high-speed connections

Technical Requirements
To create movies with RoboDemo and export the movies to Flash MX, your system should be equipped as follows:

Hardware
Windows 98, Me, NT, 2000, or XP
32/64 MB of memory (64/128 MB recommended)
12.5 MB available disk space
Pentium II 200MHz or faster processor

Software and accessories
Internet Explorer 4.0 or later
Microphone for recording sound
Speakers and sound card
Internet connection to obtain software updates and to publish movies to the web
Mouse or other pointing device

Recommendation
In a word, RoboDemo E-learning Edition is efficient. File sizes are moderate, program access is a breeze and creating training materials is as easy as opening a file. Affordably priced at $499, RoboDemo’s E-learning Edition 5.0 should find a willing audience for training, schools, and market niches such as healthcare and insurance. If your needs include frequent communications, training customers, presenting to clients, or augmenting the skills of your staff with highly interactive customized simulation, you’ve found the ideal tool. One thing about RoboDemo’s E-learning Edition—they won’t say it’s boring!
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Product Ratings RoboDemo E-learning Edition 5.0 Presentation      Ease of use      Production quality      Documentation      Value of Purpose      Value for the money      Overall rating