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E-Learning Solutions (Content & Assessment Authoring)

Performance Analyzer v3.0 is XStream Software's 100% Programming-free Performance Assessment Authoring technology. It enables developers to create, customize, and deploy simulation-based performance assessments. These assessments present real-life, interactive software scenarios that accurately measure, score, track, and report on a user's ability to perform specific application tasks.

Using Performance Analyzer, developers may create interactive simulation-based assessments for any software application. A simulation-based assessment measures the user's ability to use a particular software application by having them perform specific tasks within a simulated software environment (as if they were working in the actual software application). A simulation-based assessment is unique because it actually tests the user's software skills rather than simply knowledge or comprehension.

As the user progresses through the simulation-based assessment (by performing one or more software tasks each involving a series of sequential steps), all correct and incorrect actions performed by the user (including all mouse clicks, button clicks, keystrokes, text entries, and highlighting actions) are automatically scored, tracked, and reported by the system . Simulation-based assessments are therefore ideal for testing a user's hands-on knowledge of particular applications. By placing the user within a realistic, interactive software environment, the simulation-based assessment goes beyond the limits of traditional question-based testing to truly gauge the user's performance and responses in real-life situations. Simulation-based assessments thus provide accurate analyses of a software user's strengths and weaknesses, and they can quickly identify any areas that require additional training/reinforcement.

Simulation-based assessments may be easily created for any 16 or 32-bit Windows or web-based application. Performance Analyzer's capturing capability enables the developer to record live interactions (i.e., mouse clicks and keystrokes) with software applications to instantly produce a simulation-based assessment containing a sequential series of interactive software steps. In addition, the developer may also add non-recorded, content-based frames/screens to an assessment. Therefore, the developer has the flexibility to create simulation-based assessments containing only captured/recorded screens, simulation-based assessments containing only authored content screens, and simulation-based assessments containing a combination of captured screens and content screens.

Each frame/screen within a simulation-based assessment may be designated as either a Step frame (representing a required step/action that will be scored and tracked during playback) or a Content frame (representing a supplementary screen that does not need to be scored or tracked during playback). For each Step frame, the developer may add/customize a variety of interaction objects (i.e., mouse click areas, keystrokes, text-entry fields, buttons, highlighting areas, etc.), and the developer may define how each interaction object will be scored/tracked during playback.

Simulation-based assessments created in Performance Analyzer can be customized and enhanced with a large variety of interactivity and multimedia features, including splash & login screens, built-in user report with scoring/tracking data, ending/feedback screens, images (both static and animated), text, audio, video, Flash files, recorded voice-overs and sound clips, hyperlinks and buttons, links to external files and web pages, text entry fields, colors, shapes, and a lot more.

Once created, Performance Analyzer files may be saved and deployed in a variety of different media formats, including RPE (native file format), Flash (SWF), Executable (EXE), SCORM, and Sharable Content Objects (SCOs) . Files can be deployed over the Web, over a Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN), and on CD-ROM. Performance Analyzer files can be deployed independently, and they may also be linked to simulation/course files (created with XStream's RapidBuilder technology) and question-based exams/assessments (created with XStream's RapidExam technology) to produce full end-to-end e-learning solutions. Developers can even take existing RapidBuilder simulation files and quickly convert them into simulation-based assessments.

Performance Analyzer works with XStream RapidShare™ Learning Management System (LMS), which is XStream's secure, wide-ranging and completely web-based LMS module within the XStream RapidShare hosted web environment and digital workspace. XStream RapidShare LMS works with XStream's RapidBuilder, RapidExam, Performance Analyzer, and RapidGuide technologies. The LMS includes full capabilities for registering, tracking, and reporting on learning content files created with RapidBuilder, RapidExam, Performance Analyzer, and RapidGuide. The LMS module can also schedule, track, and report on Offline Events of all types (such as instructor-led training sessions, meetings, workshops, seminars, conferences, trade shows, etc.), and it provides many other features and capabilities, including e-mail notifications, extensive reporting capabilities, self-registration capabilities, learning paths, course catalogs, prerequisite definitions, bookmarking capabilities, offline exam generation, interface customization, archiving capabilities, 508 compliance, multi-language support, optional communication and collaboration capabilities, and more.