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E-Learning Solutions (Content & Assessment Authoring)

Performance Analyzer™ v3.0 Features and Benefits (At a Glance ...)

• New in v3.0: Custom Score and Penalty Values - For an assessment, the developer may specify any score value (from 0 to 9999) at the global level, and this specified score value can then be changed for individual tasks, steps, and objects within the assessment. Similarly, the developer may define a penalty value (expressed as a percentage or absolute decimal value) at the global level, and this specified penalty value can then be changed for individual tasks, steps, and objects.
• New in v3.0: Step Repeating Options - The developer may specify how the system will handle repeated steps (i.e., when an end user revisits a previously completed step during playback). Essentially, the developer can control whether tracking/scoring information is overwritten or continued for repeated steps, or whether each repeated step is counted as a new step.
• New in v3.0: Additional Step Navigation Options - There are additional options for defining navigation events at the step frame level. On any step frame, the developer may specify different target frames that playback will navigate to in response to different actions by the end user, such as performing a Correct/Incorrect/Neutral action, performing a Zero Score action (i.e., achieving a score of zero after having penalties applied), and performing a No Attempts action (i.e., exhausting all available attempts for the step). For each of these actions, the developer may specify that playback will navigate to the next frame, navigate to the previous frame, navigate to another specific frame within the current task, or jump to the next task in the assessment.
• New in v3.0: Additional Content Frame Support - The Mouse Click, Validation Key, and Validation Field objects are now supported on Content frames (in addition to Step frames).
• New in v3.0: SCORM 2004 Compliance - Performance assessments can now be delivered, tracked, and reported through any SCORM 2004-compliant Learning Management System. In addition, Performance Analyzer continues its support for the SCORM v1.2 and v1.1 standards (which are still widely used).
• New in v3.0: System Variables - Memory locations may be assigned with the name of a system variable, which contains navigation information that is dynamically and automatically assigned by the system during playback. System variables provide developers with another way to implement navigation between frames.
• New in v3.0: Hide and Show Events - Objects may be configured to repeatedly hide (disappear) and show (reappear) on the screen during playback. This is useful for creating pulsing or blinking visual effects.
• New in v3.0: Highlighter Object - The Highlighter object is used to realistically simulate the action of highlighting text, cells, or screen areas. This is an ideal feature to use when creating simulations of word-processing, spreadsheet, and drawing applications.
• New in v3.0: Enhancements to Various Objects - Additional properties/events are available to customize for the Mouse Click, Hyperlink, Validation Field, and Validation Key objects, including the capability to specify separate correct, incorrect, and neutral validation frame events for each of these objects.
• New in v3.0: Step Properties Defined Globally - The developer may define global-level settings for the "Attempts/Hint Properties", "Validation Message" and "Validation Error Message" frame properties. These global-level settings will be automatically inherited to each new step created in any task. On each individual step, the developer may modify the inherited values as desired.
• Easy Step-by-Step Process - Performance Analyzer’s assessment creation methodology is quite straightforward. You simply go through the easy steps of creating a simulation-based assessment (.RPE) file, adding a splash screen, adding a login screen, adding task (.RPX) files, populating each task file with Step and Content frames, specifying scoring/tracking settings for steps, customizing the end user report, specifying any ending frames/screens, and saving the simulation-based assessment. Each screen in the assessment can be easily defined by dragging and dropping objects from a palette and defining object behavior (i.e., defining how each object will look and what it will do) by setting various properties.
• Sophisticated Tracking and Scoring - A simulation-based assessment contains one or more task files. Each task file is populated with a series of Step frames (screens) incorporating the individual actions (i.e., mouse clicks, button clicks, keystrokes, text entries, and/or highlighting actions) that must be performed by the end user in order to accomplish a specific task. During playback, as the end user proceeds through the tasks in the simulation-based assessment, the individual steps performed by the end user are tracked and scored. In addition, the following user interaction metrics are also collected during playback: each correct and incorrect attempt on each step, the total number of attempts for each step, and the time spent/taken on each step. Once the end user has gone through all the tasks, tallies are given for each task, and a final score is calculated.
• Step and Content Frames - Each task within a simulation-based assessment may consist of both Step frames and Content frames. Step frames represent the actual steps that the end user must perform to accomplish the task. On each Step frame, one or more interactions (i.e., mouse clicks, button clicks, keystrokes, text entries, and/or highlighting actions) performed by the end user are automatically tracked and scored by the system. Content frames are supplementary frames that do not have tracking capability and thus are not used for calculating the final score. The distinction between Step frames and Content frames enables the developer to define which frames will be tracked/scored and which frames will not be tracked/scored.
• Multiple Options for Step/Content Frame Authoring - Performance Analyzer provides various methods for adding Step and Content frames to a task file:
  • Desktop Capturing - 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. Each mouse click and keystroke action performed during recording is automatically generated as an individual Step frame.

    Prior to recording, Performance Analyzer enables developers to specify various capture settings, which control how much of the desktop area will be captured (i.e., the entire desktop, a selected screen area, or only active windows)

  • Appending/Inserting Frames - The developer may append/insert new (non-recorded) frames into a task file as Step frames or Content frames.

  • Altering Frame Types - The developer has complete flexibility to quickly convert any Step frame into a Content frame (so that it is no longer scored/tracked during playback) or convert any Content frame into a Step frame (so that it will be scored/tracked during playback).

  • Importing External Step/Content Frames - The developer may import Step/Content frames from other task files (thus enabling the developer to reuse Step/Content frames among different task files).

  • Importing RapidBuilder Files - The developer may import frames from any RapidBuilder simulation file into a task file as Step/Content frames. A RapidBuilder file can thus be quickly converted into a simulation-based assessment.

• Alternate Paths (Branching) Capability - Developers have the flexibility to create non-linear assessments with adaptive branching. For each task within an assessment, multiple paths/scenarios for completing the task may be defined. Based on the action (i.e., mouse click, button click, key press, text entry, or highlighting action) that the user performs on a given frame within a task file, the user may move forward to the next frame, return back to the previous frame, navigate to another frame somewhere else in the task file, or jump to the next task file in the assessment. Therefore users can revisit previously completed steps, jump ahead to subsequent steps or tasks, or navigate to other screens with context-specific feedback/content. This powerful capability enables developers to create complex branching scenarios in which assessments can “adapt,” presenting certain steps, content screens, or tasks to participants based on the actions they perform.
• 80-97% File Compression - Using powerful proprietary compression algorithms, Performance Analyzer generates efficiently small files. This allows for richly authored simulation-based assessments without the worry of greatly increased file size.
• 508 Compliance - Includes full support for the accessibility requirements specified in Section 508 of the U.S Rehabilitation Act. Performance Analyzer is a 508-compliant technology that may be fully accessed by users with physical disabilities or limited mobility. The technology supports the use of keyboard equivalents for all mouse actions. The various Performance Analyzer objects, dialog boxes, buttons, pop-up menus, and other features may be accessed and manipulated using designated keyboard keys or key combinations (instead of using the "point and click" functionality of the mouse device). These keyboard equivalents provide an alternative for visually impaired users or physically disabled users who may not be able to utilize the mouse device. In addition, the technology supports the Windows Accessibility Options, which are special Windows accessibility settings that may be customized for keyboard, sound, display, and mouse.
• Multiple Media Formats - Performance Analyzer files may be saved and deployed in a variety of online media formats, including RPE (native file format), Flash (SWF), Executable (EXE), and SCORM.
   

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