I began my exploration of the Composica application by just jumping in.
Whew!
Logging into the application as a project developer for the first time is immediately overwhelming. Like most applications these days there are a lot of bells and whistles, and like most applications, Composica has its own sort of language that, once you get into it, is intuitive.
There are a lot of choices to make when beginning the process of designing a project. Choosing backgrounds, templates, color, text styles and then there are photos, videos, blogs, or chat. I was relieved to find out that I can change all that even after starting my project.
As I poked around some more I found that one of the exciting things about this application, and one that the developers also think is exciting, is the element that makes it different from others in this field – its social applications.
Social Media Elements
The social media elements that are found throughout the Composica system are pretty special. You can bring in RSS feeds, incorporate your YouTube videos and external content like your blogs or photographs from another web site. You can use these elements as course content without having to develop it a second time.
Collaboration
Collaboration is another one of these social elements. People, like co-workers or a group of trainers, anywhere in the world, can work together on the project, use real-time chat and blogs to discuss and share any of the elements that were uploaded for the project. This includes source code like Flash files.
Gaming
Gaming is also incorporated with the Sharable Content Object Reference Model or SCORM. There are a few e-learning tools that incorporate games, but none of the others can send that gaming data to the Learning Management System, or LMS, through SCORM. With the ability to create SCORM compliant gaming, Composica allows for a deeper user learning experience and a more fun learning environment.
Interaction
Then, once the project is finished, the students can interact not only with that content, but with the course designers/teachers and with each other to create a very rich experience and allow the course designers to make it even better.
I’m still trying to figure a lot out as Composica is a rich system. I’ll keep you informed on my progress.
But, may I make a suggestion and say that taking some time and going through the tutorial, and getting at least a test idea with some peripherals (text, photos, etc.) together before starting is an excellent way to move forward.
