@Teri - That gets rid of one idea then if you are in California. I can understand the reasoning behind that because then students that cannot pay the fee wouldn't get to take the course. Hmmm, still trying to help, but I am blank on new ideas that could bridge the gap. It may be that families with children that want to learn using the industry standard tools will just need to get the software on their own and locate their own training resources if public schools cannot find the resources to get the Cloud. I still think that Adobe will come up with something workable, it just may take a bit. That is why I recommend continuing with the CS6 until what they have or will create can cross paths with what the schools can do. It is already bought and paid for. It makes no sense not to use it. Yes, it will be frustrating when new additions are announced that you cannot use, but your students will have better career foundations with CS6 than with GIMP. I guess what I am trying to say is to not throw the baby out with the bath water just yet for the sake of the students that desire a career in design (I feel such a strong empathy for these students because that would be me or my children if we were in a public school). As you have said, it would normally have been several years before a cash inflow would allow you to move up to a new suite version. It is still true. The only difference is now you see what is being developed as it is being developed instead of it all being hidden until the next release. Be ready to catch the cash flow when it happens and set it aside for a Creative Cloud jump in point. There may be elements that I just don't understand about public school funding, so please don't take my ignorance for a condescending tone. I am a glass half full person and trying to help pick up your spirits and try to point out hope. My son is a public school district tech, so my heart is very much for public schools. I hope to be able to help in some way, at the very least in trying to encourage instructors through the transition. I hope Adobe finds a way to help customers that rely on the boxed versions by coming up with some type of alternate plan or if they already have one to help people find it. They seem pretty determined to stop the boxed copies.

I am sorry about the struggles that have been mentioned. Though, I am not irked with Adobe since the subscription model it went to ended up helping our project and my own access, I definitely have been at the receiving end from other companies that I really didn't feel cared about what changes meant to my use of their software, so I do resonate with how it is making you feel. I want to help you brainstorm how to make it work. Trying to replace the Adobe products seems to be a lot of work and students wouldn't have industry standard tools to prepare them for a career in the design or development arenas.

You could stick with CS6 for a while while working on lining up some funding for one of the myriad of current or probably future subscription packages.

I volunteer close caption for Classroom 2.0 Live and we have teacher presenters speaking frequently about all that they do with technology in the classroom. Guests often ask how they got the equipment and software because funding is so tight. The one resounding answer that comes up over and over is that they do not rely on the powers that be for their resources. They go after grants, do fundraising, get the work out locally and online about their aspirations for the students, even pitch in their own money when their heart is in it. Yes, it shouldn't be on the teacher's plate to have to do these things, but it looks like the reality we are stuck with. The project that I work with is entirely volunteer run and donor supported, so I know what it is to not know what funding you may have you can work with and to have to often do the work of getting resources myself. It is no fun, but the investment of my time, money, and heart is worth it to me. Hang on to that if when you look deep down you find it is the case for you too. Keep Adobe knowing how hard you are working to keep the software too. It may make for changes that will make a difference. Hang in there and don't lose hope.

Not sure about firewalls, but could you ask families to purchase subscriptions for the duration of the class? I know in public institutions families are used to not having to pay for software access, but they often do in private institutions. With budget cuts being reality for the near and far foreseeable future, I suspect families will be more and more called upon to either help with fundraising or pay for the software access fee themselves.

To me, as a mom, I would rather pay the student discount subscription over the period of the course than have my children work on software that is too outdated for their hoped for career path. Maybe that is just me though. All of my children have been or are very focused on getting into design or development. The subscription model has been great for all of us as a family. I am an instructor of online classes and the subscription model has made it much easier for me too. I need tools for building my course material. I had been buying the boxed copies and it was tough facing those one-large-chunk purchases for our needs. THe subscription model has been really nice for us.

We have been using Weebly Campus edition for our student's portfolios, but I do have a Behance portfolio that i use personally. I would say that if you are working with teens that are doing anything in visual design-oriented courses, give Behance a shot. Personally, I really like Behance. I think students will be inspired by the authentic audience of talented student peers as well as rubbing elbows with professionals. Another advantage is that Behance is seen as a source for hiring. I had not had my Behance portfolio up more than a few weeks before I was offered a paying freelance project to illustrate a book (color cover and about 15 internal black and white illustrations).

If you need a portfolio tool though that also must demonstrate writing, science, math, or other skills, it wouldn't be able to properly showcase those. You would do better there to get the students a website for their portfolio. Unless students are showcasing designing websites by coding them, I do recommend the Weebly Educator account. Under your educator account you are able to set up classes and the students build their website portfolios through that structure. You can set up classes that have websites that are public or you can set them up with a class password. You can tell the other students in the class so that peers in the class can easily visit each others portfolios but the outside world and indexing spiders cannot get in. This is a big help when you are working with younger students that need more security for their protection than older ones. I have a class of 5th graders in a creative writing class and also my 5th graders in the history class set up with Weeblies. Other teachers are also using Weeblies with their students and they have found the students love their Weeblies too. THe students have no trouble with the drag and drop designing process that Weeblies have. They are very easy for a novice to be able to start adding their content immediately.

If your students are web design students, then definitely go with tools that let them work as close to the real thing as possible and get them space on a server where their design and coding skills can shine. I haven't used the web space that comes with the Creative Cloud yet, but that might be a place to check in to. It should integrate fantasticly with Muse and Dreamweaver.

I guess my decision was easier because we already had two primary tools. Those gave some constraints - well, no not constraints so much as just making it easy to decide because of what worked well with them.

I teach students in K through 12 courses. We have live, online classes, mixed live and asynchronous, and fully asynchronous classes. The live online classroom can run Flash in addition to the built in tools. Our LMS can run Flash and HTML5. In neither environment is it ideal to have a text heavy nor sit back an listen environment. The students need interaction, exploration, visuals, animations, and more to assist them in comprehending and staying focused on their learning tasks. Flash is perhaps the best tool to accomplish this but has a tad steep a learning curve for our teachers with the added issue of not being very mobile compatible short of publishing and app for every lesson.

What we have decided to go with is Adobe Captivate. It has the greatest capabilities to create the sorts of things we have admired about Flash lessons yet the tool can be used immediately by teachers. In their first try with it they can easily achieve at least PowerPoint-like lessons with the addition of really easy to build drag and drop interactions. Teachers looking to get creative find that it has a lot under the hood with the ability to create custom learning interactions that would lead you to feel the teacher developed it in Flash. I did a proof of concept two weeks ago testing how far can it go and feel the proof of concept test demonstrated Captivate's ability to let me build a science course where the student learn entirely immersed in a game adventure similar to Myst. They will be immersed in an environment and storyline where they will learn and apply what they learn about the science concepts in the form of interactive puzzles where they will have to make connections between what they have learned and how it can be applied to solve in-story problems. Add on top of the quality of the learning experience that can be created the ability of the produced lesson to automatically report to SCORM compliant LMSs so that the instructor's load is kept down and you have a really winning combination in my book. Yes, we are definitely sold on Adobe Captivate for meeting the needs of students and their instructors that want to be able to create content where they can hit the ground running right out of the gate yet have next to no limits if they want to take it to the max.

It can publish to swf (Flash) and to HTML5 (mobile friendly without having to install an app)

:0)

Classroom 2.0 Live! is a weekend webinar show and tablets in active use in classrooms is a regular theme from guest teachers. You may want to look at the archives at http://live.classroom20.com/archive-and-resources.html. You can also get the shows as a podcast through iTunes. You will be able to listen to presentations by real teachers about what they are doing with technology in their classrooms full of lots of examples, tips, recommendations, and more. On occasion, app developers will be presenting. There have been several apps that I thought were terrific for everything from specific subjects through to student motivation. THe live show is every Saturday at 11pm Central (convert to your own time zone).

There are several Adobe products that will let you make content that works well with tablets. My own personal favorite is Adobe Captivate. It outputs to swf as well as HTML5. Flash can publish out to apps, but it has a steep learning curve compared to Captivate. You will be able to create Powerpoint-like presentations within the first hour with it and if you delve in a little more you will be building highly interactive lessons that go way beyond a sit back and listen presentation. Publish out as HTML5 and point to the multi-screen file and you are serving up great lessons and activities for your students.
My son is an IT specialist in our school district. Often they will know of apps, but have their hands so full keeping it all running that they often feel they cannot pass along to teachers some of the software recommendations of the things they come across. My son and I often talk about how they need a bridge team between the techs and the teachers. That team would meet with teachers and focus on what topics are soon coming up in the classroom and they would get lesson plans, tools, and tutorials for students all lined up. We had a presenter back about three months ago where their district did that and she was one of three on that team. It seemed to me to be an excellent way to put the technology to use in the curriculum without loading the teacher down with the full load of trying to find and implement apps for their course needs.

If the major the student is taking will lead them to a career using those tools as a critical part of being prepared for the workforce, I lean toward the student providing them. If they buy them while they are a student, they get them at the student discount. If they do not end up buying them until they graduate, they will face full retail - assumption here as that the school supplied computer and software is loaner/rental in nature. If the school supplies the computer and software, we all know that the student is still paying for them anyway through tuition. If the college wraps the purchase of the computer and software up in the tuition with the student owning, not just renting the equipment, then the advantage is that scholarship, grant, and loan moneys will often be usable for the purchase. That can be a big assist for cash strapped students and families. I have seen the computer and software being a required part of the tuition though where students that already have a computer and the software end up paying unnecessarily for the school supplied one. That is a big chunk of change to throw away when the purchase isn't needed.

I think I would go nuts if the only access I had to the software was the lab. I work best in my own environment where I can spread out and have everything handy. Even if you work in a design shop instead of freelancing after graduation, you usually have a dedicated space. Not so in a lab. When students have their own machines and software, it can go where they go.

I like the Roy the Zebra site - http://www.roythezebra.com/

This resource has been updated. It now uses the Captivate Drag and Drop interaction that was introduced in version 6.1.

It was a surprise to me when I openned up the newsletter and they had featured me. That was fun. :0)

I haven't dabbled much in 3D yet. My kids really love it though. They all started at about age 10 and have kept up with it so they can make and animate just about anything they want from a guitar to pouring water. It is amazing what can be done now.

You would love the new Captivate. They have a subscription of it if you wanted to play around with it. You can chose any number of months to take it for a spin. They just came out with native drag and drop last week. I am still learning my way around their native system and plan to revamp all of my resources here using the native tools as soon as I get a little time eeeked free. That will let instructors modify even the drag and drop games from inside of the program without any special plug-ins. It looks lke they are also working on ways to get Adobe Edge animations and interactivity to import. The array of device compatible interactivity activitiies that can be made will be tremendous at the rate they are going. I highly recommend it.

Oh yay! Someone else that is sharing Capticate projects. I love Captivate and long to see more of how others are building and using it. Thank you so much for sharing. I will defibitely be subscribing to your feed and hoping that you share more. :0)

Nicole - These drag and drop activities are really easy to make with Adobe Captivate and the drag and drop plug in made by Infosematics.

You just add your blanks slide and bring in the images you want and give the images a name in the properties panel. Then click on the Insert and pick the widget category and if you followed the infosematic instructions, there you will find the drag and drop widget. Double-click on the widget on the slide. Just add in the names you gave the drag objects and the names you gave the target objects into the first tab and then match up correct answers on the second tab. There are two more tabs of customizations you can explore to fine tune how your drag and drop will run such as will they snap back if dropped in the wrong place, when will the scoring take place, etc.

These drag and drops can also be made in Flash too. You have more of a learning curve in Flash because you will be doing your own coding, but once you have built your first one, you can reuse the code to make others after it much faster. Making these in Flash gives you more customization options because you are working at a code level.

I see it as an investment to make my life easier later. Yes, it is a lot of upfront work, but later you get your time freed up because you have something that can run autonomously and be reused over and over again. For me, I would be making this stuff even as a hobby if I wasn't teaching. It is fun, so the time investment is like playing.

We have a Spanish language instructor using Destinos and the Piano Nerves peice has a sonic fit to the music in the multimedia used in this old telecorse. It will make for a nice background in a Captivate project for that course. THanks for sharing and the students will thank you too that they have some audio to hear while working on their interactive activities. :0)

I tried the Twang, but Quicktime said it couldn't play it and took me to a page with a huge list of downloads. Do you know if that one has any special codec? If I could figure out the name, I would know what item to pick in the list on the page Quicktime gives me.

You may want to add a section of free vector libraries. Web Premium has Illustrator which can open the files you can get from these sites. These are almost always CC-BY images.

http://www.openclipart.org/browse

http://all-free-download.com/

http://www.vecteezy.com/

The free section of a commercial site is http://vectorlib.com/page/search/tags/%240

Wikimedia Commons SVG Category is at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:SVG

• Particularly useful Categories

http://www.vectoropenstock.com/

www.loadgraphic.com

CreativeCommons.org (THese are Wikipedia images)

Some free PSD libraries are ...

http://all-free-download.com/free-psd/

http://freepsdfiles.net/ (slow and glitchy site, but some good stuff there)

http://www.psgalaxy.com/

Captivate does a nice job of letting you build some good custome interactive activities without having to know a lot of code. Try a trial and see if you like it. There are lots of training opportunities to get you up to speed on how to use it. It has enough flexibility that you can get some creativity in there and create some really nice stuff.

THis digital scale is part of a series of resources objects for creating lab scenes. THey are to scale with each other and set to the same perspective grid. I will post links to the other pieces in the series -

The base is the lab desk - http://edexchange.adobe.com/posts/dfba6a75f6 along with the lab desk are two drwaers so that you can make it seem as if the drawers open up for access to additinal lab resources. I like to put the lab mouse head peeking out over the top of the drawer to give the studenst a little chuckle.

I will post additional links in the next few posts and add to them as other components for the lab scene are addes.

@ Gaye -I created it for my students.

The more detailed answer -

We are pretty much just starting to get to use Captivate more widely for this upcoming year. Our porgram is a 5-year-old non-profit online course co-operative run by homeschool families for homeschool families. We all are volunteers that teach and we offer free classes to homeschool students from all over the US and beyond - there are no hidden fees. The families that can, donate so that we can have a live online classroom and a Moodle. That means tools have largely come out of the volunteers own family budgets, so our use of Captivate has not been able to get off the groumd. I am the only one that has had it before this summer. With the subscription model, we are really trying so hard to make that change this summer and beyond. There are still a few weeks to find-raising and I am so hoping we will have enough to provide monthly subscriptions to our volunteers that are building courses. We are still about $500 short, but we have a about three weeks yet to hope. Anyway, to make a long story short, we don't have the fnds to make the software avaialble for our students since we are still it the hope-against-hope to get it for our course building volunteers. :0)

I am daring to plan beyond this year of getting Cativate into the hands of our volunteer teachers. I hope to start having a whole set of courses around the students using creative tools like Captivate, Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, and more as the central curricular point and they make course materials as they are learning in their other courses. It is something I have dreamed about for three or four years now. We have one volunteer that is already running her photography course with Lightroom as core software that students are required to have. We will eventually get to where our students will have a chance at the inspiration of creating with a wide variety of Adobe tools. I am so very much looking forward to it!

Opss! I went to upload the Captivate high schoool level one and it was too large for the uploader. The uploader limit here is 20 mb. The swf is 24 mb and the Captiavte file is 31mb. You can see the high school one at http://justabitmoore.weebly.com/high-school-level-digestion.html. If you need the files, just let me know and I can get the files to you.

There was a tweet about the digestion resources I have tha pointed to here by mistake. To get to the middle school digestion Captivate file, go to http://edexchange.adobe.com/posts/bd55d40e3e. I will post the high school one in just a bit.