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MasterMind Explorer Review
by Luigi Canali De Rossi

3rd December 2002

ElementK is a major e-learning content provider, showcasing a large collection of courses that can be taken online.

As part of its information and marketing efforts ElementK provides access to more than 20 different learning modules that are part of their mainstream courses.

I am always looking for e-learning content to explore and review since it is so difficult to see progress in this field as most content is sold at a price and secured under a password.

My interest is in seeing how content can be structured and how information can be presented in ways that make learning effective.

In this varied set of sample modules from their commercial curriculum, ElementK provides good quality multimedia learning modules that provide a good reference to all among you attempting to produce a computer-based tutorial or set of lessons.

Among the free courses available on this page I suggest:

1) PowerPoint 2000: Introduction: Working with ClipArt, Tables, and WordArt

2) Notes 5.0: Mail Features: An Overview of Notes

3) Photoshop 5.5: Basic Skills: Selection Types and the Feather Option

4) Microsoft Project 2000: Advanced: Updating a Project

All of these modules contain audio and animation and are well designed. Many of these e-learning modules contain animated sequences showing you how to perform certain operations and allowing you to try each feature out during the course of the tutorial.

The interesting feature is indeed in how these software simulations have been created and in what they allow the learner to do.

Differently from traditional computer-based tutorials a new breed of software simulation tools, which I will report on in an upcoming report, allows not only to embed audio notes, text captions and screen animations in the tutorial, but it allows the user to fully interact with the application while trying out each individual feature.

So, while you are guided step-by-step you are not passive in this learning experience as you need to follow the instructions and perform correctly the showcased exercises.

When you are not able to execute properly a task you can ask the application to do it for you while you sit back and enjoy.

For the first time a number of competitive applications provides facilities for the creation of these software simulations. Stay tuned for more info about them and check out this well designed tutorials to have a glimpse of what the reference benchmark today is in developing such tutorials.