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Pachyderm What Is It & How Does It Work?. Chris Scruton Senior Educational Technology Consultant Distributed Education and Instructional Technology Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost University of Minnesota, Twin Cities scru0002@umn.edu. What is Pachyderm?. Pachyderm is.
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PachydermWhat Is It & How Does It Work? Chris Scruton Senior Educational Technology ConsultantDistributed Education and Instructional TechnologyOffice of the Senior Vice President and ProvostUniversity of Minnesota, Twin Cities scru0002@umn.edu
Pachyderm is . . . ...an online tool for developing instructional and informational content. For authors • Create content by selecting a preferred template type and ‘populating’ it via a Web-based form. • Completed content may be ‘published’ to a Web site or delivered locally via CD-ROM. For student-users • Content accessed through a Web browser. • Only the Flash plug-in is required to access content.
Pachyderm works by . . . • combining media from a content repository with • layout and formatting information from a user-selected template to • create a Macromedia Flash content object that can be displayed and manipulated in student-users’ Web browsers.
To make this work, authors • . . . build media libraries, • . . . select a template and add content, and • . . . output (or publish) a completed file, ready to be delivered from a server or via some portable medium (e.g., CD-ROM).
Some limitations of the current Pachyderm install • Multiple authorship and workgroup media sharingare both challenging • Workaround: Create a project- or group-specific account and share the login/password among team members • Distribution of the finished files can likewise present a challenge • They can be distributed from the Pachyderm server, but the process is cumbersome (not indexed or searchable) • Better solution: Package as .ZIP archive and unpack/store/distribute via Vista/Moodle, content-management system or standard Web server, or even CD-ROM.
Select a Template and Add Content (I)Template-Based Authoring • Pachyderm uses a ‘parent-child’ authoring paradigm • Author’s selection of a ‘home screen’ template affects his or her choice of ‘linked screen’ looks • For templates, see the “Template Overview” at http://www.pachyderm.org/docs/PachyTemplateOverview.pdf
Select a Template and Add Content (II)Template-Based Authoring • Pachyderm uses a ‘parent-child’ authoring paradigm (cont’d) • See also the “Grid-Based Template Workbook” at http://www.pachyderm.org/docs/gridtemplate.pdf • Match—as closely as possible—your choice of template with your pedagogic objectives • For example, 'slider' versus 'aspects'
Select a Template and Add Content (III)Select a ‘Home Screen’
Pachyderm ChallengesSummarized • File upload can be awkward • Template features, limits poorly documented • Text formatting problematic • Document length • A problem of mindset rather than a technical problem (scrolling features work well, just awkward for longer texts) • Multiple authorship not well supported • Templates can be difficult to construct
Pachyderm 2.1.0Changes (Coming Soon) • Fully Section 508-compliant • Will require asset/project conversion • New templates, including • Limits on media-type/module length removed from existing templates • Timeline template; full-screen .SWF shell • Low-level interactives (games, quizzes, etc.) • 'Mid-ground' image + improved frame editor • Integration with the enterprise • Enhanced interoperability with existing/emerging systems • especially media/learning object repositories via OSIDs
Exemplary Project (I) The Walter Art Museum's Integrating the Arts presentationhttp://www.thewalters.org/education_art/education_teachers_resources_education.aspx
Exemplary Project (II) California State University system's ELIXR presentationshttp://elixr.merlot.org/
Exemplary Project (III) The Minnesota Digital Library's Immigrants in Minnesota History demonstration projecthttp://www.mndigital.org/web_assets/docs/demo/MDLImmigrants_Pachyderm_v02/
Pachyderm Resources To download the Pachyderm server application: http://www.pachyforge.org To purchase hosted Pachyderm authoring accounts: http://pachyderm.nmc.org