PaperShow for Teachers is a Big Hit at MacWorld 2011

I'm back from spending a couple days in San Francisco at MacWorld 2011. MacWorld 2011 was very well attended and it was great having the opportunity to speak to so many educators at the Canson Booth, as we demoed PaperShow for Teachers. It was very energizing to watch so many people get really get excited about the product and the solution that we were offering. Many teachers liked the fact that they could walk around with the notebook and were not chained to the front of the classroom. We had other educators who really liked the idea that it could be used to annotate Keynote or PowerPoint presentations. Others were excited that they could use PaperShow for Teachers when they are doing webinars and online learning.

While I was MacWorld 2011 Conference I was interviewed by Mike Schramm from the The Unofficial Apple Weblog which was streamed via UStream. I had a chance to demo PaperShow for Teachers and share with the audience a thing are two about the program. You can watch the interview below.

Informix making the world smarter...

This article is written only in English
Este artigo apenas está disponível em Inglês

Although I'm preparing some technical articles I'm happy to make a break to echo some good news...

Informix is helping an IBM Partner, Centric Solutions, in making the world smarter. Bank of China is using it for a SWIFT application, that also helps to save trees.

These are my words, but I think everyone agrees it must be robust, fast and trustworthy... and Informix is a perfect match for that!

Read all about it here:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bank-of-china-in-the-uk-works-with-ibm-to-become-a-smarter-greener-bank-114573679.html

Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS) for Managing Course Assets

I received an inquiry from a reader at a large company that is continuously working on large projects with lots of course content running around.   They have Articulate courses, classroom courses, SharePoint sites, etc.  They have an LMS but not an LCMS.  And they currently manage all of this using what I’ve seen at a lot of companies: network drives, naming conventions, some SharePoint.  Of course, it’s still a bit of a mess.  Sound familiar?

A long time ago, the goal of an LCMS was to help to manage all of these kinds of assets.  Along the way, a lot of the LCMS products on the market have become more about a kind of authoring approached with content stored in a database that is transformed into courseware.  This is valuable for large scale authoring and translation of content. 

They also handle asset management, but I really have not been seeing the kind of large scale adoption of LCMS products for that purpose.

Here are some specifics of what this reader is going for:

• We need to figure out a way to get information from other departments to make sure we have the most current information available.
• We need to set up a process to determine all courses the information will impact.
• We need to make the changes. 
• Save the previous version in the archives for discovery requests.
• Save the current version for future updates.

These are classic requirements for learning content management.  But I’m not sure they line up with what most LCMS packages provide – unless you decide that you will use it as a super-authoring tool.

In Digital Asset Management – LCMS, ECM and SharePoint, I talk to how ECM (Enterprise Content Management) solutions might be a better fit for parts of this.  But I’ve seen organizations cobble together solutions using SharePoint more than I’ve seen LCMS solutions.

This seems to be backed up by The LCMS at a Crossroads:

Our research has shown that content management needs vary widely from company to company, and some organizations are well served by some combination of social and collaboration platforms, portals, and the lightweight content management functionalities now common to rapid development tools. In fact, because content management is now so ubiquitous in almost all social networking systems (including Microsoft SharePoint), many companies are finding ways to leverage these tools to help aid content development.

In LCMS – Not Just a Technology: It’s a Strategy, Bryan Chapman really nails a key issue going into all of this discussion: you need to think about your overall strategy and then make sure your systems support that strategy.  Some key elements in the learning technology strategy that Bryan talks to some of the bigger pictures questions that organizations need to think through.  This is exactly what I discuss in eLearning Strategy.  Without an eLearning Strategy defined and the specific objectives defined, then you can’t possibly figure out the right systems.

• What are you trying to achieve here?  Is it lower-cost development?  Easier translation?  Faster time-to-market of learning?  Greater re-use?
• What’s the ROI for spending time doing this?

This is what Dawn Poulos talks about in How NOT to adopt an LCMS. 

Okay, this is probably too much motherhood and apple-pie.  Yes, you need to figure out the larger strategy, value proposition, what you are really trying to achieve, etc.  Let’s assume you’ve done that.  You still do get back to the core questions:

Are people using an LCMS to manage content assets and workflow across the enterprise?  Or are they really using SharePoint or other ECM products for that?  And LCMS products are more a different kind of authoring tool?

Curious to get reactions to this.  What are you seeing out there?  Any advice for this person?

Xpaper to the Rescue

In the last week, I have several different opportunities to use Xpaper which really helped me out in a pinch. In the first instance, I was completing a credit check application to a computer distributor so that I could resell Okidata printers as part of digital pen and paper solution. The company dutifully sent me a link to their Credit Application which I completed online. When the form was completed, I was able to save it as a PDF- now my challenge was that the Credit Application had to be signed by me in several places. With Xpaper that was an easy task! I simply printed the Credit Application Form using the Xpaper driver to my OkiData printer and signed the Credit Application Form with my Logitech Digital pen. When I docked my pen I had a crystal clear PDF with my signature ready to email back to the computer company. Using the built-in workflow my signed PDF was automatically uploaded and stored to GoggleDocs. How is that for automation? There are a host of different work-flow routing (SharePoint) and connectors (ftp, email) that make storing your documents easy to accomplish. All of this took seconds to accomplish with Xpaper. Back in the day I would have had to scan the entire document and it would have never looked as good as the output from Xpaper. Find out how your business or company can use Xpaper to automate your paper work flow and make the paper work for you! To arrange a free demo click here to register and I will be in touch with you.

The "PaperShow Guy" is Off to MacWorld 2011

Yes- some folks have affectionately coined me the "PaperShow Guy" and I will be in all my glory next week when I arrive in San Francisco for MacWorld 2011. If you get to MacWorld 2011 Conference please stop by the Canson Booth 1001 and say hello and try out PaperShow for Teachers. PaperShow for Teachers won Best of Show at MacWorld 2010, and we are excited to show you the latest developments with the product which educators are really excited about. So stop by Booth 1001 and say hello and try out PaperShow for Teachers. PaperShow for Teachers has a rich set of features that your students will find very engaging. We will be offering special MacWorld 2011 pricing for PaperShow for Teachers as well was for PaperShow Enterprise Edition - so come over and take advantage of the special promotions. Hope to see you there!

Printing To the iPad with the HP 6500A

One of the really nice features of iOS 4.2 is the ability to print from the iPad to certain select printers. At this time there are several HP printers that support wireless printing using Apple's AirPrint technology. I had the opportunity today to set up the HP 6500A printer which supports the AirPrint capabilities for one of my clients who needs this capability at school, so that she can print out the written work she does in Pages from her iPad. HP provides very clear directions on how to set up the printer and configuring the wireless component was very easy and straightforward using the built-in touch screen. However, when I attempted to print from my iPad, for some reason it did not see the printer and I received feedback on my iPad that "No printers were found." I scratched my head and tried reconfiguring the wireless connection when I realized that there was a Menu item called Web services. When I selected this feature the HP 6500A asked me if  I wanted to check for updates and I pressed "Yes."  Once the printer had downloaded the updates I was now able to see the printer from within Pages and I was off and running. So if you get stuck remember to check for Updates on your HP Printer.

Adobe Delivers Technical Communication Suite 3

Streamlined, Simplified Workflows Powered by New Versions of FrameMaker and RoboHelp

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Jan. 11, 2011 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Technical Communication Suite 3, the latest version of its complete single-source authoring and multi-device publishing toolkit for the creation and publication of rich, standards-compliant technical information and training material. The new improved version of Adobe’s industry-leading suite enables technical writers, help authors and instructional designers to efficiently author, enrich, manage, and seamlessly publish content to multiple channels and devices. Adobe also introduced new versions of the suite’s core products: Adobe FrameMaker® 10, a powerful template-based authoring and publishing solution for technical content; and Adobe RoboHelp® 9, an HTML and XML help, policy and knowledgebase authoring and publishing solution. Adobe Photoshop® CS5, Adobe Captivate® 5 and Adobe Acrobat® X Pro round out the suite, integrating powerful image editing, eLearning and demo creation, and dynamic PDF functionalities. “Today’s technical communication end user – from an average consumer to a design engineer – expects content experiences that are clear, concise and more engaging,” said Naresh Gupta, senior vice president, Print and Publishing at Adobe. “Technical Communication Suite 3 customers can meet this demand by creating documentation that is increasingly interactive, rich and socially enabled – all with one set of tools, within one user interface.”
New Features
Technical Communication Suite 3
• Enhanced single-sourcing: Import FrameMaker content into RoboHelp with support for FrameMaker books. Directly link DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) maps, automatically convert table and list styles, and publish multiple RoboHelp outputs from within the native authoring environment.
• Dynamic “single-click” publishing: Create standards-compliant XML and DITA (1.2) content and output to multiple formats, including print, PDF, Adobe AIR™, WebHelp, EPUB, XML and HTML, and deliver it to a wide range of mobile devices, such as eReaders, smartphones and tablets. Lend your content to search engine optimization, via enhanced metadata tagging of published content.
• Expanded multimedia capabilities: Take advantage of more than 45 video and audio formats and engage audiences by adding 3D models, training demos and simulations.
FrameMaker 10
• Standards support: Take advantage of significantly enhanced XML/DITA authoring capabilities of FrameMaker 10, which is an early adopter of industry standards including DITA 1.2.
• Usability enhancements: Work more efficiently with standards-compliant, prebuilt tools and templates designed for easier authoring. Use utilities like Auto Spell Check, Highlight Support, scrolling for lengthy dialogue, and enhanced Find and Replace to get the job done faster.
• Content Management System (CMS) connectors: Integrate seamlessly with leading content management systems, including Documentum and MS SharePoint. While competitors often sell these connectors for thousands of dollars, they will be included in FrameMaker 10 at no additional cost. Single-source, review, manage and automatically publish content faster and smarter – all within your favorite technical authoring tool.

Adobe Announces Technical Communication Suite 3

RoboHelp 9
• More personalized, optimized end-user experiences:
o Enable users to filter help systems based on their role, department, geography, products, operating system, or any other parameter, ensuring the most relevant information is instantly available.
o Enrich the quality of documentation by allowing users to add comments, rate helpfulness or generate relevant content independently.
o Create rich, interactive materials by adding access to external Web content including Google search, blogs,
wikis and forums.
• Efficient Workflows: Collaborate with authors, subject matter experts and readers using advanced PDF shared reviews, live linking of shared resources, moderation-enabled workflows through Adobe AIR Help, topic-rating and other multiauthor environment capabilities.

Adobe FrameMaker Server 10 and Adobe RoboHelp Server 9, the server versions of the core FrameMaker and RoboHelp products, are two separate releases that complement the new suite and help streamline enterprise workflows.

Pricing and Availability
Technical Communication Suite 3, FrameMaker 10 and RoboHelp 9 are immediately available in English, French, German and
Japanese versions through Adobe Authorized Resellers and the Adobe Store. Estimated street price for Technical Communication
Suite 3 is US$1899 (upgrades from US$699). FrameMaker 10 and RoboHelp 9 are also available as standalone products.
Estimated street price for FrameMaker 10 and RoboHelp 9 is US$999 each (upgrades from US$399). For details on FrameMaker
Server 10 and RoboHelp Server 9 pricing visit http://www.adobe.com/products/framemakerserver.html and
http://www.adobe.com/products/robohelpserver.html
About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.
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