Making Interactive Tutorials

At Pratt, there are many platforms and tools for learning. However, for the libraries, I recommend Kaltura and LibWizard as the tools of choice for creating interactive learning modules. I've included a brief overview of the tools below:

Kaltura (or talks.pratt.edu)

The premiere video hosting platform used at Pratt. In addition to purely linear videos, Kaltura offers the ability for users to directly embed interactive elements into their videos (multiple choice questions, T&F, open ended answers, etc). These features are incredibly easy to integrate into existing video tutorials and even provide reporting/analytics features. This is a great option if you want to craft a small interactive experience that measures memory-based learning outcomes.

LibWizard

LibWizard is a library platform that gives us the ability to build fully interactive tutorials and slideshows with embedded site content. Compared to Kaltura, libwizard lets you build longer-form interactive tutorials with a lot more freedom. You can embed images, websites, multiple videos, and other types of content. This is a great option if you want to tie together a couple of video tutorials or incorporate web searching as part of your tutorial. 

Just like writing a paper or preparing a presentation, interactive tutorials are much easier to produce if you take the time to build an outline or framework to plan your content around. This will ensure that you stay on target and cover everything you need to. What do you want to teach? What things do you need to cover? Jot down a list of learning outcomes and make sure that you frame your outline around them

The example below shows how you could plan a 30 minute overview of the library website and a few specific databases. I find it helpful to estimate the time it takes to go through every section.

• Intro: navigating the library website (5 minutes)
  • Quick search
  • Ask a Librarian
  • Databases
  • Images
• Finding full text content(5 minutes)
  • Peer reviewed articles
  • eBooks
• ArtStor (10 minutes)
  • Creating an account
  • Searching image collections
• New York Times (10 minutes)
  • Creating an account
  • Navigating the interface
  • Advanced search options

The easiest way to build image-based assets is to use an image manipulator program like Adobe Photoshop. Fortunately, we have access to the full Adobe creative suite. Need to brush up on photoshop skills? We have a great linkedin learning course available: Photoshop 2020 Essential Training. (Need a LinkedIn Learning Account? Check out our LinkedIn Learning Guide.)

All of that said, if you just need to do simple screenshots with annotation here and there, our windows machines come with the open source screenshot software, Greenshot. It is very easy to use! Learn how to use Greenshot.

Don't feel comfortable using Photoshop to create graphics? You can use Google Slides or Powerpoint to assemble a slide that you like and then export it as images. Then, you can upload those images as slides in Adobe Spark or the video editing software of your choice. This can be a quick and easy way to create unique slides and get around some of the complexity of video editing.

• Saving Google Slides as Images (How-To-Geek)
• Saving Powerpoint Slides as Images (Lifewire)