General Information FAQ

Questions:

1. How long does it take to convert a course?
2. How does SWIFT differ from authoring tools?
3. Do you have a management system for your online delivery?
4. Do I have to pay for each course I develop?
5. Do I have to have programming experience?
6. How long will it take to become proficient with the SWIFT Author?
7. Are new releases of your products upwardly compatible or will I have to develop my course again?
8. What if I want to start designing the course now and want to add video and sound later?
9. What security measures are in place for pirating the software?
10. What AI techniques does SWIFT implement?
11. What are regular expressions used for short answer questions in SWIFT?
12. Can you force the learner to go through certain concepts or through a specified path?
13. Can feedback be specific to the learners responses to questions?
14. How do you control the quality of the courses that are created in the SWIFT Author?
15. Can the interface be changed for corporate identity?
16. Can the icons be changed?
17. Can you insert mathematical equations?
18. Does SWIFT support OLE (linking to external applications)?
19. Do you support streaming video and sound?
20. Can any course be incorporated into SWIFT?
21. Do I have to learn XML?
22. Can I add another level to the hierarchy?
23. Do I develop multimedia using the SWIFT Author?
24. Can I include images in questions?
25. What is the licensing fee?
26. What if I sell a SWIFT course that I have designed for Company ABC and one year later I design another course and sell it to Company ABC, do I pay another license fee?
27. What platforms do SWIFT courses run on?
28. Can SWIFT courses be delivered in other languages?
29. What if adaptive testing is not desired?

Answers:

1. How long does it take to convert a course?

95% of the work required for creating SWIFT courses is in the course content development. Course content development is entirely dependent on the content already available and what needs to be added eg. questions, graphics, video, sound,... Generally speaking if you are working from an existing course manual you have about 60% of the work already done. Once the content is developed, the conversion using the SWIFT Author will take less than 5% of the time that it took to develop the course. Keep in mind that new course content can be easily added or updated as desired.

2. How does SWIFT differ from authoring tools?

SWIFT is not an authoring tool. Authoring tools are far more flexible and are used for a wide variety of applications from kiosks to multimedia development to Computer-Based and Web-based training. However, you have to do the work to create the application. With SWIFT you do not build the application or learning environment. All that is required is the course content. It is for this reason that Gemini and Gemini partners can offer to convert courses for free. As new delivery platforms, emerging technologies that enhance the learning experience, and other learning techniques enter the market, it is Gemini's responsibility to implement these ensuring that your content is never static. Your investment in Gemini's eLearning solution will continue to pay back over time.

3. Do you have a management system for your online delivery?

Yes we have an Enterprise Learning Manager (ELMer) which is included in the price of the SWIFT Kit or can be purchased separately for hosting SWIFT courses.

4. Do I have to pay for each course I develop?

No, there is no charge for developing courses. We also provide a limited license that allows clients to evaluate our eLearning solution before they make an investment.

5. Do I have to have programming experience?

No, programming experience is not necessary. Ideally we recommend that anyone creating a course have experience in window applications and instructional design.

6. How long will it take to become proficient with the SWIFT Author?

The new SWIFT Author does not require any training. That is one reason why we can give it away. Content can be created in the SWIFT Author, which includes question builders and wizards or content can be imported in any format such as HTML or PowerPoint.

7. Are new releases of your products upwardly compatible or will I have to develop my course again?

All future releases of our products SWIFT are completely upwardly compatible. For e.g. our clients were able to quickly move their CD-ROM version to online for the Internet as well as corporate Intranet delivery, without reformatting.

8. What if I want to start designing the course now and want to add video and sound later?

You can tag where you wish to add these features as you build the course now or go back and add the tags later. Either way you simply recompile the course. This also applies to updating course material.

9. What security measures are in place for pirating the software?

GeMS 5.1 (Gemini eLearning Management System) provides complete control over learner access and can be administered remotely. If you are reselling to clients GeMS is configured for the number of learners and number of courses. Please refer to the Products and Services section of our web site for more detailed information regarding GeMS.

10. What AI techniques does SWIFT implement?

The capability to recognize an event and respond appropriately is a definition of AI. The guidance and pattern matching are AI techniques implemented in SWIFT.

11. What are regular expressions used for short answer questions in SWIFT?

A regular expression provides a structure for representing several possible inputs in a compact form. The advantage of regular expressions is that the course designer need not specify all possible answers for a particular case (and there could be many). This technique generates far more possible solutions than the human mind can generate.

12. Can you force the learner to go through certain concepts or through a specified path?

Yes. The learner can be forced down a path in their course by only using one goal and not pretesting the learner. However, the methodology used in SWIFT is not to force the learner but to guide them. Research has shown that learners are more receptive to learning when they have some level of control. Every learner has their own preferences or learning style. With that in mind, SWIFT has been designed to provide a wide range of non-linear navigational techniques and instructional methodologies for various learner preferences. However, SWIFT is an ITS (Intelligent Tutoring System) so it is tracking the learner and presenting guidance to the learner where appropriate which the learner can choose to accept or ignore. In addition, one of the major benefits of eLearning is to allow the learner to refresh or review certain topics, which does not lend itself to a specified or limited path approach.

13. Can feedback be specific to the learners responses to questions?

SWIFT provides this functionality for the author. Feedback is a very effective learning technique when designed to be specific and directly related to the response provided by the learner. It should be informative and motivating. If the learner's response is incorrect, the feedback should lead to discovering why it was incorrect and what the learner needs to do to make the response correct on the next attempt. If the learner's response is correct, ideally the feedback should lead the learner to additional instructional experiences.

14. How do you control the quality of the courses that are created in the SWIFT Author?

Course development is dependent on the amount of time spent and the expertise of the subject matter expert. However, SWIFT is designed with some effective built-in guidelines that the author must follow. The embedded XML-based course structure supports solid instructional design. The SWIFT Author provides wizards to guide the design process. However, ultimately it is highly dependent on the author to design a high quality course. Of course Gemini provides consulting services for this purpose.

15. Can the interface be changed for corporate identity?

Yes, we provide Corporate Branding which replaces all instances where SWIFT and SWIFT icons appear. We also provide pluggable interfaces for diverse audiences.

16. Can the icons be changed?

In our next release SWIFT will have the capability to allow toolbar.

17. Can you insert mathematical equations?
Yes, as with other tools used to build your course you can select the equation editor of your choice.
18. Does SWIFT support OLE (linking to external applications)?

Yes.

19. Do you support streaming video and sound?

Yes. We support streaming technologies as well as other internet technologies as they emerge.

20. Can any course be incorporated into SWIFT?

Yes, however, it will always be desirable for certain aspects of some subject matter to be experienced hands-on. Not any one instructional method is the panacea for all training. For example, a pottery course. The basic principles could be taught in SWIFT, but actually learning how to throw a pot requires hands-on experience.

21. Do I have to learn XML?

No, the SWIFT Author which automatically provides XML tagging. This can be completely transparent or visible to the author.

22. Can I have an eighth question type?

23. Can I add another level to the hierarchy?

Although this is planned for the next release the current version is a three level hierarchy: topic, module, and concept.

24. Do I develop multimedia using the SWIFT Author?

No, you develop multimedia in an external tool which best addresses you.

25. Can I include images in questions?

Yes. Images can also be included as part of the feedback.

26. What is the licensing fee?

We offer very flexible licensing fees or flat fees depending on your specific requirements. The SWIFT Author comes with a 5user license free of charge and an unlimited number of courses that allows companies to evaluate our solution before they make an investment.

27. What if I sell a SWIFT course that I have designed for Company ABC and one year later I design another course and sell it to Company ABC, do I pay another license fee?

Yes, the course license fee is based on the number of users. In this scenario you would be classified as a Value Added Reseller. Yes.

28. What platforms do SWIFT courses run on?

SWIFT courses run over standard web browsers therefore it is platform independent. It is completely web enabled so there is no software or plug ins to install.

29. Can SWIFT courses be delivered in other languages?

SWIFT Author supports full multi byte character languages. If we do not have the interface in the language you require, we will send you the scripts for translation and implement it. The courses you just create in that language.

30. What if adaptive testing is not desired?

There are different test pools available when you create your SWIFT course in the SWIFT Author. You can implement fixed-length testing ideal for competency based testing as well as mandatory questions within the adaptive testing pools. You can also choose to capitalize on the adaptive testing for pretests and then implement a fixed-length test for the module and course posttests. The learner can also print out an online certificate upon successful completion of the test.