Flash to HTML5
Overview
With F2F virtual courses running and a support network established, I began mapping out how to approach converting 200+ flash-based lectures to HTML5. Adobe Flash was set to sunset December 31, 2020, so it was imperative to ensure out learning content was viewable to our students. Our Flash lectures ranged from relatively simple to complex, including table of contents, captions, interactive knowledge checks, and custom animations.
Assessment
To begin, I identified some key considerations:
What features in the Flash product needs to be kept or reproduced in the converted product?
What software is required to perform the conversion? Is this software currently available to us or do we need to purchase/license it?
Roughly how long does each conversion take? How long will all conversions take?
Who will perform the conversions?
How do we establish the order to convert content?
How do we track the conversions?
Will converted content be uploaded to Moodle – the retiring LMS – or Canvas?
Feature Set
In assessing what features needed to be kept, it became clear that all features needed to be maintained in order to expedite the conversion process. If say, an interactive activity or table of contents was removed, this could negatively impact the original design of the lecture. It could be critical to other assignments, activities, or assessments outside of the lecture, or key to the lecture itself or referenced in the audio recordings. Removal could introduce learning gaps and worsen the student experience. Not to mention, if a particular interaction couldn’t be preserved, we would have to reach out to the instructor to identify how its removal affected the lecture and course, adding another layer of work to an already tight timeline.
Software & Development
There were two pieces of software required – a video converter capable of reading and converting FLVs to MP4s, and a video production tool.
There are numerous web-based converters available, but due to the sheer amount of videos we needed to convert, I opted for local app. Luckily, a free tool called Video to Video converter checked all the boxes. Free, fast, and easy.
For a video production too, we opted for Camtasia. We already had licensing across the organization which meant anyone comfortable using the program could contribute, and it had the entire feature-set we were looking for: captioning, built-in quizzes, able to import custom animations, table of contents, HTML5 exporting, and SCORM compatibility.
Training Staff
After completing a conversion, I immediately began developing training materials on the process – conversion settings for the videos, naming schemes, folder structures and locations, process for importing captions, activity recreation, etc. I trained our IDs and LXDs, as well as our interns as this was an all hands-on deck operation.
Tracking
Next, I strategized our order of operations. Rather than just randomly picking lectures to convert, I met with our program management team to understand the scheduling projections of online programs for Spring 2021 and beyond. Flash was retiring December 2020, so online courses launching in Spring 2021 took priority.
This schedule became the order in which our team approached converting content – courses running earlier had their content converted first, future courses later. I created a conversion tracker to be used collaboratively across the team.
Up to this point, we had been focused on developing but not implementing the updated content to the LMS. There was little sense in updating lecture content in the outgoing LMS, so we needed to design a new Canvas course template to streamline development.