Review
of: |
 LearnKey
offers training videos and CD-ROM’s for many studies, including Microsoft,
Novell, and A+. Training is also available for Corel, Adobe, Quicken, and
Lotus products. The Microsoft offerings include training for development
tools, Office products, Outlook and Project applications. I viewed the
new Visual Basic 6.0 training products offered by LearnKey. The instructor
for the Visual Basic 6.0 training is Jim Fagundes, MCSE and MCSD who has
been programming in Visual Basic since version 2.0. I found the instructor
very entertaining and knowledgeable. I believe a beginning programmer would
feel very comfortable with this instructor. It was also a positive sign
that I did not fall asleep when I watched the videos.
These interactive CD-ROM applications are an alternative to taking a course in Visual Basic. The price is reasonable, $269.95 for 3 CD’s, and there is no 600 page book to read. You can also work through the CD’s at your own pace. The CD’s offer more interactive options than the videos. The CD’s offer both pre- and post-test questions. The available randomized question option was a nice challenge. There are approximately 40 questions per CD. Help is available in the pre-test selection. Demonstration questions even offer step-by-step instructions on how to complete the task. When you choose a post-test, there are no helpful instructions. The post-test is also a timed test. You are presented with a detailed item review at the end of the test. Another available option is the printing of the test for review as study material. The CD-ROM applications have an Interact button, which puts the application into a pause mode and opens Visual Basic. Training is presented in a PowerPoint type slide show, as well as a visual representation of the training performing functions as he tells you about the functions. The fundamental series covers the standard IDE (Integrated Development Environment), basic controls, variables, string manipulation, loops and arrays, procedures, functions, variable and procedure scope, debugging, using graphics, file input/output, data access and menu creation. The developer series covers the tree view, list view, toolbar, status bar, ADO (ActiveX Data Objects), control arrays, collections, MDI applications, error handling, Internet controls, DHTML, classes, deployment, and debugging. The developer series also covers the creation of ActiveX *.DLLs and *.EXEs as well as creating a COM (Component Object Model) component. The digital quality of video 2 left much to be desired. I could not hear or look at the Classes and Creating an ActiveX *.DLL segment. This was a segment that I was looking forward to watching! The video series costs $249.95 for the 3 videos. I prefer the CD-ROM series. I believe the CD-ROMs offer more functionality to the person learning Visual Basic 6.0. The one positive for the videos is that the instructor increased the font size of text in the code window so that it was easier to see from a distance. There is too much information in Visual Basic to cover everything in just 3 videos. I would have preferred to have more in-depth discussion of fewer topics in the Developer videos The company offers a catalog and a CD-ROM demo that you can request from their website. You can order from their website, however in order to get the 15% discount the company offers Alamo PC members, you must contact LearnKey at 1-800-984-9476 x124 hours 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. MST or fax 1-435-674-9631 or email barbs@learnkey.com. Please include your credit card number, name, expiration date, address, and telephone number. Standard company PO's will also be acceptable. If you want to sample any of the items offered the company will can request a catalog with full line of products and CD-ROM demo.
When not maintaining the web page for the San Antonio Bowling Association, Lorene Tolleson is a Technical Analyst in the Loan Service Department of World Savings. She can be reached at lorenet@worldnet.att.net. |