For those of you who currently use SAM 2003 or SAM XP, you know that you need to install it to your local hard drive using two CD’s, and it takes up over 1 gigabyte of space.  Not anymore!  SAM 2007 can be installed from the Web, no CD’s needed—although a CD option will still be provided for those with slower Internet connections.  The installation size has decreased to 30 megabytes! 

What are you getting when you install SAM 2007?

• SAM Content Player (SCP): This component is similar to a media player, such as Windows Media Player, that renders content.  The SCP will “play” the SAM simulations when the student launches an exam or training assignment.

• Additionally, there is an engine that simulates each application (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Windows, Outlook, and the Internet).  This component enables SAM 2007 simulations to allow students to complete tasks using all available pathways (right click menus, the ribbon, shortcut keys, etc.)

What about the website?

The SAM Management System is the web interface portion that users will see upon logging in to SAM 2007 at http://sam2007.course.com.  This is where both students and instructors will manage their sections, exams, training assignments, and reports. 

So what do I need to order?

SAM 2007 will have 3 different delivery options to choose from, based on the needs of your students:

• For users who have high speed internet access, we will offer a keycode-only package.  This is ideal for either standalone purchase or bundling at the bookstore.  The student downloads the components mentioned above from the SAM 2007 website, enters the keycode from the package, and is ready to use SAM 2007.

• Also for users who have high speed internet access, we will offer the option to purchase the keycode electronically via credit card from http://coursedirect.course.com.  The rest of the process will work the same as above.

• For users who may not have high speed Internet access, we will offer the option to install SAM 2007 using a CD, either purchased standalone or bundled at the bookstore.  From here, the user has two additional options:

1. Install the SAM Content Player and engine from the CD, but allow the tasks to be streamed over the web (recommended).
2. Install all components locally to the computer’s hard drive.  This will equate to about 250 megabytes.  This is NOT the recommended method, since the user will not have access to the most recent content.

For more information about SAM 2007, available in June ‘07, contact your Course Technology sales representative.

SAM 2007 v. 1.0 will be released in June with tasks covering our Introductory Office textbooks, with more tasks to be added approximately every six months. The initial tasks will cover the four core Microsoft Office 2007 applications—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access, as well as Internet Explorer 7, Outlook, and Windows. Each task will have two assessment scenarios, as well as a training scenario.

The SAM team built the initial task list based on three criteria:

• The most popular tasks from SAM 2003;
• Tasks that reflect the new features and functionality of Office 2007; and
• Tasks that cover the skills focused on in the Introductory Office books in the Shelly Cashman, New Perspectives, and Illustrated series.

The scenarios offer a mix of both liberal arts and business settings, designed to cater to a variety of students.  Here are some examples:

Word
Ice Cream Shop
Construction Company
Errand Service

Excel
Day Care Center
Sandwich Shop
Gym Franchise

PowerPoint
Photography Club
Science Fair
Animal Shelter

Access
Adventure Cruise Line
Rental Company
Sports Logo Company

Beginning in March, your sales representative will have an assessment and training demo containing 10 fully functioning tasks available to show you..  Be sure to ask about it!

Want a sneak preview? Visit http://samcentral.course.com

For those of you familiar with SAM (Skills Assessment Manager) 2003, you’ve seen the current blue and black user interface, and perhaps you have observed that its simple design doesn’t necessarily reflect the cutting edge technology that is behind it.

Course Technology is changing all that for SAM 2007. We asked for suggestions from customers like you, and we listened to your feedback. Consequently, the user interface has been completely overhauled, including the addition of cleaner, easier-to-read screens. The new white background has been enhanced with bright red, blue, and gray accents that will clearly and quickly show you where you need to go. (See screenshot below.) 

Additionally, the screens have been reorganized for greater ease of navigation. SAM 2007 is based on a three-pane architecture, with the left pane containing links to all areas of the site, such as the Users screen, the Sections screen, and the Exam and Training screens. The middle pane is where you, the user, perform all of your actions, whether you’re an instructor creating an exam or a student beginning an assignment. Within the middle pane we have added a tab configuration to enable different actions within that pane. This allows you to move back and forth between functions without scrolling or losing your place on the screen. The right panel consists of various links to helpful user manuals and documentation, as well as the contact information for technical support. With technical support available on every screen, we hope that students will feel they have our Help resources at their fingertips anytime they need it.

We have also made significant enhancements to the simulation screen, where students perform their exams or training assignments. We have increased the size of the simulated Microsoft^® Office environment, made the mode buttons on the training screens larger, and added more information about the selected student’s progress in the assignment on the lower left corner of the screen.

While the new SAM 2007 looks radically different, it retains all of the same functionality you have come to expect from the SAM family. We have not removed any of SAM’s functions, but are continually adding more helpful, time-saving features. Stay tuned for future posts to find out how we have made SAM 2007 an even more powerful tool for training and testing students!