'Taste' Windows 7 via Microsoft SnackBox Beta

Looking for a tasty Windows 7 snack? SnackBox might just have a tasty something for you to sink your teeth into. Looking to put together your very own Windows 7 snacks? Then Microsoft's SnackBox is the right place for you to share your creations with the world. But there is no need to limit content to Windows 7 alone. In fact, Microsoft invites people to build snacks for all of its technologies. And by snacks the company of course understands interactive learning presentations on various technologies from Windows to Dynamics, Office Server technologies, etc. that bundle together animations and recorded demos into the presentation media made available via Silverlight.

“Microsoft Learning introduces SnackBox, a new place to view and create Silverlight Learning Snacks,” revealed Mike Mulcare, Microsoft product manager. “There’s a vast resource of knowledge out there – SME’s, MCT’s, MCP’s and others who are eager to share their expertise. The combination of the Learning Content Development System (LCDS), the Snack Converter, and now the SnackBox platform enables the community to build and publish Silverlight Learning Snacks. Learners, after signing in to SnackBox, can rate the snacks published by both MSL and the community.”

With the Learning Content Development System (LCDS) free tool any member of the Microsoft Learning community is able to author high-quality, online courses that can benefit from added interactivity. In this regard, the courses can go beyond simple animations to also include additional interactive content including quizzes, games, assessments, demos, and multimedia. As long as SnackBox is in the pilot phase, authors of snacks will be permitted to share content only by invitation. Microsoft informed that interested users should email snacksup at microsoft.com.

“Learning Snacks fill a vital spot in the community authoring strategy for MSL. Learning Snacks and SnackBox enable the community to create online learning without having to be an e-learning expert because all of the instructional design and production elements are baked into the experience. And SnackBox is provided free of charge,” Mulcare stated.