Learning with Flash

I'm a huge fan of Adobe products- and teaching myself how to use them. I have the new CS3 Design Premium (thank god for school discounts) and love to find new ways to play with the programs. I actually spend much more time than I should playing around with photoshop, illustrator, and most recently flash. This wasn't really a problem with school work- I did manage to get everything done, but school work would be so much more effective if I could use the programs I was already playing with to learn.

It took me a while to figure out a good way to do this. Photoshop is too boring- not nearly interactive enough, and Illustrator is a bit to complex or touchy for throwing up a diagram, labeling and studying over and over with a lap top and a touch pad. (Yes, my wireless mouse does work- but it still can get a little tricky) Adobe Flash however, was the perfect solution.

Not only could I draw diagrams quickly and mainly effortlessly- but a whole array of possibilities opened up! Separate layers for the labels, a quick animation, and presto! and instant study tool - much better than flash cards. Not to mention, drawing the vector helped to keep everything on par in my mind. AND COLOR CODING! now I was working with fire.

I've only used flash a few times to study, mainly last semester for my Animal and Poultry Science (APSC) final, because the amount of diagrams I had to commit to memory was outstanding- but if you're a visual learner I highly recommend it.


Here is and example of a study diagram I made last semster for APSC. This version isn't animated because its easier to post, but it still works quite nicely. The diagram is of the bovine, swine, and sheep male reproductive tract ( the sigmoid flecture being the difference from the equine's vascular tract)