Pros:
Easy-to-use and learn multimedia creator. Reasonably priced.
Cons:
Buggy, no native OS X version. Poor support.
The Review:
HyperStudio is a wonderful, but frustrating program. It is important to realize that HyperStudio is aimed at younger students - it is an ideal program for teaching multimedia to middle school students. If you have no computer experience and you want to get a start in multimedia, this is definitely the program for you.
I have personally seen computer phobic people nearly master this program in only an afternoon. It's fun to use, and contains more features than you can shake a stick at. I was a devoted user of HyperStudio for serveral years. Why? You can easily put together a lesson, tutorial or presentation that includes animation, pictures, scrolling text, interactive features, sounds, etc. in a very short period of time.
I truly mean it when I say it is fun and easy to use. You can create
multimedia magic with two simple "tear away" pull down menus. These menus allow you to add buttons, graphics, paint, fill color, select objects, add text, add buttons and much, much more. Very simple steps allow you to attach sounds, movies and navigational instructions to the items you have on screen. "Programming" your "stack" is a simple as adding new "cards"... much as you would add a recipe card to a stack of index cards. Making multimedia is asimple as arranging cards... soon, you'll be developing your own tutorial, instructional or presentation stacks! While this simple approach is effective, don't expect lots of color control close at hand, or access to all features, or very refined tools. This program could use a more optional pallettes for advanced users - but you won't find them.
So why is this program frustrating? The frustration was likely the worst for long-time users of old version 3. This program was very awkwardly updated, forcing the user to jump through several ridiculous hoops to get an updated version (inexcusable in a school environment, where it is often necessary to configure many workstations quickly.)
Then came the HyperStudio bomb (H-bomb, if you will) - the release of version 4.0. This version was an absolute disaster, introducing so many bugs it made the program unusable. I witnessed a grade 7 girl reduced to tears as the stack she made repeatedly crashed when she tried to show to her classmates - I am sure this was just the tip of the iceberg for this "Titanic" of a release. Version 4 never should have been released, let alone charged for.
What made the situation worse is the vendors very slowly released incremental updates that really did nothing to solve the horrible problems created by the version 4 release. The solution for most educators was to slink back to using version 3.3 - they really had no choice..
To address the H-bomb, Sunburst, the current vendors of HyperStudio, is now offering a free upgrade to a newly released version 4.5 for those users who bought version 4.0. Feature-wise, version 4.5 adds nothing, it promises only to squash bugs. But is it worth the effort? Having suffered through version 4, should educators subject themselves to another experiment?
Before answering that question, I should mention first that I have left HyperStudio behind as a multimedia creator some time ago - while it is easy and fun to use, it's stability was never perfect (and made worse by version 4) and I found more powerful ways to make presentations, such as Apple's Keynote. Which brings me to a real show-stopper for me, HyperStudio does not run natively in OS X for Mac, so you have to run it in classic mode. Educational programs in general need to step up and update their offerings, but for a multimedia program to advertise Mac compatibility, yet not have an OS X version, is not acceptable.
Back to the new version 4.5 - is it an improved enough version to redeem the program? When I checked the installation instructions that came with the CD, I was not encouraged. No less than 14 steps acompanied the Windows installation instructions! You must take special steps in order to prevent deletion of your existing stacks during installation - great, huh? On top of this, the installer inexplicably includes a well out-of-date QuickTime installer (verison 5.05). This lack of attention to simple details is very disconcerting.
Testing version 4.5 in Classic mode in OS X has been a real time warp! It has been both nostalgic and satisfying using the new version. The folders for the resources and stacks are better organized in version 4.5, so finding what you need to place in you stack is a bit easier. The new "Easy Effects" folder is a nice touch, allowing for quick and easy incorporation of many neat effects.
I have created several stacks now, incorporating various sounds, graphic objects and movies, and have not had a crash yet. I have noticed slight glitches, for example, when placing a movie the selection box is duplicated in the upper left part of your screen. The HyperStudio feature page still list "Drag and Drop" as a new feature, but I cannot get it to work. "Morph" is supposed to be included for free, but I cannot find this program anywhere in the installation (perhaps it is only for Windows? Should that not be noted?)
Testing was NOT conducted on OS 9 or Windows, but based on what I have seen in Classic under OS X, I would suggest that those schools who have purchased version 4 to give this version 4.5 a try, most of the stability issues seem to be solved. However, if you are comfortably using version 3.3 and are not planning any computer system changes soon, you are probably best to stay with what you have.
The vendors are currently conducting a survey as to whether or not they should develop a HS version 5. What do you think? If version 5 is developed, I strongly suggest an OS X version. Perhaps before developing HS 5, if might be nice to get all the advertised features working in the current version.
Conclusion:
HyperStudio is stuck in the past - it will do a more than adequate job of teaching young students multimedia basics, but if you want something more powerful, look elsewhere. If HyperStudio is to be a program with a real future, it probably should be re-written from the ground up.
