I would like to be able to learn how to use the software programs that are being used in elearning today. I learned how to use other programs like PPT and Excel just by goofing around on them. Is it possible to do so with Captivate, Flash, Articulate, etc? If there are any instructional designers out there who use any of these programs, which are best for real interactivity online? I’m mostly thinking about adult learners but I’m also interested in creating online learning opportunities for K-12 audiences.
Captivate is dead simple to learn. I was fairly proficient with it in an hour or two, without cracking a manual or looking anything up online.
Thanks. Did you use the demo version? And do you use any other elearning software?
Captivate is easy to self-teach, as Sam Stone just asserted. I used the free trial but managed to get work to buy the full license, which is $800 US for those who are not authorized educators. Flash isn’t quite as intuitive to learn IMHO, but there are many self-paced training books and continuing Ed courses that can give you a good foundation for less than $60.
I also suggest that you get either Illustrator, Fireworks or Photoshop knowledge and licenses if you haven’t done so already. Depending on how you want to distribute your learning modules, Dreamweaver and/or InDesign, both of which are fairly easy to pick up if you’re familiar with other Adobe programs. You may find it helpful to take classes for both of those latter tools, although I picked up a lot of Dreamweaver (and HTML/CSS) on my own.
Oh, and SnagIt rocks my world! Older versions are free, new versions are inexpensive and it’s oh so incredibly intuitive and fun to use.
Someone once recommended Wink software for creating software tutorials. I noted it at the time but haven’t had a chance to use it yet, but it’s free.
Captivate is best for creating tutorials or demonstrations of software. It automatically captures screenshots and mouse movement and clicks. The result will be a pre-made Flash file that can be published to the web or to an elearning platform. Wink is very similar to Capivate, although being free, may lack some of the ease-of-use and features that Captivate has.
Articulate is good for converting a PowerPoint presentation to a web-ready format. This can include narration either recorded with PowerPoint or Articulate. This would be a passive learning experience, more like a lecture. It also creates a Flash file as the output.
Flash itself can be used to author more interactive learning modules. There are many, many sites dedicated to flash games and sites like Starfall that are good examples of interactive learning using Flash. Because this application has been around so long, there are numerous online recources to learn how to build simple interactive modules.
You can try Flashkitfor tutorials and example files to get started learning Flash.