If you encounter a problem building an eLearning Project in Captivate and you ask more than one developer how to solve that problem, you may get a different answer from each developer. For example, a colleague and I attended the Adobe eLearning Summit in Las Vegas in October and we asked two developers if they had any idea how to implement a feature we were working on, and while they both had excellent ideas, their approaches were vastly different but both held promise. However, in the end, neither solution was right for our project and we ended up solving the issue in a different way. The fact that there are often multiple valid approaches to solving an issue or implementing a feature is one of the things I enjoy most about working in Captivate.
When I get stuck with an issue or I can’t figure out how to implement a feature I head to a few places for inspiration; the Adobe eLearning Community, YouTube (there are a couple of people whose videos have been priceless in my developing career), a few blogs, and Google. What I have found is I almost never find a video or a blog that solves my problem and a lot of times I don’t find anything that even comes close to resembling my problem. Sometimes it’s like no one has ever had the same problem I am having or has tried to implement the same feature I am working on and I usually end up watching a video or reading a blog and then having an epiphany while I’m looking at something completely unrelated to what I’m working on. Here’s another example from the Adobe eLearning Summit, I attended a session on multi-state objects because it sounded interesting. I went in with no issues to address and walked out with a solution to a problem I didn’t know I had. If you’ve watched my video on using multi-state objects to implement two languages in a single eLearning course, that break-out session is where I got the idea.
The more videos I watch and blogs I read the more I come to realize there is almost never one approach to a problem and just because someone else solves a problem one way does not mean that’s the only way to solve it, the best way to solve it, or even the right way to solve it. Especially for your project. I’ve also found that the more projects I build the more different approaches I use to solve the same or similar problems or to implement the same feature in different projects. Most projects have different requirements and a solution or approach that works for one often won’t work for another.
My advice for new eLearning Authors and Developers is watch a lot of tutorials, read a lot of blogs and draw on those to craft your own solutions to the issues you encounter.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Creative problem solving and that thirst to know more is, in my opinion, valuable for those of us in this community and all of those we serve!
@Lita Totally agree, everyone learns best from their failures. I always encourage my students to explore individual workflows. I have however problems with people who are stuck in routine workflows that they ‘learned’ long time ago from someone, while new features have appeared. In my head a developer of e-Learning needs a ‘learner’ and ‘explorer’ mind which means discovering new ways, enhancing their practice. Approach Captivate and eLearning with an ‘open’ mind.
Thanks, Chris, regret not having talked with you in LV.
I try to expose some techniques, not as a step-by-step video, but whenever possible with explanation about the why of my workflows. Just hoping it will help to understand Captivate better. That same approach I’m taking whenever I am able to offer a training. WIth more than 25 years of experience in coaching software classes, I am very well aware of the fact that there is no single solution for each project/problem. Regularly I discover still ways to save time and/or to enhance productivity.
Captivate is such a versatile tool with so many features that it never becomes boring. Even after almost 10 years of exploring and blogging I discover new solutions very regularly. To me it is frustrating to see how little new features are known and used, when I am answering questions on the forums daily. Why use a text caption on top of a shape for design reasons when you can use that shape as text container? Why use an image button that needs a cumbersome design in a graphical application (three images to be created) when you can fill both a shape button and a transparent button with an image? Both are examples I spotted witin 12 hrs.
Part of the use cases presented here by JS experts, can be done more easily (for non-programming experts) with advanced or (better) shared actions. Using External Libraries seem to be a hidden gem for the big majority of users. Maybe we met at Las Vegas, I didn’t present about multistate objects but used them a lot in my Timeline workflows.
My advice for newbies is bit different: first learn systematically about the 3 stumbling blocks for starters: https://elearning.adobe.com/2017/03/three-skills-acquire-captivate-newbies/
Be careful with videos, some of them are great, but lot show bad practice.
Do not start by creating a responsive project, but first learn the basics in a non-responsive project.
You don’t need to learn JS right aways, train your logical skills by playing with advanced/shared actions and variables. What you learn that way, without having to master the syntax of a progtramming language, will help you a lot when you’ll need JS for more complicated workflows.
Lieve, your session on timelines was one of the sessions I attended but, unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to speak with you at the conference. I did enjoy your session and left with several pages of notes. I agree completely with the advice not to start with a responsive project and that it isn’t necessary to learn JavaScript right away. The point that I really want to get across is that one solution doesn’t necessarily work in every project, and, a lot of times, you may not be able to find a solution that works for your project, in which case you may need to craft your own and in those instances it’s usually a good idea to draw from multiple sources. Your blog is one of the sources I would recommend pulling from. I have found it’s an excellent source for information even if I don’t end up using the same techniques you use.
Really great advice; I would follow this up by saying, “just build something”. Personally, I can get overwhelmed by all the options and get analysis paralysis and end up not ever doing anything because I’m afraid it won’t be “perfect” or ‘the best way.” Often, people do things less than optimally because they haven’t learned it yet. It’s impossible to acquire all the knowledge in a few months that someone else has who’s been using the product for many years. I applaud all the beginner efforts, failures, and attempts people make to create using these powerful tools.
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