For a newbie using Adobe Captivate, what is the learning curve on average?
Took me two weeks to be able to work on it, but that two weeks is a vacation time so I’m not really doing anything else aside from practicing Captivate, prepare for Christmas, and spend time with my baby.
Been using it now for four years but I still cannot consider myself a “master”.
I’ve been using Adobe Captivate for approximately 5 years now.
At my first job, the majority of my coworkers heavily avoided using Captivate whereas I embraced it. There is absolutely a learning curve, even for making basic courses. The complexity is really due to several factors:
- The interface itself can be a bit intimidating at first
- Creating highly-interactive courses often takes a lot of time to code/script properly (which can take a while to learn)
- Some of Captivate’s features can be clunky at times; there are a lot of instances where you’ll have to “trick” the system into doing what you want (usually achieved through creative coding/scripting)
I could go on, but I’d say those 3 are the biggest. As Paul Wilson above pointed out, the Adobe Professional Certification would be a really good starting point if you’re looking to learn. Even though I had several years of experience under my belt, I took the certification last year and I’d say it was well worth it.
Also, Paul has some incredible Captivate tutorials on YouTube. I frequently refer to his videos when I’m stuck trying to code something. You can access his channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/pauldavidwilson2002
Thanks Colorito eLearning. I also offer one on one training if you have a specific need that isn’t included in some other curriculum. You can learn more here: https://bit.ly/Cp1on1
When I started with Adobe Captivate I was unavailable when the rest of my team was taking the training so I had to learn on my own. If you are trying to learn on your own today, this will be a slow and likely frustrating process. If however you follow a curriculum like the one that is included with the Adobe Professional Certification — Adobe Captivate can learn the basics in a few days. Students who complete this program and begin using their new found skills right away, preventing those skills from going into cold storage, are often very successful. Remember, even if you complete the certification your learning doesn’t stop there. I have been using Adobe Captivate since 2005 and have learned features and skills that I only discovered this year.
There is a learning curve. If someone tells you it is easy, they are either technical geniuses or they are lying. There are lots of different ways to learn from videos already mentioned, to blogs with workflows to figuring things out on your own through trial and error.
I am not familiar with the certifications just yet but may head that way myself. Following a set program could be beneficial. Something to think about for sure.
Impossible to answer such a question without knowing a lot more about your existing skills. That is the reason I will always have an intake conversation with possible trainees, whether it is for online or live training, individual or in small groups (I refuse to train large groups it is just inefficient). Such an ‘interview’ includes questions as:
- Which learning experiences did you have so far: classical classroom, blended learning, online learning like MOOCs. What was positive/negative?
- Do you have pedagogical skills: did you train, teach, coach in the past and what are your feelings about that?
- Did mastered other software applications? Which ones? Do they include other Adobe applications? How did you take on your learning cycle for them?
- What is your first goal to use an eLearning tool: creating software simulations, soft skills training, theoretical topics, mobile projects ….
Those are only some questions, more can be added depending on the situation: will you work in a team, which experts are already in the team…. Recently I had to test intermediate level Captivate developers who would be working in a team, and that adds of course requirements.
You may see that I am not mentioning any certificate nor degree requirement. To my experience they matter much less than most believe.
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