Adobe Captivate vs. Other e-Learning Tools
On 25th of January 2012 I started a thread on LinkedIn inviting participants in a head-to-head comparison between Adobe Captivate and other similar e-learning authoring tools. You can read that thread here...>
Why Ask For a Head-to-Head Comparison?
I started this thread in part due to frustration with the fact that I very often see forum posts containing bald statements along the lines of "this tool is superior to that tool" without a shred of evidence to support either side of the argument. After years of this, I thought it was high time to see some proof. So I decided to create a slightly different kind of discussion thread...one that had a condition attached. The condition was that if you posted a statement about ANY e-learning authoring tool being BETTER than another, you had to put up a viewable example that proved your point. I thought this was a reasonable and fair thing to do. Words are cheap. Just let the evidence speak for itself.
Difficulties Getting Participation
Interestingly, my first attempt at starting the thread lasted less than 24 hours. The forum moderator at first removed the thread without warning because it was felt my challenge was too inflammatory, but then later kindly allowed it to go ahead. Even more interesting has been the fact that there have been VERY FEW participants willing to actually put up examples showcasing authoring tool performance or supporting points they made. I was told that this was most likely because they were not allowed to post proprietary content, even though I had never asked for that. The other reason cited for this sudden reticence was that many would-be participants had no access to webspace. So, to make it easier for participants without access to a website or blog on which to post examples, I've volunteered to host their examples on my own website free of charge. I've created this page to record all results gleaned from the thread, and to provide links to all examples.
Issues and Comparison Examples
Here below, in the order in which they were logged on the thread, are the statements and any examples provided. Each person is named beside their statement, just as their name also appears on the original thread. My intention is to grow this page until it becomes too large and then group issues onto their own pages with this page as a doorway.
1. Partial Scoring of Quiz Questions
Maddie Grover : Captivate (4) doesn't allow you to give partial credit in assessment questions such as matching or when there are multiple correct answers. I don't know about other tools, but Lectora allows partial credit and I love it for that reason. I feel it is totally unfair to the user to be awarded zero even if one of their matches is wrong or they miss one of the possible correct answers.
[Example to be provided.]
2. Allow Backward Movement in a Quiz
Maddie Grover : Captivate (4) quiz property of not being able allow backward movement for more than one quiz in an activity is very limiting. I can either turn that property on or off for everything in the lesson. It is a good idea to throw in some knowledge check type of questions and yet allow the user to be able to go back in the lesson to review before attempting the final quiz. However, to the best of my understanding, I can only set "allow backward movement" on or off at the global level. This is possible in Lectora.
[Example to be provided.]
3. Customizable Table of Contents
Maddie Grover: I would want to be able to customize the width of the Table of Contents. It takes too much space. I would also want to be able to have some other options such as a drop down table of contents similar to what Lectora can offer.
[Example to be provided.]
4. Ability to Expand and Contract Panels to Maximise Workspace
Maddie Grover: I do not like the inability to reduce the width of the Properties side bar in Captivate 5.5. It takes up too much of my viewing space. While I can use the best fit to view my content in the stage area, it gets too cramped.
[Example to be provided.]
5. Full Motion Video Capture
Maddie Grover: I have also used Captivate a lot to create demonstration simulations and have found it easy to use and also easy to edit as well as remove and PHI or sensitive information. However, it seems to be that since it is a screenshot based tool, it doesn't offer fluid screeen captures when the effect I desire is more like a video. I was recently trying to create a video using the WACOM tablet, where I wanted to explain a concept, as if I was doing it on the blackboard. Used Captivate to capture "my lecture." The output was a very very slow playback. I speeded up the frame rate to the maximum possible at 50 fps, still it wasn't worth using. Compared this with the same recording done using Camtasia and got absolutely fantastic results. At the same time, to the best of my knowledge, Camtasia doesn't allow me to "scrub" PHI.
[Example to be provided.]
6. Learning Objectives
Ray Pastore: Another way to look at this would be: Is captivate the best tool for the content (learning objectives) that need to be presented? I would be hesitant to say any tool is the best without looking at a specific set of learning objectives and then determining that the tool best fits those needs. So on that note, given the right set of learning objectives, I could probably argue that PPT is a better tool because it is easier/quicker to develop with - for those objectives in that specific situation. It just depends so much on the objectives not the tool.
[Example to be provided.]
7. Zoom and Pan
Krista Allen: I'm a devoted fan of Captivate and have been using it since its Robo-Demo days (yes, I'm dating myself there). Its ease-of-use, publishing options, advanced interactions, and quiz capacity has no equal. The only thing I've seen in other products that I wish Captivate had was the panning ability. While the newer versions of Captivate have the panning ability, to be brutally honest, I've always found it to be on the clunky side. I know per the instructions that we need to include an example but I don't have access to anything other than Captivate. If anyone else feels the same way about the panning limitation, could you include an example? If I'm missing something (quite likely), I'd love some tips for using that tool in a more seamless fashion.
[Example to be provided.]
