The Future of Adobe Captivate

One of the most popular questions my viewers on YouTube ask me is what's going to be in the next version of Adobe Captivate? Of course, I don't know anything more than anyone else. However, one of the reasons that I enjoy attending the Adobe eLearning live events is the sneak peeks. This week did not disappoint. Here is what we learned.

Interactive video will be a big part of a future version of Adobe Captivate. You will be able to import a video from a file on your computer or from a video streaming service. From there you select various time stamps where you present questions to your learners. Depending on their input, the video can either continue playing from that point or jump back to another location if remediation is required.

360° virtual interactions will also be coming to Adobe Captivate. Imagine being able to present objects or locations to your learners that would be impossible to take them to under normal circumstances. For example, many workplaces may be too hazardous to conduct training sessions in, or perhaps it's too costly to bring learners on a tour of such facilities. With Adobe Captivate you will be able to capture 360° photos and incorporate them into your eLearning. You will be able to add hotspots where learners can click and learn more about specific areas within that location. At the end of the tour, you can add quizzes to test the knowledge of your learners before they move on.

Last but not least we will see some significant enhancements to Adobe Captivate Prime, Adobe's cloud-based learning management system that works with the Captivate authoring tool. In addition to the regular functions of an LMS, Prime will allow users to share outside content with their colleagues. Also, users will be able to create content to share with each other. Algorithms will determine if further content curation is required and can assign that curation to subject matter experts for review.  

As with all the Adobe sneak peeks it's important to note that these features are in development and there is no guarantee they will end up in the next release of Adobe Captivate or Captivate Prime. It is interesting to learn about what the future might include and also encouraging to know that Adobe is working hard to make these products even better for us than they already are.