Combine Adobe Captivate Effects and Motion Paths

In this video, I show you how you can combine Adobe Captivate effects and motion paths for your online learning projects.

Business Continuity and Where eLearning Fits Within It

I'm very fortunate to be a freelance teacher and eLearning designer, developer. With very few exceptions, I do most of my work from the comfort of my home office. The COVID-19 pandemic has had only the smallest impact on me. Part of my work, though does involve face-to-face training. For example, Adobe had scheduled me to be one of the facilitators for the upcoming Adobe Certified Professional: Adobe Captivate Workshops and a speaker for the Adobe eLearning Conference on the following day. As we now know, Adobe has cancelled these events. That means that I will not be earning revenue as a freelance facilitator and speaker for these events. Personally, this is a small price to pay for the safety of everyone involved.

More frequently, I conduct most of my business entirely online. If you require training on Adobe Captivate, I offer group and more often one-on-one training online. Customers can purchase an hour of my time. I will then meet with them online using web-conferencing software. One of the advantages is that this style of training is relatively inexpensive to conduct. All that's needed is an internet connection and appropriate software. More importantly, right now, this type of training is completely safe. There is no unnecessary contact as each of us can be in our homes while learning about Adobe Captivate.

I still also perform the role of eLearning designer, developer, and the same circumstances exist for this as well. For example, at the time I wrote this entry, I just spent an hour or so discussing a new job with a potential customer via Zoom web conferencing. If all goes well and the project is approved, I will spend the next several months developing online training for one of Canada's largest organizations without leaving my home.

Sometimes you will hear about the advantages of instructor-led training and how eLearning doesn't offer the same benefits. Remember, there are benefits to eLearning that you can't guarantee with instructor-led training as well. One aspect that comes to mind is consistency. You might have trainers across the whole country, and one might be more talented and engaged than the next. Perhaps the trainer in one region skips content he or she feels isn't as important. The result is that some employees may not be getting the best experience and learning in that region. eLearning can ensure consistency. Everyone receives the same training, and the course designer can ensure that delivery is the same regardless of location.

I've also heard people criticize eLearning because it cannot give you that engaging experience that classroom training can. I think it depends on the eLearning designer. If your designer digitizes the PowerPoint file for the classroom training and adds some Back and Next buttons on each slide, then the online training will be less effective. I like to design my online learning to include a variety of techniques to make it useful. I prefer to take the knowledge and skills from traditional training and transform them into scenario-based training. This type of training is far more relatable because it tells a story and challenges the learner to make choices that are not just based on the "right" or "wrong" answers but instead on the customer scenarios that they may encounter in the real world.

In the end, the most significant benefit is the reduced cost of making eLearning available across vast areas that a company may operate. It doesn't get much bigger geographically speaking than Canada. When I taught the store manager curriculum for a Canadian retailer who ran stores across Canada, I traveled from one end of the country to the other. When you add up the flights, the hotels, the meals, and all the cab rides to and from the various destinations, you may begin to question the validity of performing training in this way. The topics in this curriculum were reading profit and loss statements, scheduling employees, inventory management, and so on. I now see how all that training could be online. If I had stayed at the organization, I would have made that recommendation at some point.

So as you're considering your next training initiative, don't discount online learning because of the various items that it doesn't include that face-to-face training has. If you select the right eLearning designer, developer, they can address those issues, given the right amount of time and resources. If you would like to schedule a call where we can discuss your next online learning training initiative reach out to me using the link in the menu at the top of this page. I would be happy to have a conversation about how I can help you and your organization.

Certified Online Training Professional - Part Two

Good news. I've successfully completed my Certified Online Training Professional Certificate. I want to share my experience with all of you if you are considering getting this valuable certification.

The first thing that surprised me was that there were three facilitators. I've never thought about this before, but there is a distinct advantage to have several facilitators in an online course. Each brings their style to the table, and it was enjoyable to hear that variety throughout the two-day session. Each instructor gave us what they called their elevator pitch, which added credibility to the course and their delivery. That was one of the things they taught us to do. It doesn't take long, maybe thirty seconds to explain who you are and why you are running this online course. The facilitators were Kevin Siegel, Jennie Ruby and AJ Walther. Upon hearing each introduce themselves, I knew I was learning from real experts. An expression that Kevin used early on the first day

The first thing that amazed me was there were three facilitators, including Kevin Siegel himself. I knew Kevin was a dedicated training professional, but it surprised me that the founder of ICCOTP would take time out of his busy life to teach this class. The next facilitator was Jennie Ruby. I enjoyed Jennie's facilitation style, and I learned much from her. A brief highlight was AJ Walther. AJ was responsible for the training related to PowerPoint and visual design. AJ surprised me in that I was not expecting to learn anything new in the area of visual design, but AJ had some excellent knowledge to impart.

I've dozed off in train the trainer sessions that promised to teach us techniques to keep learners engaged - not so with this trio. They used the very same principles they were teaching us in their delivery. Kevin, Jennie and AJ kept us fully engaged. An expression that Kevin used early on the first day was that they ate their cooking. They were teaching us the very same principle they used throughout the class.

Online training is often inadequate or inferior because the facilitator lacks the knowledge and experience to deliver it well. One of the critical takeaways of this training for me was dispelling the myth that online training is always inferior to classroom training. Kevin took a dozen or more classroom activities that we think of as exclusive to the classroom and showed us the online versions that are just as effective. I now not only feel better prepared to deliver improved online training but can defend the reputation of online training as well.

Next, AJ took over and taught us how to transform our materials to be more appropriate for online. AJ had a great alternative to bulleted text that I will use in my online facilitation. I think I can adapt these concepts to my eLearning design as well. We were taught a great deal about implementing the organizations branding into the design of learning materials. AJ had some great examples of the use of iconography. I was so inspired by what AJ showed us that I changed the entire online facilitation that I had planned for day two. More on that later. I think the biggest takeaway was that PowerPoint isn't just this software from the 90s anymore. Microsoft has been continually updating PowerPoint. AJ was able to share some great new features to help us make our training presentations look fantastic.

We started day two, and Kevin and Jennie taught us the importance of the right technology. I thought I would be bored with this segment because I feel pretty good about my current knowledge of technology. Again, I was surprised that I learned a bunch of things that I will be considering adjusting to my hardware and software lineup. It isn't just about spending more money. When you think about the potential earnings from online training, a few hundred extra dollars here and there to have some backups to your technology is too outrageous.

Jennie took over again, and we learned about the differences between talking and speaking. We learned that training should be conversational. Jennie provided us with some excellent skills to take highly technical speak and turn it into more everyday language that is easier for your audience to understand.

Whether you are just getting started with online training, or if you're like me and have been doing it for years, this program is excellent. I'm a big believer in having the credentials to prove to the decision-makers that you have the skills to do the job. As a freelance trainer, I'm certain this will lead to more repeat customers and a greater sense of satisfaction from my clients. If you work for an organization, this program will lead to improved training evaluations from your students and a happier manager.

Understanding the Position Panel in Adobe Captivate

This video will cover the use of the position panel when your slide objects are either unlocked from fluid boxes, or if you are using Breakpoint responsive design mode.

You can still design responsive design using Breakpoints in Adobe Captivate 2017 and newer by switching from the default of Fluid Boxes to Breakpoints. You can do this from the Project drop down menu and selecting Switch to Breakpoint Mode. In Fluid Box Mode you can continue to use unlocked objects on your slide in much the same way as in Breakpoint Mode. Personally, I refer to this mode as Single Point Mode and it offers some nice advantages over the other two responsive design methods. Mostly it centers around the ability to still have objects over top of one another, but also offers the advantage of designing with a single view as in non-responsive projects (Blank Projects).

Background images

When you add an image that is appropriately sized for desktop layout to a slide in either Breakpoint mode or what I’m calling my single point mode it looks fine. If you switch to another Breakpoint or resize your layout preview to another view, it becomes obvious that the image needs different settings in order to be a background image across a wide range of device screens. This is where knowing how to work with the position panel is helpful. By default, an image comes into Captivate with a width measured in percentage of the screen width and a height set to auto to maintain the aspect ratio. Because the width changes as the screen size is reduced, the height doesn’t cover the entire screen. Instead it shrinks down as to view the project on smaller or more narrow screen layouts.

My solution to this problem is to change the settings in the Position Panel for images intended to be used as background images. I will change the value of my width to be measured in pixels and set it at the maximum value for a Desktop view. For example, if I have a Desktop view of 1024 x 627, I will set the Width of my image to 1024 px.

By default, images are aligned with the left-hand side of your slide. When you set the above background image to a fixed number of pixels, the left-hand side of the image will always be present. On screen sizes that are smaller than the maximum width the image the right-hand side of the image will disappear. You can change this by changing the image position from Left 0.0 % to Right 0.0%. alternatively, you can open the Advanced section of your Position panel and check Align Center horizontally on the slide if you want the image to always display the center of the image on the center of the slide. Your decision will depend on the composition of the image you’ve decided to use as a background image. You will discover that knowing where the slide is in relation to the background image becomes difficult on the smaller screen layouts since the background image will covering up your entire stage. You can turn on a preview of the slide outline by selecting your slide and navigating to the Properties inspector and checking the Device Height option under the Style tab.

Company Logos

When designing organizational training, we often must include brand logos. Brands often have very precise rules over how their logos are displayed. Adobe Captivate has some features in the Position Panel that can help with this.

Rules About Space

Because of the importance of your company’s logo, there are often rules about it’s use. For example, company’s will dictate safety space around their logos to ensure prominence. You can apply these rules to your company logo in Captivate. The object position can be set to be a certain percentage or number of pixels from the top, left, bottom and right of the slide edges. For example, if your company logo must be 10 pixels away from the top left edge you can change the Top and Left Fields in your Position panel to pixels and enter values of 10 pixels in each field.

Another aspect about space between objects can be enforced using Smart Position. Smart Position isn’t on by default but it’s useful for ensuring that objects don’t get too close to one another when the screen size is smaller. If you check the Smart Position check box, your objects that are not centered one way or the other will now have two lines extending out from the object and what I call anchor points attached to either the top, left, bottom, or right edges of the slide. These anchor points can be clicked and dragged away from the edges of your slide and attached to any other object on your slide. You are then setting that object to not appear a certain distance from the edge but instead setting that object to appear a certain distance from other objects. I often will use this feature to ensure that the body of a slide is always below the title of the slide. It will help you make sure that objects don’t encroach on other objects and is helpful in designing your layout to be consistent across as many displays as possible.

Size Rules

Another rule about your company logo is its size. You might find that as you shrink your slide preview down to smartphone size, the logo becomes so small that it’s unrecognizable or lacks prominence. Captivate can help you with this as it allows you to set the minimum and maximum height and widths for each object as well. For example, your company might have a rule about the brand logo not being smaller than 80 pixels tall. By entering this value in the Min-Height field you can ensure that your logo remains larger for small screen sizes and continues to showcase its importance.