TrainingTag: Training
When should I use Presenter and when should I use Captivate?
That is a great question. But, the answer isn’t very clear. However there are some clear differences between the tools that we can use to isolate the best use case, and hopefully get building projects, instead of scratching your head.
Presenter:
Let’s start with Presenter, it is a simpler tool.
What is Adobe Presenter?
It is a plug-in to PowerPoint (2003-2010) that allows you to and add audio, video, flash and quiz functionality to a Power Point presentation. It will then output the presentation to a web-ready format to be delivered delivered with Adobe Connect or a web server. There are also additional output format – a PDF file, which displays the interactive portion in a single page PDF.
OK, great Captivate can do that too right? Yes and no.
Captivate can add audio, video, flash and quiz functionality to a Power Point, but some control and quality is lost.. Because Presenter is a plugin and work inside of PowerPoint, you can maintain control of the slides and changes, update and modifications are simple. Updates in captivate are a little more involved.
Presenter Point #1 : If your content is in PowerPoint, or can be easily created in PowerPoint, then use Presenter.
Think simple, don’t over-complicate the process. If the above statement applies to your eLearning project, then stick with Presenter, no if’s, and’s or but’s about it.
Presenter Point #2: Use simplicity to your advantage.
You can build text and image based presentations in Captivate, and I know groups that have walked away from PPT/Presenter to use Captivate exclusively so they only deal with one software application, but, honestly, it is easier in PPT and Presenter. Simplicity is Presenter’s main attraction to me.
Captivate
Captivate is a wonderful and powerful tool for producing eLearning content. Captivate is a screen/workflow capture application that allows you to create interactive or non-interactive eLearning projects. This is where people can get themselves in trouble. Captivate can tempt users down a road of over-complication and update-nightmares. To simplify the concept - Captivate’s bread and butter functionality is the workflow capture.
Captivate Point #1: Do you need to show or simulate software? Yes? Use Captivate.
Sure, you could do it in PPT and Presenter. Think about all the screen shots and text you’d have to write and arrange. What could take you days in Presenter/PPT will take a few minutes in Captivate.
Captivate Point #2: Looking for more advanced animations, widgets, or branched scenarios? Use Captivate.
If you are looking for more robust animations, better video support, the ability to use widgets, or any of the many additional features that Captivate offers, don’t fight with Presenter, use Captivate.
Now, Presenter vs. Captivate isn’t the best way to think about these two tools. Using the tools together can enhance your eLearning content and make your life easier. Use both tools to save time, and create some top-notch content.
Are you interested in learning more? Do you need help creating content with these tools?
We provide expert training for both Presenter and Captivate or we can create your content for you. Contact Us for more info.
Ever sit through 8, 10 or more hours of training and come out feeling like it was a big waste of time? Regardless of the instructor and class content, there are some things that you can do to improve and benefit from any training that you attend.
The following 5 tips are based on observations that I, as both a trainee and trainer, have found to improve the experience and overall learning retention achieved from training sessions. These benefits apply to both short, 1-2 hour sessions, as well as longer, 3-5 day sessions. So take note and see if these improve your next training experience.
Make sure the training uses labs for practical experience
Your training is for more than just passing an exam, right? If you want to learn how to do your job well, make sure whatever training you invest in provides real experience performing tasks with hardware, operating systems, and networking. Even better, find training that combines this hands-on experience with practice exams, expert video instruction, and written reference material for a complete training package. There’s more than one way to learn, so be sure to incorporate different methods in your training. Each method will build on the others and reinforce what you’re learning.
Don’t limit yourself to the prescribed steps
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t go through the steps. Go through them, and then after that, add in your own changes ideas and tests. This will give you a better and deeper understanding of the concept.
Make sure you get the fundamentals
Before you venture out on your own, away from access to an instructor, make sure you understand the main processes and concepts. That way when you are on your own, you will be able to more quickly resolve issues and problems without having to “start from scratch”.
Ask questions
Make sure you are getting the training you want and need. Let the instructor know when you have specific questions or when you’d like to discuss something further. Instructors love to help. Lead them to where they can help you the most.
Create context
If the content doesn’t relate to what you are currently working on or something you have worked on in the past, it will more difficult to retain. Look for ways to relate the training material back to you. Email yourself ideas, code snippets and thoughts as reminders.
Don’t stop after the training is over
Make sure you review and use the materials and information you were provided. The more you use and review, the more benefit you will gain.
Excited about your next training session now? We thought you might be.
Check out the training that RealEyes offers. Or, you can contact us directly about custom training and consulting for your specific needs.
Beatport is the recognized leader in electronic dance music downloads for DJs and club music enthusiasts. As much of the company’s success relies upon a customer’s ability to successfully navigate the Beatport.com website to preview and purchase tracks, Beatport’s decision to rebuild their Flash Platform website from the ground up was a significant one.
Although the site was highly successful, it was not as scalable and extendable as was required to incorporate the leading edge features Beatport desired for the 3.0 release of its site including:
- My Beatport, a robust user preference system for tracking musical tastes and favorites throughout the site
- Enhanced Playlists that allow users to queue albums and tracks for preview without interrupting browsing
- Sophisticated Menu Docking, akin to a desktop application makes full use of the visitor’s screen real estate
- Keyboard Navigation Support, allowing advanced users to navigate the site and player controls quickly
- Multi-Lingual Support to allow a full browsing experience for Beatport’s global community
- Personalized Offers, integrating features such as “users also bought” and other associations
- History Management, including full support for browser forward and back buttons
- Deep Linking that created a unique URL for all application views to restore state and included content
Beatport already had success working with RealEyes to develop the groundbreaking AIR application Beatport Downloader. RealEyes was then tasked with leading Beatport’s own internal development team in rebuilding all aspects of the current website, engineering a sophisticated new feature set, and architecting a scalable ActionScript 3.0 Flex application framework.
Challenge
To make the redevelopment effort a cost-effective one for Beatport, RealEyes leveraged two existing resources heavily during this project: existing data services and the internal Beatport development staff. The integration of both created some significant project challenges, while allowing for powerful synergies between the RealEyes and Beatport teams.
The existing data services were in a variety of formats and were constructed to facilitate the functionality of Beatport’s existing web application. RealEyes was able to use these existing services, regardless of XML, JSON, RDF, or RSS format, by using data translators to construct the appropriate Flex objects for Beatport’s new web application. While additional Flex development time was required, this decision represented a significant savings in time and budget when compared with constructing services customized for the new application. Further, should Beatport desire to optimize or change the data services in the future, the application allows for inversion of control, meaning that it is possible for Beatport to change data service properties without recompiling the Flex application itself.
One of the larger challenges of the development process was fully integrating RealEyes’ and Beatport’s internal developers and managers into a cohesive project team. Several processes including Agile project management, continuous integration, peer review, unit testing, and source control were implemented at the start of the project to facilitate open, yet streamlined collaboration. Further, RealEyes worked with the Beatport team to provide custom training and one-on-one developer mentoring.
Benefits
Beatport’s 3.0 website redevelopment project was a highly successful endeavor, benefiting the company’s community of music enthusiasts, while yielding substantial business gains.
Functional updates in the 3.0 release were targeted at making the web experience easier to navigate while providing additional levels of application personalization. User analytic data as well as testimonial feedback show new features such as the sophisticated menu docking system, robust user preference caching in My Beatport, and keyboard navigation enhanced user satisfaction levels as the site now conforms better to the target audience’s hardware and workflow choices. This increase in user experience resulted in tangible business benefits including higher user retention and additional store purchase revenue.
The 3.0 Beatport website is well equipped to change with the company’s evolving business objectives. Without recompiling, Beatport can modify how dynamic data is brought into the application. As Beatport’s own technical staff was an integral part of the development team, maintaining and extending the application after the initial launch was a seamless transition. Further, the use of industry best practices – such as a Cairngorm-based ActionScript 3.0 Flex framework – not only eases the ramp-up time for new developers, but makes the final application more stable, extensible, and scalable.
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