As a teacher in a traditional brick and mortar school, I still find that many of my students benefit from reteaching of content and access to previously taught lessons. However, it can be difficult to take the time to reteach one student in a class of 32, or provide specific instruction via email to a student who is out sick for a week. Educational technology can bridge this gap by providing asynchronous learning opportunities for both in-person and online students. In order to find a technology that allow me to customize material, ensure alignment with objectives and assessments, and provide differentiated learning, I turned to Adobe Captivate.

I decided on this resource for a few reasons: it seemed like one my students could benefit from, I could share it with my colleagues, and educators get a large discount on Adobe subscriptions, therefore making it feasible for my school district to attain. Additionally, I had no prior knowledge on Captivate, so I wanted to test my technology acquisition skills like I might need to when presented with a new technology that my district would like me to use. With this in mind, I created two learning objectives for myself: 

• I can create instructional material for high school students on Adobe Captivate 
• I can familiarize myself enough with Adobe Captivate that I can describe how to use it to other high school classroom teachers through a resource guide collated, organized, and written by me. 

I wanted my learning objectives to span the breadth of my job requirements: helping students and collaborating with colleagues. Creating a learning experience for my students could ensure I made the technology integral to the learning and not an afterthought or gimmick. Additionally, I could better share my knowledge of the program with staff after working with it myself. 

With this in mind, I began researching Adobe Captivate. I found Paul Wilson’s YouTube tutorials to be incredibly useful. From overviews of the program to specific interactions, I began building my knowledge from this. I also found the Adobe Digital Learning page to be useful. When it came time to take information from the theoretical and into the practical stages, I downloaded Adobe Captivate and began creating.  

Student Product 

Using a slides deck I created for my 10th grade English students on writing a synthesis essay, I created a module designed for asynchronous self-guided learning. I built in interactivity, knowledge checks, and links to other class resources where appropriate.

To improve accessibility, I switched all fonts to sans serif to increase readability, adjusted font sizes and colors for readability. Additionally, each slide is titled to aid in navigation. Finally, I made sure each widget has instructions and links to appropriate student resources. Once I was confident I knew how to create, modify, and add interactivity to the modules, I turned to my second objective. 

Staff 

To share what I learned with staff, I created two resources. The first resource is an infographic with screenshots from Captivate accompanied by brief descriptions. This was made for staff members more comfortable with technology who prefer to work with the technology themselves with only a little guidance. The second resource I created was a screencast of the basic functions of Adobe Captivate. I created this with staff members less comfortable with technology in mind. This way, my colleagues have specific visuals of the different pieces of Adobe Captivate. In both cases, I linked a few resources I found useful in my own creation, as well as the student module I made. This way, I can support staff members who want to do their own research and those who benefit from seeing an example.

Final Thoughts 

I can now confidently say I can utilize Adobe Captivate to create student-centered learning modules. From adding increased interactivity to accessible design, my sample module has grown quite a bit from the blank page I started with two weeks ago. Additionally, when making a brief how-to guide for staff, I had to think about what information would be most useful, so as not to overwhelm them with all the options. I also had to consider how to deliberately phrase instructions so as not to bore my more tech-savvy colleagues, but not overwhelm my colleagues for whom technology can be a bit of a stressor. Adobe Captivate seems to be a great option for asynchronous, self-guided, and extended learning. 

References 

Adobe Digital Learning. (2023, June 29). Advanced interactions: Woo with the widget gallery [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/N-0r4gyi0LM?si=N-xu48kTz4LPDSIQ 

Wilson, Paul. (2023, June 29). Adobe captivate 12 full walkthrough & new features | ultimate guide for e-learning designers [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/8vhctnZZMOw?si=c2fL7LH553CxuA32