Since the ASTD TK show, people have been hoton these three software packages: Articulate, Captivate and Lectora. Onmy webinar series, with email and via twitter, people have been askingme about these packages. Here is my summary of each - I actuallyreplied to someone on LinkedIn about a month ago. Here is a copy ofthat interaction.
Follow up:
Articulate:Uses PowerPoint as the main development environment and overlaysinteractions, audio and Flash media over the top. Then, it exports itout into a handy, single .SWF file for distribution on the web. It hasa nice wrapper that creates a nice, contained package for navigationand user controls.
Captivate:Uses itself as a development platform and does screen recordings andyour desktop. It adds interactions and demonstration pop ups, whilealso allowing for a degree of branching, quizzes and the new versionhas great audio controls. Then, when you are done, it exports out to ahandy, single .swf file for distribution. It also has a nice wrapperthat has great navigation and user controls.
Lectora:Is its own development platform specifically designed for eLearningcreation. It allows for the most flexibility, and the pro package hasscreen capture, audio capture and PPT import as well. It has lots ofinteraction templates, learning templates and other features that allowyou to jump right in and start programming great eLearning.
As for use, it depends on what you want to use it for. I'm not a bigfan of PPT for eLearning, but I know lots of people who are. If lots ofyour training is already in PPT, then maybe Articulate is a good bet :Import your PPT, add some audio and a couple questions and afterexport, you are good to go. The problem for me is that it uses PPT asthe basic development platform and plugs in over the top. Your traininglooks like a glorified PPT.
Captivate is great for screen capture. Sure, it can do other things,but when you boil it down, its great for capturing mouse movements andscreen shots. If you are developing training on a new computer systemor software Captivate is really, really good. But for other moreadvanced elearning things, I've had struggles.
Lectora is great for everything, but there is a learning curve.Everything Articulate and Captivate does, you can do it in Lectora.Plus, the flexibility of Lectora allows you to go beyond and really dosome creative eLearning. If you want to build training distributed overthe web, and you have a team of creative designers who want no limits,try Lectora.
For each platform, you buy them and install them on your computer.Once you have them, you don't have any additional investment. If youwant to upgrade, of course there is a fee, but they don't have anyon-going licensing fees. Lectora has some great training courses youcan purchase (like $500 a day).
In my work, I program everything using the Adobe Creative 4 suite. Ibuild everything from scratch. However, I've worked with all of thesetools. The new version of Articulate is great, and now allows you touse PowerPoint 2007 for PC. If you are a PPT based house, it might workfor you.
Captivate allows me to tweak quite a bit, but when all is said anddone, it does great screen captures. I currently use it when my clientwants me to build training on a software installation ("Let's learn howto use XYZ software). Captivate is also great because of the .swfexport. I can bring Captivate files into my flash work if a consistentlook and feel is required. I've also talked clients OUT of hiring me,INTO purchasing Captivate and then hiring me to teach them Captivate.Teach a man to fish...
Lectora is the closest thing to building everything from scratch. Iam actually using Lectora for a couple of project now, buildingtemplates, interactions and full training courses that non-programmerscan go in and edit. With Lectora, you can build whatever structure youlike, into whatever look and feel you like. Its really, really powerfulstuff...not as powerful as building from scratch, but very good. If youwant to dive in with no limits, Lectora is a good product.
