Likelihood to Recommend Captivate is well suited for instruction designers who want to build attractive, personalized, interactive, energetic lessons. It's also a good choice for someone who wants to build something innovative because Captivate gives the developer so much control over so many aspects.
But if someone wanted something built quickly, generically and didn't care about holding the viewer's attention, then Captivate might be an expensive tool. That person might be more satisfied with a cheaper and easier to learn authoring tool.
Read full review I teach 5th/6th grade math and science, but I love finding fun books to explain science and math concepts using books that keep the students engaged. I can make sure to give them several options on their reading level to choose from and know I am meeting a majority of my students needs because they can listen to other book be read if they so choose. My students have learned so much from science graphic novels!
Read full review Pros Quickly adding in graphics, text, and interactive buttons. Has extensive variables and branching for additional customization, beyond the competition. Has 360 degree capability which competitors don't offer (I have not used this feature). High degree of customization and personalization. True responsive screen display on all devices, viewable as you are creating the training. This is different than some competitors - some just shrink the screen, but Adobe Captivate allows actually removing or moving or changing items at different screen sizes. If you like Flash, it has Flash output, although it's going away in 2020. Personally, I think this is an outdated technology. Many advanced capabilities. I chose this product due to the capabilities. Comes with assets, templates, people, head shots, and full body—excellent. Adobe Captivate is the authoring tool. It integrates with Adobe Captivate Prime - which I highly recommend if you want to truly take advantage of all of its features in reporting, administration, compliance, and social learning. (I didn't use Prime because you essentially need 100+ students to affordably use Prime.) If you look at my chart of what Captivate is capable of, I can't say that Captivate has a lot of the reporting features because they are part of Prime/SCORM, although, with Captivate's customization, you might be able to do most of them if you are up to it, but I did not. Read full review Helps students gain comprehension by suggesting reading materials at their level. Because the program has the capacity to read to the students, they get a to hear a good role model which helps develop fluency and accuracy in their reading. It is easy to access and helps keep students on track with their reading goals. Read full review Cons Clunky interface, it takes a lot of extra clicks to get places compared to other Adobe apps and competitor's eLearning software. Would be nice if it was part of creative cloud, or at least in the group of apps you can add through Creative Cloud. More regular and meaningful updates. Compared to flagship apps like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. Captivate is like the read headed step child. Competitors excel at providing regular updates with clear change documentation. How are we still using Captivate 2019 in 2022? The interface feels like it is still stuck in the 90s, would be nice if it was more modern and better in-line with flagship adobe offerings. Variables and associated menus are a nuisance to work with vs some of the clever drop down and content-sensitive options in Articulate Storyline. Read full review I could never figure it out. Students levels from their STAR test did not translate into the books suggested on myON. The platform is cumbersome and inaccessible for students and teachers. I am fairly tech-savvy, but I could never navigate through and understand how myON worked. Eventually, I gave up and switched to Epic. The book selection was poor. Only the non-fiction books were interesting to my students. None of the popular titles and authors were available. It was a big disappointment and frustration for me and my students. Read full review Likelihood to Renew We have hundreds of courses that were created in Adobe Captivate. It will take us a while to convert to
Articulate . We'll need a license for another year and/or until Adobe comes out with a true update to the software.
Read full review Usability Adobe Captivate does take some getting used to. There are features that are much more convoluted than they need to be, but overall it is a great product with a some excellent features. Being in a pretty small market, Adobe Captivate and
Articulate Storyline dominate the space. They are not the same software, but allow for eLearning authoring. Each has their benefit and their downside, but, for me, Adobe Captivate edges out Storyline.
Read full review Support Rating It is difficult to get in touch with Adobe Captivate support. With a seemingly limited number of resources, mostly outsourced, getting in contact with someone to help troubleshoot an issue is challenging. Typically wait times are long, and the desired path to resolution is to use an existing knowledge base or a self-help guide. It is certainly not a user-friendly experience.
Read full review I believe this product provides students with faster and easier access to books. This increases their time spent on task reading. myON reader is a product that is great for students and teachers.
If there are any issues and concerns while using myON, there are many help resources available to offer assistance.
myON Reader works so well with the rest of the Renaissance Platform. This consistency is great for everyone!
Read full review Implementation Rating I'm only aware of the problems Adobe Captivate had with SumTotal LMS and Upside LMS, requiring extensive contact with both internal and external support staff to fix the problems. We had no problems at all with
Articulate .
Read full review Alternatives Considered I think that Articulate360 is more user-friendly and has a cleaner, more updated look. If you can edit a PDF, then you can use
Articulate 360 . Adobe Captivate may be more challenging for the designer, but it has more features. We chose Adobe Captivate because we want the option to create interactive learning environments. Adobe Captivate plays well with the other Adobe design products including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premier. Additionally, Adoe Captivate is highly compatible with Cornerstone, our preferred Learning Management Systems.
Read full review Renaissance myON is hands down the best as compared to
Epic . I am allowed to consistently monitor my students. I am able to print reports to help evaluate student progress. I can also use these reports during parent/teacher conferences so parents and guardians can see where their student is throughout the year. They are able to see how their interests change along with how the reading level improves.
Read full review Return on Investment Adobe Captivate has allowed our instructors to engage students in ways we never have before. Instructors who have used Adobe Captivate in our organization have reported higher levels of engagement with their courses and their students, theoretically leading to improved assessment of student performance. Read full review Students continued to read on their level and were motivated by all of the books being an AR book with a quiz and points to earn. Read full review ScreenShots