Essentials of Adobe Captivate 4: “Skills and Drills” Learning > Demonstrations and Simulations > Assessment Simulations

Table of Contents

Download Safari Books Online apps: Apple iOS | Android

Entire Site

Free Trial

Safari Books Online is a digital library providing on-demand subscription access to thousands of learning resources.

Assessment Simulations

Assessment Simulations are used to create interactive eLearning lessons. Using this mode, you’ll end up with a lesson that includes Click Boxes (to make the lesson interactive) and Failure Captions (that will help the user who clicks in the wrong place or performs the wrong step). However, an Assessment Simulation won’t include Text Captions (the elements that tell users what to do or explain a concept). As a result, an Assessment Simulation works best when teamed with a Demonstration lesson. In short, you would need two Captivate projects for every lesson: one to explain and demonstrate the key concepts; another to assess the learner.

Student Activity: Record an Assessment

1.	Minimize Captivate and delete the folder you created inside the RecordingStage folder. (The RecordingStage folder should be once again empty.)
2.	Leave the RecordingStage folder open and return to Captivate.
3.	Set the Preferences for the Assessment Simulations you are about to record. choose Edit > Preferences select Mode(s) from the Recording category select Assessment Simulation from the Mode drop-down menu click the Restore Defaults button at the bottom of the dialog box Since this type of lesson is supposed to assess a learner’s comprehension of a Demonstration they have theoretically just watched, you would not need text captions to explain what the learner is supposed to do. By default, a Simulation will include Click Boxes (hot spots) that the learner will need to click to move to the next slide in the assessment. The Click Boxes will include Failure Captions (captions that will appear should the learner click in the wrong place). Text Entry Boxes, also selected by default, are a very nice feature which you will learn about on page 187. click OK
4.	Record the assessment. click Software Simulation from the Create Project area on the Record tab, select Application select RecordingStage from the Select Application drop-down menu select Custom Size from the Snap Recording Rectangle to area select 640 x 480 Full Screen from the Size drop-down menu [View full size image] click OK The red rectangle (the recording area) once again surrounds the RecordingStage folder window. You are just about ready to record the lesson.
5.	Select a recording mode. click the Select Automatic Recording Mode button (the second button on the control panel) The Automatic Recording panel appears. ensure Panning is set to No Panning (you will be playing with this option later) ensure Audio is set to No Narration deselect Demonstration Mode select Assessment Mode You are now ready to record the lesson. click the Record button (the first button on the control panel) A screen capture is taken for you. click File Another screen capture is taken for you. click New click Folder click one time on the new folder A final screen capture is taken.
6.	Stop the project. press [end] on your keyboard
7.	Name and save the project. type CreateNewFolder2 into the Project Name field ensure the Project Location now says C:\Captivate4Data\ ensure the Assessment name is CreateNewFolder2_assessment click OK
8.	Preview the assessment. press [F4] to Preview the project The project stops and appears to be frozen. Because you recorded an Assessment Simulation, the project is waiting for you to interact with it. click in the middle of the window Because you were actually supposed to click on the File menu, a Failure Caption appears urging you to click the File menu. Learners will see Failure Captions whenever you click someplace you aren’t supposed to.
9.	Continue to interact with the simulation. When finished, close the Preview.
10.	Save and then close the project.