I appreciate the input I've received! I had my folks play around with the Captivate free trial and they were able to throw together a fairly crude but effective mini-training which is a good sign. As for Flash, how much programming is involved? I set them up with a free trial of Flash and they got a bit of the "deer in headlights" look. I saw a Flash 8 demonstration at the last ASTD Techknowledge conference and the software appeared to have several existing and easy to use templates and learning interactions. How comfortable does one have to be with Actionscript?
Appreciate your time!

The learning curve is really steep. You might look at another tool that might give you similiar results, but with out the programming.

Take a look at Articulate or other tools like that.

I use Articulate and Captivate and they work well together.

If you or your team would like to see a demo, let me know and I could send you a link.

Jhaas,

Have you considered the total cost of creating truly effective e-learning in house? You may be surprised at the level of effort and cost of good internal resources needed to create e-learning with measurable increases in performance. Do you have an LMS? Flash and Captivate are pocket change compared to what you'll need for tracking and measurement.

Maybe what you need is a new vendor, if your current one is not providing the quality and service you deserve.

Hope that provides some food for thought.

Sheldon Murphy
E-Learning Consultant
Solid State Learning
www.sslearn.com

I agree. However, some of the need for an LMS can be determined by your size and audience. After a ton of research, our department found other ways of tracking participation and measuring results that didn't require an LMS.

Something to think about.

Jhaas,

On 2nd look, I see you are getting an LMS in Q3 or Q4 2008.

In order to get Flash to communicate with an LMS effectively, you'll need someone with intimate knowledge of Actionscript and SCORM API's.

If you decide to go this way, we can help by building some Flash templates (but might recommend Captivate for simulations). Also have satisfied LMS selection clients, and if that interests you please contact me privately for testimonials and other relevant info.

Thanks,

Sheldon Murphy
E-Learning Consultant
Solid State Learning
www.sslearn.com