- About Adobe Connect Trainings
- Conduct training with Adobe Connect
- Create and manage trainings
- Create and manage training curriculum in Adobe Connect
Learn how to create and manage courses in Adobe Connect to deliver content and track learner progress.
A course in Adobe Connect represents an individual piece of content, such as a Captivate file, PowerPoint presentation, PDF, or video. It enables learners to engage with the material and receive a score or completion status. Courses are typically utilized when tracking learner performance on a specific learning object is necessary.
For instance, a course could be a standalone presentation offered as part of a curriculum or presented in a virtual classroom. Each course has settings, including attempt limits, start and end dates, and notifications.
A course is not the same as a curriculum. A course is a single learning asset, while a curriculum is a structured collection of courses and other resources arranged into a learning path.
The following topics are covered in this article:
How to create a course
Creating a course in Adobe Connect involves a few key steps that guide you from preparing your learning material to enrolling learners and notifying them. By following these steps, you can ensure your course is properly set up, accessible to the right audience, and ready for tracking learner progress.
- Upload content such as presentations, PDFs, images, or HTML5 files to the Content Library.
- Add course details, such as name, ID, or attempts.
- Select the content file from the library to associate with the course.
- Enroll learners manually.
- Finally, set up optional email notifications and reminders to inform and prompt learners to complete the course.
In this example, you will upload a Captivate project as a zip file and add that file as a course. Learners will be able to access the course and complete assessments, provided that the Captivate project includes graded assessments, such as multiple-choice questions.
Add course information
Once you have prepared and uploaded your course content, the next step is to define the key details that will identify and manage your course in Adobe Connect. This includes setting the course name, unique ID, access dates, and other parameters that determine how learners interact with it.
Perform the following steps to add the course information:
-
Select Training on the Adobe Connect Central home and then select New Course.
My Training interface showing the option of New Course My Training interface showing the option of New Course The page to add course information displays. -
Enter the following information:
- Course Name: The name appears in the course list and in reports.
- Course ID: The course ID must be unique to track and organize courses, integrate with LMSs, or easily search for courses.
- Custom URL: It is an optional, user-defined web address for a course. Instead of letting the system generate a random URL, you can specify a meaningful and easy-to-remember URL for the course.
- Course Starts On: The date before which users cannot access the course. If you change an existing course’s start date to a later date, no users (not even those who already accessed the course) can access the course until the new start date.
- Course Closes On: The date after which users cannot access the course.
- Max Attempts: The maximum number of attempts a learner must pass this course; if you leave Max Attempts blank, you are allowing an unlimited number of retries.
- Max Possible Score: The maximum score a user can receive. Use this option for course content that is not already graded, such as a PDF, or only sends a partial score, such as Adobe Captivate content (the content used determines the maximum score).
- Update information for any items linked to this item: This is selected by default. Keep it selected if you think you will link any items to the course.
Enter course information interface Enter course information interface -
Select Next.
Select a course from the content library
After adding your course information, you need to choose the learning material that will be linked to the course. The Content Library stores all uploaded files, making it easy to locate and select the specific presentation, document, or media you want learners to access.
Follow these steps to select the course from the content library:
-
Select the content from the list or select the folder where the content resides.
User content list User content list -
Select the content.
Select the user content Select the user content -
Select Next.
Enroll learners in the course
Once the course content is linked, the next step is to assign it to the intended audience. You can enroll individual users or entire user groups, ensuring that only the right participants have access to the course.
Perform the following steps to enroll the learners in a course:
-
Select users or user groups to enroll to the course.
Enroll Learners interface showing the available users and groups Enroll Learners interface showing the available users and groups -
Select Add. You may see a confirmation message with the number of enrollees in the course.
Add users confirmation pop up window showing the number of enrollees in the course Add users confirmation pop up window showing the number of enrollees in the course -
Select Continue. Enrollees get added to the course.
Added Enrollees in the course list Added Enrollees in the course list -
Select Continue.
Setup course notifications
Course notifications are automated emails sent to learners enrolled in a course. These messages provide essential details about the course and how to access it.
Instructors can customize these notifications to include a personalized access link instead of the default Adobe Connect URL. Notifications can be sent immediately or scheduled for a future date.
You can customize the following elements:
- Recipients: Choose who receives the notification.
- Subject line: Customize to match your course tone.
- Message body: Add specific instructions or context.
All notifications are sent from the email address linked to the course creator’s Adobe Connect account. If a message fails to deliver, a failure notice is sent to the same email address.
Follow these steps to set up the course notifications:
-
Select the notification timing from the following:
- Do not send a notification
- Send notification now: Immediately sends notification to all course enrollees.
- Send notification on start date: When you select this, Adobe Connect waits until the course officially starts and then triggers the notification email, reminding enrollees about the course and how to access it.
- Send on a specific date and time by selecting the date and time pickers.
Set up timings for the course notifications Set up timings for the course notifications -
Configure the message details:
- From: The sender’s email address.
- Recipients: Select one of the following:
- All enrollees
- Enrollees who have not completed the course
- Enrollees who have failed the course
- Enrollees who have failed or not completed the course
- Specific email addresses (enter manually)
Configure the message with the sender's and recipients' details Configure the message with the sender's and recipients' details -
Compose the notification message.
- Subject: Enter the email subject line (use variables like {name} to personalize the name of the course).
- Attach Calendar Event: Select the checkbox if you want to attach an iCal file for Outlook.
Configure the subject of the message Configure the subject of the message -
Customize the body of the email.
- Modify the default message if needed. The message will automatically include course details using variables like {name}, {course-id}, {description}, {start-date}, {end-date}, {time-zone}.
- A direct link to the course is also included.
Compose a custom course notification message Compose a custom course notification message -
Select Next.
Setup course reminders
Adobe Connect allows you to set up automated course reminders to help learners stay on track. These email messages notify enrolled learners about important course-related events, such as upcoming deadlines, incomplete courses, or required actions.
Reminders are sent from the course creator’s Adobe Connect account using the associated email address. Each reminder is delivered individually, so learners won’t see other recipients in the message header. If a reminder fails to send, a delivery failure notification is sent to the course creator’s email.
Scheduled reminders are processed nightly at midnight. On the selected date, reminders are typically sent shortly after midnight PST, depending on the number of messages queued for delivery.
Follow these steps to set up the course reminders:
-
Select the reminder timing from the following:
- Disable course reminders
- Send course reminders: Select the Starting date when the first reminder will be sent. From the Recurrence dropdown, select how often you want the reminder to repeat:
- Once
- Daily
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Annually
Set the timings for the course reminder Set the timings for the course reminder -
Configure the message details:
- From: The sender’s email address.
- Recipients: Select one of the following:
- All enrollees
- Enrollees who have not completed the course
- Enrollees who have failed the course
- Enrollees who have failed or not completed the course
- Specific email addresses (enter manually)
-
Compose the reminder message.
- Subject: Enter the email subject line (use variables like {name} to personalize the name of the course).
- Attach Calendar Event: Select the checkbox if you want to attach an iCal file for Outlook.
Configure the subject of the message Configure the subject of the message -
Customize the body of the email.
- Modify the default message if needed. The message will automatically include course details using variables like {name}, {course-id}, {description}, {start-date}, {end-date}, {time-zone}.
- A direct link to the course is also included.
-
Select Finish.
Course information interface Course information interface The course is now created, learners enrolled, and notifications and reminders set for the course.
Review modes while taking the course
Adobe Connect training courses offer two types of review modes: server-side and client-side. These modes control how learners can revisit a course after completing it or using up their allowed attempts, which is especially important for courses containing quizzes.
Server-Side review mode
Available only for Adobe Connect training courses, server-side review mode is managed by the training manager. It comes into effect when:
- A learner has successfully passed or completed the course within the allowed attempts.
- A learner has used all allowed attempts without passing or completing the course.
When in review mode:
- The browser title bar displays [Review Mode].
- A message at the top of the course states: You have exhausted all your attempts and are now in Review Mode. Any choices selected will not be tracked.
- Quiz results and progress are no longer recorded, preventing learners from improving scores after completion.
Client-side review mode
Client-side review mode is enforced through the maximum attempts in courses created with Adobe Captivate. It applies only to retries attempted within a single browser session. However, client-side review mode can persist across multiple browser sessions if the user exits the presentation before finishing, causing resume data to be sent to the server.
AICC content for courses
Adobe Connect has specific guidelines for using AICC-compliant content in courses. To effectively track quiz scores and other data, make sure your content adheres to AICC standards. You can upload AICC content by placing the files in a ZIP archive and uploading them through Adobe Connect Central.
Do not upload content directly from a meeting room.
When creating AICC content, keep the following in mind:
- The content package must include an index.htm or index.html file, which the server uses to launch the content.
- The content must initially report as "Incomplete" during all interactions until the user has fully engaged with the material.
- Once the user has completed their interaction, the content should report either "Complete" or "Passed" to indicate that they have finished.
-
Select the Training tab on the Adobe Connect Central home.
-
Select the course.
-
Select Edit Information
Courses interface showing the options for edit course information Courses interface showing the options for edit course information -
Edit the course information, such as the name of the course, course number or ID, course summary, course start and end dates, maximum course attempts, or maximum course score.
Course information interface to edit the information Course information interface to edit the information -
Select Save.
NoteChanging the course title or summary does not alter the course information itself. This course relies on the details provided at the time it was originally published, such as when using Adobe Captivate. To update this information, you should republish the content and then re-select the content that the course uses.
Update the course content
When updating course content in Adobe Connect, keep the following in mind:
- Content added to a course is copied into it. Any changes made to the original file (outside Adobe Connect) will not automatically update the course.
- Courses added to a curriculum are linked, not copied. This means any updates made to the course will be reflected in the curriculum. View Create and manage training curriculums for more information.
To reduce the number of existing versions, avoid making significant changes to course content if there is a quiz that participants have already completed. This also minimizes the number of reports required for users who accessed previous versions.
What’s next
If you have multiple courses, you can organize them into a curriculum. In Adobe Connect, a curriculum is a collection of training materials arranged in a structured learning path. This can include courses, virtual classroom sessions, presentations, documents, and other learning activities. Curriculums allow you to group related learning materials and establish a sequence for learners to follow.
