This article features a comparison between top eLearning authoring tools to understand which tool is the best fit for your organization
Deployment is a crucial point to consider while selecting eLearning authoring tools. Below is a quick overview of deployment strategies for various course creation tools, as well as their peculiarities that you should know about before making your purchase decision. But first, let’s understand what eLearning is and the benefits of eLearning applications.
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Concept of e-learning
eLearning is imparting and facilitating knowledge on media, electronic devices like the Internet, CD-ROMs, DVDs, streaming media, and more. It has drifted the method of learning imparted to the students. Unlike the conventional chalk and board style of schooling, eLearning makes giving and receiving simpler, prolific, and productive. Shortly, it is the method of teaching purely through technology.
Benefits Of eLearning Applications
Digital and self-initiated learning may be obtained at the appropriate locations. One need not wander in the quest for learning as eLearning education is flexible and well-equipped to fit all learning methods.
An empirical look at the benefits of online learning will help us understand how today’s teachers, students, and institutions want to get important and readily available information in a simple way. This is accomplished by the online learning model where students will study at their leisure. Teachers also get to work with a lot of flexibility.
What is an eLearning Authoring Tool?
eLearning authoring tools are used to create eLearning lessons. These tools have been around much longer than most people know. When asked, many guess that they started coming on the market recently or perhaps back in the 1990s. The truth is the National Science Foundation-funded the first authoring tool, called PLATO, way back in 1960, and then another in 1967, called TICCIT. Both spawned many other authoring tools over the years.
What to think about while picking the best eLearning authoring tool?
There’s a tremendous choice of authoring software on the market, with most of these tools being worked considering a specific kind of client. Before you settle on one of these eLearning advancement programs, you ought to clear up certain things:
What types of training content can be useful in your case? Interactive video lessons, software simulations, quizzes, or all of these? Imagine what sort of eLearning you’d like to provide to learners, depending on their professional duties.
How well does the content authoring software work with mobile devices? You need to be clear about your learners’ habits. Mature audiences would probably be fine taking their training on a desktop, but how about zoomers and even younger generations? Most 20ish-year-olds can’t imagine their lives without peeking into their smartphones at least once an hour, so their eLearning should work the same way – 100% mobile compatible. And though most authoring tools allow you to create responsive eLearning content, some of them require building different versions for desktops, tablets, and smartphones which definitely consumes a lot of time.
What is your annual eLearning budget? Don’t choose eLearning tools and technologies based on price. More expensive doesn’t translate to being handier in the eLearning world. Similarly, grabbing the cheapest option just because it’s cheap is a bad idea. A really low price for an authoring software is often a sign that there might be hidden fees for the functionality you need the most.
Do you have a learning management system (LMS) where all training stats can be recorded? If you’re an advocate of continuous learning and regularly provide your employees with new courses, you’re likely to see the results of your training. There should be an LMS where your content sends all stats from all training sessions. Plus, the course creation software of your choice should have impeccable compatibility with your LMS.
Desktop authoring tools
Desktop authoring tools are traditional tools that allow users to build engaging courses. These authoring tools need to be downloaded and installed on your desktop before use. Desktop authoring tools have been the best option for many organizations—until the era of the mobile workforce.
Cloud-based authoring tools
Cloud-based authoring tools are more useful in designing simple online courses, rapidly. But with new cloud-based authoring tools being introduced, this parameter may soon become a bone of contention. Many organizations avoid investing in cloud-based authoring tools as they think they are not secure. But the truth is, that cloud-based storage is more difficult to hack than a physical server or desktop computer.
Open-source authoring tools
This type of eLearning design software is typically available for users at no cost and allows them to modify every aspect of the program based on L&D needs. But they’re usually not very user-friendly. Furthermore, you need some tech expertise and even coding skills to make needed changes in such learning and development software.