If your organization is in the market for a new e-learning authoring tool, it can be tough to find the perfect solution. To make your search as efficient and cost-effective as possible, it’s important to weigh your options carefully. So, let’s get started with an overview of seven different types of e-learning authoring software.
An e-learning authoring tool is a software that enables you to create learning content and share it with your learners. Just as you might use Microsoft Word to write up documents or Microsoft PowerPoint for presentation slides, you’ll need to use an e-learning authoring tool if you want to create an online course.
But while the market for word processors and presentation decks is dominated by two or three big players, there are literally hundreds of tools available for creating online educational courses and resources.
That means choosing the right tool can be a daunting task for Learning & Development professionals. To make that choice easier for you, we’ve listed seven types of authoring tools you need to know about – and how you might benefit from each.
There are several different types of authoring tools, and each of them offers unique services and functions that could determine your content creation experience. To help you choose e-learning software that closely aligns with your organization’s goals, we’ve compiled a list of authoring tools and who they’re best for.
Our experts created the ultimate guide to help you select an authoring tool according to your organization’s needs.
Here is a comparison of seven different e-learning authoring software:
Simply put, cloud-based authoring tools exist online and don’t require you to install anything on your desktop. These tools are ideal for teams that collaborate remotely and on content creators who work across multiple devices. Let’s look at the pros and cons:
Pros
Cons
Best suited for
Locally hosted authoring tools require you to install software on your desktop before you can access it. These types of e-learning software may be ideal for employees that frequently work offline. They’re also usually designed for trained content creators, offering a range of creative functions. Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons:
Pros
Cons
Best suited for
These are very similar to desktop-installed tools, but they come in the form of Microsoft plug-ins, allowing you to add assessments and interactivities to a PowerPoint presentation. Articulate Studio and Adobe Presenter are examples of rapid plug-ins. Here are the pros and cons:
Pros
Cons
Best suited for
If you want to create a simple quiz or an online assessment for your employees, there are a variety of e-learning authoring tools that focus on doing just that. However, do bear in mind they are assessment tools only. Their functionality is limited, which means you cannot add additional pages or information to your assessments. Here are the pros and cons:
Pros
Cons
Best suited for
These tools focus on one specific form of content creation, like videos or animation. They usually work together with other e-learning tools. For example, you could create a video in one tool, edit it using a specialized tool, and then publish it on your LMS.
These tools offer many advanced media features because of their narrow focus on one type of content creation, which could benefit advantageous if your organization has a strong preference for a particular e-learning format. However, there may be compatibility issues, because these tools almost always rely on your other programs or e-learning infrastructure to deliver the finished product. Universal e-learning formats like SCORM help reduce compatibility issues, but incompatibility is still a risk that needs to be considered. Let’s look at the overall pros and cons:
Pros
Cons
Best suited for
While Learning Management Systems are primarily for storing and managing learning content, some do offer built-in authoring tools, allowing you to create simple e-learning pages. Still, an LMS won’t enable you to build an entire course or assessment. That’s why we recommend using an authoring tool that’s SCORM or XAPI compatible and can, therefore, be integrated with an LMS.
Pros
Cons
Best suited for
If your e-learning activities include software simulations or visual step-by-step tutorials, then screen recording tools can be very helpful. These tools allow you to record voiceover commentary of your onscreen activities and even annotate them. However, these tools can be difficult to use, making the content creation process lengthy. You may also run into compatibility issues here, as these programs will generally work with specific file types and project files that won’t work universally.
Pros
Cons
Best suited for
Easygenerator’s cloud-based authoring solution is among the best e-learning software when it comes to remote team collaboration and scalability. Being able to access the authoring tool from any internet-connected device means you can start the content creation process on one computer and continue it on another. Moreover, you can invite remote co-authors and have additional colleagues review your content.
At the same time, our user-friendly, drag-and-drop interface offers a zero learning curve, enabling anyone in your organization to create engaging e-learning content. This allows you to easily scale your e-learning output using Employee-Generated Learning — a peer-to-peer knowledge sharing approach that speeds up your content creation process and helps you save costs over time.
