Steve Rayson takes Atlantic Link into the open water for a two-hour trip.  

We have been keen to get our hands on Atlantic Link for a while. It is one of the fastest growing server based authoring tools, so we wanted to see what all the fuss was about. The team decided that the toughest test would be to give it to me to use. They know I am good at PowerPoint (having done more sales presentations than I care to remember) but they (twisted individuals that they are) wanted to see whether the non-techies amongst us could handle a server-based authoring tool.

The challenge was to see what I could produce in two hours with no training. I’m always up for a challenge. This is how I got on….

Server Based Tools

It is worth pointing out that server based tools are different beasts from the Word or PowerPoint based desktop tools. The big difference is that they are authoring tools in their own right, with their own interface which takes a little getting used to. However, the fact they are server based means that multiple authors can edit content and collaborate on content development. It also means all content is held on the server and in the case of Atlantic Link is content managed. This is great for managing a lot of content, or content that changes a lot. You can simply change a content object and republish your courses accordingly – very handy for small updates.

Getting Started

I’m not one for instruction manuals. I normally dive straight in and try to figure things out. It is my version of learning by doing -- or learning through frustration. In the case of Atlantic Link it took me a while to suss out how things, and understand how things work. Once I had worked out that each piece of content within a screen is a content object and has its own properties it became a lot easier to understand. It also took a while to work out that you have to drag items on to the screen, but obvious once you know how.

Atlantic Link do provide you with full training, which I would recommend, but they also have a quick start facility, which is great as basically it builds a course structure for you immediately. You can then add or delete screens easily.

The Rapid E-learning Scorecard:

In summary, while I found it a little frustrating to start with, it did become apparent that this is an impressive and powerful tool. I began to understand why companies such as Barclays have chosen it. I looked at the Brandon Hall review of server-based tools to see if they were also impressed. I was astonished to find it wasn't included. Maybe this just shows how fast the market is moving or how US centric the Brandon Hall reviews are. Come on Brandon - take a look at the good stuff going on over here!

In my view if you want a server based authoring tool then Atlantic Link has to be on your shortlist.

OVERALL SCORE: 33

The price tag: AL is more expensive than the desktop based tools, but then you are getting something very different.

Read on for a full review of the product. You can see what I produced in my few hours here.


Atlantic Link: The Full Road Test

Ease of use: 4/5

I may be being unfair to Atlantic Link here as I didn't request any training, so apologies in advance. I just dived straight in and had a play. I wouldn't recommend this approach as there can be times when it is frustrating. When I clicked on image for example I expected something to happen. I had to refer to the online help to see you need to drag the image icon onto the screen to add an image.

It is more complicated than using PowerPoint or Articulate, but then it is a more powerful tool. This could restrict you from making it available to subject matter experts. However, if you get them to author in PowerPoint, it will import these for you quite easily.

Instructional design flexibility: 5/5

You can produce fairly much what you want in this tool - you are not restricted to templates or pre set designs. This is critical – as we’ve said many times on this site, it’s the instructional design abilities of the author and the quality of the content that makes the difference more than the tool itself.

You can link from any screen to another screen, create sub-menus etc., so you can push beyond linear e-learning (always to be encouraged!).

You can develop formative non-tracked questions and summative tracked questions. Again it took me a little while to work out how I did questions as I expected to type them in to the screen rather than a properties box, but I got the hang of it.

You can use different backgrounds either globally or for specific slides. I chose a blue background which I meant to get around to changing to a more coffee coloured background but I did try to stick to my two hour limit.

Ability to incorporate existing content: 5/5

It is very easy to import PowerPoint slides, and import audio and flash files including video. You can cut and paste text in the normal way.

Ability to handle variety of topics: 5/5

Atlantic Link is one of the few tools that will handle systems training as well, if not better, than other topics. Thus if you only want to buy one tool to cover a wide range of topics, then this has to be on your shortlist.

Ability to incorporate graphics/media: 5/5

It’s easy to drop in any existing files (once you realise you have to drag the icon to the screen….)

Each item is content managed, so for example you can drag an image to different sizes, specify the size manually down to a pixel and on placing the image on a page you can specify say 30 pixels across from the left. Just go to the properties box for the image and you can fairly much do whatever you want.

I couldn't work out how to put my audio or video into a player but I suspect this was just me and I was rushing against the clock.

Ability to publish SCORM/AICC compliant courses: 4/5

Once you have finished your programme in Atlantic Link you can publish it directly to the AL LMS and make it instantly accessible. This is a great advantage as the LMS is integrated with the tool. The only downside is the LMS is a bit limited, great for launching content but it would be improved if you could add discussion forums, chat rooms, wikis and create a blended structure. However, you can always look to the open source Moodle LMS to give you everything you need beyond the basics.

Conclusion:

If you have a lot of content to be managed and need collaborative development such as say multiple authors at multiple locations then you should certainly have Atlantic Link on your shortlist. Even if you don't, it is worth exploring as a great all round authoring tool.

Bought Atlantic Link? Agree or disagree with this review? Let us know.

Got an authoring tool, and need get some help in making the most of it? Kineo’s Rapid E-learning Design Team can help. Contact Kineo.
Kineo has accepted no payment or reward of any form from any tools company for this independent review.