Rapid E-learning Authoring Tools

Creating your own e-learning?

You will need a great tool to support you and the good news is that there many to choose from. However, before you start looking at the authoring tools you should consider:

• What’s your budget?
• What’s your skill base? How often will your team be using the tool?
• What type of content are you developing?
• How rich or complex do you want your interactions to be?
• Technical issues – what are your accessibility standards?
• What’s the tracking requirement?  Do you need SCORM 1.2 for your LMS?
• Does your e-learning need to be translated?

Types of e-learning authoring tool

There are a number of different types of e-learning authoring tool which you should be aware of. These broadly split as follows:

Powerpoint Plugin Authoring Tools

These tools use Powerpoint as the authoring environment but allows you to add interactivity and assessments; and to publish your content packaged ready to track in a learning management system. These are very easy to use as most people are familiar with Powerpoint. The most popular tool in this market is Articulate.

Desktop Authoring Tools

These are installed on your desktop and are generally more complex than the Powerpoint tools but they give you more control over the style and interactions.  Examples of these tools include Adobe Captivate, Lectora and the new Articulate Storyline due out this autumn.

Server-Based Tools

As the name suggests these tools are hosted on a server and are typically accessed via a web browser over the internet. These tools can be very easy to use and because they are server based they are better are managing your files, doing updates and generally maintaining content. They are also good at workflow processes and allowing subject matter experts to review and comment on e-learning modules as they are developed. They are particularly good for large and dispersed teams to work together on content. Examples of these tools include Coursebuilder, Mohive and Atlantic Link.

Tool reviews

On the left hand menu are some short reviews of the main authoring tools. These reviews were done independently by our developers. We are very happy to provide more detailed overviews and demos of these tools if you want to explore them in more depth.

Rapid in Action

We’ve worked with many clients to make rapid e-learning work in their organisations, with great results. Here are just a few examples:

• McDonald’s UK – saving £5 million and putting the internal team in control with Articulate
• Canon - showing how you can really deliver in weeks, not months through a rapid model
• Cable&Wireless – delivering on business demands through rapid turnaround

Let us help

At Kineo we know a lot about authoring tools. We were selected by Adobe to create their showcase Captivate content, we have won Articulate Guru awards and we have won many rapid e-learning awards.

We work with internal teams to help them select the best tool for their needs and support them through setting up art direction, templates and development processes. Our work has included clients such as:

• Pensions Regulator – Authoring tool selection and training
• Deloitte - In-house e-learning capability building programme
• Reuters – E-learning process design and capability building
• HSBC - In-house e-learning capability building programme
• Barclays Capital – capability building, tool training, procedures design

If you need any help please contact us. We can provide examples of content produced by the various tools and provide demos of the various stools.