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E-learning Authoring Tools: The Civil War

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This blog post shares features of different rapid authoring tools.

Let’s face it! Today, everybody is in a hurry and needs everything delivered quickly. It might be a Smartphone you buy online, the food you order through an app, or the e-learning you want developed for your employees.

To address your urgency, e-learning professionals have been taking the help of rapid authoring tools to develop online learning material in a span of weeks rather than months. Among these, the three widely preferred e-learning rapid authoring tools are Articulate Storyline 2, Adobe Captivate 9, and Lectora Inspire 16. Wondering why these are so popular? Here is a comparison table to help you understand each tool’s advanced features and choose the one that fulfills your requirements.

  Articulate Storyline 2 Adobe Captivate 9 Lectora Inspire 16
Ease of Use
  1. PowerPoint-like interface
  2. Simple slide layers
  3. Easiest tool of the three
  1. Tricky interface and slide layers
  2. Tougher than Storyline
  1. User-friendly interface
  2. No slide layers
Animations
  1. Basic entry and exit effects
  2. Slider
  3. Motion path
  1. Basic entry/exit effects
  2. Motion path
  3. Pre-defined effects
  1. Pre-defined effects
  2. No motion path feature
Simulations
  1. Record screens to use either as a:
  2. Standalone video
  3. Step-by-step simulation
  4. Perfect tool to develop software systems training
  1. Specialized simulations creation capability
  2. Limited editing capabilities
  3. Decent choice to develop ERP end-user training
  1. No built-in feature to create simulations
  2. Need to record, edit, include actions, & feedback manually
  3. Last option to create ERP end-user training
Interactivities
  1. Great interactivities with ease of customization
  2. Can develop custom games and game-based assessments
  1. Good built-in interactivities
  2. Customization not as easy as Storyline
  1. No templates
  2. Can create any interactivity imaginable
Characters
  1. Cool library of characters with the freedom to change poses, expressions, and perspectives
  2. Perfect tool to create scenario-based e-learning
  1. Good library, but characters need to be re-imported to change poses/expressions
  2. Decent option to create scenario-based e-learning
  1. Characters for different contexts, but can’t assign an expression to a pose (both come as one)
  2. Decent option to create scenario-based
    e-learning
Multimedia Import/record:
  1. Videos
  2. Audio files
  1. Audio recording and editing
  2. Video recording only for simulations
  1. Audio and video recording and editing
Quizzes Templates can be tailored according to needs and include:
  1. 11 for grading
  2. 9 for survey
  3. 5 to convert to Freeform
  1. 9 quiz templates
  2. Responsive drag-and-drop questions
  1. Assessment scenarios
  2. LMS-compliant options
  3. Flash-based mini games
Publishing
  1. Publish to mobile devices (HTML5)
  1. Responsive design output
  1. Only HTML5 output

These are some of the advanced features and options available in the three most preferred rapid authoring tools in the e-learning market.You can choose the one that best fits your training & technical requirements. Tell us whose side you will be on in this Civil War of the e-learning rapid authoring tools.

Rapid eLearning Authoring Tools - A Training Manager's Guide
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