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