Find out how three popular rapid authoring tools viz. Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, and Lectora Inspire help develop good web-based courses.
How can you develop a good web-based training (WBT) material? What does it take to harness the full learning potential of the Web to train your workforce? Well, among the various aspects that must be taken into consideration, one of the most important is choosing the right e-learning development tool.Today, we will look at 3 popular online course authoring tools that can be used to produce good courses for the web.
1. Articulate Storyline
This is a powerful rapid authoring tool for developing web-based courses. The tool comes with an in-built library of more than 47,500 characters and photographs in various poses, which goes a long way in developing scenario-based online courses, easily and quickly.
Storyline is widely used to convert Flash-based e-learning content, which cannot be accssed on most Smartphones and tablet PCs, into the mobile-compatible HTML5 format. The software can be used to retain most effects of Flash. The online course development tool has a PowerPoint-like interface, and anyone familiar with the application from Microsoft can use it effortlessly. The e-learning course authoring application can be used to develop courses compatible with in a hassle-free manner.
You can use Storyline to publish technology-enabled learning content to Flash, HTML5, and Articulate Mobile Player (AMP), a native app available in both iOS and Android flavors.
On the flip side, Articulate Storyline provides little support to responsive e-learning.
2. Adobe Captivate
Adobe Captivate is a good e-learning development software that has become synonymous with the development of web-based software training courses. The tool has the best-in class screen recording capabilities. It can be used to create HD screencasts for developing e-learning tutorials on software applications.
The rapid authoring tool is also renowned for its responsive e-learning capabilities. It comes with a wide array of responsive themes that simplify the development of device-agnostic online courses. You can use the software to preview how your technology-enabled learning content looks like on various devices. Adobe Captivate allows you to deliver content based on the location of the learner.
You use the e-learning development software to publish courses to HTML5, MP4, EXE, SWF, and PDF formats. You can also publish the course to iOS and Android devices.
A major limitation of Adobe Captivate is that it has a longer learning curve compared to other rapid authoring tools. This is because its interface is complicated, and people need time to learn how to use it..
3. Lectora Inspire
This rapid authoring software from Trivantis is ideal for converting text-heavy learning content into engaging web-based courses. And, this feature makes it the perfect choice for developing online courses on compliance and regulatory affairs.
Lectora Inspire also facilitates the hassle-free development of multi-lingual technology-enabled learning materials. You can create an interface for your e-learning course, which allows the learner access the online course in the language of his choice and switch between languages, either from the Home page or in the middle of the course.
You can use Lectora Inspire to produce online learning content in the HTML5 format, which can be tweaked to develop mobile learning apps. To know more, check out the informative post Developing Mobile Learning Apps with Lectora and PhoneGap.
The e-learning development software can be used to create responsive online courses through external JavaScript coding.
However, this rapid authoring tool trails Articulate Storyline and Adobe Captivate in terms of developing animation-based courses for the web.
The selection of the right authoring tool goes a long way in the development of good WBT materials. You can use Articulate Storyline to develop scenario-based e-learning courses, rich in Flash-like interactivities and effects, while Adobe Captivate is ideal to develop online courses containing software simulations and device-agnostic technology-enabled learning content. Lectora Inspire is well-suited for converting text-heavy training content into engaging courses for the web.
