Businesses large and small need to create training content for employees on how to do their jobs, as well as training material for customers and partners. Training content creation tools can help you create this training at a lower cost. An online authoring tool is the type of program geared toward creating digital or electronic materials. Called “content management systems,” these programs store, edit and organize your multimedia and other types of information, which you can then access from any computer via the World Wide Web. We’ll go over a few specific examples of these types of authoring tools in the next section.
The ubiquity of technology has made the creation and distribution of training materials easier than ever before. However, with the proliferation of authoring tools comes a new set of jargon and technology to learn. The following are some of the more common types of authoring tools available to today’s training professionals, including their major pros and cons.
Content creation tools for training materials help to make training accessible and available to everyone. There are many different kinds of authoring tools, from simple systems to complex web-based platforms. Here are some of the more common content creation tools you may come across.
The recent explosion in online training has created a demand for effective training creation tools. With the help of our experts, you can get the most out of your online learning experience. Learn about the types of online creation tools available and discover how you can use them to create engaging, interactive courses that meet your organization’s delivery goals.
What is an authoring tool?
An authoring tool is a piece of software that enables the creation of digital content. This could be as simple as creating a Microsoft Word document, or as complex as a graphic design tool. Elearning authoring software allows the user to generate and manipulate multimedia objects for the content’s intended purpose.
In the realm of learning and development, authoring tools are used to create digital learning content, or ‘elearning’. Elearning authoring tools are most commonly used by instructional designers in L&D teams to create training materials for their employees. This training can include compliance, onboarding, hard and soft skills, etc. Elearning authoring software ranges from powerful and highly specialized, to very basic.
Elucidat
Elucidat makes it easier for ambitious teams to produce digital learning at scale. Being a fully-cloud based elearning authoring platform, businesses can respond to change faster – and smarter!
With Elucidat you can empower experts to share knowledge and give staff access to learning on any device. From product training to compliance – Elucidat helps reduce costs and increase business performance.
Quality of elearning output
Elucidat comes with an extensive library of pre-built templates that helps even novice authors create great-looking interactive experiences. For those wanting to innovate, the “layout designer” feature allows you to build your own page designs without needing to code.
There are some brilliant elearning examples on Elucidat’s showcase, many of which can be Gifted into your account (or free trial) to use as a template. You can check out our favorites in our Top elearning examples blog.
Flexible rules and branching options enable authors to build personalized learning paths to deliver great learning experiences. Social polling, gamification and a whole host of interaction types give you plenty of opportunities to hook in learners.
Elucidat’s analytics dashboards provide authors with detailed data on how learners are interacting with their course, enabling you to continually optimize for engagement.
Speed and efficiency
Elucidat’s feature set makes creating high-quality learning faster and more efficient.
With Elucidat’s Learning Accelerator you can produce training 4x faster. The platform will recommend elearning templates based on your project goals. You just add content (with best practice tips along the way). Simple as that.
Other effective features that will speed up your production include:
- A template library
- A suite of interactions
- Brand importer
- A WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface
- The ability to apply existing styles to new projects
The more advanced features, as with any platform, can take a little longer to grasp. But, the efficiency pay-off comes when you save your pages to reuse for future projects.
As a cloud-based authoring tool, it’s easy for multiple authors to work on the same project – at the same time. Helping the whole team to meet a deadline. Stakeholders can also log comments within the authoring tool on specific parts of a page using the review feature. Making the headaches experienced with desktop-based tools a thing of the past.
Once a course is complete, sharing and releasing has never been easier. Share directly via URL, upload to your LMS or create an offline version. If you need to make any further changes, simply update your course and click the Rapid Release – your course will then update instantly (without having to re-upload!).
Scalability
Elucidat was born to help teams with scaling up elearning production. With customizable user roles and permissions, you can invite all of your stakeholders to collaborate within the platform – from your learning designers to subject matter experts.
The central asset library lets colleagues share assets across departments. Want to replace an image, logo or video? Update across multiple courses with one click.
The variations manager centralizes courses with several versions into one simple ‘master course’. Child courses then sit underneath it. The parent-child relationship means all versions are editable at the master level – saving a tonne of time editing several variations of the same course!
Translations are easy too! Using a simple import/export feature, upload a new language and watch the course adjust its size. Then make separate edits to each individual translated course using variations manager.
Supported elearning formats
Elucidat’s authoring platform is totally cloud-based, which produces high-quality, SCORM compliant HTML5 elearning content. Supporting most elearning formats, as well as advanced xAPI data reporting and mobile responsive content, Elucidat is considered as one of the top SCORM elearning authoring tools for both Mac and Windows.
Elucidat supports the following elearning formats:
- HTML5, Video, SCORM (1.2, 2004), xAPI (TinCan)
- Windows, Mac OS
Elucidat Strengths
- Ready-made templates that will make your production 4x faster
- Wide range of interactions and features, including rules, branches and badges
- Out-of-the-box pages, plus the flexibility to make your own
- Easy to use WYSIWYG interface
- Advanced brand management to meet guidelines
- Flexible permissions and user roles
- Variations management to simplify working at scale
- Sophisticated translation process
- Outstanding support team, included as part of your package
Elucidat Weaknesses
- A time investment is needed to utilize the full capabilities of the tool
- Can seem expensive if you’re not producing much content, as the platform is designed for teams creating and managing elearning at scale. More on the ROI of Elucidat here.
Best for:
- Authors of all abilities
- Big enterprise employers looking to get a quicker business impact
- Teams that need to produce high-quality elearning, fast
- Teamwork on a global scale
- Comprehensive tutorials and user support
- People-centered learning
Case studies and awards:
Elucidat was awarded a number of prestigious industry awards over recent years including a Brandon Hall Gold Award for Best Advance in Course Authoring in 2020.
Elucidat’s customers include world-leading brands across many industries such as finance, for example, Metro Bank and nCino, and retail, with global names such as Tesco, Benefit and Kingfisher.
Adobe Captivate
Captivate is a desktop application available for both Windows and Mac. It’s one of the most powerful elearning authoring tools in this list but comes with a steeper learning curve and its own set of challenges.
Quality of elearning output
Experienced authors can create learning content using customization options from the (relatively limited) themes available. The themes are similar to PowerPoint, with color palettes and slide masters defining the look and feel.
Speed and efficiency of authoring
Captivate’s steep learning curve means significant training and ramp-up time is needed for new authors. Simple content is relatively quick to produce, but if you’re using more advanced interactions, be prepared to put in some hours.
Scalability
Because Captivate is a desktop authoring application, it’s not set up for working collaboratively and consistently at scale. Themes and master slides can be shared to installations on other computers, but the process is manual and can be tricky. The same applies to asset management; each desktop user is “on their own” when it comes to creating content and assets.
Supported elearning formats
Captivate is a powerful SCORM elearning software. Previously a desktop-based tool for windows, a 2019 update saw two major updates: some tool aspects were brought online and Mac users could finally access the software.
Captivate learning software supports a wide range of formats:
- HTML5, SCORM, AICC, xAPI (TinCan)
- Windows, Mac OS
Captivate Strengths
- Able to produce complex interactions (if you know how)
- Output can be location aware (i.e., you can hook into a device’s geo-location capability)
- Interactivity in the output can recognize common mobile-device gestures (e.g., pinch and zoom, swipe)
- Accelerometer-based interaction types
- Good for screen recording and simulations
- Ability to create virtual reality (VR) learning experiences
Captivate Weaknesses
- Steep learning curve with limited support
- Limitations of a desktop tool – challenging collaboration, review and version control
- Traditional linear style design compared to more modern elearning authoring tools
- Painful process to update and maintain existing content
Best for:
- Experienced authors
- Production of localized elearning
- Interactive learning experiences
- Mobile-ready elearning content
- Easy publishing options
Case studies & awards
Adobe Captivate has customer success stories from brands including American Airlines and Indiana University.
Articulate Storyline 360
A well-known name in the world of authoring, Storyline is clean, modern, and has plenty of powerful features. For example, it allows you to storyboard your courses and then dictates the path that your learner takes. And although it can take a little bit of time to get to grips with Storyline, it’s balanced by the quality of the results.
The platform has two pricing options for you to choose from: a Storyline 360 subscription or a one-off purchase of Storyline 3. The website has a helpful comparison chart that details what comes with each option. The subscription is probably the better choice as it gives you access to a host of other apps to use and the benefit of regular updates, but either option is worth a try.
Articulate Rise 360
The sibling to Storyline, Rise 360 is another top-quality authoring tool from Articulate. With a prime focus on mobile-responsive content, it’s a smart choice for those who want courses that are compatible with every device. Again, like Storyline, it has a clean, modern interface that delivers visually pleasing results.
Adobe Captivate
Captivate is one of the most feature-rich tools, especially when you take into account its interoperability with other Adobe tools.
We like that you can storyboard your courses and utilize advanced transitions and triggers – the result of which is engaging content for any scenario or subject. The PowerPoint integration is a must-use feature for anyone with content in this format, as it fast tracks your course creation process.
EdApp
EdApp is a top-notch training content development tool that is well-known among industry leaders for its feature package and training content creation capabilities. Here, creating and designing your training content is easy and hassle-free, thanks to its free authoring tool. Simply apply your branding, author your templates and construct your lessons, and off you go. EdApp can also help you find a template that has been marked effective by authors around the world, determine a template sequence optimal for maximum retention, and suggest the best placement of questions for course quizzes and assessments.
Perhaps you’re a huge fan of Canva? Then you’re in luck as EdApp has also brought the magic of this graphic design program to its authoring tool. This means you can add and use Canva’s free and paid stock photography, fonts, illustrations, and templates to your EdApp lessons, ensuring an engaging and personalized training program that your team will surely enjoy.
EdApp’s mobile learning solution ensures that all training content developed in this platform is fully responsive and perfectly formatted for both iOS and Android devices, as well as in any web browser of your choice. This gives you total flexibility when it comes to lesson delivery. No knowledge of coding, scripting, or any other complex concept is required.
- Cost: Free
- Key features: User-friendly training content development capabilities, data-driven authoring tool, Canva integration, mobile-responsiveness
Why do you need an authoring tool?
Unsure whether you need an authoring software to meet your elearning objectives. Here are our top five reasons to use an authoring tool:
- Allows you to personalize your content and adopt a people-centered approach to learning;
- Enables you to collaborate with your team effectively, allowing authors, SMEs and stakeholders to work together seamlessly;
- Makes it easy to roll out elearning courses in different locations and update content to comply with new regulations quickly and with ease;
- Allows you to continually improve your elearning by analyzing data and collating feedback on how your content performs;
- Enables you to adapt to new demands and produce supporting elearning content quickly.
Conclusion
Our complete training for creating and editing online training is just a click away. Content creation tools make it easier to create engaging Federal online training, archiving and distribution of content, and managing your training library efficiently. Find out more now.
Get started creating elearning content with online instructional design tools and our authoring tool. Develop engaging training with an easy-to-use authoring tool that integrates content and assessments.