The best elearning tool?

[Guest]

Hi there,

I have been asked to research for a client what elearning development tools are available at the moment and a list of advantages and disadvantages from a development perspective.

The only major development tools I am aware of are the Adobe Elearning Suite, Knowledge Presenter and Lectora Pro Suite.

Can people please provide me with any advice on these or more products they are aware of?

It is difficult to find un-biassed opinions.

Many Thanks!

[Tom_Tantalus]

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[kind_days15B9]

The 'easiest' answer would be that it really depends on your requirements.

I have used several tools over the years, including some pure web based HTML/JAVA/FLASH coding. Rapid development though, demands specialized authoring tools such as Articulate, Captivate, and Lectora (to name the 'top' three). Many hosted LMS sites also offer their own rapid authoring tools. In total, there are many options available, including free ones like CourseLab.

Bottom line, if scoring and other analytics are important to you AND you plan to publish to a Learning Management System, it is important to use a tool that is SCORM compliant.

Here is a pretty good link that lists out many tools. Keep in mind, ratings are subjective and everyone's requirements are different:

http://elearningtech.pbworks.com/ToolSatisfaction

What do I use?

I use several tools to build my corporate learning material:

Adobe Captivate 4 - For software simulations.

Lectora X Enterprise Edition - For overall course building and SCORM packaging. I find that course building workflow is significantly better than compared to Captivate. Word of advice, don't waste money on the Suite version. Captivate is superior for software simulations.

Flash CS4 - Because Captivate cannot do it all.

Photoshop/Paint.net - Graphics requirements.

SnagIt - For screen captures and quick graphics edits.

Audacity - For quick audio editing.

Cubase - For more detailed audio editing

FLV Editor Ultimate - For converting .mp3 to .flv and adding cues to FLV audio files (it works but I would sure like to find a better application)

Browsers: IE8, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Chrome - For testing published course ware for compatibility.

NOTE: Two of the major differences between Captivate and  Lectora is that Captivate is time-line driven and Lectora is event  driven. In other words, Captivate projects play like a movie (unless you  instruct it to pause) and Lectora projects work like a book, it will  stop on a page until you instruct it to move forward.

Additionally, Captivate publishes as a Flash file whereas Lectora publishes as a collection of HTML/JAVA/XML/individual media files.

I think that is about it. I hope this helps.

Google the words, elearning authoring tools, for more information.

-Shawn

[Guest]

Thanks Shaun!

Your information was very useful. I have conducted some more research and it is amazing how many packages are out there!

Basically the client is really keen to convert one of their two day instructor led courses into 7 online modules at 30 minutes each as it will be a placed as a refresher course. There will be videos to be inserted and a medium level of interactivity for activities. I still need to find out if this needs to be published to an LMS and if it needs to be SCORM compliant etc.

What I am finding is that from a development perspective some packages are very rapid and dont require much tech knowledge but you dont seem to have much freedom over how they look or function compared to others.

Would it be your advice not to invest in a whole suite of products but really just try to choose the best programs for each requirement?

Thanks.

[kind_days15B9]

>some packages are very rapid and dont require much tech knowledge but you dont seem to have much

>freedom over how they look or function compared  to others.

Possibly true for some tools. Though considered rapid development tools, with little tech knowledge required, with Captivate and Lectora you can still do pretty much anything you 'dream' of.. within reason, I suppose. Skills with Flash, HTML, JavaScript, will certainly assist your course development.

>Would  it be your advice not to invest in a whole suite of products but really  just try to choose the best programs for each requirement?

Although, I believe in the philosophy of 'best of breed', meaning specific tools for a specific purpose. Rarely does one find a tool that is exceptional at everything. But it really depends on your own requirements, so you may only require one tool like Captivate to accomplish your elearning goals.

In the end, it is your skills and knowledge that are responsible for your finished product more than the specific tools you choose.