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E-learning can be powerful and influential, but the potential for success rests on whether you can provide correct and relevant training material with content developed inside your organization. To do this, you need capable and flexible authoring tools. When thinking of authoring tools the things that leap into mind are writing and word processing, but an authoring tool is more much more. Therefore the name authoring tool is actually an oversight as they go far beyond writing and word processing.
In the context of E-learning authoring tools, they allow instructors to incorporate media to create appealing, interactive training content, and to reuse digitized learning objects from an existing course for a new one.
The Best Authoring Tool for You
Every organization has its own priorities, so to find the authoring tool that suits you;
- Need to assess your needs and budget
- Determine the workings of your organization and create a checklist.
- Chalk out the most important factors, the must haves and can do without’s.
Most tools are designed to create basic e-learning courses for desktop or laptop computers with the software programs supporting a range text, graphics, video, and audio. Most also include assessment and test creation features
Qualities to look for in an authoring tool
As with everything today, there are literally hundreds of authoring tools to choose from. The problem is to decide which one suits you best, here are some tips to help you out……..
Automated programming- automating programming for online delivery, authoring tools can be a boon for course developers as it reduces dependence on programmers. Some authoring tools have the capability to write programming languages as HTML, XML, or DHML; of course types of programming code or output formats vary significantly among the tools.
Interoperability -The compatibility of an authoring tool to work with other e-learning software and systems is crucial for success and is referred to as interoperability. Successful interoperability is the result of software compliance to technology standards. There are four major standards at present Aviation Industry Computer-based Training Committee (AICC), Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), IMS Global Learning Consortium, and Microsoft LRN.
Assessment questions- There are different types of assessment questions that they can create with an authoring tool, like fill-in-the-blank, matching, true or false, or short or long essay. The course developer has to decide which format he prefers and then find the authoring tool that supports those kinds of questions.
Multiple learning paths- Some authoring tools have the facility to create variables, which is an important feature for adaptive learning. Courses created using variables are more complex to design, but they account for a range of knowledge and skill sets. This is a great feature which accommodates the differences among learners.
Media and file support- Most authoring tools support common file types like JPGs, WAVs, and GIFs, while few support streaming video and audio. Choose a tool according to your course needs.
Extensibility or customization- If you need customization to the authoring software, be certain to buy a tool with an open source code, which allows a programmer to customize software to meet the your needs.
Cost- Last but not the least, prices for authoring tools varies from a few hundred to tens of thousands. The most cost-efficient way to buy authoring software is by volume.
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