Many online course creators are switching to authoring tools like Articulate 360 to convert traditional courses into new online courses. Authoring tools are famous for various reasons, including the fact that they come with built-in templates, backgrounds, and media assets that can help you save time and money while designing eLearning courses. These pre-built features can be adjusted to meet the needs of online courses and do not necessitate programming knowledge. This article will guide you on how to choose the right authoring tool:
Ease of Use: Make sure the authoring tool you select is easy to use and that your subject matter experts can use it without any need for technical assistance. This would reduce the amount of time and money when creating content, resulting in a higher return on investment for your authoring tool.1
Customization Tools: You may want to change or rebrand your material in the long run. To prevent revamping your entire library of e-courses, make sure the authoring tool provides customization options that allow you to alter your existing courses quickly.
Costs of Budgeting and Maintenance:
It’s critical to know your budget before deciding on an authoring tool. Calculate how much you can afford to spend on the course. If you’re on a budget, go with the cheapest quick authoring tools. If your budget allows it, you can choose a tool with a wide range of features and functions and flexibility in use.
Of course, the instrument you use is decided by what you want to accomplish. Do you have any high-interactivity quizzes, situations, or activities planned? Even if the tool you choose is pricey, it will allow you to construct highly tailored courses depending on the learning needs of your students. If you choose a complicated tool, you will have to train your employees on how to use it, which will increase the cost. So, before you choose a product, look at demos to see how hard it is. This will help you estimate how much time and money you’ll need to devote to training.
Instructional Procedures:
Your educational technique must be supported by the authoring tool you use. Consider whether your course requires situations to give students practical knowledge or if you’ll be using more videos to appeal to visual learners. It’s much easier to find the correct content authoring tool if you know what elements you’ll include in the course and what goals you want to achieve with them.
Decide on the number of interactivities you’ll use in your class. If you’re planning simulations or scenarios, you’ll need a tool that can handle quizzes, riddles, animations, and simulations and scenarios.
Responsive Design support:
The emerging trend in custom online course design is responsive design. Today’s students expect to be able to access your online courses at any time and from any location. As a result, for learners to access your courses, they must be available on numerous devices. Practically all authoring tools allow responsive design, but just a few technologies provide more responsive design possibilities.
Streamlined Online Communication:
Authors must communicate swiftly and efficiently with all stakeholders, including editors and testers, to ensure high-quality content. Consider using an eLearning authoring tool that features a streamlined online feedback system that allows all team members to leave comments or suggestions on the page they’re reading. This would assist in eliminating overlapping or missed email conversations, as well as conflicting modification requests, and ensure that high-quality content is delivered on time and within budget.
Ease of Translation: Today’s online courses are translated into a variety of languages for learners worldwide. So pick an efficient authoring tool that can help you translate courses in the shortest time and with the least effort.
Conclusion
When selecting a content authoring tool, keep these factors in mind. If you’re not sure which tool to use, check at demos or courses that have been created with the tool. This will make deciding what will best suit your e-learning development needs much easier.
