How eLearning Tools Can Enhance Instruction
eLearning authoring tools tools are a key component in designing engaging and robust online courses, training modules, and custom content. eLearning authoring tools are different from the general Learning Management System (LMS) as they are the tools used to develop the specific materials, lessons, and content used within the LMS of choice (Anonymous, 2023). There are a multitude of eLearning Authoring tools available today such as Articulate Storyline, Elucidat, Smartbuilder, and Camtasia. These are some of the more well known authoring applications with Articulate Storyline probably the most well known and feature rich (Martinez, 2017). But what do these authoring tools actually do?
eLearning authoring tools are designed to make content creation less cumbersome, the designer does not need to know how to code. The authoring tool is based on the drag and drop process, which allows the user to manipulate images, text, and other resources with ease (Nichols). Once a user has created their content within the authoring tool, they can then export it out to a format that is usable in the choice of LMS. This allows great levels of flexibility as the authoring tool can export out to many different formats. The foundation for authoring tools is to make content creation easier for the end user (Nichols) and they provide many advantages over other means of content creation.
Authoring tools allow almost anyone to create content without extensive knowledge of coding or programming languages. Both of these require lots of time and energy to learn and implement, with authoring tools these skills are no longer needed. Using these tools allows users to control their own content and scale as needed. As demand increases, developers can add to their current training or material faster than having to wait for an outside source to update the content. Finally, the ability to add to the material when needed by copying current content, update, and then publish (Nichols). However, one of the biggest disadvantages is the cost of entry. For example, Elucidat costs upwards of $7,500 for the basic (and only) price version. Storyline from Articulate costs $1,400 per user (Martinez, 2017).
Instructors who utilize authoring tools, can create their own content and control how they can present their material. Once a user has learned the fundamentals of the authoring tools, they are able to work more efficiently and develop better and more robust content that can be updated easily. The use of these authoring tools allows for a more engaging and interactive learning experience which should result in higher levels of student success at all levels of academia.
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Works Referenced:
Anonymous. (2023, February 23). What is an authoring tool?: Comparison & examples [guide]. Valamis. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from https://www.valamis.com/hub/authoring-tool#:~:text=An%20elearning%20authoring%20tool%20is,be%20saved%20in%20various%20formats.
Martinez, J. (2017, November 29). The best elearning authoring tools. PCMAG. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-elearning-authoring-tools
Nichols, R. (n.d.). What is an authoring tool and do you really need one? 360Learning. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from https://360learning.com/blog/authoring-tool/
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