Development Tools
Unless you already have eLearning developers at your disposal, creating eLearning requires more than just a good understanding of Instructional Design theories and techniques. You must also have the ability to develop your eLearning content into an eLearning course and to do this, you'll need some form of eLearning authoring or Development tool.
What's so special about eLearning development tools? SCORM!
One can certainly author eLearning via more traditional methods such as Microsoft PowerPoint, however most of these authoring tools lack the ability to output a file that is SCORM-compliant. SCORM stands for Sharable Content Object Reference Model, and in a nutshell, it is the set of technical standards for eLearning software products used worldwide. It ensures that your eLearning content plays well with other eLearning content and with the overwhelming majority of Learning Management Systems used to house, assign, deliver, and evaluate online learning interventions.
Many different types of content (file types) can be output into a SCORM file, and many eLearning SCORM files contain several different content types. For example, you may create an eLearning course that has written components, video components, drag & drop activities, and a quiz. All of these can be included in a single SCORM file, or individual SCORM files, depending on need.
The two most common eLearning development tools
elb Lectora
One of the earliest eLearning development tools, Lectora is still used by thousands of people to create engaging and effective eLearning courses. Want to learn how to use Lectora? Click HERE for a series of short video walk-throughs!
Articulate<360>
Perhaps the fastest-growing set of eLearning authoring tools, Articulate 360 is fast becoming the go-to development preference of both seasoned and novice Instructional Designers worldwide. One of the features that makes it so popular is that the powerful Storyline software UI was designed to be immediately recognizable to those already familiar with Microsoft PowerPoint. Want to learn how to use Storyline? Click HERE for a series of short video walk-throughs!
Need a quicker and easier way to build eLearning fast? Articulate 360 has you covered with RISE! With it's pre-built templates, containers, and activities, RISE allows you to focus on the content going into your course, while RISE handles all of the formattings! Want to learn how to use RISE? Click HERE for a series of short video walk-throughs!