Custom training content is becoming an increasingly important part of any decent training initiative. While outsourcing the development of the same is a popular way to obtain quality training content, many businesses are taking the DIY route.
If you count yourself among them, you must have realised that developing high quality training content is only possible with the help of the right tools.
In the case of elearning content development, authoring tools have been a popular choice in the learning and development (L&D) landscape for quite some time now.
In this time, however, the elearning industry has witnessed the rise of many new players in the area. As a result of this, there are now a large variety of authoring tools in the marketing, offering a wide range of features and benefits to L&D professionals.
The availability of this staggering variety in the market has made choosing the right authoring tool a confusing task.
With this article, our objective is to make this task easier.
Here’s how you can choose the right elearning authoring software for your training content development needs:
Conduct Needs Analysis
In the first step, consider what kind of training material is needed and how will it be delivered?
Do your learners need an interactive and visual learning experience loaded with videos or a simple slideshow will get the job done?
Similarly, consider whether your learners will be consuming the course content on a desktop machine, or does it need to be compatible with mobile devices?
This way, you will be able to ensure you are not choosing an expensive authoring tool loaded with features that you probably will not be using.
Conduct A Skills Analysis
Authoring tools have come a long way since their inception. As more features have been added to these tools, their interface has become more complex over time.
In this step, consider the technological acumen of your L&D skill to determine whether you can get a complex authoring tool with tons of features, or a simpler tool with a straightforward interface.
This step will ensure you are choosing a tool that allows your L&D development team to use their full potential in developing a great course. At the same time, you can avoid choosing a tool that will overwhelm your team with its complexity.
Consider Compatibility With Existing Tools
This is one of the most important steps in this process. In this step, evaluate the authoring tools you have shortlisted in the previous step on the basis of their compatibility with your existing elearning tools like your learning management system.
If your tools are not compatible with each other, you could end up wasting a lot of time with changing formats and making your files compatible to run in different tools.
On the other hand, with compatible tools, your elearning development and delivery process will be quick and seamless. Not to forget, making changes to your course content after publishing will never be a hassle.
Does It Fit Your Budget?
Budget is a significant consideration in all business decisions and the case of elearning authoring tools is no different.
Using the rule of thumb “you get what you pay for” you can expect more feature loaded tools to be more expensive than their simpler counterparts. Since by this step you must have figured out the kind of features and user interface you are looking for, this step shouldn’t take up too much of your time.
Conclusion
There you have it, the four step process of choosing an elearning authoring software suited to your needs.
