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Authoring Apple Help shows how you can create a basic help book and describes how to index your help book. Help Book Registration describes how to register your help book with Help Viewer. Opening Your Help Book in Help Viewer shows how to use the Apple Help functions to access and display help book content from your application. Luckily, there’s eLearning authoring software for that. Because an eLearning authoring tool can help you create cool online courses fast — and without breaking the bank. In this post, we’re taking a look at 11 content authoring tools to make your courses shine.

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You want your courses to be fantastic. You want to catch your learners’ attention, engage them, and provide a “flat learning curve” experience. But designing a perfect learning experience can take a lot of time.

Luckily, there’s eLearning authoring software for that. Because an eLearning authoring tool can help you create cool online courses fast — and without breaking the bank. In this post, we’re taking a look at 11 content authoring tools to make your courses shine.

But this article isn’t just a “trends list” with the best eLearning authoring tools for 2020. It’s a list of the most prominent, established players that have been in the market for so long that have proven how powerful they are.

Keep reading to find out about:

What is an authoring tool?

If you’re new to the world of eLearning, the term might look a little confusing. But it’s much simpler than it sounds.

All content authoring tools help users produce digital online content — text included. But in the world of online learning and training, authoring tools are far more than just a simple tool where you can create your first draft.

So, if you’re asking what an eLearning authoring tool is, you are basically asking yourself how to create an online course or eLearning content in general. Because this is what authoring tools are: the only medium to produce online courses by adding various types of content and media.

And here’s a detailed list of the best of them.

Authoring tools for beginners

If you’re a beginner who might not even know what eLearning software instructional designers use, you want to start small with basic tools that will just get you started. This is why, in this category, you’ll find the four best authoring tools for beginners so you can start experimenting without getting lost in manuals and product tours.

Elucidat

First of all, Elucidat is cloud-based. So, we’re talking about an extra layer of security since everything is stored and backed up automatically. As a result, beginners don’t have to worry about backups while playing around with a new tool they’re trying to explore.

With an extensive library of pre-built templates (and of course the ability to build a course from scratch), Elucidat allows you to explore its features and capabilities from the moment you log in.

What’s even greater, though, is that it also grows as you grow. When you reach a point where you need more sophisticated tools from your authoring tool, Elucidat is there for you. Create interactive eLearning content with gamification, social polling, and interactive elements that will hook your learners right from the very beginning.

Go with Elucidat if you:

• Want your courses to be interactive
• Need an easy-to-use, intuitive interface while building your courses
• Are all about collaboration — multiple authors can work on the same course

Look elsewhere if you:

• Don’t have much time to fully understand the wide variety of tools it comes with
• Want to see if instructional design is for you, and don’t want to spend too much

Camtasia

If you’re an eLearning trends follower, you must have noticed that at least 90% of online courses rely a lot on video content. Sure, you might be looking for the best rapid authoring tool to create kickass courses. But, sooner or later, you’re going to need a video platform.

Camtasia is perfect for this. With some advanced features such as screen and video recording, a course creator can engage learners by offering interactive video content. What’s more, Camtasia comes with reports on test scores that are sent to you daily to monitor your learners’ performance. And reporting is knowing!

Go with Camtasia if you:

• Want not only a screen recorder but also a powerful video editor
• Want your final videos to have no limits to their length
• Need a tool to integrate with your presentation tools

Look elsewhere if you:

• Need a web app and not a downloadable program
• Don’t want to pay every time you have to update to the most recent version

Gomo

First of all, Gomo is a cloud-based eLearning authoring software tool. This means that it allows you to host your courses on the web or offline via the Gomo app.

Even though Gomo’s design is already attractive, to fully customize (and leverage) all the templates it comes with, you need to have a background in development. However, to create a basic, first course, all you have to do is access the quick start wizard and start building your course in just a few clicks.

Just like Elucidat, Gomo is a collaborative tool. This means that many creators can work on the same course at the same time no matter where in the world they’re located. In fact, Gomo is one of the few (and best) eLearning authoring tools that have geo-location in mind with various translating tools and geo-targeting options.

Go with Gomo if you:

• Are a beginner and want to experiment with an authoring tool
• Want to have your projects available on the cloud
• Want to deliver your courses globally in multiple languages

Look elsewhere if you:

• Usually look for a more modern, intuitive interface from your tools
• Need freedom and not templated designs when building courses

Easygenerator

As the name suggests, Easygenerator wants to make a creator’s life easier by providing the right tools that will get them up and running fast. But, of course, it comes with certain limitations.

As a tool that wants to automate the creative process, Easygenerator doesn’t offer the variety of interactive elements that other eLearning content authoring tools come with. So, if branded eLearning content and uniqueness are among the things you’re looking for in your courses, you might consider going with some other eLearning tools examples.

But if you’re looking for the most accessible tool in the market right now to start authoring directly after you sign up, this might be an excellent fit for you.

Go with Easygenerator if you:

• Are looking for a responsive design and mobile-friendly features
• Rely on templates to create your learning environment

Look elsewhere if you:

• Want 100% mobile delivery — not all unit types are optimized for mobile use
• Are thinking of building original course layouts from scratch

Authoring tools for instructional designers

Are you an instructional designer who wants to level up their game by switching to a better alternative? Are you a newcomer who wants to dive right into the sophisticated, best eLearning software right off the bat?

Whatever the case might be, you want to keep reading for the best (and more advanced) eLearning authoring software that will help you deliver high-quality online courses you’ll be proud of.

Articulate Storyline 360

If you are a Windows user, Articulate Storyline is one of the best tools you could ever go with.

The concept is quite simple: if you know how to create PowerPoint presentations, you’ll know how to create an engaging course with Articulate Storyline. Because it basically gives instructional designers the ability to develop high-end presentation slides that look stunning.

The idea might sound simple. But Articulate, by design, is a little complex and requires some extra eLearning authoring experience. And maybe this is why it’s one of the most popular choices in the online training community.

Go with Articulate Storyline 360 if you:

• Want full control over the final look and feel of the course
• Are looking for one of the most well-established tools in the market
• Want your courses to look visually appealing

Look elsewhere if you:

• Are not into software that requires local installation

Articulate Rise 360

Unlike Articulate Storyline, Articulate Rise is a web-based eLearning authoring tool that instructional designers can use to create amazing courses. All in an easy-to-use and intuitive interface.

With many different unit types to choose from, instructional designers who don’t have that much experience can create courses full of interactive elements that look as appealing as it gets. And maybe this is precisely why it’s on every “best eLearning authoring tools” list out there.

Rise 360 comes with course templates to choose from, which means that the range of visuals is not that unique, and courses (at least design-wise) might feel identical. However, after you spend some time with it and learn to use the tools it offers appropriately, you will be able to create stunning eLearning content.

Go with Articulate Rise 360 if you:

• Need a cloud-based solution
• Are all about modern interfaces
• Want a simple, easy-to-use solution

Look elsewhere if you:

• Don’t want any storage or customization limitations

Lectora Online

Lectora, as one of the first authoring tools to ever come out, grants many different features to produce a complete, engaging, and professional eLearning course. For years, Lectora was a Windows app only. In 2016, though, the company released a web version that allows everyone, no matter their operating system, to use the platform and thrive.

Because if you want to excel in instructional design, you need Lectora.

As one of the best eLearning software options out there, it makes your life easier by offering a wide range of templates to choose from and edit according to your needs. But there’s a catch. The tool, by default, is made for professional and experienced instructional designers who feel confident with advanced content authoring tools.

So, yes, Lectora is excellent. But make sure you get some experience before you purchase that license.

Go with Lectora if you:

• Need a cloud-based solution
• Are all about modern interfaces
• Want a simple, easy-to-use solution

Look elsewhere if you:

• Don’t want any storage or customization limitations

Adobe Captivate

We need to talk about one of the most powerful, best authoring tools for 2019, 2020, and maybe 20-forever.

Brought to you by a tech giant, Adobe Captivate doesn’t just help instructional designers create courses that look amazing. It creates learning experiences.

But you have to do it from scratch. Because the course templates that Adobe Captivate offers aren’t very varied. Something that we cannot truly say about the quality of the features it comes with.

Course creators can record their screen on high quality, enable gamification and interactive features for their learners, and create an astonishing overall learning experience across devices. Of course, as a desktop-based app, collaboration and team-creation can prove quite hard, but this is only a tiny aspect of a perfectly designed tool that all professional designers should learn how to master.

Go with Adobe Captivate if you:

• Like to work with advanced tools to engage learners (e.g., VR)
• Are looking for a tool to produce interactive content
• Want to create high-quality screen recordings

Look elsewhere if you:

• Don’t want to invest time in getting the hang of it
• Want a tool where multiple authors can edit at the same time

Active Presenter

The people behind Active Presenter figured out the importance of video in eLearning. This is why they created the ultimate tool to help instructional designers create top-notch video material for their courses.

Active Presenter is an online, user-friendly video editor that allows you to record your screen, a voiceover, and/or a video of yourself. After you’ve finished producing your audiovisuals, you get to edit like a pro.

What’s more, if you do it the right way and put the right types of content together, you get an interactive course with multiple tests and question types that Active Presenter includes. Don’t be fooled, though. It might be easy to use, but it needs some instructional design experience to leverage its powers fully.

Go with Active Presenter if you:

• Work with preset templates or you want to create your own
• Want a solution to create videos for all platforms
• Need an advanced video-editing tool

Look elsewhere if you:

• Want a more modern interface design from your tools
• Want to import video files created in different software

Free or open-source eLearning authoring tools to consider

If you’re on a tight budget or you simply want to test whether you have what it takes to make it in this industry, this category is for you.

The list below features open-source and free eLearning authoring tools so you can test the waters and update only when you feel confident. The two leading players in the “free eLearning authoring tools” category right now are Adapt and H5P.

Each one for their own reasons. Here’s why:

Adapt

The Adapt Builder is one of the most popular open-source eLearning authoring tools. And we know exactly why. First of all, branding-wise, it’s one of the most visually appealing builders on this list — yes, paid included. But most importantly, it offers a wide variety of tools to create courses in just a few clicks.

Adapt is really user-friendly. Right after you sign up, you get access to a clean interface that allows you to build your course only by adding different content elements exactly where you want them to appear.

But if we had to pick one weakness, we’d say that since it’s a product that has to do a lot with image, you might need the help of a graphic designer.

Go with Adapt if you:

• Value cool interfaces
• Want to add many different assessment types
• Are looking for a SCORM authoring tool

Look elsewhere if you:

• Don’t want to have your learners scrolling while taking their course — the concept is built on deep scrolling

H5P

Let’s fast-forward to what you need to, here: H5P is an easy-to-use, simple, and free eLearning authoring tool for newbies who want to see what building online courses is all about. But this doesn’t mean that it’s not impressive.

First of all, signing up takes less than five minutes. After that, you’re immediately redirected to a page where you can choose among 20 different course templates.

Sadly, though, the visual components you can play with are limited. Ditto for the features. H5P, for example, does support publishing to SCORM, but only by using Tin Can API.

But when it comes to video content, it will definitely amaze you. H5P is among the best free authoring tools if you need to add a video (no, unfortunately, you can’t record directly from the platform) and add interactive elements such as pop-ups, on-video questions, etc.

Go with H5P if you:

• Are all for intuitive design
• Want your learners to learn via interactive elements

Look elsewhere if you:

• Want a video tool with video recording

Next Steps

Now you know what software instructional designers use to create professional courses. Yes, authoring tools can help you generate training content that will engage as well as educate your online learners. But is this all that you need?

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The answer is no. So, where do you go from here?

After you’ve finished developing your course, you need to put all this content you’ve created in your eLearning authoring software in an LMS. Because, at the end of the day, this is what will help you deliver a course to your learner.

An LMS with the right features will help create engaging content that your learners will enjoy using. When researching for the best LMS for you, make sure to check whether it includes gamification features. And, of course, a good LMS should offer reporting features for valuable insights into your training.

Save time, frustration and money with TalentLMS, the most-affordable and user-friendly learning management system on the market. Try it for free for as long as you want and discover why our customers consistently give us 4.5 stars (out of 5!)

| Tags: Tools for Training and Development

eLearning authoring tools have become increasingly popular since the last decade. Since their arrival, non-programmers can develop eLearning course at ease.

Let’s take an example. Without an authoring tool, instructional designers may spend weeks or even months on creating different versions for every single course. Let’s say, one for a desktop, another for a laptop, one for a tablet, and another for a smartphone. However, with the support of the best authoring tools, responsive and adaptive eLearning content will be created in a minute to fit different screen sizes.

Obviously, the benefits of authoring tools to education and training activities are undoubted. As time flies and technology changes, authoring tools have moved on to meet growing demands. However, there is always one thing remained the same. That is a frequently asked question of every user: “Which is the best authoring tool?”.

Honestly, the most unbiased and accurate answer to this question should be: It really depends! In fact, there is no thing that’s best suited for everyone. An authoring tool is not an exception. The best eLearning authoring tool for you depends on a wide range of factors. They can be your technical expertise, your budget, interactivity level of your eLearning courses, quality of output, and so on.

The following list comprises 6 well-known authoring tools for your consideration. Responsive design, built-in templates, complex interactions, qualified publishing options, scalability, and more advanced features can be found in those tools.

1. ActivePresenter – An All-in-one eLearning Authoring Software

Coming along the evolution of the eLearning market, ActivePresenter is an all-inclusive authoring software. The app has been developed by Atomi Systems since 2008.

ActivePresenter is a stand-alone app, which is not dependent on any third party tool. The tool can handle a variety of tasks thanks to advanced features and greater scalability. It is a powerful tool for creating slide-based eLearning courses with highly interactive elements. Besides, it also comes in handy for recording screen and webcam as well as software simulations.

With ActivePresenter, users can create a wide range of digital content, from simple ones like podcasts, flash cards, eLearning quizzes to complicated ones such as game-based learning, e-courses, and pro looking videos. Its output can be packaged to SCORM-compliant content, which is compliant with LMSs standards. Thanks to its responsive design, the output will work smoothly on any device.

Pros:

• ActivePresenter is available for both Windows and Mac OS.
• Users can import and export PowerPoint presentations easily and fast.
• The tool assists users in inserting lots of built-in equations. Besides, users can also modify or create their own equation, regardless of its complexity.
• It offers themes and templates to create the consistent visual design for the whole project.
• Users can add events – actions to every object and slide to create desired interactive actions. In addition, object states comes in handy for changing the appearance of an object. Make use of those features, users can create a highly interactive e-course and personalize it in a unique way.
• It has a rich-feature video editor.
• Recording screen and software simulation is at ease.
• Users can customize HTML5 Player beautifully in their own way.
• It offers a variety of output formats compared to other tools in the list.
• It supports common eLearning standards: SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, and xAPI (Tin Can).

Cons:

• Free forms questions aren’t available.
• Its content library isn’t as rich as other tools in the list.
• The tool hasn’t built-in conversation simulation editor.

Price:

• • Free for Trial Version (There is no time limit for trial version)
  • $199 for Standard Version, $399 for Professional Version
  • 40% of full price for Upgrade
  • Discount program is available for students, teachers, and non-profit institutions.

An acedamic course created in ActivePresenter

2. Adobe Captivate – A Stand-alone Authoring Tool with Advanced Technology

When it comes to top authoring tools for eLearning, it would be an omission without mentioning Adobe Captivate. This is a desktop app that uses updated and advanced technologies.

For example, the tool comes in handy for creating Virtual Reality (VR) projects. In detail, users can create immersive learning scenarios like virtual tours or crisis management. Besides, its Fluid Boxes feature assists users in aligning objects automatically. Thanks to that, the output is fully responsive, regardless of learner’s device.

With updated technology, Adobe Captive offers solutions for most eLearning tasks. It is suited for creating e-courses, interactive videos, software simulations, conversation simulations, eLearning games, etc. In fact, it is the most preferable for experienced course developers, who has basic knowledge of programming.

Pros:

• Adobe Captivate is available for both Windows and Mac OS.
• The app offers a rich content library (characters, themes, royalty free images, scenarios, videos, buttons….).
• It supports in creating virtual reality projects: immersive Learning with VR experiences, 360⁰ learning experiences, live device preview for VR.

Cons:

• Captivate requires a deep learning curve for new users.
• It has typical limitations of a desktop app. For example, sharing themes and slide master is challenging because the process is done manually.
• It hasn’t built-in conversation simulation editor.
• Inserting equation isn’t supported.
• Compatibility between older and newer versions needs to be improved. For example, courses created in Captivate 9 cannot be opened in earlier versions.

Price:

• Free for Trial Version (The trial period lasts 30 days)
• $1,299 for Perceptual License Price, $33.99 per month for Subscription
• $499 for Upgrade
• Discount program is available for teachers and students.

3. Storyline 360 – A Good eLearning Tool for Team Work

Among different products of Articulate, Storyline 360 seems to be a more advanced tool. The tool is a good solution for collaborative eLearning projects.

Storyline 360 features new responsive player, mobile-friendly playback, and touchscreen gesture support. Thanks to that, creating interactive courses which are adaptive to every device becomes an easy task.

Especially, the tool offers a great support for teamwork and collaboration. More clearly, it allows users to upload scenes, specific slides, or whole projects. Then, give team members access to those contents.

Pros:

• Storyline 360 has a rich content library. It includes many defaut templates, characters, photos, illustrations, icons, and videos.
• The tool helps to make collaboration easier. Team members can share slides with each other, access those slide content, and download them right from the tool.
• Both form-based questions and free-form questions are available.

Cons:

• The tool isn’t available for Mac OS.
• Regarding recording features, it lacks system audio recording and audio narration.
• Audio/ video effects and editing options are limited. For example, inserting blur effect or green screen effect isn’t available.
• The tool hasn’t built-in conversation simulation editor.
• It doesn’t support to insert Youtube objects, equations, and spotlight effect.

Price:

• Free for Trial Version (The trial period lasts 60 days)
• $1,299 per year per user

4. Ispring Suite – A Notable PowerPoint Add-in

Functioning as eLearning authoring toolkit for PowerPoint, Ispring Suite is one of notable PowerPoint add-ins. This app may be a favorite choice for those who work well with PowerPoint presentations.

After installing the software, you will see the iSpring Suite tab appears in the PowerPoint ribbon. The tab is next to the Help tab. It contains a group of tools and buttons for developing eLearning content. For instance, users can click a button to start recording audio, screen, or video lectures.

Being integrated with PowerPoint, iSpring Suite helps to convert PowerPoint presentations to multimedia e-courses. Besides, it also comes in handy for creating interactive assessments (with branching and flexible scoring). Added to that, users can also use the tool to build realistic dialogue simulations for corporate trainings.

Pros:

• iSpring Suite has a rich content library. It provides an extensive collection of eLearning assets (characters, locations, icons, templates, controls, office suppliers).
• The tool has built-in conversation simulation editor.
• It supports a variety of old and new eLearning standards: SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, AICC, cmi5, and xAPI (Tin Can).
• It has a free mobile app (iSpring play). The app allows learners to access content anytime and anywhere, without the need of Internet connection.

Cons:

• The tool is not available for Mac OS.
• It doesn’t support in recording software simulation.
• Audio/ video effects and editing options are limited. For example, it’s impossible to cut, copy, paste, join, or delete media ranges.
• The tool doesn’t support to insert spotlight, zoom-n-pan, cursor path.
• Text-to-speech isn’t available.
• It is missing quite a few interactions compared to other authoring tools in the list. For example, it’s impossible to add events – actions for objects or create and use variables.
• Free form questions aren’t available.

Price:

• Free for Trial Version (The trial period lasts 14 days)
• Current price for iSpring Suite 9.7 starts from $770 per user/year, and from $970 per user/year for full service (iSpring Suite+Content Library+iSpring Cloud+Priority Support).
  

5. H5P – A Free and Open Source Authoring Tool for eLearning

If budget is your sole concern, then h5p.org is a great option for you. This site offers free and open technology. At this point, don’t confuse h5p.org and h5p.com. While h5p.org is free for trial purpose, h5p.com is a paid service. So, make a visit to h5p.org if you’re looking for a free eLearning authoring tool.

H5P is a cloud-based authoring tool. In other words, it is a web-based authoring tool. To use the tool, all you need is a web browser and a website with an H5P plugin. It is currently supported for WordPress, Drupal and Moodle.

H5P allows you to create, share, reuse, or modify interactive HTML5 content in your browser. After creating an account in h5p.org, you can start developing online content right away. The tool supports in creating various types of interactive content. For example, videos, course presentations, quizzes with different question types, simple games, and flashcards:

Pros:

• H5P is great for group collaboration.
• The tool is free and easy to use.
• It offers around 40 different interactive activities.

Cons:

• The tool cannot run alone itself. It needs to be used as a plugin to WordPress, Drupal or Moodle.
• It doesn’t support to import PowerPoint presentations.
• There are limited features for complex and customized eLearning projects.
• Screen and webcam recording features are missing.
• It is impossible to make content private in H5P.org. Hence, all your projects will be visible for public.

Price:

• Free

6. Camtasia – A Worth-to-try Tool for Video Recording and Editing

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Camtasia is one of the big names of TechSmith. This app focuses on only one aspect of eLearning development. That is, to record and create professional looking videos.

Camtasia is renowned for creating different types of videos. For instance, video lessons, video tutorials, training videos, instructional videos, and more. The tool assists users in recording screen and webcam, with lots of video editing options. Besides, it also supports adding quizzes at any point in a video.

After finishing the editing phase, users can render and share the final output to Youtube, Vimeo, Google Drive and Screencast.com from within itself.

Pros:

• The tool is available for both Windows and macOS.
• It has a free mobile app for Android and iOS. Thus, users can easily transfer media from their devices for use in Camtasia.
• Drag-n-drop interactions make it easy to use, even for beginners.

Cons:

• It has limited preset media library.
• The tool is great for video creation but not ideal for developing slide-based courses.

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Price:

• Free for Trial Version (The trial period lasts 30 days).
• $249 (Single License Pricing) for Individual and Business
• $99.5 for Upgrade, $49.75 for Maintenance
• Discount program is available for education, government, and non-profit organizations.

Bottom Line

Developed by different software companies, content authoring tools cater to various eLearning needs. Whilst some specialize in pro video recording and editing, others function as PowerPoint add-ins. While some focus on ease of use, others draw attention to flexibility. Besides, there are also a few tools that can offer all of the above elements.

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To find the best-suited tool for yourself, it’s essential to make your own authoring tool checklist of key elements. Thanks to this action, you will know exactly what you are looking for from such a tool.