eLearning authoring tools have come a long way from the days we called it Computer Based Training or CBT. Today we have some great authoring tools that empower anyone with a few skills and lots of imagination to create highly engaging interactive experiences. There’s only one issue, many of the most popular tools like Adobe Captivate are not Software as a Service (SaaS) or cloud based. So, what’s the issue? Well, today we have the right alignment of technology and Internet speed to take full advantage of cloud based elearning tools that do not (I repeat, do not) tether you to one device or laptop. In this post we highlight the key features any “SaaSsy” elearning authoring tool should have.
SaaSsy Multi-device Authoring
SaaSsy elearning tools allow you to edit your course from any device. For example; your laptop is at the office and your boss needs an urgent edit to your awesome course. No problem there, with a cloud based tool you just pull out your tablet, log into the authoring app and go to work. It’s that simple and something Articulate Storyline or Adobe Captivate cannot deliver at this point. However, it turns out that Lectora Online is a SaaSsy version of Inspire which does deliver this experience.
Simultaneous Editing and Review Powers
Cloud based means you and your team can collaborate simultaneously or in tandem to finish projects faster. SaaSsy eLearning tools give you the power to scale the number of users and licenses quickly. Gone are the days in which you would have transfer source files, keep copies and manually maintain versioning of the updates. Cloud based elearning should also have a reviewing feature which lets your course reviewers give you quick, accurate feedback all in one place.
Native Responsive Design
In web design, responsive design means that a web page will automatically scale up or down depending on the size of the screen being used to view it. Every cloud based elearning tool comes with default responsive layouts because after all, the tool must also be responsive to be used across devices.
Multimedia Authoring
Since cloud based tools take full advantage of the current web technologies available; they are capable of including video, audio, images, illustration, text, quizzes, drag n’ drop interactions and animations in your projects. Some even come with gamification elements like badges and points as well the ability to add game plugins.
Tracking and Analytics
SaaSsy tools are the best in providing you with course progress tracking through SCORM and xAPI. Many of these tools also bring analytic features that are used in web sites like the powerful Google Analytics API.
Wrap Up
There you have it eLearning friends. It’s time to break the chains of eLearning-to-one-device authoring and get SaaSsy! Below is a video of Elucidat, one cloud based tool that does all the aforementioned and you can get the free trial here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZl7TTWJrFg&t=5s
