In the world of digital learning, what is an authoring tool?
An authoring tool is a type of software or Saas solution designed for the creation of digital learning content, in particular e-learning modules. It is an essential tool in the digitalization of training.
The authoring tool therefore makes it possible to combine different media and different types of documents (PDF, texts, videos, sounds, images, tutorials, quizzes, evaluations, etc.) to build digital learning modules.
These e-learnings will then be made available to learners and trainees through an LMS. The LMS is a learning management system that brings together all your e-learning modules and teaching materials.
The LMS enables the distribution of e-learning modules to learners and trainers who must connect directly to the LMS platform to be able to access and follow the digital training materials.
The advantages of the authoring tool for training designers
Digital training and e-learning can hardly be designed without an authoring tool. A person who chooses to do without an authoring tool will take a long time to design his training. Design costs will also be significantly higher. In an increasingly competitive and constantly evolving universe, it is important to take into account the advantages of the authoring tool before choosing to do without it.
Because the authoring tools is specialized in the design of e-learning modules, it makes it possible to create qualitative training and content that is both more professional and more captivating, in particular thanks to the wide choice of teaching aids and animations (such as quizzes) that can be integrated into any e-learning module.
The advantages of the authoring tool for digital learning can be summarized in 5 key points:
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Time and cost savings,
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Greater flexibility in updating e-learning modules,
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Training that takes advantage of the latest digital technological advances,
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Fun and engaging e-learning modules,
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Centralization of training content.
Disadvantages of the authoring tool
The authoring tool has some limitations. The first being, although it allows you to design e-learning modules by assembling content and media, the authoring tool does not allow you to directly produce videos, presentations or any other type of media directly. It is therefore necessary to use other solutions to produce the different media.
The authoring tool also does not allow you to control the other components of training: user management, trainer management, trainee monitoring, sending invitations, analysis of the results of evaluations and questionnaires, etc.
This therefore implies that it is necessary to have an additional tool such as an LMS to manage and distribute the training courses created on an authoring tool.
Like the vast majority of solutions, authoring tools have a cost and require time to adapt to fully understand the different functionalities.
Alternatives to the authoring tool
Fortunately, there are reliable and relevant alternatives to the authoring tool! Some LMS platforms such as ExperQuiz combine all the features of the LMS while integrating a complete authoring tool brick. The objective is therefore to simplify training management a little more by centralizing as many functionalities as possible in a single solution.
The training creator can therefore create his e-learning modules and training courses, host the content in question and manage the entire training cycle directly on the LMS platform without having to change tools.