Toolkit: So Many Tools, So Much Time

In my never-ending research in the eLearning tools market, Imake it a point to ask a lot of questions of tool vendors. Most of the timethey relish the opportunity to brag about the features of their tools. Othertimes they seem to resent some of my more pointed questions on whether theirtools are able to address key elements required by excellent instructionaldesign.

That’s okay—sometimes the non-answers tell me more than theby-the-sales-book pat responses. It’s especially useful when I talk with themface to face at conference expos, such as the one coming up at The eLearningGuild’s Learning Solutions Conference & Expo 2014. I make it a point to do so each time.

What about the less well-known eLearning tools?

I’ve writtenabout several tools, most of which are well known, over the last four or soyears, usually focusing on one tool each month. However, there are so manyother tools that have little market recognition but that have passionate fanbases. Why do they stir up such dedication in their users?

The bestreason for this dedication is this: The users perceive that these products fita need. It’s important to remember that eLearning is not a one-size-fits-allindustry. There are aspects of each project that are unique. That is,developers must deal with a combination of the needs of the learner audience,the content, the context, the amount of training that has to take place, thebudget, the deadlines, and more. So a tool that may work perfectly for oneproject may fail totally on a different project.

Anotherreason for user dedication is a lack of awareness of other tools that may fit aneed even better. Nobody has time to review all eLearning development tools and keep up on each new version (noteven me), so it’s no surprise that once someone takes the time to learn a tooland becomes proficient with it, that person is reticent to give it up foranother.

Which tool do you want to learn more about?

My intentionfor the next two months is to shine a light on lesser-known tools that you mayfind useful. I’ll give you a short review of what I consider the best of thebunch, and try to give you a quick rundown of the strengths and weaknesses ofeach.

Do you use any of these tools? Is there one or more of these tools you’redying to know more about? Take my three-question survey, now through March 31:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/W57Y8HP. If you like a tool you want me toreview, and it’s not on the survey list, email me at [email protected].

Here’s alist of the 77 tools I’ve gathered—these are the ones included in the survey.Some of these are free and some are expensive. Remember that a free tool thatis weak and takes a long time to use may prove expensive over time. Anexpensive tool may pay for itself if it fits your needs very well.

1. ActivePresenter by Atomi Systems
2. Atlantic Link by Assima
3. Articulate Online by Articulate
4. AuthorExpert by ITWorx
5. authorPOINT by authorGEN Technologies
6. BRAVO! by C3 SoftWorks
7. Classmarker by Classmarker Pty Ltd.
8. ClickClass by ClickClass
9. Compendle by MyKnowledgeMap
10. Course Toolkit by Psychologist World
11. CourseAvenue by CourseAvenue
12. CourseLab by WebSoft
13. CoursEVO by CoursEVO
14. DazzlerMax by Dazzlersoft
15. Dipity by Underlying, Inc.
16. EasyProf by Itaca
17. easy TestMaker
18. e-doceo content manager by e-doceo
19. eLab by E-learning Group
20. e-Learning Authoring Tool bye-Learning Consulting
21. eLearning Course Builder byeLearning247
22. Elicitus by Harbinger KnowledgeProducts
23. Elucidat by Elucidat
24. eNetAuthor by eCom Scotland
25. EQUELLA by Pearson Education
26. eXeLearning (Open Source)
27. Expert Author by Knowledge Quest
28. GLOMaker by London MetropolitanUniversity
29. ICE Rapid Course Development byKnowledge Anywhere
30. iSpring Quizmaker by iSpringSolutions
31. izzui by Izzui
32. Jackdaw by e-learning WMB
33. Knowledge Presenter by KookaburraStudios
34. KnowledgePresenter by Research House
35. LeanForward eLearning by LeanForward
36. Learning Edge by Intrafinity
37. LearningStone (Open Source)
38. Lecturnity by IMC
39. Lersus by DELFI Software
40. LessonWriter by LessonWriter
41. Liquid Authoring by LandmarkeLearning
42. Luminosity Studio by CM Group
43. Metamorphosis by Easy Authoring
44. Mobile Learning by M-Learn On the Go
45. MOS Solo by MindOnSite
46. myBrainshark by Brainshark
47. Odijoo by Lambda Solutions
48. O-LAS Author by EssentialSkillz
49. OmniSocial Content by Mzinga
50. Openworld Presenter by OpenWorld Learning
51. Opus Pro by Digital Workshop
52. Perception by Questionmark
53. ProProfs by ProProfs.com
54. Question Writer by Question WriterCorp.
55. QuickLessons by QuickLessons
56. QuidPro by Quid Interactive
57. Quiz Creator by Wondershare
58. RightCourse by Right ReasonTechnologies
59. Savv-e Express by Savv-e
60. ScateIgnite by Scate Technologies
61. Scratch by MIT Media Lab
62. Seminar Author by ActeonCommunication and Learning
63. SoftChalk by SoftChalk
64. SOWISO Platform by SOWISO
65. Stratus by iTrain
66. SyberWorks Web Author by SyberWorks
67. The One Minute Learning Tool byInternational Safetyware
68. ToolBook by SumTotal Systems
69. Total e-Learning Solution byFlexTraining
70. Udutu Online Course Authoring byUdutu Online Learning Solutions
71. Uperform by Ancile
72. Versal by Versal Group
73. VIDIZMO Interactive Video by Vidizmo
74. WBTExpress Enterprise by 4system
75. Xerte (Open Source)
76. Zembl by Can Studios
77. Zenler Studio by Zenler