The rapid outbreak of pandemic in the year 2020 has just changed the face of learning. People instantly switched their learning mode from physical to electronic. As a result, in the same year the eLearning landscape has changed a lot for almost every online educational platform. It has served a brilliant opportunity specially for those who were trying to do more with fewer resources. Thus, the demand of eLearning platforms has increased by multiple folds and to make it possible you need to learn some best eLearning authoring tools and software, that are free and easy to build eLearning applications.
However, only building an application doesn’t work in this competitive world. Thus, the platform should have to be interactive and possess something unique or a USP to attract learners. In this respect, to ensure the assembling of unique features and build the quality product you need to hire an efficient team of developers to make it possible.
Evidently, there a huge number of such and eLearning tools and software’s are available in the market, but to choose the right one for a novice won’t be an easy call. Thus, to narrow down your options, we compiled a list of 5 best eLearning authoring tools and software for 2021. The list will make it easier for you to gauge whether or not this particular eLearning software or tool is suitable for your product.
5 Best eLearning Authoring Tools and Software for 2021
1. iSpring Suite Max
iSpring Suite Max is an eLearning solution fully-featured for rapidly developing easy and intuitive content. It takes a modularized User Interface approach with specific tabs for different types of training tasks. Hence, it makes interaction easy and simple with a set of read-made templates which creates catalogs, glossaries, references, timelines, and FAQs. This eLearning tool has multiple quality features, let’s learn about it in brief.
Features
- Video and Audio Editor: It is a video editing feature that easily merges several videos with captions and transitions in a single MP4 file and puts it into the course.
- Mobile Learning: All its components support HTML5, which makes published content completely mobile friendly. However, it doesn’t require making separate content suitable for desktop and mobile devices.
- Conversation Simulation: It is a special tool that allows you to build realistic conversation simulation to help learners master their communication skills.
- Assessments: Such eLearning authoring tools allows you to build surveys, graded quizzes, and quick questions to check knowledge can be added in between the course.
Advantages
- Familiar and simple interface to build courses quickly.
- Build-in audio/conversation simulator with branching conversation situations.
- It is a robust eLearning tool that helps to create interactive surveys and quizzes.
- Supports all devices for perfect playback.
- iSpring Suite Max provides text-to-speech functionality.
- Supports cloud services for fast sharing of content and collaboration.
Pricing
iSpring Suite Max Annual Subscription costs $970.
2. Articulate 360
It is an eLearning authoring tool specially designed for course authoring, like Studio 360, Storyline 360, and Rise. It has a full-set of tools to add different objects to slides or in a content library. Library is a collection of course related characters, templates, backgrounds, icons, and controls. Articulate 360 is among such eLearning tools that also provides access to over 4.5 million stocks of illustrations, images, and icons through an online library.
Features
- Video and Audio Editor: It provides a simple video editor that lets you perform transitions from one recorded video to another, save output to your course, and add captions.
- Mobile Learning: Articulate 360 has its own mobile app that lets learner users play the content on their phones. Hence, the published videos and tutorials are fully mobile compatible.
- Conversation Simulations: Rise 360 – a cloud based tool has built-in dialogue simulation features. It includes a Conversation interaction template, however it can only be used as an educational tool.
- Assessments: Articulate Quiz maker 360 provides users the multiple standard response, hotspot, fill-in-the-blank, and some other type of questions that can be added in the survey or quiz.
Advantages
- Huge Content Library.
- Numerous different authoring options for all levels of developers.
- Has the ability to create basic interactions easily and quickly.
- It provides solutions for most of the eLearning tasks.
- It provides a free mobile app for playing and learning courses offline.
- This eLearning authoring tool has the ability to create responsive HTML5 courses, though it became possible and works rapidly with drag-and-drop feature.
Pricing
Articulate 360 eLearning tools Yearly Subscription costs $1,299 for teams and $999 for individuals.
3. Adobe Captivate
Adobe Captivate is a standout and one of the best eLearning authoring tools that has the capability to create Virtual Reality projects. It creates interactive videos with High-Definition studio quality video along with recording webcam and on-screen content additionally with interactive elements. The tool is traditionally a preferred tool for developing eLearning software simulations with the help of triggers, effects, and slide settings. In addition to that, it ensures a wide variety in creating realistic simulation and presenting to users in different modes.
Features
- Video and Audio Editor: Adobe Captivate eLearning authoring tool provides a built-in editor and helps to present video tutorials with various effects and transitions, such as pan and zoom. While recording video from a webcam, you can use the ‘green screen’ feature and replace the background of your video with that.
- Mobile Learning: It is highly compatible with different screen sizes i.e., ‘fluid boxes’. It can change the size and positioning based on the device screen size. Overall, it gives users the full control to handle the look and feel of your content on almost every device along with a smartphone.
- Conversation Simulation: Adobe Captivate eLearning software ensures smooth conversation, but has nothing unique to offer.
- Assessments: It offers a unique type of assessment in the form of software simulation. However, it turn out to be a crucial feature if you are accessing tutorials based on computer software.
Advantages
- Can embed 360-degree features or Virtual Reality into your eLearning experience.
- Asset library of this software includes people, templates, headshots, and full-body shots.
- It has the ability to generate text-to-speech (TTS) voiceovers automatically.
- True responsive screen display on all devices, and viewable as you design the training.
- The software provides complex software simulation recording options.
Pricing
Adobe Captivate eLearning software Monthly Subscription costs $1,299.
4. Elucidat
Elucidat is an eLearning authoring tool based on a cloud system. It lets you produce responsive SCORM-based content that can work with any modern LMS. Hence, the software aims to build a high quality eLearning product, manages content at scale, and analyzes performance.
Features
- Video and Audio Editor: The tools don’t allow you to record or edit the audio or video content.
- Mobile Learning: It is mobile-ready with all the published content being fully responsive, however it doesn’t provide a dedicated mobile app to download and run the course videos offline.
- Publishing Option: Such eLearning authoring tools allows you to publish courses to SCORM or Store Content in their Cloud Storage only.
- Assessments: This software supports a wide range of questions types for rated quizzes. Apart from that, you can also download the available templates to come up with some other types of assessments.
Advantages
- Manages eLearning content at scale.
- It personalizes the video clips of learners.
- The tool has the ability to create single courses that are responsive on any device.
- It can easily access the data and insights over how users are getting engaged with the learning content.
- The tool promotes page transition effects.
- Elucidat provides XLIFF translation support for localization of automatic courses.
