While Articulate Storyline is a wonderful development tool, many times developers end up with only content that resembles a (very pretty) slideshow, rather than enriched content with meaningful experiences that result in impactful learning.

Authoring tools natively lack sophistication of handling variables. Rapid authorware developers feel limited, and many fear tackling more advanced functionality such as JavaScript.

Most eLearning projects get off the ground with great intentions. Somewhere along the development path deadlines may be missed, SME demands increase, and the resulting project gets rushed and lacks consistent design. Having a style guide to refer to not only aids in the development cycle, but also assists in ensuring nothing is forgotten or missed. While documenting all of details of a project may seem tedious and nonsensical, having the ability to revisit a project months later and know everything is documented is priceless.

Micro-learning video is the creation of video-based content under one minute in length that is primarily consumed on mobile devices. The rise of user-generated micro-content has required the use of rapid storyboarding and predefined video content structures. As the length of the video decreases so does the optimal format of the video.

As the eLearning industry continues to shift towards a more software-like and code-intensive development model, it’s important for learning developers to understand the process of software development. An understanding of the vocabulary, process, and difficulties of writing code is important to better communicate with software developers and others who are involved in the process of writing complex eLearning.