Most readers of Learning Solutions are involved in creating and distributing digital training content. eLearning authoring tools are essential to the work of most of those readers: software that supports the creation, publication, and distribution of asynchronous digital training content, specifically content in a format that can be uploaded to a learning management system (LMS).
The Authoring Tools 2019 Research Report is The Learning Guild’s most recent information on the subject of such eLearning authoring tools. The global COVID-19 pandemic and shift to virtual classrooms will have changed the world of software used for creation and distribution of learning and training content. There is much we do not know yet.
What we can be certain of is that learning and development (L&D) organizations will continue to use eLearning authoring tools. In the 2019 survey, 7.8% of the respondents were looking to replace their current authoring tools, and 18.5% wanted to add tools to the ones they already used. In Learning Solutions this week, our focus is on the needs of those practitioners who will be making some changes. What are the questions they should be asking, and what should they be considering?
This focus could be important since the amount of change could be large, given the possible effect of the challenges created by a sizeable population of learners still working from home, the availability of new technology to deliver instruction, and the features offered by new tools. The requirements that instruction must satisfy—for development of hard and soft skills, regulatory compliance, and onboarding of new employees—will also change
The next articles in this focus week will address an overview of eLearning authoring tools, consideration of the media support features that affect selection, and the questions to ask when selecting a new tool.