Before now, traditional authoring tools had been the most commonly used tools for editing courses. They are desktop software authoring tools that companies employed for creating and editing their courses.
Although these tools play vital roles in course creation, they present several issues including download issues, frequent updates, mobility issues, and storage issues.
But with the advancement of technology, it’s been easy for developers to combat the often faced issues in the installed software authoring tools. The solution brought about the use of cloud-based authoring tools for creating and editing courses online
Cloud-based or online-based is an advance technology that enables content to be remotely stored on the internet. Comparing with installed software authoring tools, cloud-based authoring tools have proven over the years to be of better advantage.
- No install
Unlike the installed software authoring tools, there’s no need for installing any software in cloud-based authoring tools. You can access the tools online with ease at any time and place.
- No storage issues
With cloud-based authoring tools, you don’t have to think about your company’s storage server as everything is saved in the cloud. It also secures your contents from threats like hardware local failure.
- No updates
You need not think about the constant updating of your software. Your cloud-based tools are always up-to-date with the latest features.
Aside from these three solutions, cloud-based authoring tools also have many other features that make them better than installed software authoring tools.
Tips for choosing the right cloud-based authoring tools
Ease of use
The cloud-based authoring tool you choose should possess the “easy to use” features. You can determine if a specific authoring tool is easy to use by asking the following questions.
- Does it possess a logical interface? Or does it have a great workforce?
- Can it work for your objectives in just five minutes?
- How long does it take to produce 750 words?
- Does it need an extra authoring hand to create a friendly mobile content?
- How easy can one edit courses online and publish them?
- Does it support the collaborative effort?
These and many more questions are what the tool must be able to provide answers that merit your requirements.
Determine what the objectives are
It’s vital to determine what the objectives of the authoring tools are. For instance, are you going to incorporate gamified learning into your eLearning course to engage and boost learners’ knowledge retention? or better still, are you going to integrate practical sessions into your course to assess your learners’ level of learning?
These and many more are the objectives that you need to determine to guide you towards choosing the right authoring tools.
Flexibility and control over your designs
You know what makes your brand feels better. If you are choosing any cloud-based authoring tools, you need to consider that which offers flexibility and gives you access over your design control.
Some Cloud-based authoring tools like Wizcabin will give you access over your design control. It helps to save time and cost and also offers you access to create templates and themes in a way that meets your positioning and design requirements.
Comments and feedback system
Effective comments and feedback are very vital to both learners and instructors. It helps them to assess their performance and progress and also helps in ensuring ways to inform and adjust their learning experience. Therefore, it’s advisable you choose a cloud-based authoring tool that offers you smooth comments and feedback systems.
Fast publishing and 24/7 maintenance support
There’ll always arise a need to update your course. It could be for the reason that you detected an error in your course content or maybe there’s a change in your material. That’s why you need to opt for the authoring tool that allows you to publish your content fast and edit courses online at any particular time.
Conclusions
Choosing the right cloud-based authoring tool to edit courses online is one of the things you need to do well. That’s because it’s one of the tools you can rely on to produce accessible and engaging eLearning in no time.
