All About E-Learning Technology: Authoring Apps, Review Tools, and LMSs

There’s a lot that goes into e-learning, and a lot of technology out there to support you at each step. It can be tricky to suss out what different products do and how they can help you—particularly if you’re new to e-learning. In this post, we’ll talk about three fundamental e-learning products and share resources for further reading.

Authoring apps

An authoring app is any program that helps you build e-learning materials, such as richly interactive e-learning courses or a quick tutorial video. Selecting the right e-learning app is a critical, time-saving decision, but because the category is so broad, it’s important to understand what you need and choose the best app for the job. 

Resources:

• Overview of E-Learning Authoring Software: This article covers different authoring software, output types, and more.
• Top 9 Considerations for Choosing the Right E-Learning Authoring App: Once you have a good understanding of authoring apps, this article will help you pick the right one for your needs.

Review apps

 A review app is any tool that helps you collect stakeholder feedback and approval on your courses. Some e-learning developers work without any review tools, but this requires them to track SME and stakeholder feedback independently. This can be a hassle when you have many reviewers proving their comments out of context and in different formats.

Resources:

• 5 Steps to an Easier E-Learning Course Review Process: See how the right review app can fit into a better review process.

• 4 Ways Articulate 360 Empowers Your Course Creation Process: Learn more about Articulate Review, the project review app in Articulate 360. 

LMS

A learning management system (or LMS) is a tool that allows you to distribute your e-learning courses to your learners and track their activity. Many LMSs come with extra functionality, including granular tracking, integration with HR software, advanced reporting, and more. While you don’t need an LMS to deliver e-learning courses to your learners, many organizations have them to help make sure their learners are completing training.

Resources:

• All About Learning Management Systems (LMSs): Dig into the details of LMSs with this collection of helpful articles, including How to Choose the Best Free LMS for You.

• A Quick Introduction to LMS Standards: As you learn more about LMSs, you’re sure to come across phrases like SCORM, AICC, and more. These are LMS standards, and this article explains what that means and why it’s important.

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