There are thousands of e-learning solutions online, alloffering a quick fix solution to your software problems. Whether you arelooking for health and safety e-learning courses or information technologycourses for programmes such as Word or Excel, you will find plenty of coursesonline, but which one is the right one for you?
At AccessPlanIT we have been scouring the web and testing the best tools online to give you somefeedback on what e-learning software products will work for you.
The team know thatcustomers demand products that are easy to use, incorporate the best available technology and provide the same level of support that they lookto provide in their own organisation. That why we focus on giving ourclients the tools that solve real problems and a support servicethat they can rely upon.
Our team want to ensure that you have all the informationavailable to you before you make your decision and hope that our key points tochoosing your e-learning tool will help you make the right choice.
What is your budget?
If you have limited funds your options are slightly narrowedand you may need to consider one of the desktop tools available. The most common is Word or PowerPoint which are a great base authoring tool.
If you have a bit of cash to spend it may be a good idea toscale up your authoring across your organisation or have a dedicated team of individuals doing the work. It could be worth considering a collaborative server-based authoring tool. These types of programmes tend to have more powerful capabilities and some are multi-purpose allowing for systems and non systems training.
What is your skillbase?
The idea of investing into a tool sounds like a great idea, but once you have bought it do you actually know how to use it? And how easily can you bring other staff members onto the team to use it?
If you take on desktop tools, which are of a similar standard to office applications it should have an immediate ring of familiarity to your staff.
However, server-based tools –while do share some features of windows applications – generally require a longer familiarisation period, but over a long period of time can deliver more sophisticated results. It would be a good idea to weigh up the pain vs. the gain when making your choice.
What is your ambition?
If you want to produce simple, static content with questions and quizzes then a desktop authoring tool will work just fine. However, thereare means and ways for this to stretch a little further.
The majority of marketing leading tools fully integrate audio, video and flash animation files. Having the flexibility allows to create content-rich media.
In other words, the more ambitious you are about how you present your learning, the higher the end tool you need to aim for.
Systems training andbeyond
If your main aim is to primarily or exclusively train insystems you need to consider a specialist systems training authoring tool.
If you are looking into non systems training for example,management skills or induction training, then a generalist tool will offer wider scope for content authoring, but it won’t lend itself well to systems training. Make sure you know what you are buying into and what it will do before you make your purchase.
For more information about e learning courses available visit www.AccessPlanIT.com or call 0845 543 0229.