E-learning authoring tools

The development of good e-learning materials poses a variety of challenges for those wishing to create the content without the expertise and skills of a specialist design and development company. A wealth of commercial tools are now available that allow the creation of interactive learning materials for delivery across the internet, an intranet, a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), or on CD-ROM or DVD.

The list below gives an indication of some of the tools currently available. Some are aimed at the novice and require no specialist knowledge of content creation, while others are designed for those with some experience of authoring and require some technical knowledge.

Many suppliers offer a free trial of their product. It is recommended that you take advantage of this before buying to ensure that your own specific needs are met.

The software included in this activity does not imply a recommendation, and you are advised to check the copyright terms and licensing requirements involved in using these software packages.

Note: Software marked with * is installed on the E-Guides laptops and ready for you to use.

Anagram Genius	Anagram creator available to create activities online or free to download.
Anark®	Multimedia authoring software that gives you the power to create interactive 3D content to engage your learners and communicate your ideas. Particularly useful for CAD/CAM within engineering programmes. Free trial available.
Articulate®	Articulate Presenter: easy creation of Flash presentations using PowerPoint. Articulate Quizmaker 2: enables creation of quizzes, assessments and surveys. Free 15-day trial downloads available.
Audacity® *	Free open-source software that allows you to record and edit sounds
Acce-Lerator™	Joint funded project, initially free, to support tutors who have previously had no experience of authoring e-learning materials. Extensive on-line help is available.
Authorware®	A professional tool allowing you to create media-rich e-learning content. A free download to try it out is available from.
BigBook Maker	The NAACE BigBook Maker is an easy tool to use to create electronic, interactive books.

CamStudio *	Freely available software that allows you to record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create video files. Using its built-in Streaming Flash videos producer it can turn those videos into bandwidth-friendly streaming videos.
Composica©	Enables creation of interactive e-learning content allowing collaboration between tutors for sharing and evaluation. Live demonstrations available.
CopyCat Academy	Create anything from simple presentations to complex interactivity and simulations. Sample tutor training material available. Free trial period.
CourseGenie *	Enables you to take your Word documents and automatically generate an online course including navigation, pop ups, hyperlinks, self-test questions, audio and video, with export to plain HTML, WebCT Content Module or instructional management system formats.
Custom Learning Studio™	A blended learning package that allows you to use existing resources for a range of purposes. Allows full interaction with learners.
Docs Alive	DocsAlive is an all-in-one multimedia content creation software product, which allows the user to create video, audio, animation, text, drawing, and pictures in one document without the need for any other software.
Dvolver	Free online tool that enables you to make online movies using their characters, backgrounds, music and interactions etc but you enter the dialogue. You can then send the movie you make by email to someone else.
EasyGenerator	Enables you to create interactive content even if you have no knowledge of programming languages or specialist software. This tool gives you common methods of interaction, such as multiple choice and drag and drop.
EasyProf®	An authoring tool for creating e-learning content and multimedia presentations. It is designed for authors who are experts in their fields, who have experience in working with computers but not necessarily with programming. Fully functional evaluation version available for download.
E-Book Creator	A complete, ready-to-use system that any information publisher can use to create his own contemporary-style e-Books.

E-learning Course Development Kit	Enables you to author e-learning courses quickly and easily using popular and inexpensive web-development tools such as Macromedia® Dreamweaver® and Microsoft® FrontPage®. The e-Learning Course Development Kit has built-in navigation, bookmarking, scoring and other capabilities that every e-learning course needs.
eXe *	Freely available open source authoring application that enables you to publish web content without the need to become proficient in HTML or XML markup.
Elicitus	Elicitus is an authoring tool enabling you to repurpose content and create courses that can be used via CD-ROMs, an intranet or the internet. Using this tool you can also integrate multimedia into your content. Free trial available for download.
ExpressTrain™	ExpressTrain enable you to create interactive computer-based training courses. It includes tracking features that let you follow how learners are performing on courses, and how effective those courses are. Free download available.
Filamentality	Allows you to create simple web pages with structured links to learning content.
Flashcards	With Flashcards you can create online flashcard activities - online or printable.
FrontPage®	Gives you the tools you need to create and control professional-quality web sites. It uses PowerPoint-like drawing tools and automatic web content to make your website exciting and dynamic. You can also manage your internet or intranet website effectively using this software.
Gliffy *	Online tool that allows you to produce online diagrams that can be edited collaboratively. Free basic account available.
GoLive®	A visual tool allowing you to design, build and manage your website. Free trial available.
Google Page Creator	Google Page Creator is a free online tool that makes it easy for anyone to create and publish useful, attractive web pages in just minutes.
Hot Dog Pagewiz®	Uses wizards, customisable menus and other visuals to create websites with lots of features. Free 30-day trial available.

Kallidus	Allows users to produce interactive learning content for web-based and CD-ROM distribution. It is simple to use and enables you to create e-learning content quickly and efficiently, without the need for programming skills. Free demonstration CD ROM available.
Learning Pool	A new e-learning service from the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) that brings local authorities together to create and access targeted e-learning for local government and to share existing resources. Learning pool provides a simple-to-use authoring tool that enables non-technical users to build e-learning quickly and simply. Access to the services provided by IDeA is through a local authority licence.
Mindflash	Authoring tool based on Word®, PowerPoint® and Dreamweaver®. Demonstrations available on the web page. Free trial available.
Netscape Composer	This is the built-in HTML editor of Netscape. It allows you to edit HTML pages and then upload them to the web.
Nvu	Nvu shows how you can create web pages and manage a website with no technical expertise or knowledge of HTML.
PDFlab	PDFlab - lets you split and join PDF documents as well as insert images and blank pages. You will also be able to easily create PDF documents out of several images.
Picture Grid Editor/ Creator V1.0 *	Free software tool that allows you to create interactive drag and drop learning objects. It allows you to create interactive drag n drop activities for use in Word, PowerPoint or on a web page
Scratch	A free programming tool that allows anyone to create their own animated stories, video games and interactive artworks
Seminar	The creation of interactive courses, presentations and quizzes are all possible with this tool. These can then be packaged and distributed via the Web, CD-ROM, email or floppy disk. Demo available online.
SMILE	SMILE allows you to create multiple choice, drag and drop, sentence/paragraph mix, and multiple select activities.
Spellmaster	Create your own Macromedia Flash Vocabulary Training Aids.
Syberworks®	Create training courses with audio, video and software demonstrations. The programme automatically builds pre-test, post-test and lesson feedback for each session. Free trial available.

Tactic! Editor	An easy-to-use yet powerful online learning authoring tool. It enables you to design, produce, update and manage interactive multimedia training courses for delivery across the internet, an intranet, a local area network (LAN) or CD-ROM, with no programming skills. Free download available.
Toolbook Assistant	Enables non-technical business professionals to easily create high-quality, standards-based e-learning content without programming.
TurboDemo	User-friendly interface helps you to create your personalised demonstrations or interactive tutorial in 10 to 15 minutes. Site contains some good examples of its capability. Free trial download.
Trainersoft 8	Wizards support you through designing training programmes. Ideal for a novice user. Free evaluation download available.
Wink *	Freely available software that allows you to create tutorials on how to use software (like a tutor for MS-Word/Excel etc). Using Wink you can capture screenshots, add explanations boxes, buttons, titles etc and generate a highly effective tutorial for your users.
Workforce Connections™	This free resource helps you to easily create a variety of resources, including traditional web sites, online courses and presentations.
Xerte *	Free software that enables you to create and deploy interactive learning objects that are highly accessible. Users of Xerte will be familiar with Flash and will benefit from some experience in ActionScript or JavaScript.

Quiz, test and survey tools

Create a Quiz	Easy to generate and administer computer based training tests and questionnaires. The questions could be for a learner satisfaction poll, or, an individual learner may wish to create a question set for self-study purposes to prepare for an exam or test. Evaluation copy available for download.
Hot Potatoes™	A freeware software package that enables tutors to create advanced interactive quizzes. Easy and straightforward to use.
Quandary	Quandary is an application for creating Web-based Action Mazes, that can be used for many purposes, including problem-solving, diagnosis, procedural training, and surveys/questionnaires.
Questionmark® Perception	Can be used to create and deliver tests, quizzes and surveys on intranets, the internet or using Windows PCs. Evaluation copy available for download.
Quia	Create quizzes, activities, calendars, web pages, surveys and lots more. 30-day trial available for download.
Question tools	A software suite that allows anyone with a Windows® PC to create online tests and exams. For pricing information visit the website where you can download a PDF containing all the information.
Quizlab	Create online quizzes with automatic scoring.
Quizlet™	Quizlet™ is a lightning fast way to memorize vocabulary lists. It's like flashcards, but much more fun and interactive.