However, only building an application doesn’t work in this competitive world. Thus, the platform should have to be interactive and possess something unique or a USP to attract learners. In this respect, to ensure the assembling of unique features and build the quality product you need to hire an efficient team of developers to make it possible. 

Evidently, there a huge number of such eLearning platforms and eLearning tools and software’s are available in the market, but to choose the right one for a novice won’t be an easy call. Thus, to narrow down your options, we compiled a list of 5 best eLearning authoring tools and software for 2021. The list will make it easier for you to gauge whether or not this particular eLearning software or tool is suitable for your product.

5 Best eLearning Authoring Tools and Software for 2021

1. iSpring Suite Max

iSpring Suite Max is an eLearning solution fully-featured for rapidly developing easy and intuitive content. It takes a modularized User Interface approach with specific tabs for different types of training tasks. Hence, it makes interaction easy and simple with a set of read-made templates which creates catalogs, glossaries, references, timelines, and FAQs. This eLearning tool has multiple quality features, let’s learn about it in brief.

Features

• Video and Audio Editor: It is a video editing feature that easily merges several videos with captions and transitions in a single MP4 file and puts it into the course.
• Mobile Learning: All its components support HTML5, which makes published content completely mobile friendly. However, it doesn’t require making separate content suitable for desktop and mobile devices.
• Conversation Simulation: It is a special tool that allows you to build realistic conversation simulation to help learners master their communication skills.
• Assessments: Such eLearning authoring tools allows you to build surveys, graded quizzes, and quick questions to check knowledge can be added in between the course.

Advantages

• Familiar and simple interface to build courses quickly.
• Build-in audio/conversation simulator with branching conversation situations.
• It is a robust eLearning tool that helps to create interactive surveys and quizzes.
• Supports all devices for perfect playback.
• iSpring Suite Max provides text-to-speech functionality.
• Supports cloud services for fast sharing of content and collaboration.

Pricing

iSpring Suite Max Annual Subscription costs $970.

2. Articulate 360

It is an eLearning authoring tool specially designed for course authoring, like Studio 360, Storyline 360, and Rise. It has a full-set of tools to add different objects to slides or in a content library. Library is a collection of course related characters, templates, backgrounds, icons, and controls. Articulate 360 is among such eLearning tools that also provides access to over 4.5 million stocks of illustrations, images, and icons through an online library. 

Features

• Video and Audio Editor: It provides a simple video editor that lets you perform transitions from one recorded video to another, save output to your course, and add captions.
• Mobile Learning: Articulate 360 has its own mobile app that lets learner users play the content on their phones. Hence, the published videos and tutorials are fully mobile compatible.
• Conversation Simulations: Rise 360 – a cloud based tool has built-in dialogue simulation features. It includes a Conversation  interaction template, however it can only be used as an educational tool.
• Assessments: Articulate Quiz maker 360 provides users the multiple standard response, hotspot, fill-in-the-blank, and some other type of questions that can be added in the survey or quiz.

Advantages

• Huge Content Library.
• Numerous different authoring options for all levels of developers.
• Has the ability to create basic interactions easily and quickly.
• It provides solutions for most of the eLearning tasks.
• It provides a free mobile app for playing and learning courses offline.
• This eLearning authoring tool has the ability to create responsive HTML5 courses, though it became possible and works rapidly with drag-and-drop feature.

Pricing

Articulate 360 eLearning tools Yearly Subscription costs $1,299 for teams and $999 for individuals.

3. Adobe Captivate

Adobe Captivate is a standout and one of the best eLearning authoring tools that has the capability to create Virtual Reality projects. It creates interactive videos with High-Definition studio quality video along with recording webcam and on-screen content additionally with interactive elements. The tool is traditionally a preferred tool for developing eLearning software simulations with the help of triggers, effects, and slide settings. In addition to that, it ensures a wide variety in creating realistic simulation and presenting to users in different modes.

Features

• Video and Audio Editor: Adobe Captivate eLearning authoring tool provides a built-in editor and helps to present video tutorials with various effects and transitions, such as pan and zoom. While recording video from a webcam, you can use the ‘green screen’ feature and replace the background of your video with that.
• Mobile Learning: It is highly compatible with different screen sizes i.e., ‘fluid boxes’. It can change the size and positioning based on the device screen size. Overall, it gives users the full control to handle the look and feel of your content on almost every device along with a smartphone.
• Conversation Simulation: Adobe Captivate eLearning software ensures smooth conversation, but has nothing unique to offer.
• Assessments: It offers a unique type of assessment in the form of software simulation. However, it turn out to be a crucial feature if you are accessing tutorials based on computer software.

Advantages

• Can embed 360-degree features or Virtual Reality into your eLearning experience.
• Asset library of this software includes people, templates, headshots, and full-body shots.
• It has the ability to generate text-to-speech (TTS) voiceovers automatically.
• True responsive screen display on all devices, and viewable as you design the training.
• The software provides complex software simulation recording options. 

Pricing

Adobe Captivate eLearning software Monthly Subscription costs $1,299.

4. Elucidat

Elucidat is an eLearning authoring tool based on a cloud system. It lets you produce responsive SCORM-based content that can work with any modern LMS. Hence, the software aims to build a high quality eLearning product, manages content at scale, and analyzes performance. 

Features

• Video and Audio Editor: The tools don’t allow you to record or edit the audio or video content.
• Mobile Learning: It is mobile-ready with all the published content being fully responsive, however it doesn’t provide a dedicated mobile app to download and run the course videos offline.
• Publishing Option: Such eLearning authoring tools allows you to publish courses to SCORM or Store Content in their Cloud Storage only.
• Assessments: This software supports a wide range of questions types for rated quizzes. Apart from that, you can also download the available templates to come up with some other types of assessments. 

Advantages

• Manages eLearning content at scale.
• It personalizes the video clips of learners.
• The tool has the ability to create single courses that are responsive on any device.
• It can easily access the data and insights over how users are getting engaged with the learning content.
• The tool promotes page transition effects.
• Elucidat provides XLIFF translation support for localization of automatic courses.

Pricing

Elucidat eLearning software has multiple packages based on different needs. Checkout their packages in detail.

5. Lectora Online

Lectora Online is a cloud-based version of the same product Lectora. The eLearning authoring tool, Lectora’s popular Getting Started templates are a good quick-way for authoring. However, each template is equipped with built-in navigation, page layouts, interactive samples, and instructions to use. In addition to that, these templates offer different learning styles, and types of courses. 

Features

• Video and Audio Editor: It has a very effective and capable video tool that allows recording video from screen or webcam or both and can edit the results as well. 
• Mobile Learning: Lectora eLearning authoring tool is perfect for publishing responsive content, and is suitable for mobile-oriented usage. 
• Publishing Option: Though it is a cloud hosted software, despite that it doesn’t face any shortage on the standard set of output options, such as AICC, HTML, xAPI, and SCORM along with that on online storage.
• Assessments: This tool helps you to build surveys or quizzes by using a selection of 12 question types. Additionally, it can be in the form of True/False or something more interactive like drag-and-drop or rank sequencing.

Advantages

• This eLearning authoring tool supports conditional branching and sequenced events.
• It possesses built-in versions for collaboration.
• Lectora eLearning software is a global content management system which ensures updates of assets.
• It can easily introduce robust quizzing options.
• The tool allows review integration with the review links.
• It has a huge stock of templates and images from the eLearning tools.

Pricing

Lectora eLearning authoring tools Annual Subscription costs $500 for Starter, $900 for Pro, and $1390 for a team.

Conclusion

There are numerous eLearning authoring tools that overlap in the functionality of these tools. Hence, we hope these provided information turn out to be useful and help you select the right and best eLearning authoring tools that fulfills your business needs.

Evidently, not all businesses need the same tool or every tool that is available in the marketplace. Thus, to be successful you need to prioritize events which require thorough analysis. Just go through these tools details and hire the most efficient development agency and EngineerBabu is one of them to deliver the quality product. Thus, for any kind of assistance and to develop quality applications or website Contact Us, we are here to help you. However, EngineerBabu is a team of expert designers and developers that give a new dimension to your business idea and take it to the next level.

The post 5 Best eLearning Authoring Tools & Software for 2021 appeared first on EngineerBabu Blog.

Selecting the best and appropriate E-learning platforms in this competitive world is quite tricky. As, the e-learning industry is proliferating rapidly and offers a hell lot of options to go with the right platform.

E-learning has drastically changed the face of modern education. Evidently, the E-learning platforms are way cheaper than general forms of teachings and learnings. This form of learning is more effective and requires less time commitment than traditional education.

Apart from education, e-learning platforms have also become a great source of business and generating revenues. Despite having a lot of competition in the educational industry, the e-learning method is quite cheap and saves a lot of time. Candidates can complete their course from being in any part of the world and sitting at their homes.

There are a huge number of small and big e-learning platforms serving different purposes in the market. But here we are going to learn about e-learning platforms in the US. Especially considering the US market and e-learning platforms in the US; we have compiled a detailed list to help readers.

The list includes the top 10 e-learning platforms in the US and the description of such enlisted platforms.

Top 10 E-Learning Platforms in the US

1. Thinkful

Source: Careerkarma Website

Thinkful is an e-learning platform, becoming very much popular among IT-based professionals. The e-learning platforms in the US are gaining popularity due to the rising demand of expert and qualified tech-guy. As a result, people are inclined towards such e-learning platforms to enhance their skills while working and get a good salary hike.

Many e-learning platforms provide such services, but choosing a single specific one is difficult. Therefore, Thinkful is a great platform to start with your e-learning experience. It offers numerous online courses and contributes to enhancing overall learning experiences. This e-learning platform doesn’t focus on providing any certification, degree, or diploma. Instead, it focuses on students receiving a job straight after finishing one of the programs.

The company is based in New York City and was founded in 2012. The best feature of this e-learning platform is that it promotes in terms of providing a ‘1-on-1’ learning experience with having a team of over 500 mentors. Thinkful is very easy to use and navigate the e-learning platform in the US.

The drawback it has is high pricing. Therefore, every interested candidate can’t utilize this learning opportunity with Thinkful. Overall, it is an exciting and interactive website to visit and learn, as well.

2. BitDegree

Source: BitDegree.org

BitDegree is quite a different e-learning platform from the other available platforms. This platform focuses on teaching digital skills to registered candidates, such as data mining, web development, games development, blockchain development, database manipulation, and many more courses.

The major factor that makes it unique among all the e-learning platforms in the US is that it is heavily based on blockchain. BitDegree has its own crypto tokens, blockchain certificates, and it even owned ICO in December 2017.

BitDegree follows a vision of “making learning fun and rewarding”. They make it possible by providing exciting and gamified courses, certification, rewards, scholarships, and many other features. This e-learning platform cares about their learners, as it offers an abundance of features like daily & weekly rewards on achieving goals; add friends, earn badges, career quizzes, and many more. Overall, these are the few features that make the whole learning experience more enjoyable, engaging and easier for all of its students.

Being an excellent e-learning platform, BitDegree has a drawback of being a new entrant in this e-learning industry. In the initial phase, it is only providing a set of limited courses for its prospective students. But it is a good learning platform for solo learners and easy to go with searches on this platform.

3. KhanAcademy

Source: Microsoft Website

With time, the KhanAcademy e-learning platforms in the US is gaining momentum and popularity among the public. Basically, it is a non-profit online course provider platform. Hence, it doesn’t involve any requirement of payment or registration for any specific course.

KhanAcademy’s e-learning platform is popular among people due to its free availability of a variety of subject-based courses to make learning and search easier. It serves an effortless experience to operate the website and find your appropriate course. The quality of course content is quite good and holds pretty high standards.

Well, not everything is available for free on KhanAcademy e-learning platform- it is merely a misconception for people. As the company fetches all its money to fund itself directly through donations.

The company also offers some interactive features for parents and teachers. The tutorials are divided separately based on students, teachers, and parents learning requirements. This wonderful e-learning platform also offers tools to track student’s progress- something essential for parents and teachers.

KhanAcademy was founded by Salman Khan in 2008. Such an incredible e-learning platform is a California-based company in the US. It offers free learning courses and doesn’t endorse any advertisement- to make learning smooth with no disturbances while going through any learning video. Well, it doesn’t have such any disturbing drawback, but a suggestion can be made- it requires some visual improvements to smoothen the overall learning experience.

4. Codecademy

Source: Codecademy Website

As the name suggests, Codecademy is an e-learning platform majorly based on coding learning. It offers 12 different programming languages to learn for its registered candidates. In this list, it includes some of the famous and in-demand programming languages like Java and Python.

The e-learning platform is very well-designed and serves high-quality content to attract more tech-lovers and register with Codecademy. As, the company is focused on providing quality tutorials to its students. Therefore, with the evolving trends and patterns of learning, likewise, the company regularly updates its learning materials too.

To make the platform distinguishable among other competitive e-learning platforms in the US, it offers interactive courses, different subscription packages, membership, and promotions. The website provides three different ways of learning; namely Free Courses, Codecademy Pro, and Codecademy Intensive.

Free Courses provide only simple learning tutorials, whereas Codecademy Pro provides quizzes, personal projects, learning paths, and so on. Whereas, Codecademy Intensive provides all the features of Codecademy Pro along with extra curriculums, exams, deadlines, slack channels, and so on. Basically, Codecademy Pro is a Bootcamp version for your learnings. Overall, it won’t be wrong to address the Codecademy e-learning platform as the best online place to learn how to code or enhance your coding skills.

Codecademy was founded by Zach Sims and Ryan Bubinski in 2011. This brilliant e-learning platform in terms of coding is a New York-based company in the US. The drawback of this e-learning platform is; its Free Courses are too general, hence require some improvement in it, or students should go for other advanced ways of learning available in Codecademy.

5. Coursera

Source: Geniusworks Website

Coursera is another wonderful e-learning platform that allows its students to enroll in courses and get specialization in a field of their choice to enhance their career perspectives. Coursera offers certification of completion to its registered students after successfully completing the course. The certification is valid for the lifetime, as it doesn’t have any expiry date.

It is one of the good and reputed e-learning platforms in the US. It offers a variety of courses being in association with reputed universities around the globe. Apart from that, the content quality of the courses and tutorials is quite impressive and provides valuable learning to its registered students.

Coursera is such an e-learning platform that offers students to learn from professionals, university-level education, and certified university professors. This makes learning more interesting and reliable, as well. The instructors or the professors of the particular courses are masters of their craft- this assures the quality of the knowledge and education you are going to receive.

Overall, it is worth it e-learning platforms to go with while working and looking for enhancing your knowledge, as it offers a flexible time-period of learning based on your convenience.

Coursera was founded by Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller in 2012. Such an interactive and well-organized learning platform is a California-based company in the US. The only drawback it holds is that it is quite pricey in terms of going with courses. However, it also offers ‘Financial Aid’ to its students. So, if you find the course valuable for you and will enhance your learning, then you can apply for financial aid and get going with the course after approval.

6. Pluralsight

Source: Pluralsight Website

Pluralsight is another e-learning platforms in the US focused on teaching IT and software development to its registered candidates. It offers a variety of technical courses to support the learning and growth of the techies in the IT Industry.

The courses Pluralsight offers to its students are considered very interesting, informative, and of high standards. Well, its feedback from users represents that the course content quality is so high that it is quite difficult to find any flaw.

Pluralsight sorts its candidates based on ‘Roll IQ’ and ‘Skill IQ’ tests. It is basically an assessment test to better understand the current skills of its students and knowledge on the topic, and then analyze the improvement areas, which requires more attention. It is an online AI mentor- that takes role and skill tests and uses complex algorithms to carry out tests.

In this manner, Pluralsight designs a path for each of its candidates in order to enhance their learnings and skills. The company has very well maintained this teaching and learning etiquette since day one, and this makes it stand out in this massive crowd of e-learning platforms competition.

Pluralsight was founded by Aaron Skonnard, Fritz Onion, Bill Williams, and Keith Brown in 2004. It is a unique e-learning platform that uses technology to analyze its student’s learning and is a Utah-based company in the US. The drawback company holds with its e-learning platforms is that it doesn’t offer any of its courses for free, despite providing a 10-day free trial for interested yet confused candidates to make their decision.

7. DataCamp

Source: Masterbipm Website

DataCamp is an online educational platform that offers a variety of courses of specialization in the field of IT. It is one of the wonderful e-learning platforms in the US and is different from its competitors. The courses majorly DataCamp offers are the specialization courses in Data Science and R Programming and other streams of Information Technology.

The platform aims to teach the essential skills required for working with data. The students can learn such skills while in their comfort zone, at their homes. The courses are very much focused and informative to provide the best and in-depth knowledge to students. Hence, DataCamp ensures to maintain the quality and reliability of the content to serve the best education.

DataCamp offers free and paid services both in terms of choosing the course. But, I must say, it is the most transparent company in terms of pricing and charging for courses from their registered candidates. It is a beneficial and brilliant educational platform for the courses it offers.

The negative point with its courses is that the e-learning platform serves limited video learning and mostly relies on assignments. These are very text-reliant and seem like a huge wall of texts, among course teaching and learning. It might also discourage students from learning, especially those who are at the beginner stage of course, or are new or not familiar with the learning and teaching culture of DataCamp.

DataCamp was founded by Dieter De Mesmaeker, Jonathan Cornelissen, and Martijn Theuwissen in 2013. The tech favored e-learning platform is a New York-based company in the US. The drawback with DataCamp e-learning is that it majorly relies on textual or assignment learning process instead of video teaching. As well as, it offers minimal learning opportunities through its free learning courses.

8. Edx

Source: Openedx Website

Edx is a well-established university level e-learning platform. It offers multiple courses to attract students to its educational platform and enhance their skills. These courses will benefit every individual in either personal or career development. It is an easy website to navigate and find the appropriate course from the pool of available courses on the Edx website.

Edx serves many interesting and new features to help e-learning platforms stand out from the crowd. The platform allows a student to choose six different types of courses and programs. Hence, the platform offers an abundant amount of options to its students to improve their skills and widen their learning horizon.

Overall, it is a brilliant e-learning platform and offers a variety and good quality of online courses. The drawback is that the courses are costly, making it difficult for every learner to go with the course and purchase it. As some of its reviewers say, the course is very poorly organized and had grammatical errors.

Well, with a few courses, we can not summarize it as a bad e-learning platform. Instead, it offers a great number of courses and with good quality of teachings as well. It is an easy website to navigate and offers a wide range of features to improve learning quality. Edx proudly offers University level of education to its students, being at their comfort and in their houses.

Edx was founded by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2012. Its Executives who manage this wonderful e-learning platform are Anant Agarwal, Nell Ma’luf, Kathy Pugh, and Cathleen Coyle Webster. The well-established name in the e-learning industry is a US-based company, having its presence world-wide. This wonderful learning platform is available in multiple languages to make learning easier for its other students.

9. Udemy

Source: Logovestor Website

Udemy is one of the most popular and familiar names in the industry of e-learning platforms. Udemy is not only a familiar name of the e-learning platform in the US but in numerous countries, or we can say well-known around the world. It offers a great number of courses based on a variety of industries to make the learning easier, faster, and more rapid.

It also allows other teachers to submit their teachings in the form of videos on this e-learning platform. As a result, whenever a student purchases that teacher’s course, the teacher can earn a portion of revenue on a monthly basis via Payoneer or PayPal. It mostly offers IT and Business Development related courses to its students.

Well, being a reputed name in the e-learning platforms industry, Udemy doesn’t take any risk with its content quality. The company ensures to provide the best learning material and verified information through its educational platform.

Udemy offers video class learning to its free-students but has a lot to offer to its paid or subscribed students for that particular course. It also provides a token of certification as the completion of course. However, it is difficult to judge the worth of this certification, as the company doesn’t boast too much about its certificates.

The free courses are pretty good and educational for a beginner or mediocre learner. But it had a lot of in-depth knowledge to serve its paid subscribers. Its website is also very easy to navigate and look for the appropriate course from the pool of available courses.

Udemy was founded by Eren Bali, Oktay Caglar, and Gagan Biyani in 2009. It is a great e-learning platform and offers a variety to students and a California-based company in the US.

10. Skillshare

Source: Skillshare Website

Skillshare is an e-learning platform that not only offers a variety of courses in different streams, but also focuses and promotes such a variety of streams. It doesn’t endorse or promote any specific field, whereas, allows its students to fetch any field of course and get a good quality of education from their e-learning platform.

Skillshare serves a pretty neat and engaging e-learning platform in the US for all of its users and properly focuses on all the available streams on the site. It also focuses on providing good educational content to its users. Hence, throughout the course in any of the streams, the company ensures to maintain the quality of the content.

To make the course maximally informative, the platform ensures to provide a very well organized and professionally designed courses for students. Skillshare provides team-based courses, which are very apt from the business perspective. Such courses allow students to learn and grow within a team through team-building practices and efficiency management.

Skillshare provides two types of subscription packages to all of its visitors. First is Free Subscription, and the other is Premium Subscription. The Free Subscription allows users to access all the free available courses. Whereas, Premium Subscription allows users to access all the free and paid courses available on this e-learning platform. Such, subscriptions are valid for a period of a month or a year. It is solely based on the subscriber, what they wanted to opt for.

Skillshare was founded by Michael Karnjanaprakorn and Malcolm Ong in the year 2010. This excellent e-learning platform focused on numerous streams has its company based in New York in the US. It is among one of the best e-learning platforms in the US.

Source: Rawpixel Website

If you have any business idea like e-learning platforms or any other, and looking for experienced and highly-skilled developers to transform your business, then EngineerBabu is an excellent destination for you. You can get the fast and easy resolution of your problems. We can provide you a variety of services and at a very affordable price. Experience the high-quality services you need with us. Feel free to contact us and take your business idea into reality.

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