Making your choice

For some e-learning developers an authoring system is simply not an issue. If your course consists of collaborative activities, web research, individual assignments, downloadable documents and virtual classroom events – and this includes most educational online courses – then there is no need for an authoring system. Yes, you’ll need simple web development tools and the aid of specialist software for collaboration, tracking and running virtual classrooms, but these are relatively non-technical and easily available. Authoring tools are primarily needed when you require sophisticated interactivity between the learner and the materials – tutorials, assessments, simulations, games, animated models and so on.

If this describes your needs you have – as I have already described – two main choices: you purchase an e-learning authoring tool or you use a general purpose web development tool and bring in some specialist programming support.

Some choose to the former. Barry Conway is Head of E-learning at Unipart Advanced Learning Systems: “We chose Authorware primarily because it is specifically geared to creating interaction, including dynamic student pathways. It also helps us control the way the final product looks on the user’s screen, as well as keeping our code completely secure.” Barry is aware that some users will have an issue with the Authorware plug-in (it’s a one-time 8MB download) but believes that the end result justifies this inconvenience.

Others go with generic web development tools. Norman Lamont is an e-learning developer at Lloyds Bank. Norman’s been using Dreamweaver for a couple of years now, and the Coursebuilder extensions for the past few months: “Dreamweaver is excellent for building web pages and whole sites. The e-learning add-ons provides a good way of doing things like drag-and-drop and giving feedback to questions – things for which you’d otherwise need to be very proficient in JavaScript.” However, Norman is cautious about the extent to which you can divorce yourself from the code: “The more you understand about the underlying HTML and JavaScript, the more you have control. If you don’t know any HTML, you’re likely to be surprised by what appears in your browser. No web tool can be fully WYSIWYG.”

SmartForce (now merged with SkillSoft) has one of the world’s largest development teams, based in Ireland and multiple US locations. For their latest generation of e-learning product, they’ve chosen a hybrid approach. Says Dr Ed Hatton, Head of Instructional Design: “We use Flash for animations with integrated audio and Director for simulations where we need a tightly-defined environment. Surrounding this is our own custom web interface, built using standard web tools.” Although the use of Flash and Director requires users to have the Shockwave plug-in, this is so widely used as to be almost ubiquitous.

When you’re teaching software applications, a specialist tool can come in handy. Gill Breeze is an IT trainer at law firm Morgan Cole: “We looked for a tool that could reproduce the environments of any application, even bespoke ones. We wanted to be able to create practical exercises, that could be authored without difficulty in-house, and which combined an administration module to create syllabuses, keep records of skills achieved and plot progress. TutorPro came out in a very good light.”

What about the specialist studios? Epic Group is the UK’s largest developer of bespoke e-learning applications. Andrew Hooley is Production Director, Technology: “We will use authoring systems if that is what our clients require, but more generally we use our own custom-built library of templates produced by our programming team. Many clients are resistant to the use of anything other than standard HTML and JavaScript, so we seldom even use Flash or Java.” David Welham is Director of Learning Technology at KnowledgePool: “In the past we have used Authorware for applications delivered on CD-ROM, but we have yet to find a similarly-featured tool designed for the web. So at present we create our own routines, although we’re always on the lookout for new tools.”

E-learning developer Brightwave Learning has created its own tool, called WavePool, specifically for large-scale development using teams of specialists. Says Simon Brown: “We work with the client to come up with an overall design, from which we will map out a series of templates. Subject-matter experts are then able to work directly with the tool, through their web browser, to populate the templates with content. For ease of maintenance, we store this content in a database, although for delivery it is converted to standard HTML and JavaScript. Using this tool, we find it is possible to produce an hour of high quality content in about three person days.”

Authoring tools compared

Tool	Purpose	Browser delivery
Authorware	Learning applications	Using Macromedia Authorware Web Player
Director	Interactive multimedia	Using Macromedia Shockwave Web Player
Flash	Web animation and interactivity	Using Macromedia Flash Player (also included in Shockwave Player)
Toolbook	Learning applications	Either using Click2Learn Neuron plug-in or standard HTML and JavaScript
ReadyGo	Learning applications	HTML and JavaScript
Trainersoft	Learning applications	HTML and JavaScript
DazzlerMax	Learning applications	Java
Lobster	Learning applications	HTML and JavaScript
TutorPro	IT training applications	OCX file
Dreamweaver	General web development	HTML and JavaScript
FrontPage	General web development	HTML and JavaScript

In January of 2001, The MASIE Center conducted a survey to find out how e-learning content was being created. Of 1615 respondents, 85% were using standard document creation tools, such as Word and PowerPoint; 71% were using generic web development tools; 52% were using learning-specific authoring systems; 47% were using programming tools; and 38% were using authoring tools built into a learning management system, such as LearningSpace and Blackboard. Clearly, developers are tending to use a combination of methods.

As you will have guessed by now, there’s no standard way of developing web-based e-learning content and certainly no right way. Most of the professional development studios use their programmers to create custom tools that suit their own working methods and styles. In-house units and teams of one are much more likely to employ an off-the-shelf tool which helps them to avoid the technical minefields and concentrate on the realisation of their designs. If you do choose to purchase a tool, you’ll want to ensure it has the right functionality for the job in hand and a way of delivering the end-product that conforms to the hardware and software capabilities of your audience.