Top E-learning Authoring Tools For 2020 – E-learning may seem pretty expensive, but the truth is there are plenty of freeware tools on the market. Such options can be a great starting point for those who are just beginning to work with e-learning and want to get a taste of what it’s like to do instructional design.
Top E-learning Authoring Tools For 2020:
In this article, we’ll explore the 10 best free e-learning authoring tools available on the Web.
1. iSpring Free
The “little brother” of the well-known iSpring Suite is very capable by itself. Install it on your Windows machine for free and start creating your first training course straight away. It allows you to turn old boring PowerPoint presentations into mobile-compatible SCORM courses with quizzes and YouTube videos.
The main advantage of the tool is its simplicity. The editor has an intuitive interface, so it’s suitable for novice course developers. What’s truly great about iSpring Free is that the number of courses you can create using this program is not limited, unlike many other free authoring programs. This tool is definitely among the world’s best free e-learning authoring software.
2. Scratch
Scratch is not your standard business-oriented e-learning tool. It’s a free MIT-developed online platform that can be used to program interactive games, narrated stories, and whatever your imagination can come up with. The tool is mainly oriented toward kids aged 8-16 years, although the vendor states “it’s used by people of all ages.”
If you’re looking for something that can give your inner creativity a boost, while still providing leverage to create online learning, definitely try out this free content authoring tool – you won’t be disappointed.
3. Easygenerator
Easygenerator is a cloud-based e-learning authoring tool you can run in your browser. The free version offers just a fraction of the functionality available with the paid tool, but it’s still a reliable online authoring platform with features like WYSIWYG editing and drag-and-drop workflow.
Support for such e-learning standards as SCORM, xAPI, and LTI makes Easygenerator a prominent candidate among cloud-hosted free SCORM authoring tools.
4. AdaptiveU
This is another example of an online authoring platform that offers an unlimited trial plan for 1 GB of data and 10 users. It allows you to not only create training content, but also to invite learners and track their training statistics, which makes it a learning management system.
The free plan would only let you create up to 10 courses, but this should be enough for you to get a grasp of what online learning management is like.
5. isEazy
isEazy is a cloud-based authoring tool that enables you to create and distribute e-learning courses that work on any device and supports LMS (SCORM) and HTML5 export. A huge variety of interactive resources allow you to create engaging and dynamic content to educate or engage your audience.
As a free e-learning tool, isEazy has serious limitations. In the free version of the service: no more than 1 author is allowed, you are limited to 3 projects and a total size of 0.3GB, and the projects are published with a watermark and the isEazy logo.
6. GLO Maker
GLO Maker is a free desktop tool for creating rich interactive learning content. It builds on the vast experience of the Center of Excellence for Teaching and Learning (CETL) in the field of reusable learning objects.
Focused on learning design and providing powerful features in an easy-to-use interface, GLO is a bit out of date with support only for Flash output. However, I’m sure that there are still users out there who prefer Flash to HTML5, so if you’re one of them, check it out.
7. Adapt
Adapt is an open-source content authoring tool with a modern responsive design. Even though it is open source, you don’t need to know programming to use it. There are some prerequisites, though. For one, you need to have a server. Plus, it requires you to be able to install and configure things like git, Node.js, and MongoDB.
This platform has built-in SCORM export and allows you to use a community-supported library of dozens of plug-ins that extend the functionality of the tool. It also makes it easy for multiple authors to collaborate on the same project, which is something you don’t usually find in free course authoring tools.
8. ActivePresenter 8
ActivePresenter 8 is an easy-to-use video editor and powerful e-learning tool. The integration of these useful features into ActivePresenter allows you to quickly capture your screen and create e-learning content step by step.
ActivePresenter offers you the ability to make a professional intro or training video for free without watermarks and without time limitations. It has built-in advanced audio/video editing and the ability to record from the screen in high quality. Available for both Windows and macOS.
9. CourseLab Free
CourseLab is a free e-learning authoring tool that you can use to create complex interactive courses and tests. Its main advantages are flexible parameters and the ability to add your own functions via programming. An experienced developer who has mastered the functionality of CourseLab can create great-looking gamified courses with a branched plot.
The main disadvantage of CourseLab is a lack of training materials and an outdated complex interface. It’s recommended that you have at least some idea about programming before you try to tame this one.
10. H5P
H5P is a handy open-source online content builder that lets you create e-learning based on a number of available templates. Choose between interactive video, branching scenarios, and course presentations or combine them all to create your own e-learning course and export it as a SCORM package.
Conclusion
This was an overview of the Top E-learning Authoring Tools For 2020. Perhaps this list will help you find a solution for your e-learning needs so you can start your first online training project at no cost.
