The tools you use to author your courses often depend on many factors. Are you working independently, or with a company that expects you to use their software? Do you have subscriptions or paid versions of the applications? What familiarity do you have with the software? How important is a low cost solution? The below lists are not exhaustive, there are many other programs out there, and I will try to update the list as I become aware of them.
| Rapid Authoring | Graphic Editing | Screen capture | Video Editing | Animation |
| Google Classroom | Adobe Photoshop | Screencastify | Adobe Rush | Doodly |
| Adobe Captivate | Canva | TechSmith – SnagIt | iMovie | Vyond formerly Go Animate |
| Lectora | WIREWAX | TechSmith Camtasia | Adobe Premier | ToonBoom |
| Articulate | BeFunky | OBS | Adobe Character Animator | |
| Canvas | Infogram | Wistia – Soapbox | Animaker | |
| Blackboard | Imgflip | Vimeo | Adobe Animate | |
| Moodle | Comic Life 3 (App) | Blipshot | Mixamo (Adobe) | |
| Docebo | Paint.NET | Nimbus, | MySimpleShow | |
| iSpring | Background Burner | qSnap | Pixton (comic book) | |
| LearnDash | Round Edge Corners | Lightshot, | Blender | |
| Google Course Builder | Transparent PNG | Free Cam | Unity | |
| Alta – Knewton | Genially | Loom | Unreal | |
| Easy Generator | Photopea | Cascadeur | ||
| DomiKnow ONE | MagicaVoxel – free 3d editor | |||
| Sakai |
What are learners supposed to do after learning a course? Figure that out and build the appropriate interactive elements. - Tom Kuhlman
| Analysis Tools – Learner & Site | Mind Mapping | Storyboards & Blueprints Wireframing/ protyping | Summative and Formative Evaluations | Objectives |
| Learner Analysis worksheet | XMind | Canva | 53 ways to check for understanding | Blooms Taxonomy |
| Remote facilitators guide | Mindmeister, | PowerPoint | Assessment strategies | New Blooms Taxonomy |
| IRIS facilitators Guide | iMindMap, | Figma | Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning | |
| SpiderScribe | Adobe XD | SOLO Taxonomy | ||
| Marvel | Affective Domain | |||
| InVision | Psychomotor Domain | |||
| Axure RP 9 | ||||
| Justinmind | ||||
| Storyboard That | ||||
| Plot | ||||
| Storyboard templates | ||||
| Sketchize |
There are no refunds; learners cannot get their time back if we waste it. -Michael Allen
| xAPI | SCORM/ Compliance | ID Models | Learning Theories | UDL/Accessiblity |
| Devlin Peck | Scorm Explained | Kirkpatrick | Levels of Processing | UDL Guidelines |
| xApi homepage | Kemp | Information Processing Theory | 508 508 Checklist Federal guidelines | |
| TinCan Registry | Dink and Carey | Adult Learning Theory | WCAG WCAG checklist WC3 guidelines | |
| Veracity (LRS) | SAM / Rapid Prototyping | Cognitive Load Theory | WAVE – Web accessibility assessment tool | |
| xAPI Cohort | ADDIE | Multiple Intelligences | Vision Australia | |
| xAPI Foundations | Gagne’s 9 Events | Coblis- colorblind simulator | ||
| ASSURE | IRIS | |||
| Merrill’s principles of instruction | ||||
| Backwards Design | ||||
LTEM |
Audiences.... want people who they feel are just like them. Don't be perfect; just be real. -Rick Altman
Instead of packing as much information onto each slide as you can...spread [it] across multiple slides. -Jonathan Schwabish
If you want people to have fun--give the the day off. If you want them to learn...engage them with the content. - Karl Kapp
| Presentations | Animated Graphics | Text Editing | Closed Captioning and transcripts | Branching Scenarios |
| AhaSlides | GraphicMama | Grammarly | YouTube | Ink/Inky – text based |
| Prezi | LottieFiles | Alex | otter.ai – transcripts | Twine – Visual |
| PowerPoint | StorySet | Amara | ||
| Google Slides | ||||
| Templify | ||||
| SlideBean | ||||
| Presentation.ai |
| AI LMS | AI Writing & Ideas | AI Image Generation / Enhancements | Video Creation & Editing | Audio/ Sound Generation | Research Tools |
| LearnWorlds | Jasper AI | Midjourney | Synthesia | Storyline AI | Consensus |
| Sana | Copy.ai | Dall-E | Descript | Suno AI | Perplexity |
| Thinkific | Chat GPT | Flux AI | Runway | Aimusicfactory | Semantic Scholar |
| Teachable | Writer | Adobe Firefly | Sora | SfxEngine | Scite |
| Shutterstock | Hippo Video | Udio | |||
| Canva | Clips.ai | ||||
| Photoshop | |||||
| Storyline AI | |||||
Websites and Blogs to follow:
Devlin Peck
Cath Ellis on YouTube
Articulate 360 E-Learning Community & E-Learning Challenges
eLearning Industry
The eLearning Guild
CommLab India
If you have a solution to problems your audience has and you explain it clearly, your presentation will be persuasive. - Ellen Finklstein
A few websites with crazy amounts of information on them that may be useful!
Eurosis – Simulation & Gaming software list