How to Find the Right Elearning Tools

When evaluating competing elearning tools for elearning content development, you need to think about the most efficient and effective way to achieve your goals. For many companies, it is better to consider their elearning tools as part of an overall strategy for providing up-to-date, instructionally effective elearning on a broad range of subjects. Here are some important questions to ask.

Build It Yourself or Buy It Off the Shelf?

If a leading elearning vendor like Skillsoft can provide you with high-quality, off-the-shelf elearning content for the subjects that interest you, it makes little sense to spend time developing content from scratch. If you are concerned about the elearning content reflecting your company's brand and unique processes, you can buy elearning tools from Skillsoft that allow you to easily customize for yourself its off-the-shelf courses, with your look-and-feel. Skillsoft's SkillStudio elearning tools let you benefit from its expertise in instructional design and rich media, while producing courses that are tailored to your learners' expectations.

How to Maintain Consistency?

For the sake of your learners, it's desirable to maintain consistency across all your elearning curricula. If you've invested in Skillsoft courses, it's a good idea when developing your own custom content to use a format that is consistent with your Skillsoft courses. You can achieve this consistency by using elearning tools from Skillsoft, whose elearning tools are designed to produce courses that have the same navigation, structure, and instructional-design elements as its regular courses.

What's the Timeline and Expected Shelf Life?

Time is always an important consideration, and you may need to develop elearning content rapidly in some cases. Sometimes the training is based around a process that is likely to change, or it may be a short-term need. In these cases, it makes sense to use elearning tools designed for rapid development, like Skillsoft's DialogueTM.

Who Will Be Doing the Development?

Will the elearning tools be used by an experienced elearning developer or by a subject matter expert? For subject matter experts, it's important to have easy-to-use elearning tools that don't require special skills (graphics, programming, or instructional design). Again Skillsoft's user-friendly elearning tools are a perfect fit.

Skillsoft Has the Right Elearning Tools and Services for You

For customers who desire a higher level of service, the Skillsoft Custom Development Services Group can manage the testing and publishing process to ensure compliance with standards and problem-free deployment. The Custom Development Services Group can also be engaged to develop learning content from the ground up.

To learn more about Skillsoft's elearning tools, please visit the Skillsoft home page and check out Custom Content Authoring and Development under the product menu. Please also check out Skillsoft's wide range of e learning products, services, and solutions, including its award-winning courseware and e learning modules, online reference book collections featuring searchable full-text digital books, and solutions for specific training needs such as IT certification, web design training, or project management training.