I'm looking at a number of options for potential piece of work, and wonder if anyone can recommend any very simple, reasonably cheap e-learning packages that anyone could master quickly? I'm looking for very basic functions such as viewing a slideshow with narration, and completing simple activities and quizzes. It would only be used to 'mop-up' those who could not attend live sessions, so there will be hardly any budget available for it (infact, I'm sure there wil be none available from the client).
8 Responses
Camtasia
Camtasia is pretty good for recording your own narration over presentations. You can download a free trial here http://www.techsmith.com/download/camtasiatrial.asp
Alternatively Moodle is great. It’s a virtual learning environment so much more to it but it would fulfill your needs too.
http://moodle.org/
Captivate all the way!
Adobe Captivate is the best value authoring tool for novice developers – my team have been using it for several years and have only good things to say about it. We know lots of other users and there is a huge online community if you need help and support. We know many many other companies that use it too.
It is only a few hundred pounds, you can also download a free trial version to test it out. It pays for itself so quickly.
http://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/
Articulate Studio
Hi!
As the previous two contributors have stated, based on cost alone, then both Camtasia and Captivate would be a good investment.
If you can stretch the budget further, then probably the market-leader in the next category up is Articulate.
http://www.articulate.com
I’ve been using the full Studio suite for four years now and even today, I keep finding new ways to use it to create interactive e-learning.
As with the other tools, you can start with a narrated PowerPoint presentation (Presenter 2009), add quite sophisticated quizzes (Quizmaker), include a range of interactions that mean you don’t have to rely on narrated slides all the way though (Engage 2009); and if you want to add video, with just a webcam and their very easy-to-use Video Encoder program, you can add a video feed of yourself or include video as part of the main content.
The way you can combine all the elements together means that, with a tiny bit of thought, you can actually migrate lots of what you would do in the classroom into an e-learning format, which is great if you’re looking to create follow-up content.
Tim
You said no budget
I think for what you are looking to achieve, on your budget stipulation, while the options above are low-cost when compared to other systems, they still aren’t cheap (unless you take the view that investment in something like Articulate or Adobe Presenter could be spread out over a longer period, which they well could). I would certainly recommend either of those, but taking for my focus a real budget approach, here are some guerilla e-learning options:
A genuinely free alternative that will get your presentation out there would be slideshare.net (see this example from Cathy Moore and say that learning can’t happen with just a slideshow – the edu-blogs love this http://bit.ly/16z24i). Narration is also possible apparently. (£0)
Doubtless tracking completion is considered important, so you need some way of assessing that people have seen the show. You could use something like SurveyMonkey to knock together a survey-cum-completion test and that would be free for up to 100 responses (you don’t say how many you have) or have a look at others of which there are many (like http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/ – don’t know anything about it, but looks like it could fit the bill). (£0)
Send this out in an invitingly worded email and there you go. (£0)
Another way of cutting it may be to set up a Ning community and set your links within there, so requiring users to register on the site so you can see who took the time to do that. (£0)
If you fancy a bit of tech, if you can manage the numbers you could try simul-casting the ILT via Dim-Dim webconferencing (£0) or just video a couple of the ILTs and slice together with Windows MovieMaker (free) and send out links via YouTube or one of the other video sites (£0).
For more alternatives search out Jane Hart’s Directory of elearning tools which tells you what’s available. One word of advice – don’t be seduced by the ‘free’ label on OS LMSs like Moodle – even without support it would be time costly, so in this instance not appropriate (though certainly it and alternatives like Dokeos are great with a little time and money – and I’m an Moodle admin so not pushing paid for alternatives).
Captivate!
We too would advocate captivate – brilliant piece of software.
elearning packages
Hi,
I found some easy-to-use yet inexpensive authoring tools for you.
For Learning Management System, you could use Moodle, it is a free LMS system, there are also 10 open sourse LMSs alternatives to Moodle.
For assessment tool, you could choose Wondershare QuizCreator , it is a handy and ideal tools for teachers, trainers, or educators to build professional quizzes or assessments published for LMS or on Internet. It is also 9 question types and multimedia supported.
For screen recorder for simulation, I like Techsmith Camtasia, because of its easy-to-use, you can record your PC screen and create professional-looking videos that clearly demonstrate a process, a product, or an idea.
for courseware creator, I like courselab , it is free, and it has powerful editing features.
elearning packages
Hi,
I found some easy-to-use yet inexpensive authoring tools for you.
For Learning Management System, you could use Moodle, it is a free LMS system, there are also 10 open sourse LMSs alternatives to Moodle.
For assessment tool, you could choose Wondershare QuizCreator , it is a handy and ideal tools for teachers, trainers, or educators to build professional quizzes or assessments published for LMS or on Internet. It is also 9 question types and multimedia supported.
For screen recorder for simulation, I like Techsmith Camtasia, because of its easy-to-use, you can record your PC screen and create professional-looking videos that clearly demonstrate a process, a product, or an idea.
for courseware creator, I like courselab , it is free, and it has powerful editing features.
Articulate
I’ve used Camtasia, Captivate, and Articulate Presenter. Articulate is easy. You can do exactly what you’re asking for. One-time purchase, no licensing that you have to renew every year. You can go onto their website and view a sample. You can incorporate quizzes. And Articulate sends a monthly email giving you plenty of tips and how-tos. And, no, I don’t work for them!!