Authoring Tools and Lectora Online Q&A

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Recently, Lectora® Online was listed in the “5 Top E-learning Content Authoring Tools for Corporate Trainers” by Software Advice. We sat down with the review’s author, Brian Westfall, Senior Market Research Associate, for a Q&A on authoring tools, cloud software, responsive design in mobile training, and more.Q: How does Responsive Course Design™ in Lectora Online fit into today's mobile world?A: Responsive design has quickly evolved from a “nice-to-have” feature to a vital component of any e-learning content authoring tool. Last year, we found a quarter of LMS users are now consuming training content on a tablet, so organizations need a great tool like Lectora Online in order to easily make courses that look and feel great on any mobile device. Otherwise, learners could easily become disengaged when courses don’t work on the screens they use every day.Q: What are the key findings on Lectora Online from this report?A: When we looked into top e-learning content authoring tools for corporate trainers, Lectora Online came up again and again as an excellent, reliable platform. Lectora Online has great responsive design options, workflow management functionality to aid collaborative training teams and a great support team from Trivantis that has been in the content authoring game longer than most.Q: What are some software selection best practices?A: It really starts with your core team. Get stakeholders, management, learners and IT involved early and often to get a variety of perspectives as you start gauging what your needs are and what different systems can provide. Then, don’t believe the hype. Just because a certain system is immensely popular or has a ton of customers does not mean that it is a good fit for your organization. Do your due diligence, demo systems and explore lesser-known options.Q: How can authoring software address common pain points for SMBs?A: There’s no way around it—creating great e-learning content from scratch can cost a great deal in terms of time and money. The ability to create reusable assets and master course templates with authoring software goes a long way to cutting these costs down, especially for SMBs. Then, in terms of integration, authoring tools allow SMBs to publish courses in a variety of formats that best work with their LMS to avoid plaguing technical issues.Q: What are the benefits of cloud software like Lectora Online?A: The biggest benefit that cloud software brings to users is flexibility, especially as more and more organizations look to create training content for channel partners and customers all over the world. Another benefit that can’t be overlooked is that cloud software opens up doors for smaller organizations who don’t have the IT infrastructure to support an on-premise solution.Brian Westfall is a Senior Market Research Associate with Software Advice, a company that hosts reviews of eLearning software and HR technology. His research is focused primarily on learning management systems. He holds a B.S. in Marketing and Economics from Trinity University.Thank you, Brian, for sharing your knowledge of authoring tools and software selection with us! To try Lectora Online with Responsive Course Design yourself, sign up for a free trial today.