Best Course Authoring Software

Grace Savides
GS
Researched and written by Grace Savides

Course authoring software products allow organizations to create engaging and interactive multimedia content for educational purposes. Course authoring software is used to develop training courses and content that can be consumed in either a corporate or more traditional educational setting. Learning content management systems (LCMS), which are course authoring tools built specifically as a tool for educational institutions, are currently included in the scope of course authoring. Organizations use course authoring tools to prepare educational material that can be administered with learning management system (LMS) or corporate LMS software to create unique educational programs for employees or students.

Course authoring solutions are commonly implemented in HR departments and at educational institutions, enabling administrators to create educational content with no programming knowledge. Course authoring solutions can be either cloud-based or installed on-premise, and many follow the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) as a set of standards and specifications for integrating content with LMS software. Additionally, many course authoring products are built on top of presentation software to provide users with a familiar format for creating course content.

To qualify as a course authoring solution, a product must:

Allow organizations to create multimedia content for educational purposes
Provide a system through which users can create interactive multimedia content
Allow users to publish course material to third-party or built-in learning management systems
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Featured Course Authoring Software At A Glance

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268 Listings in Course Authoring Available
(624)4.7 out of 5
2nd Easiest To Use in Course Authoring software
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(5,322)4.5 out of 5
4th Easiest To Use in Course Authoring software
Entry Level Price:$116.00
(696)4.3 out of 5
10th Easiest To Use in Course Authoring software
Entry Level Price:Free
Entry Level Price:$25.00

Learn More About Course Authoring Software

What is Course Authoring Software?

For organizations that need to deliver training to their employees, there are numerous providers of premade online courses on common topics that managers could purchase and assign to their teams. But if a company has more specialized training needs, the ability to create a customized course from scratch is a better solution. Course authoring software enables eLearning professionals to build engaging courses incorporating a variety of interactive elements, then publish and distribute them to any number of learners. These products are used by companies for their training needs as well as in academia for professors who are delivering instruction remotely. Custom courses created using course authoring software ultimately helps organizations achieve their learning goals.

Key Benefits of Course Authoring Software

  • Enables companies to efficiently create engaging courses
  • Reduces the time it takes to create a complete course
  • Self-paced training allows more flexibility
  • Allows instructors to customize learning content

Why Use Course Authoring Software?

Create engaging courses — Part of making learning “sticky"—meaning the knowledge endures long after someone learns it—is making the process engaging. Course authoring tools offer numerous ways to make eLearning courses more interesting and interactive. Rather than creating courses that rely on slides with plain text and pictures, course developers incorporate video clips, animations, and audio files into a course. Quizzes are incorporated throughout a course to build in accountability for the material. Some platforms offer functionality for learners to navigate through branching scenarios, meaning the content differs depending on choices made by the user.

Reduce course development time — Course authoring platforms have built-in tools designed to maximize efficiency as developers make new courses. Content libraries in course authoring software contain a variety of premade elements that developers choose from, including slide templates, images, icons, buttons, and quiz questions. These libraries reduce the time instructors spend searching for elements to use in their courses, helping the course get completed more quickly. Some eLearning platforms also enable users to pre-existing presentation files and use those as a starting point for creating a course so that the developer doesn’t have to start from a blank template. Ultimately, these features make course creation less time-consuming.

Increase training flexibility — Digital courses created using course authoring software provide solutions to some of the inconveniences inherent in the in-person training. Courses are distributed using a learning management system (LMS), so learners in different locations can take the same course. The courses are also typically self-paced, so learners are able to complete them on their own schedule. Administrators review results for individual learners as they come in.

Customize learning content — One of the biggest benefits of course authoring tools is the ability to create exactly the course needed for a specific purpose. Rather than use an off-the-shelf eLearning course that may not target an organization’s needs, using course authoring software to build a course from the ground up ensures that it targets the exact objectives the instructor wants to cover. Courses are even customized for specific teams or roles, so that the employees get the exact training that they need. For universities, courses enable professors to teach the material in the way that they think works best. Collaboration tools built into course authoring software also allow multiple stakeholders to give feedback on a course before it is finalized to ensure it is customized to meet the needs of all parties involved.

Who Uses Course Authoring Software?

Course authoring software is used by employees in government, education, and a range of businesses.

Corporate trainers — In-house trainers at companies use course authoring tools to create training courses for the business’s employees. Courses might cover HR issues related to compliance or they could be focused on information more specific to the company’s business, like sales enablement.

Instructional designers and eLearning developers — Companies that lack the HR personnel needed to develop their own custom courses in-house may turn to third-party instructional designers or eLearning developers, who use course authoring software to make courses for their clients. Typically, instructional designers communicate with their clients about the kind of course the company needs, then they build the course, get feedback on their work, and deliver a final product that is completed by employees. Universities also employ instructional designers to help professors develop materials for their courses, especially online courses.

Kinds of Course Authoring Software

While most course authoring products have similar core functionality, some are sold as standalone products while others are integrated with an LMS. Using a course authoring tool that is integrated with an LMS means there is a built-in way to distribute the course to learners once it is finished, although those tools may have fewer course authoring features than standalone products that are solely dedicated to creating courses. Standalone products typically enable users to export content to a third-party LMS.

Course Authoring Software Features

Course templates — Course authoring tools often come with included templates so course developers don’t have to start from a completely blank course. Templates include course modules with different layouts that allow developers to change text placeholders and add images, videos, or other elements to meet their needs.

PowerPoint conversion — Organizations that have pre-existing PowerPoint files that they have used in the past for training import those files into course authoring software and build an eLearning course using the old presentation as a template, helping save the time it would take to recreate the PowerPoint in the authoring tool.

Asset library — In addition to slide templates, course authoring tools often include an online library of elements that users can add to their presentations. These libraries sometimes contain thousands of different elements, including photos, videos, icons, and buttons.

Quizzes — Course authors are able to build in periodic quizzes at different points in a course to check the learner’s understanding of key concepts. If a learner answers incorrectly, courses are set up to have them go back and relearn the material, then have them try again to get the right answer before they are allowed to proceed.

Feedback tools — These features enable multiple stakeholders to leave comments on a course as it is being developed. Having feedback integrated directly into the authoring tool helps keep the comments organized so they are addressed before the course is published.

Sharable content object reference model (SCORM) compatibility — The industry standard for eLearning content is SCORM, a set of technical standards that ensure compatibility between a course and an LMS. Ensuring a course authoring platform is SCORM-compatible means its courses work with a variety of LMS vendors.

Additional Course Authoring Software Features

Character images — Some products have extensive “character" image collections. These might include a variety of different models of different ages, genders, ethnicities, and professions, each with dozens of photos showing a variety of facial expressions, emotions, and body poses. These character images are used to tell a story within the course or as a visual aid to illustrate a scenario.

Branching scenarios — One feature some platforms have for making courses interactive is by the ability to include branching scenarios, in which the course is different depending on choices the learner makes. For example, in a course on workplace harassment, a user might be asked to choose from three options for responding to a coworker who made an inappropriate remark in a meeting. Depending on the option the learner picks, the course could show a different outcome of the situation. These role-play simulations helps learners apply skills and knowledge from earlier in the course to a real-world scenario.

Video recording — Built-in video recording functionality enables users to record themselves or their computer screen to add a visual element to their course. These platforms typically also allow users to import videos from other sources.

Mobile compatibility — Course materials are automatically reformatted to be compatible with mobile phones and tablets, ensuring that learners complete course modules from any device.

Analytics — Course authors track how learners are using the course or their performance on in-course assessments once the courses have been deployed.

Potential Issues with Course Authoring Software

Resource investment — Creating customized courses have benefits for an organization’s training program, but it also takes a substantial investment of resources. Depending on how lengthy or in depth the course needs to be, it may take weeks or months for a course to go from idea to finished product. That includes multiple course drafts and rounds of feedback from different stakeholders. Companies also need to decide whether they have the right people in-house to use course authoring software effectively or if it makes more sense to outsource the work to an eLearning development firm. Another option is using premade online courses, although organizations will have to decide whether those more generic courses will meet their training needs.

Employee engagement — The best digital courses are interesting and informative. They hold learners’ attention with animations, videos, and interactive elements. But using those elements well takes practice and the right tools. An authoring tool that lacks strong functionality for creating interactive courses could result in courses that don’t engage learners and fall short of their desired impact. Buyers should ensure an authoring solution has the ability to create engaging courses and that their course developers know how to use the tools to achieve those aims.

Compliance — A key part of many training programs is courses to ensure employers maintain compliance with laws and regulations on topics like safety, security, and privacy. Company leaders deploy off-the-shelf solutions, but some might want to develop their own compliance courses using course authoring software. For companies that are developing their own compliance courses, leaders must ensure the courses cover all the required information for a given topic. They should also confirm that the software they use to deploy the courses has adequate tracking and reporting capabilities so that, if necessary, they prove that employees went through the training.