teaching & training teaching & training

Instructional
Design:
Choosing the Proper
Authoring Tool
BY GENE HOLDEN
Senior Member
Silicon Valley Chapter

I
f you’re an instructional designer, you design, develop, and produce
training in a number of media and methods. While training was once
developed only for instructors teaching in a traditional classroom,
today we have to learn new skills and tools to keep up with the increas-
ing popularity of e-learning. According to the American Society for
Training and Development (ASTD), “e-learning covers a wide set of appli-
cations and processes, such as Web-based learning, computer-based learn-
ing, virtual classrooms, and digital collaboration. It includes the delivery of
content via Internet, intranet/extranet (LAN/WAN), audio and videotape,
satellite broadcast, interactive TV, and CD-ROM.” With such a broad scope
to cover, the number of available e-learning tools is extensive. Whatever
kind of e-learning and content delivery your organization prefers, you’ll
need to sort through those tools to find the right one for your training.

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 teaching & training

Bear in mind that not all tools are
appropriate for all training methods.
Buying a tool without doing the
research can be a costly mistake. Author-
ing and development tools are, gener-
ally speaking, not cheap. Some of them
have extensive learning curves. You may
find that one tool will not be sufficient.
Today, many designers or design teams
use a combination of tools such as Flash,
Dreamweaver, and HTML.
Whichever tool or combination of
tools you choose, remember that the
right tool can make you efficient and
productive. The wrong tool could cost
you countless hours on a project and
leave you with little or nothing to show
for your effort.
So how do you choose the right tools?
By carefully considering your available
resources and the goals of your specific
learning event, and by educating your-
Table 1. Considerations for Purchasing E-learning Tools
self on the software packages appropri-
ate for that training. And as you gather
information, be sure to keep this in
mind: As long as you base your e-learn-
ing on good instructional design, the
interactivity that authoring tools are
capable of producing can enhance the
learner’s experience.
Defining Your Context
Even before you begin evaluating the
available tools, you should consider the
context of your training—why, how, and
in what circumstances will it be provided?
Some tools will match this context bet-
ter than others. Before shelling out the
money for an expensive training tool,
consider the factors presented in Table 1.
Once you have reviewed your require-
ments in detail, you should be able to
analyze the type of tool(s) you need. Dif-
ferent tools work best for different types
of training. We can categorize instruc-
tion into four main categories: software
and IT application courseware, soft skill
(human resources) courseware, non-sys-
tems technical training, and knowledge-
based training.
Types of Tools
The tools typically used for these types
of instruction include software applica-
tion simulation tools, full-service author-
ing tools, Web-based distance learning
tools (virtual classrooms), or PowerPoint
conversion tools that allow additional e-
learning interactivity (such as Macro-
media’s Breeze). This article will focus on
the most widely used types of e-learning
applications: simulation programs and
full-service authoring tools.
Simulation Programs
According to Bryan Chapman, who
hosts the “Ask Bryan” column on the
BrandonHall.com Web site, “About 75

Training Purpose What training are you providing? If you are teaching people how to use a software program such as Excel or
Photoshop, hands-on training would be appropriate.

Media Requirements What type of media do you intend to use? What file types will you use? Will the tool support the files?

Available Resources Do you have access to graphic artists, writers, subject matter experts, videographers, and narrators? If not,
how will you obtain the media content for your project?

Budget How much money do you have for the project? If you don’t have a team, will you be able to outsource
video, narration, and graphics? What is your budget allocation for the tool?

Time How much time do you have to complete the project? Some of the tools have a steep learning curve. Do
you have the time to become proficient in the tool?

Interactivity How interactive do you need the training to be? There are times when simple “page-turners” may suffice,
but true e-learning includes interactivity as part of the learning process. How much interactivity does the
tool provide?

Delivery Method Do you intend to provide the training on a CD-ROM or over the Web? Although most tools today will pro-
vide training either way, some are better than others at providing Web-based training.

Plug-ins Some tools require plug-ins.This can become an issue: If your customers are unaware of how to download
the plug-ins or are unable to do so, they may not be able to view the training.

Platform Will the training be delivered on PC, MAC, UNIX, or some other platform or combination of platforms?
Will the tool work across platforms?

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teaching & training

percent of all e-learning content covers
IT or software application topics.” Such
training is best served by simulation pro-
grams, which can capture screenshots
and then play them back to replicate
the behaviors of particular software.
Most of these programs enable you to
set up simulated practice with learner
feedback. Typically, simulation tools are
inexpensive and easy to learn. Table 2
breaks down the features of three of the
most popular programs used for soft-
ware simulation programs: Camtasia,
FireFly, and RoboDemo.
Authoring Programs
Full-service authoring programs pro-
duce truly interactive e-learning for all
types of training. Unlike most simulation
tools, many authoring programs can cost
thousands of dollars and require a steep
learning curve. But if the interactivity will
help your students learn, authoring pro-
grams can be well worth the money:
With these tools, you can create pro-
grams that provide realistic scenarios
that allow students to learn as they make
Table 2. Software Application Simulation Programs
decisions and receive instantaneous feed-
back about their choices.
For example, if you need to teach
someone how to work with chemicals,
the program can be designed to allow
the learner to virtually add, mix, or store
chemicals. Different scenarios can play
out depending on the learner’s deci-
sions. The learner can see what will hap-
pen if the wrong chemicals are mixed
together or if chemicals are stored inap-
propriately. This learning happens in a
safe environment, where the learner can
fail without disastrous results.
As much as these tools can enhance
the learning environment, most have
high learning curves, and some of them
require programming knowledge. Table
3 gives an overview of some of the best-
known programs for full-service author-
ing: Authorware, Director, Dreamweaver
with Coursebuilder, Flash, Lectora, and
Toolbook.
Conclusion
Which tool will best fit your needs
depends entirely on your situation. You
must look at each tool and each e-learn-
ing event analytically. What does the tool
do? What are its capabilities and fea-
tures? How will it fit into your e-learning
program? Take the time to do the
research. In the long run, it will save you
time, energy, and money.
As technology advances, it becomes
more difficult to keep up with all the
available tools. One of the best methods
of keeping abreast of the changes is to
log on to Web sites or chat rooms where
discussions about tools occur. For your
reference, the Suggested Readings
includes several Web sites.

Software Company Cost Information

Camtasia TechSmith $299 Camtasia consists of three tools: Player, Recorder, and Producer.
(www.techsmith.com) You can record, edit, and share video and audio clips.The applica-
tion can record both the activity on your screen and narration.
You can modify videos created by Camtasia with other AVI
(Audio-Video Interleaved) video editors and use AVI files from
any source.You can also edit audio with the software’s Dub-It
module.
No multimedia experience is necessary. Camtasia supports
Flash,Windows Media, QuickTime, and RealMedia. It now comes
bundled with SnagIt, a screen capture program.

FireFly Knowledge Impact
(www.kimpact.com)
No price given; sold as FireFly was designed to generate scenario-based simulations
single licenses. One with active components, multi-path support, and progressive
source states that a feedback without requiring plug-ins or client software.
license can cost as much No knowledge of programming is necessary.This program
as $10,000 captures the programming “behind the scenes” and enables
learners to explore in a robust simulation environment that
allows multiple correct paths for accomplishing the task.The
learning curve is moderate.

RoboDemo Macromedia From $999 RoboDemo records your actions in any application and creates a
(www.macromedia.com) Flash simulation. RoboDemo is SCORM/AICC compliant and has
quizzing capabilities with scoring, interactivity, and branching
features.The Flash simulations are contained in small files with
high resolution.This program has an easy learning curve and
offers a lot of features to increase interactivity.

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Table 3. Full-service Authoring Programs

Software Company Cost Information

Authorware Macromedia $399–2,999 Authorware is an icon-based authoring system that uses a flow line
(www.macromedia.com) for display types and programming commands.This very powerful
program includes a lot of built-in interactivity. Authorware sup-
ports character-styled text and has an extensive navigation struc-
ture. It is optimal for computer-based training and rapid proto-
typing, and it can also deliver content to the Web.
This program has a high learning curve. Unless you accept the
defaults, you may need some programming know-how to get all
the interactions to function as you want them to.

Director Macromedia $399–1,199 This program, like Authorware, has a high learning curve. However,
(www.macromedia.com) you can easily lay out movies visually and drop the clips onto the
timeline.You can incorporate many media formats, including
DVD-video,Windows Media, RealMedia, QuickTime, and Flash.

Dreamweaver Macromedia $199–399 This program was built for Web-based learning interaction.
with (www.macromedia.com) Because Dreamweaver uses a tab wizard to help you build, create,
Coursebuilder and edit basic interactions, it is an excellent starter tool.When
you use it with Flash and Coursebuilder, you can build interactive
e-learning.The learning curve of this program is moderate. It
offers free extensions and the capability to create animations.

Flash Macromedia From $999 Flash enables you to create animations with small file sizes for
(www.macromedia.com) delivery over the Web. It is good for animations and simulations.
You can build robust drag-and-drop, true/false, multiple choice,
and other questions.You can also develop content for delivery
over personal digital assistants.This program requires scripting
and coding knowledge and has a steep learning curve.

Lectora Trivantis $1,595–2,495 With Lectora, you can create media-rich e-learning sources for
(www.lectora.com) Internet, intranet, CD-ROM, or DVD delivery. Since Lectora uses
drag-and-drop interactions, no programming skill is necessary.
The learning curve is easy to moderate.The user guide contains
a checklist on analysis, design, and development preliminaries.

Toolbook SumTotal $2,999 and $1,495 With Toolbook, you place multimedia objects onto sequential
Instructor (www.sumtotal pages.You can also create multi-faceted simulations.You can create
and Assistant systems.com) interactive content using a catalog of smart objects (virtual objects
that help the learner interact with the program).The learning
curve is medium to high. (Instructor requires programming skills;
Assistant does not.)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS threadid=118&MessageID=351#351 Applications.” www.brandonhall.com/

This work was supported in part by the
U.S. Department of Energy under con-
tract number DE-AC02-76SF00515.
SUGGESTED READINGS
Books
Allen, Michael. Guide to e-Learning. New
York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003.
Hall, Brandon. Web-Based Training Cookbook.
New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003.
Online Resources
e-Learning Developer’s Forum.
www.relate.com/forum/thread-view.asp?
e-Learning Centre. www.e-learningcentre.
co.uk/eclipse/vendors/authoring.htm
E-learning Products. www.e-learningsite.
com/links/products.htm
Multimedia Authoring Systems FAQs.
www.faqs.org/faqs/multimedia/authoring-
systems
Multimedia Authoring Tools. lorien
.ncl.ac.uk/ming/resources/cal/mmedia.htm
Nantel, Richard, et. al. “Authoring
Tools 2004: A Buyer’s Guide to the
Best E-Learning Content Development
public/publications/AT2004/index.htm
University of South Florida Instructional
Technology Program’s Resources and
Links Design Links. www.coedu.usf.edu/
inst_tech/resources/design.html
STC’s Instructional Design and Learn-
ing (IDL) Special Interest Group.
www.stcsig.org/idl
Vance’s ESL_Home Authoring Tools.
www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/
4631/authorng.htm

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