The Top 12 eLearning Tools by Use Case

Creating compelling digital learning experiences is more critical than ever before. But with an overwhelming array of authoring tools flooding the market, identifying the right solution can feel nearly impossible. When every vendor promises advanced features, how do you decide what will work best for your organization’s needs?

In this blog, we’ll cut through the hype to offer an unbiased assessment of today’s best eLearning authoring tools. Plus, we’ll break down each eLearning tool by its best use case and share our overall top picks at the very end. Let’s dive in!

What are eLearning authoring tools?

Instructional designers and eLearning professionals use specialized authoring tools to create interactive digital learning experiences – like customer training videos for B2B teams, for example. 

These eLearning tools also allow designers and educators to develop interactive media that include videos, images, audio, quizzes, simulations, and scenario-based learning. Plus, they can build in branching logic to customize your users’ learning pathways.

Here are several key capabilities that most authoring platforms provide:

• Creating engaging, multimedia-rich learning activities  
• Incorporating assessments to reinforce recall and check for mastery
• Building simulations and “what if” situations to practice decision-making
• Personalizing learning paths to accommodate user learning preferences
• Supporting collaboration so multiple reviewers can provide feedback
• Allowing quick publishing and updates to learning materials   

And in terms of potential use cases, you can use this software for new employee onboarding, ongoing skill development, compliance and safety training, customer training, and even product training for new employees. 

Overall, the best eLearning tools are the ones that make it simple for non-technical users to produce highly interactive courses without getting bogged down by complicated features or a steep learning curve.

Are eLearning tools different from authoring tools?

With the sheer volume of systems and platforms out there, it’s understandable to be confused about the differences between content authoring and eLearning tools. But knowing where these solutions differ is crucial for figuring out where your tech budget is best spent. 

First, let’s define what eLearning tools are, exactly. Organizations typically use broad learning management systems (LMSs) to deliver effective online training. Platforms like Canvas, Blackboard, and Moodle focus heavily on back end functionality like learner registration, skills documentation, grading, certification, and detailed engagement analytics. 

Some of the best authoring tools, on the other hand, are more specialized programs specifically built for creating interactive and multimedia-rich learning experiences themselves. A few popular options like Articulate 360, Adobe Captivate, and Lectora place heavy emphasis on course development over mere course administration.

In many cases, organizations will end up using both content authoring and eLearning tools to meet their needs.

For example, an organization may adopt Canvas as its official LMS but then use Articulate 360 as its go-to tool for creating learning content. This combination enables teams to create, administer, and track course completion in one tight ecosystem.

What eLearning tool features should you look for?

With so many eLearning and authoring tools on the market, you should ensure that your software of choice gives you access to a few key features (instead of distracting you with unnecessary bells and whistles). 

As you do your research, try to prioritize tools that do the following:

• Make it easy to create courses
• Offer intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces and templates 
• Provide a smaller learning curve for non-technical users
• Allow flexibility to customize interactions, scenarios, and branding 
• Support multimedia assets and external media integrations
• Facilitate real-time coauthoring and simplified reviewer approvals
• Provide analytics tools for course progress tracking and learner engagement
• Allow responsive output across devices and screens
• Enable offline creation  

By choosing an eLearning authoring tool that offers all the features listed above, you’ll be well-equipped to create quizzes, tests, and engaging learning experiences to supplement the learning process of your students, employees, and everyone in between.

5 key use cases for eLearning tools

Before you get overwhelmed by the number of eLearning courses and content authoring tools in this list, let’s talk about some of the specific use cases you may want to use these tools for.

Specifically, there are roughly five main types of use cases. Understanding these types will help you determine what functionality is most imperative before deciding which tool is best for your organization. 

For example, if you’re a small academic institution that needs access to virtual classroom tools to facilitate remote learning, you probably don’t need enterprise-level content authoring features.

Similarly, if you’re a mid-sized company that wants to create more engaging employee onboarding videos, you may want to consider an eLearning platform with strong interactive video capabilities.

All that said, here’s a closer look at some of the use cases that could fit your organization’s needs: 

1. Rapid content authoring 

Rapid content authoring tools are likely what most people think of when visualizing eLearning development platforms. These solutions prioritize simplifying and expediting course building through prebuilt templates and intuitive drag-and-drop functions.

And while they’re great for basic interactions and assessments, they may lack capabilities for highly customized or complex learning experiences like branched scenarios or simulations.

2. Virtual classrooms and LMS

Virtual classrooms and LMS platforms are great for hosting live, instructor-led training sessions. They provide webinar capabilities that allow remote instructors to present slides, share screens, annotate content, and video chat.

For organizations that still value in-person interactions, these tools can bridge the gap to enable interactive online learning.

3. Interactive video tools  

Interactive video tools allow content creators to take their existing videos and overlay elements like questions, infographics, images, hyperlinked text, and more.

This kind of media works extremely well for building realistic scenario demonstrations and simulations, too. For example, the ability to insert decision points and branching logic within your footage makes these tools great for compliance, safety, and skills training.

4. Gamification tools

Gamification tools aim to enhance learner engagement and motivation by integrating popular game mechanics. These platforms allow content creators to award points, badges, leaderboard positions, and unlockable achievement levels based on learners’ participation and performance.

5. Assessment tools

Assessment tools focus specifically on offering online evaluations, from simple multiple-choice quizzes to complex multi-question tests. They typically incorporate advanced functionality that includes automated scoring, secured proctoring, flexible grading schemes, and detailed analyses on student performance.

While most authoring platforms contain baseline quiz abilities, these dedicated assessment solutions excel in academic institutions, certification programs, or compliance training sessions that require in-depth assessment features.

12 eLearning tools to consider

Now that you have a better idea of how these tools best serve individual use cases, you can start nailing down the right tool for your organization.

Here’s a list of 12 eLearning tools we think you should consider, including some of the latest AI tools:

Best for rapid content authoring

If you’re looking to produce engaging content quickly and efficiently, one of these tools with an easy-to-use interface will be your best bet for success. 

1. Colossyan

Not to brag, but Colossyan tops this list because of our standout ability to bring content to life using AI avatars, automatic translation in over 70 languages, and interactive features like multiple choice quizzes. 

Colossyan can produce videos suitable for any industry or circumstance, whether that’s engaging onboarding experiences, compliance training materials, customer education videos, and more. 

Not only will you cut down on the production costs associated with hiring actors, but you can save time on the video creation process by getting started with one of our video templates or utilizing our document-to-video feature, which will create a video draft in less than 60 seconds based on the document you upload. 

Colossyan is an excellent choice for rapid content authoring, as its interface can be easily navigated by someone with no video editing experience. Plus, if your script changes later down the road, you won’t need to refilm anything. Simply regenerate your video with the necessary changes, and that’s it.

2. Adobe Captivate

Adobe Captivate stands out for its wide spectrum of cutting-edge features, from VR functionality to advanced triggers and actions for highly dynamic courses. Organizations like Cisco, BBC, and Informatica leverage Captivate to create immersive, media-integrated eLearning courses.  

3. Articulate 360

This tool is considered an industry-leading rapid authoring tool and complete eLearning development suite. It includes Rise 360 for responsive course building and Storyline 360 for rich interactivity. Brands like Delta Air Lines, Microsoft, and IKEA use Articulate to efficiently develop their training.

Best for virtual classrooms and LMS

Educators looking for an eLearning tool for the classroom might have a different set of needs. Check out these tools if you’re looking to replicate a classroom learning experience in an online environment. 

4. Moodle

Moodle is one of the most widely used eLearning authoring tools globally because it’s a free, open-source tool that supports an incredibly comprehensive set of features. Its customizable interface allows schools, universities, and companies to brand environments specific to their needs for managing and delivering both live and self-paced instruction.

5. Blackboard Learn

This platform is a longstanding leader in the LMS space and is used by higher education institutions and businesses alike. It shines around creating collaborative online learning communities thanks to capabilities like its virtual classroom for synchronous training, robust gradebook for assessment, and seamless content management for quality control.

Best for interactive video

Are interactive features your main priority? Check out PlayPosit below. 

6. PlayPosit

PlayPosit stands out as a top interactive video learning solution, used by organizations like Stanford University Libraries and Outback Steakhouse. PlayPosit transforms your existing videos into interactive learning tools thanks to a full spectrum of interactivity options like on-screen quizzes, polls, heatmaps, and embedded discussions. Plus, its simple interface gives it a seamless user experience that all users can understand.

Best for gamification

Some organizations have identified gamification as an easy way to keep audiences engaged while they consume educational content. While there are many tools that offer such features, Classcraft certainly excels in this area. 

7. Classcraft

Classcraft makes the list for easily bringing the motivation and engagement of gaming into learning across digital and physical environments. It empowers instructors to transform standard lessons into multiplayer role-playing adventures. Learners can even unlock powers and abilities via classroom participation and course completion.

Best for assessments

Assessments are an important part of measuring the effectiveness of eLearning, especially for schools engaging in virtual learning. If that sounds like you, check out these tools. 

8. Quizlet

Quizlet is a widely recognized assessment platform used by over 60 million monthly learners. Its blend of study and game-based testing modes makes reinforcing knowledge easy and engaging. Quizlet shines for its collaborative and interactive features like digital flashcards, practice questions, and other similar quiz-based activities for easy on-the-go learning.

9. Socrative

Socrative empowers instructors to instantly launch on-screen quizzes and polls during class. Its real-time analysis of responses helps teachers adjust their instruction based on comprehension checks to better engage learners.

10. Formative

Formative simplifies gauging student understanding by creating custom assignments that are aligned with their learning objectives. Educators, course developers, and instructional designers often praise how Formative streamlines their ability to deliver, proctor, and grade tests. 

Plus, Formative’s analytics dashboards allow teachers to see overall class and individual student performance on assessments in the platform over time.

Best AI-powered tools

While many of the above tools utilize AI, the following tools especially excel at integrating artificial intelligence for a better user experience. 

11. Duolingo

Duolingo stands out for using advanced AI to analyze users’ proficiency across 30+ languages to serve up personalized learning pathways. As the most downloaded education app worldwide, its adaptive methodology and gamified learning experience help its users master new languages efficiently.  

12. Coursera

Coursera has helped broaden access to flexible online learning from top institutions. Its use of machine learning has allowed Coursera to recommend relevant courses, customize course curricula based on a learner’s strengths and weaknesses, and even automate grading, enabling learners to progress through eLearning courses at their own pace.

Level up your video creation processes with Colossyan 

Regardless of the tool you ultimately pick, the only way to ensure knowledge retention and course completion is to make your online learning content more engaging and easier to digest. This means choosing the right tools, creating interactive lessons, exploring gamification, and personalizing your curriculum to your learners’ needs. 

At Colossyan, we’re leveraging the power of AI to help you do just that. Upgrade your training videos by adding interactive features, add subtitles, or translate your videos into whatever language your audience prefers.

Want to unlock the full potential of AI video creation and create scalable, fast videos for your business? Book a demo with our team to get started.