The eLearning Guild today released its latest research report, Media for eLearning: Top Tools, written by Nick Floro. The report delivers The Guild's survey results on media tools (tools that provide the functions required for creating, editing, and building media and eLearning content). Floro identifies the tools that are most used and why, including user satisfaction, how many different tools people use, and which tools practitioners may want to add to their toolbox.
This report will be well worth reading for anyone considering which tools to add to their kit, which tools to learn first, or which tools to master in order to increase their marketability. When it comes to media tools, "superior" or “best” are only meaningful within specific contexts. This is why most practitioners use more than one media tool. It is also why there are so many arguments about superiority. It takes a combination of tools to deliver best-in-class quality for each media element. The answer to the question, "Which tool is best?" depends on what you are doing, and the answer may well be "both/and" and not "either/or."
The report author supports this: "We should always first focus on the content, and then think about what tool best fits to develop the solution. Forcing our content through a certain tool may limit our creative options for delivering and engaging our learners. Focusing on content will allow you to be more creative and develop better eLearning for your learners. We break out the top tools by type of content they generate, compare costs and features, and provide an overview to help you choose where you may want to grow and expand your options."
In the survey data, although Captivate, Flash, Photoshop, Articulate, and PowerPoint had the five largest market shares among the over 2,000 Guild members who responded, when it came to respondent satisfaction with the tools, PowerPoint, Captivate, and Articulate were three of the bottom four. Read the report to find out why. There's a ton of good, factual information about these tools in it, and those facts will be your best guide to making decisions. The report is free for all paid members of The eLearning Guild.
