4 custom free software for eLearning development

When we are talking about the development of elearning, most often as the author mentioned means 4-5 standard programs. It is familiar to all Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Websoft CourseLab, a little less iSpring Suite and very rarely — Lectora Inspire. Without a doubt, these tools have already proven themselves, they "sharpened" under the most popular LMS and popular LMS, in turn, is also "adapted" to them. Here is such a vicious circle. When these applications are not cheap: from $1,000 per year and more. Those who are not familiar with these professional tools for course development, will be a useful article in iSpring blog "Review of programs to create courses". This article describes the functionality of iSpring Suite, Adobe Captivate and Articulate Storyline. write my essay in 1 hour Is there a free alternative to these products? The answer is: Yes and no. If consider only applications that leave ready SCORM packages, then the answer is no, alternatives with similar functionality cannot be obtained. Basically the free app will be much weaker and courses, made them look homemade. But if you want to get something more than the standard functionality of SCORM courses, and are ready for experimentation, innovative approaches and things, to be honest, sometimes "dances with a tambourine", we offer you a list of free applications with which you can create a unique training product with much greater capabilities. While programming skills are required! But what about SCORM you ask? Answer: there are very simple ways to convey all necessary data in DLS different from standard methods, using JavaScript. Here knowledge of programming is also not required, will only need to copy the ready code, examples and step by step instructions on the insert which the Internet presents in excess. 1. Blender 3D + blend4web.

Blender 3D is very powerful and absolutely free three-dimensional editor with built-in engine for video processing and even create games and apps without programming, using only the visual editor. The program is dedicated to many specialized websites, there are a huge number of lessons, so you will be able to learn the basics of this is undoubtedly a wonderful program. Learning to work in Blender, you will discover a huge 3D world. And by combining this knowledge with experience of developing training courses, you will be a truly valuable expert.

To the obtained 3D images, videos, games, virtual worlds translate in the plane of the web, simply install the free blend4web plugin, with which you will be able to export the model, scene, animation or even game in the form of an HTML file, which in turn can be easily downloaded at the website. 2. Scirra Construct 2.

Scirra Construct 2 — a designer of games. Free it can be called conditionally, because the version that does not require money has a number of restrictions on the number of objects used, etc. the Paid version is significantly less than the above more money (around $150). With Construct you can create interactive presentations and tutorials. The whole set of tools that you pleased with CourseLab, Storyline, and Captivate, you can easily implement with the help of Construct. Plus, you can add to your courses elements of popular games: platformers, like Super Mario, racing, arcade, strategy, RPG and adventure. Your imagination will tell you the options necessary to begin to think of. The resulting product is easily stored in the form of HTML5 applications, or (attention!) native apps for the most popular operating systems: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Tizen.

As another plus: for those who still want SCORM to Construct developed a plugin that adds everything you need to load in LMS elements. 3. GDevelop.

GDevelop is a free twin brother Construct 2. He is little known, that does not prevent the program to be a powerful and useful tool for developing interactive learning content and electronic courses as a whole. As in the case with Construct you can create all that is in the remit of specialized applications for the development of elearning, and to expand the functionality of game elements.

From GDevelop (in contrast to the Construct) there is a Russian interface that facilitates familiarity with the program. Another great feature GDevelop is that it is cross-platform application that can be installed on Windows, macOS, Ubuntu or other versions of Linux as well as iOS or even develop your content in a browser online! The finished product can be exported as HTML5, and native apps for all possible operating systems. 4. Stencyl.

Another shareware cross-platform games designer, which can be used for the production of learning content. The free version allows you to export content for posting on the website, but at the moment only in flash, but soon the developers promise support for HTML5. The paid version ($99 per year) allows you to export the finished product for various operating systems, both desktop and mobile.

So, what is the advantage of these programs? They have great tools for developing learning content and they are free (or cheap). Yes, I love free software, especially if its quality is not inferior to pay. "Free cheese is only in a mousetrap," might you say. However, the above application examples prove the opposite. In addition, there are many excellent examples of free software, which serves with faith and truth: OpenOffice and LibreOffice, GIMP, Inkscape and many others. Of course, the differences between free and paid products is, however, often the difference between them is so insignificant, and the decrease in costs and expenses is so great that, ceteris paribus, the cost of finished content produced with the help of a free product, is considerably lower than the same quality, but produced with a commercial product. It is important for novice content developers who need to get into the industry, which is stuffed with seasoned professionals; for those who want to optimize their costs when creating the training product; and for those who do not have the ability to order elearning content from third-party developers, and wants to try to create advanced e-learning courses. There are interesting examples of the use of non-standard programs for designing the course? Write in the comments!