Selecting the right eLearning authoring tool is crucial for creating effective online training and educational content. Among the many tools available, Articulate stands out as a popular choice for professionals across industries. Whether you're an instructional designer, corporate trainer, or educator, Articulate offers several distinct advantages that make it a leading option in the eLearning space.
Below, we explore the key reasons to choose Articulate over other authoring tools.
1. User-Friendly Interface for All Skill Levels
One of the top reasons to choose Articulate is its intuitive interface. Whether you are an experienced instructional designer or new to course creation, Articulate’s layout is designed to simplify the process:
Storyline 360 has a PowerPoint-like interface that feels familiar and easy to use, allowing users to create interactive content without needing a steep learning curve.
Rise 360 offers a web-based drag-and-drop interface for building responsive courses quickly, even for those without technical expertise.
Compared to other tools that may require extensive training, Articulate is accessible, ensuring that both beginners and experts can start creating courses quickly.
2. Versatile Tools for Different eLearning Needs
Articulate offers a comprehensive suite of tools under its Articulate 360 platform, giving users flexibility to create different types of eLearning content:
Storyline 360: Ideal for highly customized, interactive courses with complex branching scenarios, quizzes, and gamified elements.
Rise 360: Perfect for responsive, mobile-friendly courses that adjust to any device, making it easy to create visually appealing, straightforward lessons.
Content Library 360: Provides access to a vast library of pre-built templates, images, characters, and icons to help you speed up development.
Articulate Review 360: Simplifies collaboration by allowing stakeholders to review and provide feedback directly within the tool.
Few other authoring tools offer this level of versatility and access to multiple tools in one package, making Articulate a more cost-effective and convenient solution.
3. Responsive Design Made Simple with Rise 360
Mobile learning is increasingly important in today’s fast-paced environment, and Articulate excels at responsive design:
Rise 360 automatically adjusts your courses to look great on any device, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones. This is done without the need for additional coding or design adjustments, unlike some other authoring tools that require manual intervention.
It allows you to focus on the content and instructional design rather than worrying about how the course will render on different screen sizes.
If responsive, mobile-friendly learning is a priority, Articulate provides a seamless experience with Rise 360.
4. Extensive Customization Options with Storyline 360
For those who need highly interactive and customized courses, Storyline 360 offers unmatched flexibility. With features like triggers, layers, and variables, you can build rich, scenario-based learning that responds dynamically to user input.
Advanced Interactions: Storyline 360 allows you to create simulations, gamified experiences, and branching scenarios where learners can make decisions that influence the course flow.
Powerful Quizzing Tools: You can design quizzes with a variety of question types, feedback options, and scoring mechanisms.
Triggers and Variables: Use advanced triggers and variables to create personalized learning paths, making it one of the most flexible tools in the market.
Many authoring tools do not offer the same depth of interaction and customization as Storyline 360, which can be crucial for creating engaging, learner-centered courses.
5. Robust LMS Compatibility
When it comes to integrating with Learning Management Systems (LMS), Articulate stands out due to its wide range of publishing options:
SCORM, AICC, and xAPI (Tin Can) Support: Articulate courses can be published in multiple formats, ensuring compatibility with virtually any LMS. This flexibility is essential for organizations that need to track learner progress, measure performance, and ensure compliance training.
Mobile App Integration: Articulate allows courses to be deployed on mobile apps, extending learning access even further.
Other tools may lack this level of compatibility, particularly when it comes to supporting multiple LMS standards.
6. Access to Content Library 360
Articulate provides users with access to Content Library 360, which includes:
Thousands of professionally designed templates
Characters with different poses and expressions
Stock images, icons, and other media assets
This library saves both time and effort by offering ready-made assets that are customizable. Many competitors either don’t offer this kind of extensive media library or require separate subscriptions, making Articulate an all-in-one solution for course creation.
7. Collaborative Course Development
Articulate Review 360 simplifies team collaboration by allowing stakeholders to review courses and provide feedback in real-time, directly on the course slides or content. This eliminates the need for long email threads or external document sharing, streamlining the feedback process.
Compared to other tools that may lack built-in collaboration features or require additional third-party platforms, Articulate keeps the development and review process in one place.
8. Regular Updates and Continuous Improvement
Articulate is known for continuously improving its tools by releasing new features and updates regularly. Subscribers to Articulate 360 automatically gain access to these updates, ensuring that users always have the latest technology at their fingertips without needing to purchase new versions.
Other authoring tools may require periodic purchases for newer versions or updates, while Articulate provides this as part of its subscription, making it more economical in the long run.
9. Strong Community and Support
Articulate has a robust online community through E-Learning Heroes, where users can access forums, tutorials, webinars, and support from other Articulate users and experts. Additionally, Articulate provides excellent customer support, ensuring that any technical or design-related issues are addressed promptly.
Compared to some other tools with smaller user bases or less responsive support, Articulate’s strong community and official resources provide immense value for users at all levels.
10. Cost-Effective for Organizations and Individuals
While Articulate offers a subscription-based model, its comprehensive suite of tools, regular updates, and access to extensive content libraries make it a cost-effective choice, especially when compared to purchasing multiple authoring tools or media resources separately.
For organizations and individual creators, Articulate’s all-in-one offering provides excellent value by combining various eLearning tools, saving time and reducing the need for additional purchases.
Articulate offers a unique combination of ease of use, advanced customization, responsive design, and extensive LMS compatibility that makes it a standout eLearning authoring tool. Whether you’re building simple, mobile-friendly courses or complex interactive training, Articulate’s flexibility and comprehensive toolset provide all the resources needed for success. Its robust community, continuous updates, and all-in-one platform make it an excellent choice over many other authoring tools in the market today.
Getting Started with Articulate
In this beginner's guide, we will walk you through the key features of Articulate and provide tips for building captivating courses from the ground up.
1. What is Articulate?
Articulate is a suite of tools that includes Storyline 360, Rise 360, and additional resources for content creators, designed to simplify the process of developing multimedia-rich eLearning courses. The platform is popular for its flexibility in supporting interactive content, quizzes, and branching scenarios, making it suitable for corporate training, academic environments, and independent course creators.
Storyline 360: Best for custom-designed courses with intricate interactivity.
Rise 360: Ideal for responsive, web-based courses that adjust to different devices with ease.
2. Setting Up Your Articulate Workspace
Before diving into course creation, it’s important to set up your workspace efficiently:
Download and Install Articulate 360: After subscribing to Articulate 360, you’ll have access to the suite of tools. Storyline and Rise are the primary options for course creation.
Explore the Dashboard: The Articulate dashboard is intuitive, allowing you to switch between tools, access templates, and manage assets like images and videos.
Familiarize Yourself with the Interface: Storyline 360 has a PowerPoint-like interface, making it easy for beginners to grasp while Rise 360 is entirely web-based, offering a drag-and-drop functionality for course building.
3. Planning Your Course
A well-structured course begins with good planning. Before creating, ask yourself the following:
Who is the target audience? Define who will be taking your course, such as employees, students, or clients.
What are the learning objectives? Outline what learners should achieve by the end of the course.
How will you engage learners? Think about quizzes, interactive scenarios, videos, or other multimedia elements to make your course interactive and engaging.
4. Building Your First Course with Articulate
Now that you have the basics in place, let’s walk through building a simple course.
A. Using Storyline 360
Create a New Project: Launch Storyline 360 and click on "New Project" to begin.
Add Slides: Much like creating a PowerPoint presentation, Storyline lets you add different types of slides, including quizzes, videos, and interactive elements.
Incorporate Interactions: Storyline 360 shines when it comes to creating interactive content. Use drag-and-drop activities, clickable hotspots, and scenarios to engage learners.
Design Quizzes: Assess your learners' knowledge with built-in quiz slides that are customizable.
Preview and Publish: Once you’re satisfied, preview your course to test functionality, then publish it in the format that best fits your delivery platform, such as SCORM, Tin Can, or Web-based output.
B. Using Rise 360
Start a New Course: In Rise 360, click "New Course," and select a pre-built template or start from scratch.
Build Blocks: Rise uses a block system where you can drag and drop elements like text, images, videos, and quizzes.
Responsive Design: Rise automatically adjusts content to fit all devices, so you don’t need to worry about mobile-friendliness.
Customization: Even with its simplicity, you can add custom features such as interactive lessons, timelines, or even branch scenarios based on user input.
Publish and Share: Once done, you can easily export your Rise course for LMS platforms or share it via a direct link.
5. Tips for Creating Engaging Content
Keep It Visual: Use images, videos, and diagrams to break up text-heavy slides and hold learner interest.
Include Interactivity: Integrate quizzes, drag-and-drop interactions, and branching scenarios to boost engagement.
Microlearning: Keep each lesson short and focused on a single topic to promote better knowledge retention.
Consistent Branding: Make sure your courses are aligned with your organization's branding by customizing colors, fonts, and logos.
6. Publishing Your Course
Articulate offers various publishing options to suit different needs. Whether you’re using an LMS, web-based platforms, or mobile apps, you can export your courses in SCORM, AICC, xAPI (Tin Can), or even as a video file.
Key Formats:
SCORM: Ideal for LMS integration to track learner progress.
xAPI: Best for tracking learning activities across multiple platforms.
Web: Export as HTML5 for standalone web-based learning.
7. Final Thoughts
Getting started with Articulate is straightforward, but mastering its features takes practice. Start small, experiment with different tools, and don’t be afraid to explore advanced options like triggers and variables for creating sophisticated interactions.
With Articulate's flexibility, you can craft dynamic courses that resonate with your audience, promote engagement, and improve learning outcomes.
By following this beginner's guide, you'll be well on your way to becoming an Articulate expert and building engaging, interactive eLearning experiences that leave a lasting impact.
About LMS Portals
At LMS Portals, we provide our clients and partners with a SaaS-based, multi-tenant learning management system that allows you to launch a dedicated training environment (a portal) for each of your unique audiences.
The system includes built-in, SCORM-compliant rapid course development software that provides a drag and drop engine to enable most anyone to build engaging courses quickly and easily.
We also offer a complete library of ready-made courses, covering most every aspect of corporate training and employee development.
If you choose to, you can create Learning Paths to deliver courses in a logical progression and add structure to your training program. The system also supports Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT) and provides tools for social learning.
Together, these features make the LMS Portals platform the ideal SaaS-based platform to deliver your Articulate courses on a customized eLearning portal.
Contact us today to get started or visit our Partner Program pages
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