If you want to create digital learning content, you can quickly feel overwhelmed by the number of creative tools available on the market. Today, we present to you 19 tools that e-learning expert Claudia Grajek recommends for creating content for online courses. From general design tools to image databases to video and audio editing. With an infographic for download!
Recommendations in exchange: Our selection of creative tools for creating learning content
Experienced trainers and coaches know: If you want to digitize your learning content, it is not enough to just unpack the scanner. You also shouldn’t upload long slides from presentations 1:1 into your online course. In e-learning, your participants sit alone in front of the screen and quickly get bored if they have to click through text documents. (👉 Create online courses step by step)
Today, the choice often falls on a colorful mix of media including videos, quizzes, images, audios, and – yes, sometimes text documents as well. To create such media content, a multitude of tools supports you. For example, Canva, Filmora, various PDF converters, and many more. You might also immediately think of a few tool providers. However, it feels like new creative tools are emerging daily, some of which have exorbitant prices or hidden subscription traps. The server location or GDPR compliance is also an important criterion for many customers.
Everyone knows different tools and exciting ideas for use in digital training. That’s why blink.it success trainer and e-learning expert Claudia Grajek conducted a survey and asked: What are your tool tips for e-learning? The results can be divided into two categories:
Tools for creating digital learning content
Tools for interactive online learning
In this article, we introduce the first category – Part 2 will follow next week!
Claudia Grajek
Claudia is a self-employed consultant for social media and previously worked as a success manager at blink.it. She regularly speaks with people who are digitizing and disseminating their knowledge and content. In one of her webinars, she exchanged ideas with trainers and coaches about helpful third-party tools – the results form the basis for this article.
These 19 tools will help you create digital learning content
Based on Claudia's recommendations, we have created an infographic for you with 19 tools that can be categorized into 5 categories:
General design
PDF
Image databases
Video
Audio
Disclaimer: Of course, the selection of the tools mentioned here is subjective and incomplete. They only reflect Claudia's and our experiences, and we have no connection to the respective software providers.
Quick access: All links to the tool recommendations for online content
Tools for general design applications
Tools for converting and creating PDFs
Digital databases for images and videos
Tools for video format
Camtasia (link leads to a third-party site)
Losslesscut (link leads to a third-party site)
Tools for audio format
Interview: Extra tips about tools from Claudia Grajek
Claudia, 19 tool tips is quite a lot. What are your top 3 tool recommendations for creating content for online courses?
Clearly, at number 1 is Canva. I do so much with it and always show it to my clients. Number 2 would probably be Filmora because you can quickly and affordably edit videos with it. And number 3 is Loom: With the free basic version, you can record screencasts in the browser. For advanced screencasts, I also recommend the pro version, which allows you to record other screens and has additional features like a pen tool.
Which tool do you think is worth spending a bit more money on?
I am just a fan of Canva, which also costs in the pro version [link to Canva's pricing page]. When it comes to video editing, Filmora is sufficient for many purposes. However, for those who want to make many explanatory videos with screencasts, I recommend the more expensive video tool Camtasia. And of course, the investment in blink.it is worthwhile for offering online courses, where creating is already fun because it is so easy.
Are there any tools you would personally advise against?
Not fundamentally, no. Every use case is different, and every tool can be different in terms of usefulness. However, I am not a fan of the expensive Adobe world, such as Photoshop, etc. If you are not a designer yourself, there are numerous tools that are easier to use and, above all, much cheaper.
Thanks to Claudia for the short interview and the great tips about creating learning content!
All the tools presented can be excellently combined with an online course – whether as e-learning or blended learning. Create an online course now with blink.it and fill it with a colorful mix of media including video, quizzes, and much more!
