SoftChalk: eLearning Made Easy
With eLearning on the rise and showing no signs of stopping in the near or distant future, many instructors are looking for solutions to incorporate eLearning into their teaching strategies. A number of programs exist to help them do just that but, unfortunately, several are costly and can be difficult and time-consuming to learn. One refreshing exception to this, however, is SoftChalk.
SoftChalk allows users to create engaging, interactive lessons for students that deliver content, activities and assessment opportunities. Lessons can be inserted directly into Blackboard courses and can even be scored as part of the grade center.
While these are all fantastic points about the software, probably the best thing about SoftChalk is its ease of use. Several programs designed to create eLearning require the user to have a wide knowledge base that can include creating objects, writing variables, developing interactions and sometimes even coding. This can be daunting to anyone taking their first steps into eLearning design. SoftChalk, on the other hand, is straightforward and intuitive, and many of the functions a user would want to create are made quite simply. Even those teachers with little or no experience creating eLearning tools will be on their way to authoring them in no time.
Users can create content in Microsoft Word using all of the familiar tools such as heading styles, image placement and bullet lists, to name a few, and then copy and paste the content into the main SoftChalk editor. Some components may need a bit of shifting and resizing, but for the most part everything will copy over exactly as it was made in Word.
From there users can take advantage of SoftChalk’s built in features to tailor the content to a more eLearning-friendly design. With just a few clicks, users can turn their sea of text and images into easily navigable pages that host videos, audio files and activities, as well as quizzes that keep students’ scores. Authors can also choose designs based on built-in themes, to make their lessons visually appealing.
There are several other, higher-end utilities in SoftChalk that can make design exciting, such as quiz pools, custom themes and math equations. For the beginning author, though, the most basic functions can go a long way toward creating interactive lessons for learners and get teachers well on their way to creating engaging eLearning tools.
For an introduction to this program, register for one of our upcoming sessions on Developing Digital Lessons with SoftChalk.
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