In this Q&A podcast, Tim Slade discusses what separates Articulate Studio from the other authoring tools. This is a very large market, and Tim knows it well.

He is an authoring tools trainer for Artisan E-Learning, and has many years of experience working with business leaders and stakeholders at all levels, in both the private and public sectors. Starting his e-learning career at Kohl’s Department Stores, Tim worked in several business areas where he used e-learning, video, and print media to enhance training and communications content for audiences of more than 140,000. Today, he works to help others elevate their e-learning and communications content to the next level.

According to Tim, one of the key advantages to Articulate Studio is that it’s been around for nearly a decade. What’s more, although there have been updates to the tool that leverage new tech developments, Studio is rooted in PowerPoint—something many developers are already very familiar with using. “This makes it really popular with organizations that already have a lot of existing content that they’ve been teaching on the classroom or from subject matter experts that they want to convert into an e-learning course,” he says.

Unlike Storyline (another Articulate authoring tool), Tim explains that Studio is more of a template-based tool. “Its many features are simpler to use, and geared toward people just starting to get into the e-learning design process,” he says. The reason for this is that Studio takes advantage of programs, processes, workflows developers use on a regular basis.

Again, Tim points to the prevalent use of PowerPoint as an example. “Regardless of whether you came from an instructional design background or a completely different background, you have some experience with PowerPoint,” says Tim. “You’re able to take that knowledge and experience and apply it directly to Studio.” Make no mistake, though, Tim is quick to note that Studio still offers plenty of interactivity. For instance, designers can easily add in quizzes or publish to an LMS. 

Tim currently facilitates the ATD Articulate Studio Certificate. He explains that during this two-day workshop, attendees take a really deep dive into all of the current features of Studio. He prides himself on the fact that the course is nearly 100 percent hands-on, with attendees building a short, 15-minute course. “If we aren’t demonstrating something, the users are really in the tool building something,” says Tim.

For more insight into Articulate Studio, listen to the complete Q&A podcast. Also, be sure to check out the schedule for upcoming offerings of the ATD Articulate Studio Certificate program.