Never has there been more pressure on learning and development teams to demonstrate their impact. Although this pressure is completely justified (a business, after all, operates to make money), there’s a danger that it can lead to a creativity vacuum –recycling the same stuff over and over again.
This leaves L&D with a challenge – how can you inject some creativity into your next learning project without obliterating your budget?
The good news is there are tools out there to help you raise that creative bar – and they don’t cost the earth!
At Popcorn, we’re always on the lookout for new tools and resources that can help our clients increase impact without adding extra pressure to already stretched budgets. Here are five of our favourites:
What’s it called?
Chat GPT
What’s it for?
Writing content
Cost
From free
Popcorn says:
The jury might still be out on the ethics and accuracy of AI’s text-generating poster child, but what can’t be questioned is the speed that it can generate content.
Our advice is to treat it like a brand-new office junior – the better your brief, the better the work that it’ll do. And, of course, you’ll always want to check it afterwards for accuracy.
Chat GPT, and the other large language model-based chatbot’s such as Google’s Bard, is exceptionally good at getting you started on a project. Gone are the days of staring at a blank page wondering how to get started – let Chat GPT write the first draft and take it from there.
What’s it called?
Articulate Rise 360
What’s it for?
E-learning course creation.
Cost:
From $1,099 per user per year.
Popcorn says:
This isn’t the cheapest product on the market, but the price gets you the full suite of authoring apps, including Rise 360 and Storyline 360. It also gets access to over 12 million images and templates and the useful review app.
Rise 360 is a trimmed down version of Storyline 360, perfect for designing good looking courses that are responsive to mobile devices without having to get too technical.
By accessing the templates, you can create a course that looks great in next to no time.
What’s it called?
Colossyan
What’s it for?
AI-powered video creation.
Cost:
From $28 per month.
Popcorn says:
If you want to quickly create presenter-led videos but lack the equipment, time, budget or, uh, presenters, then AI might be the answer. Colossyan lets you upload a script and build a slide deck, then adds a lifelike computer-generated avatar to present it all.
In our opinion, the end result doesn’t quite look like a perfect replacement for a real-life presenter, but two things are clear: Colossyan lets you create a video much quicker than if you filmed a real presenter, and it’s only a matter of time before the technology improves to the point where you’ll be hard pushed to spot who’s real and who’s not.
What’s it called?
Play HT
What’s it for?
AI-powered voiceover.
Cost:
From $7.2 per month.
Popcorn says:
Like AI generated video, AI generated voiceover has improved at a staggering rate in recent years. Play HT is one of many platforms out there that allows you to upload a script, select a ‘voice’ and receive the results in seconds.
The results are pretty impressive, too. Large chunks of the scripts that we’ve uploaded are indistinguishable from a human voice artist. If you don’t like the result, click regenerate and it’ll provide you with another unique version.
One Play HT feature that’s particularly interesting is the ability to clone a voice, so if you want to use a particular accent or dialect, you can do so with relative ease. This makes Play HT an extremely versatile tool, especially if time or budget won’t stretch to a real-life voice artist.
What’s it called?
Vyond
What’s it for?
Animated video.
Cost:
From $25 per month.
Popcorn says:
If you want to create animations for your learning, but don’t have the time to learn something like Adobe AfterEffects, then Vyond offers a smart compromise. By using the pre-designed templates and artwork, you can create animations in next to no time. There’s loads of tutorials and guidance on the Vyond website too, so you needn’t have a design background to create something slick.
So, there you have it. The next time you need to create learning content that packs a punch, give one of these impressive new tools a go. The results might surprise you!
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Mark is one of Popcorn’s co-founders and directors. Since 2002 he’s developed and delivered hundreds of courses, both online and face to face. He’s worked both as part of an internal L&D function and as an external consultant. His actions have generated many millions of pounds worth of revenue for the organisations he’s worked with.
