Listen, Learn, Engage

iPad E-Learning: Choosing the Right Platform

Posted by Joe Webster, November 15, 2011

At Accelerated Business Results (ABR), we talk to a lot of customers about their e-learning needs, and one of the trends that has emerged this year is a sharp increase in the number of customers who have questions about deploying training on tablet PCs, specifically Apple’s iPad. In this post, I will discuss the pros and cons of a few possible solutions for iPad learning.

The holy grail of iPad e-learning would have the following properties:

1. Works on both tablet PCs and desktops (including desktops running old versions of IE)
2. Allows rich interactivity and animation
3. Communicates scores and status to the customer’s LMS

Here are several possible solutions, with varying strengths and weaknesses.

HTML5

Apple’s devices have been hyped as driving wide adoption of HTML5 technology. So it makes sense that creating courses in pure HTML5, without any other framework, is an option for iPad e-learning. The good news is that a solution like this can almost always work easily with the customer’s LMS, and it allows a healthy degree of interactivity and animation. It also works on IE9, Firefox, and Safari/Chrome desktop browsers.

But there’s a big downside. Most corporate customers require support for IE7 and 8 (and some IE6), and these browsers are not HTML5-friendly. Despite a few hacks that will reduce incompatibility, old versions of IE will not work well with HTML5.

Adobe Flash/Flex

Even though Flash files do not natively run on Apple’s devices, there are still a couple of ways to run Flash content. Adobe Flash Builder (aka Flex) allows projects to be published as iPad apps, which can then be installed or loaded to the Apple store just like any other app. The process is reliable and provides some nice features, like being able to publish for Android, and Adobe has a nice video about it here. This allows developers to use the full features of Adobe software to create very interactive and customized applications, and the content can be published for both desktops and tablets.

The disadvantage is that the published course, at least the tablet version, can’t easily be connected to an LMS, and in some situations may not be able to connect at all. This can be a major deal-breaker if the course needs to be tracked.

iSWiFTER

An app called iSWiFTER has recently emerged as an alternate method for playing Flash-based content on the iPad. It is marketed as a browser that allows users to play games on tablets, but it also has a potential for e-learning deployment use. Rather than running Flash content directly on the tablets, the app runs the Flash content on a remote server and then streams it to the tablet. This enables Flash-based courseware to be served from an LMS and viewed on a tablet.

There are a few disadvantages. Because content is being relayed from an intermediate server, it’s not as secure as connecting directly to an LMS. Also, some users report a lag (courses being less responsive) when viewed in this way. Finally, it requires users to purchase and install the iSWiFTER app, which may be difficult in a corporate environment.

Lectora

Trivantis’s Lectora is one of the better options available right now, because it partially addresses customers’ main concerns. A course can be developed and published in an iPad-compatible mode, and many of Lectora’s features work on both tablets and desktops. Lectora also does a reliable job with LMS communication across devices.

There are a few downsides, though, the first being the inherent limitations of the Lectora environment (IDE). The platform serves its purpose well, but it doesn’t allow for a high level of creativity and customization. The second is that not all of Lectora’s features are functional on iPad. A breakdown of features is available here. For many customers, the biggest limitation is that cue point-based audio (audio timed to an animation) is not available.

Conclusion

Any tablet-based training solution needs to be evaluated based on the customer’s needs and priorities. This is not necessarily an exhaustive list of the options, but it is a good sampling of the current choices and their pros and cons. Has your company implemented tablet training? What platforms are you using, are what are your successes and challenges?