- August 21, 2014
- FOXITBLOG
People have always viewed online learning as an extremely popular way for working professionals to earn degrees. Now businesses are starting to use e-learning as a way to deliver training to their employees as well. In fact, studies show that 72 percent of companies feel online learning helps their employees keep up-to-date with changes in their industry and 84 percent using e-learning for their training and development.
Effective e-learning courses utilize a variety of different technologies to deliver content, including PDF software. One reason is that, no matter the industry or subject covered, you’ll need to deliver written content in a way that learners can consume in a variety of mediums.
Some people will want to read over their computer screens while others might want to load the content onto their tablet to read on the road. There are some learners who will want the opportunity to read materials from their smartphones and others will still feel more comfortable when printing resources to read from paper.
Materials developed using PDF software allows companies to deliver course content to these people in the manner that makes them most comfortable. But that’s not the only benefit.
PDF software lets you create fillable forms
Any online course is going to require interaction and feedback from learners. Web forms are one option, however, if you’re designing the course and you’re not a web developer, you might find this a bit overwhelming.
Using PDF software, you can create a form that allows online course attendees to type responses directly into the document and send it back for evaluation. You can even export this data to other software or databases when using the right PDF software package. You can create tests, registration forms or even course feedback forms with no programming required.
Document security
Some of the more popular topics for e-learning cover legal or regulatory compliance issues, in which the documents spell out specific policies or processes that follow regulations to the letter. If an unscrupulous user were able to change the content of a document it could present serious problems. That’s why blocking the ability for users to make changes to this type of coursework is an essential feature—one that good PDF software provides. But its security goes far beyond that. Using this type of application also gives you the ability to password protect content so access is given only to the right group of learners.
Finally, if you allow it, course attendees and/or instructors have the ability to digitally sign PDF files. For companies who need to track compliance training, this digital signature helps protect them legally if there is ever a need.
Engaging content
An online course is only as good as the content it contains. Using a PDF to deliver written materials gives you the opportunity to include diagrams, photographs and other images that help enhance comprehension. Your ability to add hyperlinks to videos, web pages and other content helps complement the materials covered in the text to give your audience a more engaging experience.
Using an enterprise level application such as Foxit PDF Editor provides you with the full set of tools needed to create online course content that’s right for e-learning. And if you’re part of a team tasked with creating courses, you’ll find it easy to collaborate and share content with one another so that you can put the most informative and engaging courses online.