CourseArc

“Flexible LTI updates and versioning”

Pros

Being able to push LTI links from this software straight into the LMS is incredibly useful and the instructional design team can adjust training content in it whenever needed. Those changes show up through the same LMS link right away which saves a lot of time. It's also really helpful that previous versions are tracked and stored.

Cons

It is overall very capable when it comes to content authoring. One issue I've run into happens while building pages if I step away for a few minutes and then come back to edit. I've occasionally received an error message and when I tried to keep working I was sent back to the login page. It seems more related to the browser than to the software itself. There is a setting on the login page under options called "remain logged in to website" and when I turn that on at login the error stops happening and I'm no longer redirected back to sign in.

“interactive course building boost!”

Pros

Building courses with it is fast and simple. It comes with pre made content blocks for adding text, videos, flashcards, quizzes and more, plus reusable custom templates for page layouts I use often. That helps keep every course looking consistent from start to finish. I also rely on third party interactive learning tools built with jQuery and I used to have trouble embedding them directly into Canvas. With this platform adding JavaScript libraries and custom CSS is much simpler which has made my courses feel much more dynamic and engaging.

Cons

Since it is still a newer product it's clearly still expanding its feature set and refining some workflows. It connects with LMS platforms through LTI but the integration doesn't feel as smooth as I'd like. When students need to submit assignments, complete graded quizzes or join discussions they have to leave the platform and switch over to the LMS itself. Depending on how a course is designed that can interrupt the learning flow and create some frustration for students.

“Course design powerhouse”

Pros

Feels like a well designed and user friendly platform for building interactive course content while still supporting strong instructional design and pedagogical best practices. The Blackboard integration works smoothly and the branding features give you endless combinations for supporting different departments and projects. I also appreciate the role based permissions which make it possible to involve staff and faculty at different levels while maintaining quality control through content creation, approval and deployment. Another big plus is how responsive the development team is to feedback. I suggested an idea and they turned it into a new integration within 48 hours which has since become a valuable part of my workflow.

Cons

There are a few extra steps in the workflow when creating content blocks and uploading files compared with the drag-and-drop approach of some other tools. That said once you get into a rhythm with CourseArc, it becomes second nature and doesn't feel too disruptive while building modules. Some of the interactive elements could also benefit from prompts that tell users about character limits when entering content. I'd also like to see gradebook integration at some point although that seems to be more of an LMS limitation than an issue with CourseArc itself.