Building a standout portfolio means showcasing your ability to use a variety of instructional design software tools—without breaking the bank. Here is a selection of tools with free plans and trials to highlight your versatility and skills impressing hiring managers.
Learning Authoring Tools
Now let’s move to some of the best Content Authoring Tools and Rapid E-learning Development Tools that offer free plans and trials. Designed to empower you in creating engaging and interactive e-learning content. These tools offer intuitive interfaces and powerful features to bring your e-learning courses to life.
H5P: a versatile content authoring tool that allows you to create interactive and engaging content such as presentations, quizzes, and interactive videos. It offers a wide range of content types and is known for its ease of use and flexibility.
Genially: an interactive content creation platform that allows you to design presentations, infographics, and interactive images. With Genially, you can create engaging and visually stunning content to enhance your e-learning materials.
Canva: offers a free plan with access to thousands of templates and design elements, making it perfect for creating visually appealing graphics, presentations, and infographics for your e-learning courses.
Adobe Express: offers a suite of design tools for creating graphics, web pages, and videos. With its intuitive interface and extensive library of templates, Adobe Spark is ideal for creating professional-looking content for your e-learning courses.
iSpring Free: a PowerPoint add-in that allows you to convert your presentations into interactive e-learning courses. It offers features like quizzes, interactions, and narration to enhance your presentations.
Padlet: a collaborative platform that allows you to create digital bulletin boards, documents, and web pages. It’s great for fostering collaboration and interaction among your learners.
Assessment and Quiz Tools
Complementing the capabilities of Instructional Design Software, these tools are crafted to seamlessly blend into the instructional design workflow. They empower educators to craft interactive quizzes and assessments that enrich the learning journey. Dive into these platforms tailored to facilitate the creation of engaging evaluations, fostering enhanced educational outcomes for learners.
Quizlet: allows you to create flashcards, quizzes, and study sets to help your learners reinforce their knowledge. With Quizlet, you can easily create interactive quizzes and study materials for your e-learning courses.
Google Forms: can be used to create quizzes and assessments for your e-learning courses. It’s easy to use and integrates seamlessly with other Google Workspace apps.
Typeform: allows you to create interactive quizzes and assessments for your e-learning courses. Its modern and user-friendly interface makes it easy to create engaging content.
Questiory: a new innovative tool for creating interactive presentations collecting and visualizing data. You can apply to join the Beta Testing program for full free access during its early development stage.
Socrative: a student response system that enables educators to create quizzes, assessments, and educational games in real-time. It offers instant feedback and analytics, allowing educators to gauge student understanding and adjust instruction accordingly.
Poll Everywhere: a versatile tool that enables educators to create interactive polls, quizzes, and open-ended questions. It integrates seamlessly with presentation software, allowing educators to engage learners during live lectures or virtual sessions.
Mentimeter: an interactive presentation tool that allows educators to create quizzes, polls, and interactive presentations. It offers real-time audience engagement features, enabling educators to capture and assess learner responses instantly.
ProProfs Quiz Maker: a comprehensive tool for creating quizzes, assessments, and surveys. It offers a wide range of question types and customization options, making it suitable for diverse learning objectives and instructional needs.
Quizizz: a game-based learning platform that allows educators to create multiplayer quizzes and interactive review games. With Quizizz, educators can gamify learning experiences and promote student engagement in a fun and interactive way.
Edpuzzle: a video-based learning platform that enables educators to create interactive video lessons with embedded quizzes and assessments. It offers features for tracking student progress and understanding, making it ideal for flipped classroom models and blended learning environments.
Wooclap: an interactive polling and quiz platform designed for live classroom engagement and remote learning environments. It offers real-time interaction features such as live quizzes, word clouds, and collaborative discussions, fostering active participation and knowledge retention.
Microsoft Forms: a simple yet powerful tool for creating surveys, quizzes, and polls. It offers collaboration features and seamless integration with other productivity tools, enhancing workflow efficiency for educators.
Simulation and Game-based Learning
Here are some additional free tools to create immersive simulations and game-based learning experiences.
These user-friendly platforms empower learning professionals to craft engaging and interactive learning content without extensive coding knowledge. From game engines to interactive fiction tools, explore the possibilities of enhancing educational content with simulation and gaming elements.
Unity: a powerful game development platform with a free version offering essential features for creating interactive 2D and 3D experiences. Check their learning platform also for a good example of what an amazing learning experience look like.
Unreal Engine: another robust game development engine with a free version suitable for creating high-fidelity interactive experiences.
Gamefroot: offers intuitive tools for creating various game types, fostering engagement and active learning.
Twine: an open-source tool for creating interactive fiction and text-based games, ideal for narrative-driven learning experiences.
Scratch: a beginner-friendly visual programming language and online community where users can create and share interactive stories, games, and animations.
Construct: a user-friendly HTML5 game development engine that offers a free version with limited features but sufficient for creating simple games.
GDevelop: an open-source game development software allowing users to create games without coding knowledge. It offers a free plan with basic features.
Phaser: a fast, free, and open-source HTML5 game framework for desktop and mobile browsers, suitable for creating 2D games.
Stencyl: a game creation platform that allows users to create games for mobile, desktop, and web platforms without writing any code. It offers a free version with limited capabilities.
GameSalad: a game development platform that enables users to create games for iOS, Android, HTML5, and macOS without coding. It offers a free plan with basic features.
RPG Maker: a software that specializes in creating role-playing games (RPGs) with pre-built assets and easy-to-use tools. It offers a free trial version.
Cospaces Edu: a platform that allows users to create virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences for educational purposes. It offers a free plan for educators and students.
Roblox Studio: a game development platform that allows users to create and publish games on the Roblox platform. It offers a free version with access to basic features and tools.
GameMaker Studio 2: is a professional game development platform with a free version offering limited features for creating 2D games.
Puzzlescript: a free and open-source game engine for creating puzzle games with a focus on simple scripting and retro-style visuals.
Virtual Classroom Software
Discover our selection of Virtual Classroom Software, offering free plans to facilitate seamless online learning experiences. These platforms are ordered by the most value in their free tiers, ensuring educators, trainers, and facilitators can engage learners effectively without financial commitment.
Zoom: provides a feature-rich platform for virtual classrooms, including unlimited one-on-one meetings, 40-minute group meetings, and screen sharing. It’s widely used and offers robust capabilities even in its free tier.
Google Meet: integrates seamlessly with Google Workspace, offering unlimited video meetings for up to 60 minutes per session. It’s ideal for educators already using Google’s suite of tools.
Jitsi Meet: an open-source video conferencing platform that’s simple, secure, and customizable. It offers unlimited meetings with no account required, making it perfect for quick and hassle-free collaboration.
Whereby: allows for unlimited video meetings with up to 4 participants in its free plan. It’s known for its ease of use and doesn’t require downloads or logins, making it convenient for ad-hoc collaboration.
Skype: celebrating their 20 years in the market, Skype offers free video calling with up to 50 participants, making it suitable for small virtual classrooms or one-on-one tutoring sessions. It’s widely accessible and familiar to many users.
BlueJeans: provides unlimited 1:1 meetings and group meetings with up to 50 participants in its free plan. It offers features like screen sharing, virtual backgrounds, and HD video quality.
Zoho Meeting: offers unlimited meetings for up to 2 participants in its free plan. While limited in participant capacity, it provides features like screen sharing, webinar hosting, and attendee polling.
RingCentral Meetings: offers unlimited one-on-one meetings and group meetings with up to 100 participants in its free plan. It includes features like screen sharing and cloud recording.
Livestorm: offers unlimited webinars and meetings with up to 10 participants in its free plan. It’s browser-based and easy to use, with features like interactive polls and Q&A.
Microsoft Teams: offers unlimited chat, video calling, and collaboration with up to 100 participants. It’s part of the Microsoft 365 suite, making it convenient for users already invested in Microsoft’s ecosystem.
Learning Management Systems (LMS)
Finally, let’s look at some options of Learning Management Systems you could use to build the learning pathways and journeys. This curated selection of LMS software with free plans could help you build a learning platform for free to host your digital learning solutions and showcase your expertise in LMS management.
Moodle: as an open-source platform, Moodle stands out for its extensive customization options and a global community of developers. It’s highly adaptable for creating detailed courses with quizzes, forums, and resource sharing.
Google Classroom: integrated seamlessly with Google’s suite of tools, it’s ideal for K-12 schools and teachers looking for a straightforward platform for managing classes, assignments, and communications.
Odoo eLearning: an intuitive Learning Management System designed for both learners and trainers, Odoo eLearning simplifies course creation, content uploading, student assessment, and engagement tracking.
Canvas: offers a free-for-teacher plan that includes essential LMS features such as course creation, grading, and integration with numerous educational apps, making it suitable for both K-12 and higher education settings.
EdApp: a mobile-first microlearning platform that’s ideal for corporate training. It offers a user-friendly interface for creating engaging, bite-sized learning content, with features like gamification, spaced repetition, and a comprehensive course library. EdApp’s free plan makes it accessible for teams of all sizes to start creating and deploying training content immediately.
GoSkills: a comprehensive LMS solution tailored for learning professionals seeking to enhance their skill set or facilitate employee training. GoSkills offers an interactive and customizable learning experience, complete with quizzes and practical exercises, making it an ideal choice for professionals and organizations aiming to achieve specific learning outcomes within a flexible learning environment.
Employment Hero: as an LMS, Employment Hero offers a free plan designed to support small businesses in managing and delivering employee training programs. This platform streamlines HR processes and includes features tailored for developing, tracking, and enhancing staff skills.
WordPress: a popular website platform that can be used to create e-learning websites. When paired with the Visual Composer or Elementor plugins, you can design custom pages and layouts for your courses without any coding knowledge.
Wix: a website builder that uses AI to create personalized websites. It could be a valuable option for creating custom e-learning portals or websites to host your courses and engage with learners.
Sakai: as an open-source LMS, Sakai caters to higher education and is designed for supporting online teaching, learning, research, and collaboration.
Open edX: the open-source platform behind edX courses, Open edX, allows educators and technologists to build learning tools and contribute new features to the platform, suitable for massive open online courses (MOOCs) and smaller learning modules alike.
MoodleCloud: a cloud-hosted version of Moodle, designed for smaller users who want the convenience of Moodle without the need for server installation. It’s particularly appealing for individual educators, small schools, or businesses.
Forma LMS: an open-source, web-based eLearning platform designed to facilitate corporate training, support selling courses, and manage certificates, making it a good fit for corporate learning environments.
Chamilo: an open-source LMS focusing on ease of use and accessibility, Chamilo is designed to improve access to online training, making it suitable for educators and trainers prioritizing user-friendliness and accessibility.
TalentLMS: its free plan supports up to 5 users and 10 courses, making it perfect for individuals or small teams to pilot eLearning projects and gain experience with an LMS valued by employers, in a professional and easy-to-navigate environment.
Blackboard Learn: while traditionally known for its enterprise solutions, Blackboard offers a free version with basic LMS features ideal for individual educators or small organizations.
Thinkific: with its free plan, it’s great for creating and selling online courses, offering a user-friendly interface for educators and entrepreneurs.
Exploring Free Instructional Design Software
Creating an impactful portfolio as an Instructional Designer or Learning Experience Designer necessitates a strategic approach to demonstrating proficiency across various instructional design software tools. While many organizations opt for costly, high-end solutions, there exists a plethora of alternative, creative tools available at no cost.
Engaging with a wide array of free or trial-version instructional design software tools not only diversifies your skill set but also underscores your adaptability and eagerness to learn within the constraints of budgetary limitations.
Here’s a concise guide to navigating this landscape:
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Strategic portfolio development
- Targeted Projects: Choose projects that reflect the needs of the industries or roles you aim for. Tailor your work to demonstrate your subject matter expertise and capability in addressing specific educational challenges within these contexts.
- Microlearning Focus: Given that reviewers may spend only a few minutes perusing your portfolio, prioritize high-quality microlearning examples over longer, less polished projects. Microlearning modules, which are concise and focused on specific learning outcomes, can demonstrate your ability to create impactful learning experiences efficiently.
- Software Diversity: Exhibit your proficiency with a wide range of instructional design tools, from well-known to niche. Use logos and brief descriptions to visually highlight your versatility and technical skill set across different platforms.
- Comprehensive Demonstrations: Include a variety of content types such as storyboards, eLearning modules, video tutorials, and assessments. Showcasing a broad spectrum of materials illustrates your ability to create engaging and effective learning experiences.
- Real-World Impact and Outcomes: Enhance your portfolio by incorporating evidence of the learning impact your projects have achieved. Include case studies, learner feedback, and quantitative outcomes to illustrate how your designs have led to improved knowledge retention, skill acquisition, or performance enhancements.
- Portfolio Exploration: Research and review portfolios from other Learning Experience Designers in the field for inspiration and to stay abreast of industry standards and trends. Note how others structure their portfolios and communicate their design process.
- Reflective Insights: For each project, offer a concise reflection on your design process, challenges encountered, and solutions implemented. This insight into your problem-solving approach provides depth to your portfolio, showcasing your critical thinking and innovation.
