Good classroom-based training has many advantages over traditional eLearning when it comes to effective teaching. A good trainer can capture the attention of the audience, keep interest levels high, and intersperse the message with real-life examples and humour to really illustrate their subject. eLearning vendors will however argue that training lacks consistency, is expensive to deliver, and can be lacking in multimedia flair.

The recently launched website Jackdaw Cloud claims to cross the divide between these two camps, now allowing training vendors to produce eLearning themselves.

The resultant courses closely resemble their existing training, but also bring in enhancements such as interactivity and video elements. Where Jackdaw Cloud is different from previous authoring systems and software is that it designs in 3D. Very similar to a film or documentary maker, you are invited to chose the scene from a library or upload your own, insert presenters in it, and then select an interaction.

ELearning WMB's head of eLearning, Emil Reisser-Weston, notes, "Jackdaw Cloud is easier to use than MS PowerPoint^®, as it relies on learning only four basic concepts. Unlike a PowerPoint presentation, however, the resultant eLearning will look like a TV documentary, but one in which you can explore by rotating items, turning pages in books, etc."

Courses created using Jackdaw Cloud can be run online in a browser or on a smartphone. Data is automatically collected and fed back to a learning-management system that can be analysed and reported on by each company using the system.

The take up of Jackdaw Cloud has been startling, with over thirty percent of the top fifty eLearning apps made using the software and many corporate clients adopting the system throughout their organisation.

"This is really a training revolution to watch. Best of all, the software is free to use. Users only pay for courses that are rolled out at a rate that amounts to a few pounds per person."