Reviewing eBridge, The All-in-One Course Review Tool
Feedback is an integral part of the design and development process. However, using emails, instant messages, and spreadsheets to collaborate can be difficult and time consuming. There are a variety of online review tools that feature review links built right into the eLearning course, but that only addresses a small fraction of the problem. There are still a number of review, feedback collation, and revision obstacles these tools don't address. In this article I'll share my review of eBridge by EI Design, which boasts intrinsic online review capabilities and gives you the power to collaborate and communicate every step of the way.
The Story Behind eBridge
EI Design has been providing customized eLearning solutions to their clients for well over a decade. To date, they have customers in 16 countries. They have been able to achieve this through a distributed development model. Their team of experienced eLearning developers saw a need for a collaboration tool that went beyond online review links. eBridge is their solution. It has the power to enhance your design process and improve your workflow by providing a practical and dynamic tool that removes several constraints of custom course development.
4 eBridge's Standout Features
eBridge offers a wide range of features that can make the development process more effective and efficient. Here are just a few of the standouts:
- Supports multiple authoring tools.
eBridge now works with a number of top authoring tools, such as Articulate Storyline, Trivantis Lectora, Articulate Presenter, Custom HTML5, and Adobe CS6. Captivate support is also in the works. This means that all of your reviewers, collaborators, and customers are able to view the same interface in order to add their input, no matter what authoring tool you used to build the course. - Simple and straightforward review process.
Your reviewers, collaborators, and stakeholders can easily log into the system and share their feedback directly within the course layout. Furthermore, they have the power to view the feedback and revisions that other reviewers have made and resolve issues immediately. For example, they can simply skip an issue that has already been discussed and remedied. - Discussion thread.
eBridge also features a discussion thread option that reviewers and collaborators can use to elaborate. For instance, a reviewer can ask a question that relates to a specific section of the course, and the developer can respond in the same thread. This completely eliminates the need for a third-party project management platform, due to the fact that all of the communication can be handled by the eBridge system. - Visual dashboards.
The platform also boasts a visual dashboard, which allows you to view the real-time status of your edits and revisions. The feedback is already assigned to a specific domain within the system. For example, your Instructional Design or Quality Assurance team has access to notes that pertain to their department. As a result, they can quickly view the feedback, fix the problem, and then update the status of the issue. Your team also has the ability to receive notifications on pending issues so that they can address them immediately.
4 Advantages Of eBridge
- Streamlines the development process.
eBridge automatically provides a review link to your collaborators, Subject Matter Experts, and reviewers. They have the opportunity to add their input directly into the layout of the course. As a result, they don't have to login to another collaboration platform in order to share their feedback. Your team can also view each other's notes and then consolidate all of the feedback to maintain organization, as well as highlight certain issues to make them a top priority. - Opens up the lines of communication.
There are times when miscommunication can get out of hand, especially if your team is using email or instant messaging to collaborate. eBridge opens up the lines of communication by offering a built-in discussion thread. If a Subject Matter Expert is unsure about a comment that was left by the Instructional Designer, they can simply access the thread and leave their question. This helps to remedy minor misunderstandings before they become costly conflicts. - Improves eLearning organization and time management.
The system enables you to mark and track changes, clarifications, and questions that are left by your eLearning team and reviewers. This occurs at every stage of the development timeline, which helps to reduce lengthy revisions in the future. For example, if your QA team encounters a glitch during the prototype phase, your programming team can fix it before it escalates. You can also closely monitor feedback and ensure that everything is running smoothly from start to finish. In short, you can make the best use of your resources so that you deliver right on time. - Takes the stress out of project management.
Project management and course review can be stressful and time consuming. eBridge changes all of that by allowing you to analyze your data, continuously improve your work practices, and customize your development and review process. The platform also helps you hold every member of your team accountable for their end of the bargain. It tracks their completed tasks, implements feedback, and provides in depth project management analysis. As such, you can give your team consistent, personalized feedback to ensure quality across the board.
Ultimately, eBridge is a powerful tool that can streamline your eLearning work process and optimize your resources. Using this platform gives you the opportunity to boost the agility and productivity of your eLearning team in order to produce a high quality finished product.
You can also get a hands-on experience of how the tool works with a 30-day free trial window that EI Design has on offer for those interested.
