How do I create a menu in a course that launches sections of the course in a new window??

Report · May 11, 2018

ANY help is very, very much appreciated!!!!

Because of the structure of the LMS we use, I need to create a course (SCORM) that I can upload to the LMS as an embedded file. What I would like to do is make the first screen a menu of the different subsections (modules?) of the course that will open in a new pop up window when the menu button is selected.

For example, this is the user experience I am trying to create:

I would have a course called Owners and the sections within the course would be 1. Search for an Owner 2. Create an Owner 3. Edit an Owner 4. Assessment. When the users selects the course from the list in the LMS, it will open in a page where it is embedded. Only the menu/TOC would appear. The user would select the first menu item, 1. Search for an Owner. This would open in a new (popup) window. Once this section was completed, they would have a choice to go back to the main menu, which would close the window they are in and take them back to the page where the course is embedded, or they could continue to the next section. This would open the next section of the course in the same popup window. All sections including the assessment would need to be completed for the entire course to be counted ad "complete".

Is it possible to create the course with this structure in Captivate? I have searched and searched these forums and the internet at large and can't find what I am looking for at all. I am afraid that I may be using the wrong language in my searching. Any and all help appreciated!!!

Report · May 11, 2018

Although I don't know about your LMS which I guess is your issue that is an unusual behaviour. I know that you can build the navigation that you talk about right in Captivate. You don't need to be popping up windows all over the place which would be very confusing and not an efficient UI . Your first slide in your project could be a TOC slide with links to different slides in your project with appropriate navigation back to the TOC slide.

Report · May 13, 2018

In a similar vein to David's reply....your wish-list has several issues, unfortunately.

1. Since you're using SCORM, I suspect you need to track a variety of things about the course. Even if it were possible to setup a course the way you outline...once a SCORM project is launched from the LMS, it is considered one single SCORM object. A SCORM object can only have a single overall score associated with it.

So if you did manage a setup as you describe, you would not be able to track quiz results for each section. You could only track the overall, combined score for ALL quiz objects in the piece.

There are sub-options (i.e. track interaction data and depends on LMS reporting) but they can get real complicated.

2. Whether what you describe is possible, in regards to "When the users selects the course from the list in the LMS, it will open in a page where it is embedded. Only the menu/TOC would appear. The user would select the first menu item... This would open in a new (popup) window." depends on what your LMS allows. Will it open a SCORM piece 'embedded' on the same browser window?

3. In agreement with David's reply, is there a benefit to opening the TOC selection in a new window?

You could set this up all as one large CP project; custom navigation that chunks a set of slides into each topic, then use Captivate's TOC feature to move between the sections....but all within the one CP window.

And not only is that just easier, but launching another CP project from a SCORM-compliant CP-based TOC...if that doesn't break the SCORM communication between the piece and the LMS, at best you won't get any tracking data back from the secondary-launch (as that's outside the SCORM API's capabilities).

So what you want is possible, but designed to be one overall piece developed within a single CP project.

(you could look at Captivate's Multi-SCORM Packager, but for that to do what you want, the LMS has to support higher-level SCORM 2004 pieces. I've not seen an LMS that utilizes a multi-SCO package the way you'd like, though I suppose it's possible)

Report · May 14, 2018

It's possible to build what you want but not practical given that you want them to be able to select a lesson from the menu and also just go to the next lesson from within a lesson. You would need to structure the course with a custom manifest and custom JavaScript.

SCORM does have a way to do what you want, but not through Captivate. You can set objectives in the menu SCO's manifest and the lesson can set those objective to true when hey are complete. When all objectives are satisfied, the course will go complete.

Your best bet is just to package as multiple SCOs and then the LMS creates the menu, but you cannot navigate between SCO's the way you are describing as they would be treated as the same SCO, or they would not communicate with the LMS.