Disclaimer
Some behavior may or may not be available depending on how the courseware has been set up. If you purchase eLearning content off the shelf, it’s important to check with your provider regarding the expected behavior. For example, if you wish to launch the course in a frameset but the courseware provider has a built-in redirect, the course may launch in a pop-up window regardless of your player settings.
Course Launching and Exiting: Best Practices
Launching My Course In or Not In a Pop-Up
(Section Name: Player Launch Type)
Recommendation:
For a seamless learner experience, we recommend launching the course in a new window (pop-up). This minimizes distractions from the learning environment (e.g., an LMS menu) and ensures the course player is full-screen.
Pop-Up Options:
Display in a child frameset: The course appears within the main LMS interface.
Display in a pop-up window: Opens a separate window. Best for SCORM content.
Display in a pop-up without toolbar: Removes extra browser elements, keeping learners focused.
Pro Tip: If learners experience pop-up blockers, configure the course to prompt them to manually allow pop-ups.
Exiting My Course Options
(Section Name: Player Final SCO Course Exit Action)
Types of Course Exits:
Exit After Asking Learner’s Permission: Gives learners control and ensures they are ready to leave.
Exit Immediately: This option can help keep content flow streamlined but may disrupt learner continuity.
Display Status Message: Before exiting, inform learners about the status (e.g., complete/incomplete).
Best Practice:
For courses with final assessments or key milestones, we recommend the "Exit after asking permission" setting, so learners can confirm their progress before exiting.
Versioning My Course: How to Ensure Users Get the Most Current Version
(Section Name: When To Restart Registration)
What Versioning Does:
Versioning ensures learners see the most updated course content. It’s essential when you make updates, fix issues, or introduce new material.
Options for Versioning:
Never restart existing registration: Learners continue from where they left off, even if there’s a new version.
Restart when a newer version exists: Automatically moves learners to the latest version when it's available.
Restart after course completion: Learners who completed the course can retake it with the latest updates.
Best Practice: Use the "restart when a newer version exists" to ensure learners always receive up-to-date content, especially for compliance and regulatory courses.
Enforcing Time on PDF Pages
(Section Name: PDF Content Page Duration Threshold)
Setting Time Spent on a PDF:
You can enforce learners to spend a minimum amount of time on each page of a PDF-based course.
How to Configure:
Use the PDF Content Page Duration Threshold setting. This controls how long a learner must view a document page before it counts towards completion.
Recommendation: Set a reasonable threshold (e.g., 5-10 seconds per page) to ensure learners engage with the content but avoid frustration from forced waiting periods.
Restarting Registration: What Does It Mean?
(Section Name: When To Restart Registration)
Definition:
Restarting registration essentially resets the learner's progress in a course. It increments the instance ID, which allows tracking of the new attempt while preserving the previous one.
When to Restart:
New Version: Restart when a new course version is released and you want learners to take the updated content.
Completion Reset: Restart if you want learners to retake the course after completing it, useful for recurring training like annual compliance.
Best Practice: Use this when learners need to retake courses or when significant updates occur that require learners to start from the beginning.
Additional Best Practices for eLearning Course Management
Detailed Attempt Information
(Section Name: Player Capture History Detailed)
What It Does:
This setting enables detailed attempt information to be returned to the server, capturing more granular data about how learners interact with the course.Best Practice:
Enable this feature if you need detailed reporting and analytics on learner attempts, especially for compliance training or in-depth performance analysis. This can help track learner behavior and assess areas where learners may struggle.
Progress Bar Display
(Section Name: Player Show Progress Bar)
What It Does:
This setting controls whether a progress bar is visible to learners, showing them how far along they are in the course.Best Practice:
Enable the progress bar for courses with multiple modules or longer content. It helps learners stay oriented and motivated as they track their progress through the material.
Completion and Score Tracking
(Section Name: Player Is Completion Tracked / Player Is Score Tracked)
What It Does:
These settings determine whether the course tracks completion and scores in a meaningful way. If your course package reports on completion and score, these should be enabled.Best Practice:
Always ensure that courses that have assessments or graded activities use completion and score tracking. This ensures that learner performance is accurately recorded in the LMS.
Force Objective Completion Set by Content
(Section Name: Player Force Objective Completion Set By Content)
What It Does:
This option overrides the manifest settings for objective and completion, forcing them to be set by content rather than by external factors.Best Practice:
Use this setting if you want the content itself (e.g., a final quiz or assessment) to determine whether learners have completed the course, rather than relying on an external status.
Satisfaction and Completion Rollup
(Section Name: Player Satisfied Causes Completion / Player Rollup Runtime at SCO Unload)
What It Does:
These settings manage how success (pass/fail) and completion are rolled up from individual SCOs (Sharable Content Objects) into an overall course status.Best Practice:
Use these settings to ensure that learner success or failure at the individual activity level rolls up into the overall course completion. This is particularly useful when your course is broken into multiple SCOs or assessments.
Handling Concurrent Launches
(Section Name: Force Exit Concurrent Launches)
What It Does:
This forces the system to exit previous instances of the course if a learner tries to launch the course in multiple windows at the same time.Best Practice:
Enable this to avoid data loss or confusion if learners accidentally open the course in multiple windows. It prevents issues with tracking progress across different sessions.
Enforcing Completion of Media Content
(Section Name: Media Content Completion Threshold)
What It Does:
This specifies the percentage of media that must be consumed before it can be marked as "complete."Best Practice:
Set this for courses with video or audio content to ensure that learners engage with the media before the course is marked complete. A good threshold is 90-95% of the content being viewed.
Lookahead Sequencer
(Section Name: Player Lookahead Sequencer Mode)
What It Does:
This controls how activities and controls are intelligently enabled/disabled based on the learner's potential future paths.Best Practice:
For complex courses with branching paths or prerequisites, enable the sequencer with real-time status updates. This ensures that learners only see the relevant activities based on their progress.
Validating Interaction Responses
(Section Name: Player Validate Interaction Responses)
What It Does:
This setting validates interaction responses according to SCORM format. It’s useful for quizzes or assessments where interaction data is being captured.Best Practice:
Enable this when using quizzes or assessments to ensure responses are in the correct format, especially if descriptive text is used in addition to standard SCORM responses.
Handling Timeouts and Suspensions
(Section Name: Player Final SCO Course Not Satisfied Timeout Exit Action / Player Final SCO Course Satisfied Suspend Exit Action)
What It Does:
These settings determine what happens when learners exit due to timeouts or suspensions at different points in the course.Best Practice:
Customize these actions to align with your course structure. For example, displaying a status message on timeout or suspension can help learners understand whether they've satisfied course requirements or need to revisit specific sections.
Final Thoughts
By implementing these settings and best practices, you can significantly enhance the learner experience, ensure accurate tracking of progress, and maintain up-to-date content in your courses. For any specific customizations or behavior settings, always consult with your courseware provider, especially when using off-the-shelf eLearning content.