Anatomy
In order to describe the various functions of the content delivery window, a little anatomy lesson is in order. The worlds of the content and the LMS collide here in the content delivery window, and terminology will be our friend.
- Title Bar: Merely a cosmetic section of the page wherein the title of the course as found in the manifest is shared. Rendered by the LMS (SCORM Test Track in this case.)
- Navigation Bar: Also rendered by the LMS, the Navigation Bar allows the learner to move between or amongst SCOs. The Navigation Bar is hidden for many courses.
- Course Structure: Courses that have hierarchy, or more than one SCO, will often display the course structure on the left hand side. Think of this as a table of contents for moving throughout the course. In the SCORM Test Track skin, underlined items are clickable for the learner. The entire Course Structure can be hidden via Package Properties or the Hide Menu link found in the Navigation Bar.
- Content Frame: This section of the window is like the screen on your TV. The TV has no control over what’s actually shown here… It belongs entirely to the content author. SCOs, the items shown in the Content Frame, often contain their own navigation. In most cases, this navigation is intra-SCO navigation, allowing the learner to navigate within that SCO. The dual navigation (in concert with the inter-SCO navigation found in the Navigation Bar) can be confusing to learner at times, which is why it is configurable via Package Properties.
“Now What?”
It’s a good question. The possibilities with content are endless here. Since certain pieces of content will have a single SCO and others will have many, and some content will play in the content frame, and others will launch in their window, telling you what you’re going to do next is almost impossible.
So, let’s start with how you get out of here. Your best option is the Navigation Bar described above. [Note: If you configure the Package Properties in certain ways, the Navigation Bar isn’t available. ] Assuming the nav bar is there, you have three options for exiting. Close Item, as we title it here, allows you to exit this particular SCO (in the Content Frame). This will close the singular piece of content, but won’t exit from the course as whole. When you’re ready to to exit from the course totally, make use of the Exit buttons in the upper right.
While the destination is the same for the two exit buttons, the luggage varies. The traditional exit button persists all of the data from the debug logs to the server, so you can review it later. This is an expensive operation (computationally) and takes some time. If you’re in a hurry, simply opt for the “without debug option”. No harm will come of it.
Lastly, be aware of content that has its own exit buttons. At their best, content with an exit button will accomplish the same thing as the Close Item button listed above. At its worst, the content will close the window as a whole. [This is bad SCORM behavior, but does occur on occasion. Make use of the New Window Launch Options if you run into this.] All of these exit buttons (as many as four!) can be confusing. This is why we often suggest to our SCORM Engine clients that they don’t use all of them.
“How do you test your content?”
If testing any piece of content were simply explained, we would have automated the whole process by now. Most simply, you’ll have to try out your content, click through it like a learner would, and see if the behavior fits. From there, take a look at the debugging tools and options in SCORM Test Track.
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