Everything we know about Cornerstone on Demand and Storyline!

Sep 04, 2013

I thought I would start a thread about Cornerstone on Demand so there's a central place for people to read and add to. There seems to be a dearth of information about how CSOD and Storyline interact with each other as well as the unresolved issues surrounding it. I've spent many hours scouring the web and speaking with Cornerstone trying to find a solution. Hopefully this thread will serve as a resource for others going forward.

On a side note, I love Articulate Storyline. I started with Adobe Captivate with limited success. It was a very steep learning curve, but I was able to get some basic functionality out of it. I tested out Storyline with it's 30 day trial, and I will say that time-to-effectiveness was drastically reduced. It really IS like using powerpoint. Granted there is less complex functionality and interactions available than Captivate, but so far it's given me everything I've needed to use. The benefit is that the learning curve is much less steep too. Think of it as the difference between iMovie and Final Cut Pro. The latter can do some crazy effects, but the former gives you 90% of what you need and can get you comfortable in 1/4 of the time.

It's nice to have a properly-working content creation tool when you're in an LMS like Cornerstone. I have enough trouble in CSOD as it is.

So some of the nuggets of wisdom that I've found are :

  • Cornerstone does not track SCORM 1.2 content properly. You cannot pull a lot of the reports if they are not in SCORM 2004 format. You don't have the option to select that course in the reports.
  • If you export into SCORM 2004, there will be an extra section on the left with text links to the module. This takes up 30% of the screen, and on smaller laptop screens may crowd out the module window. Cornerstone says this is a Storyline exporting settings issue. I couldn't find any settings that shows/hides that section. The workaround is to resize the module to the screen, which doesn't get rid of the section, but at least fits the module.
  • When reporting, you can get the completion status for a course based on quiz result or last slide viewed. You can also get a final grade for course. Storyline passes the results information for each question (including short answer) but you cannot pull a list of the answers for an individual. Therefore, it may not be advisable to administer any testing where you'll need to review individual answers
  • You can get a list of aggregate answers for a module. e.g. I can see how 100 employees answered this multiple choice question. This is helpful to determine if learners are absorbing the course information correctly.
  • Web objects (such as websites, or links to sharepoint documents) work in modules if your IT has added csod.com to the trusted sites
  • Popup windows that open up the articulate module in CSOD will work if you add csod.com to the allowed list for popup blockers. Your IT dept can also add this to everyone's computer. Otherwise when learners click the "launch" button, the module does not show up.

I'll post more as I think or find them, but feel free to add to this list!

894 Replies
Jason Chan

SCORM Cloud (scorm.com) is a great way to test out if your Articulate courses are working properly. I used this to confirm things that Cornerstone is telling me about whether issues are with my export settings or on their side. It could also be a way to host your files with better functionality and reporting capabilities by bypassing what Cornerstone uses by using their "dispatch" feature. Of course Articulate Online is probably the best way way to track, though I haven't tried their services yet.

Rob Swanson

Jason:

"If you export into SCORM 2004, there will be an extra section on the left with text links to the module. This takes up 30% of the screen, and on smaller laptop screens may crowd out the module window. Cornerstone says this is a Storyline exporting settings issue. I couldn't find any settings that shows/hides that section. The workaround is to resize the module to the screen, which doesn't get rid of the section, but at least fits the module."

Do you mean the menu?  We haven't gotten this as anything other than the menu which can be shut off in the Player portal on Storyline.

Jason Chan

So for that Table of contents display issue from this thread, here's their answer....

"IT said the issue is being caused by a back end setting on our end that makes SCORM 2004 courses show a table of contents.  I can have them turn this off, but it might impact other SCORM 2004 courses that are coming from other providers." 

The initial response I got before I spent hours and hours testing/troubleshooting/researching that it was not an Articulate issue was this in case you get the same answer...

"         Articulate Side Bar Issue- I talked to some colleagues who are more familiar with Articulate than me and they have not had a client who has had this issue.  My sense is that you have a table of contents of something that you populated without realizing it and it shows up differently in Cornerstone.  I have a meeting scheduled tomorrow with my colleague who hosts the content workshop.  I’m hoping he may have run across a similar issue and can shed some light for us.  I’ll keep you posted."

Whether this breaks other courses we have, I don't know yet. We currently don't have any third party courses that we are using, so maybe in the end it will have to be turned back on.

I'm surprised that this seemingly common issue (uploading SCORM 2004 courses) doesn't have a lot of knowledge around it. Are there are not a lot of CSOD users that use Articulate, given that both products are in the Top 5 most popular softwares/systems in their respective fields? I'm starting to think that Cornerstone's product strength may lie  in their performance and talent management (in which we use ADP for), less so as an LMS/LCMS.  At least ILT events and sessions seem to be working correctly....

Oh well, enough ranting. Happy Wednesday. Moving on...  

Jason Chan

Rob Swanson said:

Jason:

"If you export into SCORM 2004, there will be an extra section on the left with text links to the module. This takes up 30% of the screen, and on smaller laptop screens may crowd out the module window. Cornerstone says this is a Storyline exporting settings issue. I couldn't find any settings that shows/hides that section. The workaround is to resize the module to the screen, which doesn't get rid of the section, but at least fits the module."

Do you mean the menu?  We haven't gotten this as anything other than the menu which can be shut off in the Player portal on Storyline.

I was referencing this thread  whic h has screenshots showing the problem. It's not the menu, it's an HTML Table of Content section in ADDITION to the menu. I know you can turn off the menu, but the ability to turn off the HTML TOC links is not something that is part of the export settings in Storyline. If you don't have that problem, that's great. It's possible that your site was pre-configured with that setting turned off. But at least I've gotten to the bottom of it on my site.

Do you export as SCORM2004 or SCORM 1.2 for your modules? The latter won't show the TOC, but also can't be reported on properly for my needs.

By any chance, do you have any issues with the above where you DO have issues not having the TOC display on modules from third party vendors?

Jason Chan

Another helpful tip, at least for me -

When publishing, I set my player settings using the Other Tab to

  • Browser Size - Resize browser size to fill screen
  • Player size - Scale Player to fill browser screen
  • Check Launch player in new window
  • Check Display Window with no browser controls
  • Check Allow user to resize browser 

On my laptop screen, I ALWAYS have to resize the window, and/or fullscreen it as Cornerstone defaults the browser popup size to an odd size that's only about 1/2 the screen width. So at least this way, when I click the Launch button, the resulting browser window will fullscreen automatically.

Tom Washam

Jason Chan said:

So for that Table of contents display issue from this thread, here's their answer....

"IT said the issue is being caused by a back end setting on our end that makes SCORM 2004 courses show a table of contents.  I can have them turn this off, but it might impact other SCORM 2004 courses that are coming from other providers." 

The initial response I got before I spent hours and hours testing/troubleshooting/researching that it was not an Articulate issue was this in case you get the same answer...

I'm surprised that this seemingly common issue (uploading SCORM 2004 courses) doesn't have a lot of knowledge around it. Are there are not a lot of CSOD users that use Articulate, given that both products are in the Top 5 most popular softwares/systems in their respective fields? I'm starting to think that Cornerstone's product strength may lie  in their performance and talent management (in which we use ADP for), less so as an LMS/LCMS.  At least ILT events and sessions seem to be working correctly....

Oh well, enough ranting. Happy Wednesday. Moving on...  

Whether this breaks other courses we have, I don't know yet. We currently don't have any third party courses that we are using, so maybe in the end it will have to be turned back on.

"         Articulate Side Bar Issue- I talked to some colleagues who are more familiar with Articulate than me and they have not had a client who has had this issue.  My sense is that you have a table of contents of something that you populated without realizing it and it shows up differently in Cornerstone.  I have a meeting scheduled tomorrow with my colleague who hosts the content workshop.  I’m hoping he may have run across a similar issue and can shed some light for us.  I’ll keep you posted."


"IT said the issue is being caused by a back end setting on our end that makes SCORM 2004 courses show a table of contents.  I can have them turn this off, but it might impact other SCORM 2004 courses that are coming from other providers." 

Hi Jason,

Fellow CSOD and Storyline user here. I also am having the same issue with the menu and publishing SCORM 2004 content in CSOD.

Basically, I'm attempting to limit the user to just one attempt on a test. If they fail, their status should be complete, but in a failed state. However, CSOD only allows this functionality with SCORM 2004 content.

Could you please explain how IT was able to turn this back end setting off?

Jason Chan

Hi Tom,

I just got a reply from them today -

I just heard back from ourengineers and this request has been completed.  Please let me know whenyou have a chance to upload SCORM courses again and confirm that the formattinglooks the way you anticipated.

Just to clarify, by IT, I mean CSOD IT, not my company IT. CSOD are the ones that can change the setting. 

And I just tested it.......IT WORKS. As far as an explanation, I don't have one, but it seems like they understood what the problem was and fixed it. I'm sure if you reference some of the explanation in this thread, they can figure it out. If not, I can PM you my CSOD contacts.

Good luck.

Xavier Voilquin

Just fueling Jason's nice topic on CSOD / STL:

I am encountering issues with the way my STL modules are tracked in CSOD. I am generating reports that should display the highest score when someone takes the module several times, but it's not the case. As soon as someone takes the module, and whatever the score (even below the pass mark), CSOD understand it's complete, while I have set completion in STL against a 90% pass mark, and so it doesn't display in reports any subsequent tries.

OK because I wanted to move on I have uploaded the course on cloud.scorm.

I have taken it twice to see if the same issues occur as in CSOD.

1st try: got a 80% mark, success is "failed" (because course set up with a 90% pass mark), but status is "completed" (???)

2nd try: got a 100% pass mark, success is "passed", status is still completed.

see attached...

So my first guess here would be that the reason why CSOD (our corporate LMS I'm having trouble with, see my initial post) picks up the first attempt score only, is because the course is considered as "completed" even when the score is below the pass mark.

Anyone with an idea how to set up a course in Storyline so that it's not considered as "completed" until the pass mark is hit ?

Help!! Thanks!

dhannya sekhar

Hi Jason, 

Working on an Articulate Storyline course to be published on Cornerstone LMS (SCORM 1.2) I need to create an "I Certify" button at the end of this page turner course (more an e-book). When the learner clicks the button, the course should mark completed in the LMS. 

Could you please help me with this problem? I am not a programmer, so am looking for a step-by-step description. Actually, I would really appreciate any help you can give...

Dhannya

Matthew Masci

Hi all, 

I was curious if there was any way to move a failed Articulate Storyline course from the Active course list in Cornerstone On Demand. What I want to do is remove the option for staff to re-attempt the module should they fail it.  

I've tried all 4 different LMS publish settings Comp/Incomp, Pass/Fail, Pass/Incomp, Comp/Fail, and none of them seem to do this. 

Any ideas? 

MM.

Adriana Harper

Hi Jason - 

Thanks for this post. Are you able to send me the language you used to ask CSOD to turn this setting off on their back end? I am having trouble communicating what I need them to do.

Can you also advise if you are using any 3rd party courses yet - and if it's impacted any of them? We have some Skillsoft content in CSOD that I'd hate to 'break'  

Thanks in advance! 

Karoline Keyworth

Hi All,

We are using Articulate Storyline to create courses for our LMS (Cornerstone OnDemand). They typically consist of videos, animations, drag and drop questions, and other Storyline interaction capabilities and end up being around 10 to 25 minutes long. The biggest course we have is 100 MB. For desktop computers and laptops the courses run very well but we are running into a few issues when running the same courses on mobile device. Mobile devices are crucial since these courses are for a transportation company and majority will be taken on mobile devices. We will have over 5,000 people taking this courses soon. Cornerstone does not allow 3rd party applications to be opened through their program so that eliminates the option of using the Articulate app.

Are there any best practices or information that could be provided to us on how to best create and deploy these courses? Are there particular browsers and devices that work best for the courses? We want to maintain that our courses continue to be very interactive and informational.

Thank you!

Steven Mills

Karoline Keyworth said:

Hi All,

We are using Articulate Storyline to create courses for our LMS (Cornerstone OnDemand). They typically consist of videos, animations, drag and drop questions, and other Storyline interaction capabilities and end up being around 10 to 25 minutes long. The biggest course we have is 100 MB. For desktop computers and laptops the courses run very well but we are running into a few issues when running the same courses on mobile device. Mobile devices are crucial since these courses are for a transportation company and majority will be taken on mobile devices. We will have over 5,000 people taking this courses soon. Cornerstone does not allow 3rd party applications to be opened through their program so that eliminates the option of using the Articulate app.

Are there any best practices or information that could be provided to us on how to best create and deploy these courses? Are there particular browsers and devices that work best for the courses? We want to maintain that our courses continue to be very interactive and informational. 

Thank you! 


Hi Karoline,

I have the same problem, with going mobile, size is going to be an issue. If you are trying to use the HTML 5 and use a browser, each page will download as you visit them causing it to be slow plus I have found HTML 5 is unstable with IOS devices. We have had luck using the CSOD mobile app, for some reason that will allow you to use the Aticulate Mobile Player but just going to CSOD through Safari will not allow you to use the app. I would recommend breaking up the module in smaller sections, or compress your video and image quality. We have considered using a cloud based LMS like Aticulate Online or Scorm Cloud to host the mobile content and place the links in CSOD, but I am not sure what tracking you need. Both solutions do track, but then you will be dealing with two LMS's, and have to manually  enter the data back in CSOD for your mobile users.It is a balance between creating the best user experience and keeping your sanity managing the LMS.  Good luck! -Steven

Chris Rogerson

Hi CSOD Users..

I have encountered a problem with a course not tracking properly in CSOD. The course is published as SCORM 2004 3rd edition with the tracking set to number of slides viewed. Tracking is set to Complete/Incomplete.

The course will not mark as complete in the SCORM Cloud test bed or in CSOD. It will recognise the course has started, but will not recognise progress or completion.

I really do not know what else I can try, does anyone else have any tips?

Arrgh!

I also have this error when trying SCORM 1.2 in SCORM Cloud

Karoline Keyworth

Chris Rogerson said:

Hi CSOD Users..

I have encountered a problem with a course not tracking properly in CSOD. The course is published as SCORM 2004 3rd edition with the tracking set to number of slides viewed. Tracking is set to Complete/Incomplete.

The course will not mark as complete in the SCORM Cloud test bed or in CSOD. It will recognise the course has started, but will not recognise progress or completion.

I really do not know what else I can try, does anyone else have any tips?

Arrgh!

I also have this error when trying SCORM 1.2 in SCORM Cloud


I'm having similar issues. We have a course posted as SCORM 1.2 and the reporting method is "passed/incomplete" and it does not track in Cornerstone. We switched it to the "completed/incomplete" reporting method and that didn't work either. Any suggestions? 

Chris Rogerson

Hi All,

I found a resolution to my problem just before Christmas. I'll try to explain how it was fixed...

The course had some triggered slides in, if a user got a question right it went to slide X..if wrong it went slide Y etc. There were about 12 scenario's in the course like this. Now, if you got a question right, you will never see the slide for the wrong answer and vice-versa.

If there are 12 scenario's like this then there are potentally 12 slides (or more) which will not get seen. Just make sure your completion is set to the correct number of slides to be viewed before it is marked as complete in your LMS.

Hope I explained it ok??!

Chris

Ian Pow

Hi Karoline.

We are going through the process of creating a lot of content for mobile users and I have to say the best way it to treat them as seperate modules (from the original content). For our desktop users we have higher quality audio, video and images. For our mobile users I recreate the same modules but with the graphics, video and audio resized and compressed to suit the typical screen size.

To give you an idea of how this impacts the final size:

30 second clip shot at 720 p can easily hit 10mb. If you resize the output video (before you insert the clip into storyline) to something like 360p (still the most popular size for YouTube videos) it will look fine on any tablet or mobile phone and be less than 1/4 of the original file size. Do the same with all your images (no point having a 2-3mb image designed to fill a PC screen if it is being viewed on a device 1/20th of the size and also the same for your audio. Most mobiles will give a very acceptable sound at 128kbs but you can go half of that and a lot of people with the standard headphones would not notice any difference.

They key is to do all of this before you import and then play around with the quality settings in Articulate when you publish. If you are using a 3 or 4 slide powerpoint as a source and the files size is already 10mb then you know the pictures are the issue Also I have noticed a lot of larger files due to people importing a poorly made source PowerPoint (not using the master slides correctly etc and made by pasting the background into every slide). This can multiply the final filesize by 10 or even a 100 times!

If you dont have any image editing software you can either use paint (standard in all Windows PC's) or copy the image into a blank powerpoint, format it to the size you think it will need to be for a mobile or tablet then right click, save picture and it will reduce the resolution and compress the file size in the version it saves. You can use Audacity (free) to edit your audio - just open up the file then "save as" to reduce to an accepatable level. You can also reduce background noise, hiss etc very easily. Finally for video WinFF is a free convertor and has presets for the sizes suitable for mobile phone.

Ok so it is a bit of extra work but will drastically reduce the page loading time for your mobile users and provide a far more engaging experience. Remember that the higher the file size the more storage needed to host and the more eenergy and bandwidth needed to push it around the internet. Both cost money, whether for your organisation or your end user so I am sure you will find the time spent brings suitable efficiences to justify the hassle.

As a final example for you to use as a guide, if you coppied a 2 hour Hollywood film from a DVD you will find the filesize to be anywhere between 1.5GB and 4GB. Once you reduce the audio, reduce the output resolution to fit a mobile phone screen and then compress to a format like .flv or .mpeg4 you can get it down to 250mb and the quality looks almost like the original. So even if your whole module was one long video you should be able to get it to around 30mb or lower just by doing a bit of reformatting.

Sheila Bulthuis

Hi, all!  Not sure who might still be monitoring this thread, but maybe another CSOD user can provide some input on this: I'm working with a client on getting courses onto CSOD (they're in the middle of implementation) and i'm wondering if anyone has recommendations about what to select for LMS Reporting:

I could probably figure out what works best by doing a bunch of testing, but it's faster and easier to just ask all of you!   

Jon Hegidio

Hi All,

I'm working with a third party developer who's using Articulate Studio and I seem to have an issue with the c ourse communicating with our internal LMS. All of our courses are parked on our external LMS (Cornerstone) which employees can access through our internal LMS (ELM). The course works just fine on our Cornerstone sever but we receive the following screen with no access to the course when we try to access (see below).

Normally we would have a launch link appear and not a Table of Contents. Our courses developed internally with Storyline do not use the menu bar and they work fine. Is it possible that by using the menu bar, that it is sending the above screen to our internal LMS?

Thanks,

Jon