Hi everyone. I'm getting everything I'm learning but I just can't wrap my head around what publishing means. I'm an independent trainer who wants to create course for my learners to go through using Articulate. What am I publishing to? After I get the response that I've published successfully, what do I do?, where do I put things? All that stuff. I want to either offer my course to others individually or part of a class to a group of folks. Do I have to load all this into an LMS like Blackboard? What are my options? Can someone explain the lay of the land to me? I'm not seeing what my choices are and how to proceed.
Thanx in advance if I'm being thickheaded about this!!
Hi Michael: I read it and like everything else I read, I get a 1 or 2 sentence explanation that says "publish to a server" Everything else I'd seen before. I'm a pretty good tech consumer and totally know what a server is. But what does it mean to publish to a server? What does that look like as an independent trainer? And can someone explain a bit deeper what is involved and what I do?
"Publish to a server" means you upload your published content to some web server. For example, I have a web hosting package with a service provider, which allows me to upload my published Storyline content and then share the URL with clients. Hereis one example. A "server" could also be a cloud-based storage solutions, like GoogleCloud or Amazon Web Services (AWS). Here is some info on cloud-based storage. These options work fine for content you want to make available "to the world". If you want/need to track learners' progress and/ore quiz results, your content needs to be hosted in a Learning Management System (LMS). There are lots of LMS options. For example, my hosting package also includes Moodle, a (almost) free LMS. It all depends how you want to make your content available.
An SL project in development is a bunch of text boxes, graphics, animations, and interactions (including quizzes, triggers.), etc. This is a representative, not exhaustive list. You as a developer can modify it.
For your learner to see it the same way as you see it in the preview, one of two things has to be true. Either they need a copy of SL, in which case they can do everything you as a developer can, or they need to see it using a browser. Publishing is the process of turning all those disparate elements into an HTML page. You have several options for publishing. Each one gives you a different method of presenting your project to learners, depending on your needs, and their abilities.
If you want stakeholders to be able to see the course in its present final form, and also be able easily to make comments on it, you want to publish to Review 360. it will be sent to the cloud, you will receive a link you can send to the reviewers.
If you want to make it available to the end learners who will access it by either the internet, or a local intranet, you want to publish to the Web. Several folders are created, and placed in a folder with the name of the project, and "- Storyline output" appended to it. On the publish dialog, there is an option to view that folder in its containing folder (which frequently is not the same location as the development file.) You need to copy those folders as is to their final destination. Make sure everybody you want to see the course has full access to all the folders, subfolders, and files. There is a file named story.html. Send your learners the URL of that file, and they will access the course by opening that file in their browser.
If you want to have easy control of who can access the course, as well as reports of scores and completions, you will need a Learning Management System (LMS). Publish to LMS/LRS, and upload the resulting file to the LMS, according to its specifications. (See Michael's explanation.) For a demo of some of the things an LMS can do, visit scormcloud.com, where you can upload and test your course. LMS and Web are probably the most common forms of making the course available to learners.
If your learners have no internet, or intranet access, you may want to publish to Video, realizing you are sacrificing interactivity.
Publishing to word will give you images of the slides, accomplished by whatever text is on the slides and in the notes. Its main use is for voice-over and translation.
Ultimately, publishing is the process of making the project available to the learner, and your main choice is driven by what and how you want them to access it.
As usual, Michael & Walt have provided excellent info.
I'll add one minor correction to what Walt said. Storyline used to put "- Storyline out" at the end of the folder name where the published files are. However, they stopped doing that after a recent update. Now, the folder will just be named as per the course title.
Michael: This is a fabulous explanation! Thank you so VERY much! Hearing this would have saved a ton of stress and wondering. We should make your explanation standard reading!
11 Replies
There is quite a bit of info on publishing options starting here.
Thank you Michael: I'll check it out immediately!
Chuck
Hi Michael: I read it and like everything else I read, I get a 1 or 2 sentence explanation that says "publish to a server" Everything else I'd seen before. I'm a pretty good tech consumer and totally know what a server is. But what does it mean to publish to a server? What does that look like as an independent trainer? And can someone explain a bit deeper what is involved and what I do?
"Publish to a server" means you upload your published content to some web server. For example, I have a web hosting package with a service provider, which allows me to upload my published Storyline content and then share the URL with clients. Here is one example. A "server" could also be a cloud-based storage solutions, like GoogleCloud or Amazon Web Services (AWS). Here is some info on cloud-based storage. These options work fine for content you want to make available "to the world". If you want/need to track learners' progress and/ore quiz results, your content needs to be hosted in a Learning Management System (LMS). There are lots of LMS options. For example, my hosting package also includes Moodle, a (almost) free LMS. It all depends how you want to make your content available.
An SL project in development is a bunch of text boxes, graphics, animations, and interactions (including quizzes, triggers.), etc. This is a representative, not exhaustive list. You as a developer can modify it.
For your learner to see it the same way as you see it in the preview, one of two things has to be true. Either they need a copy of SL, in which case they can do everything you as a developer can, or they need to see it using a browser. Publishing is the process of turning all those disparate elements into an HTML page. You have several options for publishing. Each one gives you a different method of presenting your project to learners, depending on your needs, and their abilities.
If you want stakeholders to be able to see the course in its present final form, and also be able easily to make comments on it, you want to publish to Review 360. it will be sent to the cloud, you will receive a link you can send to the reviewers.
If you want to make it available to the end learners who will access it by either the internet, or a local intranet, you want to publish to the Web. Several folders are created, and placed in a folder with the name of the project, and "- Storyline output" appended to it. On the publish dialog, there is an option to view that folder in its containing folder (which frequently is not the same location as the development file.) You need to copy those folders as is to their final destination. Make sure everybody you want to see the course has full access to all the folders, subfolders, and files. There is a file named story.html. Send your learners the URL of that file, and they will access the course by opening that file in their browser.
If you want to have easy control of who can access the course, as well as reports of scores and completions, you will need a Learning Management System (LMS). Publish to LMS/LRS, and upload the resulting file to the LMS, according to its specifications. (See Michael's explanation.) For a demo of some of the things an LMS can do, visit scormcloud.com, where you can upload and test your course. LMS and Web are probably the most common forms of making the course available to learners.
If your learners have no internet, or intranet access, you may want to publish to Video, realizing you are sacrificing interactivity.
Publishing to word will give you images of the slides, accomplished by whatever text is on the slides and in the notes. Its main use is for voice-over and translation.
Ultimately, publishing is the process of making the project available to the learner, and your main choice is driven by what and how you want them to access it.
As usual, Michael & Walt have provided excellent info.
I'll add one minor correction to what Walt said. Storyline used to put "- Storyline out" at the end of the folder name where the published files are. However, they stopped doing that after a recent update. Now, the folder will just be named as per the course title.
Good catch, Judy.
Michael: This is a fabulous explanation! Thank you so VERY much! Hearing this would have saved a ton of stress and wondering. We should make your explanation standard reading!
Much appreciated!
Truly!
Chuck
Walt! Like Michael's explanation, this just builds on it and is MOST excellent! I totally see the whole picture now!
Much appreciated!
Chuck
Thanx Judy! I know what to look for!
MUCH appreciated
Chuck