Hello community, my small company is starting to sell group packages of our online courses (authored through Rise 360) for clients to host on their own external LMS. We need to protect our course content and want to be able to turn it off either based on a predetermined user count or a date expiration . We also need to track completion status for certificate distribution.
I've contacted a few companies, such as Rustici Software (their product Content Controller was perfect), but the pricing structures are out of budget as this is a new endeavor for our business. If anyone has software recommendations, or workaround ideas, I would be so appreciative of the advice.
Dispatch packages seem to be the "go-to" solution for distributing SCORM packages while still maintaining control. With that being said, I did come across something that might be of interest to you. It's a post from about 9 months ago by Renz Sevilla which discusses the use of an Embed Block or link out to something such as a Google Form that you have control of. I have not tried this but check it out.
Thank you Richard! Do you have any recommendations of dispatch packages to look into? I'm not familiar with how this works but would like to contact a few companies that offer this for pricing. I have seen that thread too, it's an interesting workaround to consider.
Unfortunately, from my research there were very few options to choose from. Rustici, scormNEXT, and maybe Aptitec
Here's a short summary about how it works in general:
You create a SCORM package in Storyline 360 for example, upload it to the selected platform (e.g., Rustici,scormNext) and the create a Destination. The Destination is a way to group your dispatch packages. For example, you could have one for each customer. Then you create the Dispatch file (e.g., points to your LMS but doesn't contain any content). You can set parameters on your Dispatch file (e.g., expiration date, max. number of registrations, etc.). From there, you can download and send the dispatch file to your client. Your client can then load it to their LMS and setup users to access the course. When the users access the course, they are redirected to the content on your LMS. Both you and your client will get reports.
Hope that makes sense but it's a high-level view of the process that might helps you get your head around what is going on.
You can use some date JavaScript in a Storyline block combined with a "complete the action above" divider to do this. It does have some limitations I would be happy to discuss with you if you think this might be an option.
The big one being that anyone who has already opened the course will be able to continue to do so because of the way the cookies/course progress is stored by the LMS. It will prohibit any new users from starting the course once expired.
Hi Owen, thanks for the response. Yes, I would like to discuss this more with you if you're willing to. I would like to see details about the JavaScript addition, I think I could work with our developer to discuss this option if I can explain it to him properly. I don't see this limitation you mention as being a problem. Our main concern is preventing additional users in excess of the agreed upon amount to access the course.
Thanks Richard, that is helpful as an overview. I'm doing some research to see what price points these other companies offer. It seems like it will be between using a dispatch package software provider or build in a "gate" of sorts to verify users through an actual embedded block in the course. I really appreciate the help.
Very nice Owen! I'll hold on to this in case I need it for something in the future. I assume it would also work if placed at the beginning of a SL360 course?
13 Replies
Hi Leia!
Dispatch packages seem to be the "go-to" solution for distributing SCORM packages while still maintaining control. With that being said, I did come across something that might be of interest to you. It's a post from about 9 months ago by Renz Sevilla which discusses the use of an Embed Block or link out to something such as a Google Form that you have control of. I have not tried this but check it out.
https://community.articulate.com/discussions/rise-360/3rd-party-access-to-scorm-package
Richard
Thank you Richard! Do you have any recommendations of dispatch packages to look into? I'm not familiar with how this works but would like to contact a few companies that offer this for pricing. I have seen that thread too, it's an interesting workaround to consider.
Leia,
Unfortunately, from my research there were very few options to choose from. Rustici, scormNEXT, and maybe Aptitec
Here's a short summary about how it works in general:
You create a SCORM package in Storyline 360 for example, upload it to the selected platform (e.g., Rustici,scormNext) and the create a Destination. The Destination is a way to group your dispatch packages. For example, you could have one for each customer. Then you create the Dispatch file (e.g., points to your LMS but doesn't contain any content). You can set parameters on your Dispatch file (e.g., expiration date, max. number of registrations, etc.). From there, you can download and send the dispatch file to your client. Your client can then load it to their LMS and setup users to access the course. When the users access the course, they are redirected to the content on your LMS. Both you and your client will get reports.
Hope that makes sense but it's a high-level view of the process that might helps you get your head around what is going on.
Richard
You can use some date JavaScript in a Storyline block combined with a "complete the action above" divider to do this. It does have some limitations I would be happy to discuss with you if you think this might be an option.
The big one being that anyone who has already opened the course will be able to continue to do so because of the way the cookies/course progress is stored by the LMS. It will prohibit any new users from starting the course once expired.
Hi Owen, thanks for the response. Yes, I would like to discuss this more with you if you're willing to. I would like to see details about the JavaScript addition, I think I could work with our developer to discuss this option if I can explain it to him properly. I don't see this limitation you mention as being a problem. Our main concern is preventing additional users in excess of the agreed upon amount to access the course.
Thanks Richard, that is helpful as an overview. I'm doing some research to see what price points these other companies offer. It seems like it will be between using a dispatch package software provider or build in a "gate" of sorts to verify users through an actual embedded block in the course. I really appreciate the help.
Here is a sample of how this works for anybody interested.
https://360.articulate.com/review/content/bf127f3c-fb40-4d4d-acbc-80f94c7d851e/review
Very nice Owen! I'll hold on to this in case I need it for something in the future. I assume it would also work if placed at the beginning of a SL360 course?
Yes, it would.
Sweet. Thanks for posting it!
Hi Owen,
Just tried your solution on storyline360, worked perfectly. I made a small change and hid the next button when the license expired.
I appreciate your efforts.
Glad you found it useful!
This is a terrific solution, and basically transparent to the user when the license is valid. Well done!