Forum Discussion
Course chapters in one storyline file or seperate files for each chapter?
Hello! Is there a recommended way to create a course with different chapters/modules? Is it best to create a large file with all chapters or is it best to create a file for each chapter? When the course is exported to SCORM format and then imported into an LMS, will it work as one course either way?
Right now we have our course in several files, one for each chapter, and I have exported every chapter to a SCORM package. Will it work with most LMS systems? Or do I have to save all chapters in one file and then export each chapter separately to SCORM or just one big SCORM with everything?
We want it to be possible for students to choose which chapters they want to do so that they don't have to go through all of them. Thanks!
MariHijer : You should talk with your LMS folks about what options are available for combining SCORM packages. For example, many LMSs can combine multiple SCORMs into a "curriculum" (though they might use a different word for a given set of courses).
A curriculum could be programmed in the LMS to require the user to complete all of the courses in order. Or to complete all of them in any order. Or to only require the user to complete one of the courses (For example, this may be done when each SCORM is a different language.) So the decision depends on your needs and on what the LMS can do.
As DavidTait said, a big consideration is how you want to track what a user does. You said they aren't required to complete every chapter.
If all of the chapters are combined in one Storyline file, you could run a completion trigger at the end of every chapter, so that the user would only need to finish one chapter to successfully complete the course. However, if the course is marked as complete after finishing one chapter, that could impact their access to it (depending on the LMS). And you wouldn't know what chapter(s) they completed.
As David also said, a bigger course could run into bookmarking problems.
Bottom line: Based on the description, I think it's better to keep each chapter in its own Storyline file/SCORM package. Combine the SCORMS in whatever way the LMS allows that suits your requirements.
4 Replies
I'd suggest that it will depend on whether you want to be able to see which chapter each student has completed in the LMS? If so, I would personally keep them as individual files, assuming that you're using SCORM 1.2 or 2004.
I would also be mindful of whether bookmarking is important to you, and whether it will work effectively if you create one big course. Depending on the version of SCORM you publish to, the suspend data limits could prevent the bookmarking from working properly.
MariHijer : You should talk with your LMS folks about what options are available for combining SCORM packages. For example, many LMSs can combine multiple SCORMs into a "curriculum" (though they might use a different word for a given set of courses).
A curriculum could be programmed in the LMS to require the user to complete all of the courses in order. Or to complete all of them in any order. Or to only require the user to complete one of the courses (For example, this may be done when each SCORM is a different language.) So the decision depends on your needs and on what the LMS can do.
As DavidTait said, a big consideration is how you want to track what a user does. You said they aren't required to complete every chapter.
If all of the chapters are combined in one Storyline file, you could run a completion trigger at the end of every chapter, so that the user would only need to finish one chapter to successfully complete the course. However, if the course is marked as complete after finishing one chapter, that could impact their access to it (depending on the LMS). And you wouldn't know what chapter(s) they completed.
As David also said, a bigger course could run into bookmarking problems.
Bottom line: Based on the description, I think it's better to keep each chapter in its own Storyline file/SCORM package. Combine the SCORMS in whatever way the LMS allows that suits your requirements.
Thank you for your reply. Good, individual files seem to be the best solution. We use SCORM 1.2.
We plan to sell the training to different LMS solutions so we may have to adapt to their requirements. Hopefully we'll solve it along the way.
You would almost certainly face bookmarking issues with a large course published using SCORM 1.2, so if you do ever combine them all at the request of a client, I'd definitely add that to your testing checklist.
