Forum Discussion
Everything we know about Cornerstone on Demand and Storyline!
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!
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.
SCORM versions with CORNERSTONE
Hi all, our LMS administrator found a really helpful tool once CSOD upgraded allowing Storyline and SCORM 2004 compatibility. I believe the source is actually another LMS vendor but the results have been the same for us with CSOD. I've attached both the link and white paper pdf.
In summary, they created some fantastic charts that shows the results of all SCORM publish variations. It helped us significantly when one of our training groups wanted to publish in SCORM 2004 in order to report on question level data versus the overall score and completion status we've been getting with SCORM 1.2. The settings we had been using didn't work with 2004 so this tool was invaluable to us.
SCORM Publish Settings in Articulate Studio and Storyline Products
Thanks Natalia,
We've only recently moved over to Storyline 2 and reporting is an area I am trying to get my head around (we've had CSOD in for about 5 years). I can get it to send basic completion/pass info through to CSOD but have no idea how to get it to send question level information through to the LMS so we can determine areas of strength / weakness (indiv learner level but also wider).
- Does it send this info through automatically (SCORM 2004)?
- How do we then report on this in CSOD?
Apologies if these are really basic (or stupid) questions but I'm not the LMS administrator and we have never reported at question level before due to a couple of reasons.
Any help would be very gratefully received.
It sends the info if you use SCORM 2004 (I always used 3rd edition because I read somewhere that it works best for CSOD) but does not send if you use SCORM 1.2.
CSOD just came out with new custom report fields at the end of last year under Transcript Reports. They are under the section titled "Scorm 2004 Quiz Data." I've attached a screenshot of how I set up a report using them that works well for me.
The filter you cannot see in the screenshot says "SCO Name" contains (followed by the name of the module)
I am developing an SL360 course that our largest client needs to launch on Cornerstone. We are experiencing the common "black box" that many have described. Naturally, it's very time sensitive. I have to say that I was both relieved and horrified to find a 24 PAGE thread on Storyline and Cornerstone. YIKES!
So, I have been reading through this thread and taking notes for the last 2 hours. I have compiled a list of all the things we need to do to make sure our SL360 course will work on CSOD. Please read through this and let me know if I have either missed something or gotten something wrong.
Hopefully, this summary will come in handy for folks who are just beginning the SL3/CSOD journey. Here you go . . .
Storyline/Cornerstone Compatibility Settings
Storyline settings:
· Browser size: Display at user's current browser
· Player size: Scale player to fill browser
· Do not check "Launch player in new window"
· On restart: "When running in LMS, ignore Flash cookie"
· Report status to LMS as: Completed/Incomplete
· Publish as HTML5 w/ Flash Back-up (Remember, Flash is going away!)
· Publish as SCORM 2004 (3rd. Ed)
CSOD Settings
· In the General tab of the catalog properties page make sure compatibility is turned off. (i.e., change CSOD Compatibility Mode setting to “none”)
· Have CSOD turn off the table of contents for SCORM 2004 (i.e., Ask Cornerstone support to set Scorm2004TocMenuset to false.)
· When updating a course, if changes are substantive at all, “Inactivate” any old courses and “Create/Publish” new course in CSOD
Client's server environment:
· Make sure csod.com is on client’s list of trusted sites
Thanks in advance for your feedback!
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.
just as a follow up - there is (now?) a CSOD preference that allows you to launch content in an 800x600 window OR fullscreen. So you can set CSOD to launch courses full screen by default, eliminating the need for a launch page.
thanks for this great info!
Hi,
I have several answers for you. We've been on Cornerstone for years and I've helped to implement it in various divisions of our org.
Chris and Amy - you are correct that you can't delete, but that is good. We've had to find old courses and versions for audit purposes. If you delete the courses, you have nothing to show as to what occurred / was trained to - really important for Compliance courses.
Rene - yes. I love it. I've worked with some others, each has their benefits and weak sides. It really depends on what your primary need is. I recommend getting a demo from each of your top runners.
Carolyn - you have the option of using deep-linking - this is a new feature. Another option, which I use all the time is the "Curriculum". It allows you to group multiple learning objects together. You can even tell the system which one must be completed first, second etc....
Dawn - yes, When you proxy enroll, you have the option of selecting if the content should be pushed to users that already have it on their transcript.
Bathre - if the changes that you have made are significant (ie, a new slide added) not just a minor update like a change of a picture or wording, you must inactivate the old published version and upload a new one. If you try to overwrite it, it will be all jumbled up. So, inactivate and then "create / publish" a new file and you're good to go.
Everyone - no I don't work for CSOD, I've just been burdened with other LMS' in my career and love what this one can do in comparison.
Hi Emily,
I would love to pick your brain on an issue we're having. We are trying to pull a report for a course that we did not proxy enroll for, (for all employees) that shows who's complete, not complete, and not registered. The problem is I don't know how generate the not registered people.
I am having the same issues with the jumbled text and graphics... if I am to unpublish and republish the course, everyone who has completed it will not receive credit for completing this module? Do you have a work around for this?
It was bugging me that I couldn't remember what that string meant so I found my old post:
Also, if you want to learn the intricacies of suspend data, Michael Richey wrote an amazing article here: https://www.richeyweb.com/blog/23-personal-blog/130-a-brain-exercise-scorm-xapi
Then again, interpreting suspend data is a dark art, so you might want to go with one of Steve's ideas. This was a case where they wanted to know who skipped to the quiz AFTER the module was already published and taken!
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 have seen this. CSOD can change a back end setting to remove the unwanted menu section.
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.
I experienced the same issue when we switched from SCORM 1.2 to SCORM 2004 with the odd HTML menu appearing on the left side of the course. I called Cornerstone support to report the issue. When I asked about it, their support person said they could turn that off for me. They were able to flip a switch on their end and the links were gone the next day. They must have figured this one out and documented the steps to quickly resolve it.
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.
Hi Carolyn.
In Step 5 of this tutorial, make sure you are setting your Reporting Options -> LMS Options to Passed/Incomplete or Complete/Incomplete rather than Passed/Failed or Complete/Failed. An LMS can view a Failed status as complete meaning they completed and failed the course. If you want someone to be able to take it until they pass then you would opt for Incomplete rather than Failed.
Regarding viewing the highest score, typically when you meet the objectives of the course and your status changes from Incomplete to Passed or Complete or Failed, subsequent launches will be perceived by the LMS as you reviewing the content. Since you already achieved the desired status, you would have to contact Cornerstone to see if they record scores when an attempt is made while you are in review mode and if they can report on those attempts.
