Managing Web-Based, Test, and Survey Learning Components

This chapter provides an overview and discusses how to:

Enable offline access to content.
Set up web-based learning components.
Set up test learning components.
Set up survey learning components.
Manage compliant content.

Understanding Web-Based, Test, and Survey Learning Components

This section lists prerequisites and common elements and discusses:

Web-based, test, and survey learning components.
SCORM 1.1 and 1.2 and AICC Compliance
Passing status and compliant learning component lessons.
Offline access to learning.

Prerequisites

Before you create compliant web-based, test, and survey learning components you must define configuration options that determine how your system works with compliant content.

Common Elements Used in the Chapter

Description	Enter a description of the learning component. The description appears to learners when they click the learning component link from the Activity Progress page.
Notes	For internal use only. Notes are informational.
Component Name	Enter the name of the learning component. The component name appears on the Activities Details page.
Compliance	Select the body or standards method with which this learning component complies. Valid values are SCORM 1.1/1.2, AICC-HACP/AICC-API, and None. Note. The launch and track functionality within Enterprise Learning Management does not work unless a course is compliant with one of the standards. You can set up and launch noncompliant content but the system cannot retrieve learners' progress and scores from content that does not comply with SCORM or AICC standards. See SCORM 1.1 and 1.2 and AICC Compliance.
URL/File Path	Enter the URL that the learner uses to access a web-based learning component, such as a test or survey. If there is a relative URL provided by the compliant content, this URL field is used to enter the base URL to which the relative URL is appended.
Manage Content	Click to access the Manage Online Activity Content page if the component is AICC or SCORM compliant.

Web-Based, Test, and Survey Learning Components

Web-based, test, and survey learning components represent types of learning that are self-paced and delivered over the Internet or an Intranet. Learners access web-based, test, and survey learning components by clicking hyperlinks from self-service pages. Web-based, test, and survey learning components can be internally developed content or they can be custom-made or stock courses developed by and purchased from third-party vendors.

SCORM 1.1 and 1.2 and AICC Compliance

Web-based, test, and survey learning components can be standards compliant or standards non compliant. The advantage of using learning components that are standards compliant is that you can load content files and retrieve learner progress data (such as scores and lesson completion) from the content. Enterprise Learning Management can then use these scores to determine passing.

See Understanding the Completion Engine.

Enterprise Learning Management supports the following structures:

Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) 1.1 and 1.2.

See http://www.adlnet.org
Aircraft Industry Computer Based Training Committee (AICC).

See http://www.aicc.org

When you create the learning component you load the content metadata files for that offering. Then learners can launch the content by clicking a hyperlink. Since the content is compliant, the content sends progress and score data back to your system.

Note. Web-based, test, and survey learning components can also be non standards compliant. Learners still launch the content by clicking a hyperlink, but there would be no way to retrieve scores or other data from the content. Non compliant content can be any type of web-based content that is launchable from a URL. You can link to HTML, PDF, Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint documents, and so forth.

Passing Status and Compliant Learning Component Lessons

You do not have to require learners to pass compliant learning components. If you do not make passing required for a compliant learning component then the learning component completion engine would not use the learner’s passing status when determining the learner’s completion status. However, if you do want to make passing required, you must define a minimum score that the system will use to determine the learner’s passing status.

The system determines the learner’s score based on the compliant content’s lessons. When you upload compliant course content you can see the lessons that make up the course. At that time you can select which lessons you want to count toward the overall component score. Also, when you upload the course content, part of the data that gets uploaded is the mastery score for the lessons. The mastery score is the score the content provider has established as the minimum passing score.

As learners complete lessons, they are given a passing status and a score (sometimes they are only given a status. See table below). The Auto Mark Activity Completion process retrieves the passing status and lesson scores (if provided) from the content provider. The system then calculates the learner’s learning component score that will be compared with the minimum score that you established on the Completion page. The learning component score is based on a learner’s aggregate performance across all of the lessons that have been marked as counting toward the learning component score.

The learning component score is the ratio of the number of selected lessons completed successfully to the total number of selected lessons in the activity. So if a compliant content offering contained 6 lessons, and you selected four of them to count toward the score, and the learner completed two of them, he or she would receive a score of 50 (2/4).

The system determines when to grant credit for a lesson by evaluating the lesson status returned and, in some cases, the lesson scores. The following table shows how the system interprets the lesson status and the learner’s lesson score (if applicable):

Lesson Status	Learner's Lesson Score	Internally Assigned Success Rating
Passed	Not Applicable	Successful
Failed	Not Applicable	Not Successful
Completed	Equal to or greater than mastery score.	Successful
Completed	Less than mastery score.	Not Successful
Incomplete	Not Applicable	Not Assigned
Browsed	Not Applicable	Successful
Not Attempted	Not Applicable	Not Assigned

When a learner receives a lesson status of Passed, the score is not applicable. The system automatically interprets that as a success. The only time the system uses the score is when the learner receives a lesson status of Completed. In this case, the system doesn’t know if the learner met the minimum requirements for passing the lesson, so it uses the score to determine whether to grant the learner credit for the lesson.

When a learner receives a success rating of Success for a lesson, the system updates the learners component score. When the learner achieves the minimum score the system sets the learning component passing status to Pass. If the learner has not achieved a passing status of Pass by the end of the learning period the system sets the learning component completion status to Incomplete.

Offline Access to Content

Through a certified integration with BackWeb technology, learners can launch web-based, test, or survey components while they are disconnected from the corporate network. Once the user reconnects to the network, the system uploads all progress and scores, when applicable, for SCORM or AICC-compliant content that was taken offline.

Disconnected learning is made possible through a partnership between Oracle and Backweb Technologies. It is not delivered with Enterprise Learning Management.

Creating Web-Based Learning Components

To create web-based learning components, use the Maintain Activities (LM_ACT) component.

This section discusses how to create web-based learning components.

Pages Used to Create Web-Based Learning Components

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Web-based Component	LM_LC_WEB	Enterprise Learning, Catalog, Maintain Activities, Learning Components Click Add Component on the Learning Components page. Then select Web-based.	Create web-based learning components.

Page Name

Object Name

Navigation

Usage

Web-based Component

LM_LC_WEB

Enterprise Learning, Catalog, Maintain Activities, Learning Components

Click Add Component on the Learning Components page. Then select Web-based.

Create web-based learning components.

Creating Test Learning Components

To create test learning components, use the Maintain Activities (LM_ACT) component.

This section discusses how to create web-based learning components.

This section explains how to create test learning components.

Pages Used to Create Test Learning Components

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Test Component	LM_LC_TEST	Enterprise Learning, Catalog, Maintain Activities, Learning Components Click Add Component on the Learning Components page. Then select Test.	Create test learning components.

Page Name

Object Name

Navigation

Usage

Test Component

LM_LC_TEST

Enterprise Learning, Catalog, Maintain Activities, Learning Components

Click Add Component on the Learning Components page. Then select Test.

Create test learning components.

Defining Test Learning Components

Access the Test Component page.

Test Type

Select whether this is a standard test or a test out. If you select Test Out, the learner passes or completes the activity if he or she passes or completes this component, even if there are other components in this activity that are required.

If you select Test Out, communicate to the learner that this test is a test out either in the name of the component, in the description, or in both. The system does not automatically identify to the learner that this test is a test out.

Creating Survey Learning Components

To create survey learning components, use the Maintain Activities (LM_ACT) component.

This section explains how to define survey learning components.

Pages Used to Create Survey Learning Components

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Survey Component	LM_LC_WEB	Enterprise Learning, Catalog, Maintain Activities, Learning Components Click Add Component on the Learning Components page. Then select Survey.	Create survey learning components.

Page Name

Object Name

Navigation

Usage

Survey Component

LM_LC_WEB

Enterprise Learning, Catalog, Maintain Activities, Learning Components

Click Add Component on the Learning Components page. Then select Survey.

Create survey learning components.

Defining Survey Learning Components

Access the Survey Component page.

Enterprise Learning Management integrates with third-party survey engines to launch surveys and track completion status of the survey. Examples of survey learning components include:

Post-class survey to gather learner feedback on the effectiveness of the instructor, learning material, and overall learning activity.
Learning component survey to gather learner feedback on the effectiveness of a particular learning component.

Managing Compliant Content

To manage compliant content, use the Maintain Activities (LM_ACT) component.

This section discusses how to:

Load and test content for compliant learning components.
Select lessons for online content.

Pages Used to Manage Compliant Content

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Manage Online Activity Content	LM_EL_IMPORT	Enterprise Learning, Catalog, Maintain Activities, Learning Components Click Add Component on the Learning Components page. Then select Survey, Test, or Web-based. Click the Manage Content button from the Survey Component, Test Component, or Web-based Component pages.	Create survey learning components.
Select Lessons	LM_LEL_SCO_WEIGHT	Click the Select Lessons button from the Manage Online Activity Content page.	Select the lessons from compliant content that you want to have count toward passing the learning component.

Page Name

Object Name

Navigation

Usage

Manage Online Activity Content

LM_EL_IMPORT

Enterprise Learning, Catalog, Maintain Activities, Learning Components

Click Add Component on the Learning Components page. Then select Survey, Test, or Web-based. Click the Manage Content button from the Survey Component, Test Component, or Web-based Component pages.

Create survey learning components.

Select Lessons

LM_LEL_SCO_WEIGHT

Click the Select Lessons button from the Manage Online Activity Content page.

Select the lessons from compliant content that you want to have count toward passing the learning component.

Loading and Testing Content for Compliant Learning Components

Access the Manage Online Activity Content page.

Use this page to:

Upload structure files.
Test the launching of the content.
Export structure files (for AICC content).
Select the lessons within the course content that you want to count toward completion of the learning component.

Uploading Structure Files

To upload structure files:

Click each of the file type links to browse, locate, and upload each structure file.

SCORM 1.1 and 1.2 compliant vendors structure files in XML format. SCORM 1.1 provides the following file: Content.CSF. SCORM 1.2 requires that a zip file Content.ZIP be uploaded that contains the content structure file. During the upload the system will automatically unzip the file.

Note. The system uses the java class java.util.zip to unzip the Content.ZIP file. Due to a bug with java's zip dll (dynamic link library), this process sometimes fails. If this should happen, unzip the file using PKZip or WinZip and then rezip it using WinZip. Then, upload the structure file again.

AICC compliant vendors structure files in AICC format. They provide the following files:
- Content.CRS
- Content.DES
- Content.CST
- Content.AU
Click the Save button after you upload all structure files.

If the save operation is successful, the Test Content, Export Content, and Select Lessons buttons appear.

Note. If there are any errors in the structure files, the system displays an appropriate error message. You must correct the errors and reload the corrected structure file. When you click the Save button the system first saves the new files associated with the activity into the database (permanently deleting the previous set of data), and then runs validation on new structure data and checks for consistency and correctness.

Testing the Learning Component

After you have successfully saved the structure files, the Test Content button appears.

To test the activity:

Click the Test Content button to launch the content and access the Table of Contents page, which lists the lessons in the activity.
Click one of the lesson links on the Table of Contents page and verify that the activity content launches successfully.

See Pages Used to Manage Personal Learning Plans.

If the test launch fails, the system raises the appropriate error message. You might need to modify the launch URL of one or more of the structure files. If you make any corrections, you must upload and save all of the files again.

Exporting Content Structure Files (for Both SCORM and AICC Content)

As part of compliance with AICC standards, the system enables you to export course structure files. You can export the structure files if you need to make changes to the content structure or if you need to import the structure into any content management system.

To export content structure files, click the Export Content button on the Manage Online Activity Content page. This exports the content structure files from the database in a flat file format. The system generates new file names by appending an internal activity ID (a number) to the original name of the imported structure files. The system places the files in the directory specified by the Export Content Directory setup option.

Selecting Course Content Lessons

Click Select Lessons to select the lessons within the course content that you want to count toward completion of the learning component.

Selecting Lessons for Online Content

Access the Select Lessons page.

Passing Required

Select if you want this lesson to count toward the learner's overall score for this learning component. If you clear this check box, the learner can take the lesson but the outcome will not figure into the calculation of the learner's score. You cannot edit this check box after a learner has launched any lesson in the course.

Course Title

The title of the lesson.

Mastery Score

The numerical value the content provider has established as the minimum passing score for this lesson. The Auto Mark Activity Completion process retrieves the learner's scores for each required lesson from the content and the completion engine compares the learner's scores with the mastery score to determine the learner's overall learning component score.

Passing Required	Select if you want this lesson to count toward the learner's overall score for this learning component. If you clear this check box, the learner can take the lesson but the outcome will not figure into the calculation of the learner's score. You cannot edit this check box after a learner has launched any lesson in the course.
Course Title	The title of the lesson.
Mastery Score	The numerical value the content provider has established as the minimum passing score for this lesson. The Auto Mark Activity Completion process retrieves the learner's scores for each required lesson from the content and the completion engine compares the learner's scores with the mastery score to determine the learner's overall learning component score.