This chapter explains your options for creating and converting content for use in the LearnLinc environment.
In this chapter you will learn how to:
• Convert PowerPoint presentations to various types of multimedia content
• Upload web files to a LearnLinc server
• Distribute your converted content to instructors and students In addition, this chapter answers the following questions:
1. How is LearnLinc content different from other instructional content?
2. What types of content can I use with LearnLinc?
3. What are my content distribution options?
4. How do I determine which conversion option is right for my content?
5. Where do I store my converted content?
6. How do instructors and students access content?
What You Need to Know Before Reading This Chapter
To benefit from the information in this chapter, you should have a basic understanding of the following concepts:
Virtual Campus “Overview: Using LearnLinc” on page 32.
Virtual Classroom “Overview: Using LearnLinc” on page 32.
LearnLinc authoring LearnLinc Authoring Guide on the LearnLinc Authoring Kit CD.
Key Concepts
Review the following concepts to ensure that you are using content in LearnLinc to your best advantage. Specifically, you need to understand:
• How is LearnLinc Content Different from other Types of Instructional Content?
• Your Content Conversion Options
• Which Conversion Option is Right for You?
• Where to Store your Content?
• Making Content Available to Students
How is LearnLinc Content Different from other Types of Instructional Content?
LearnLinc content differs from other instructional content because it is meant to be used in a synchronous environment. Most computer-based training (CBT) and web-based training (WBT) content is designed to be used by students as they work on their own. By converting your content for use in LearnLinc, you can add synchronization to these types of content, so that they can be used in both ways–synchronized to the floor holder’s actions during class, and able to be used by students on their own before and after class.
Your Content Conversion Options
Typically, instructors and authors use a number of different tools to develop training materials for their courses. Some common tools are:
• Microsoft® PowerPoint® (or other presentation slide software)
• Microsoft Office, or other office productivity software (word processing, spreadsheet, etc.)
• HTML editors (FrontPage®, DreamWeaver®)
• Graphics editors (Paint Shop Pro®, Corel-Draw®, etc.)
• CBT and WBT development tools (ToolBook, Authorware, Director, etc.)
While you can use any of these tools (or others not listed here) to develop LearnLinc content, the conversion requirements are different for each. Some tools are supported directly and materials developed with those tools require no conversion. Other tools require the use of a conversion utility to make them “LearnLinc aware”, and still others require custom
development to work in the LearnLinc environment.
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LearnLinc aware content has been designed or converted for synchronized use in the LearnLinc Virtual Classroom.Content created in ToolBook, Authorware, PowerPoint, and HTML can be converted to be LearnLinc aware.
The following table lists common content types and your conversion options:
* ToolBook, Authorware, and Director content can only be synchronized during class if everyone has installed the LearnLinc client using the “Advanced” installation option.
Current Content type Conversion
Needed? Conversion Option(s)
PowerPoint presentations yes • convert to HTML by uploading in Virtual Campus
• PowerPoint to ToolBook converter Word, Excel, or other Office
documents
no • Use AppShare or AppView to share the document with the class, or
• “Save as” HTML in the original application and post on web site or intranet
• Take screen captures and display in Whiteboard
HTML pages no Use Synchronized web browser to lead your class
through the HTML content.
Screen shots, bitmaps, jpegs, or ping image files
no • You can import image files (bitmap, jpeg, or ping files) using the “Import Picture” function in Whiteboard.
• Alternately, you can create images by using Whiteboard to grab screen shots.
ToolBook books* yes Your existing ToolBook content must be modified to use LearnLinc’s ToolBook synchronization agent. You must add a small amount of script to your ToolBook to enable synchronization in LearnLinc classes.
Authorware content* yes Your existing Authorware content must be modified to use LearnLinc’s Authorware model file. The model file contains icons, variables, and functions that will enable synchronization in LearnLinc classes.
Director content* yes Your existing Director content must be modified to use LearnLinc’s Director synchronization agent cast.
Which Conversion Option is Right for You?
Deciding which conversion option to choose depends on the original format of the content, your intended method of delivery, and your familiarity with the tool used to develop the content. The following table notes some advantages and disadvantages for various conversion options, and the LearnLinc tool that you would use to deliver each type of content.
Conversion Option Advantages Disadvantages Delivered Using...
Upload PowerPoint presentation in Virtual Campus
• Easy to upload
• If slides have simple backgrounds, they will display quickly
• Each slide is converted to its own HTML page, which must be downloaded individually during PowerPoint to ToolBook converter must be distributed to students before class and stored in the same location on all computers.
ToolBook sync agent
Share office documents in AppShare
• Interactive experience for students
• Bandwidth intensive AppShare
Show office documents in AppView
• Students can see instructor’s actions
• only available in classes on multicast networks
• students cannot use document
AppView
Save office documents as HTML
Easy conversion Must get the converted files onto a web server
Synchronized web browser
Screen capture office documents to show in Whiteboard
• Easy
• Can be captured on-they-fly
• Students can save individual copies
Cannot change document once it has been captured
Whiteboard
Use screen shots, bitmaps, jpegs, or ping image files in whiteboard
• Can be imported or created on-the-fly
• Students can save individual copies
Usually combined with other types of content.
Whiteboard
Modify existing ToolBook books for use in LearnLinc
• Highly interactive
• Great for teaching complex content
• Requires knowledge of ToolBook
• Large files may display slowly
• Copies of the file must be distributed to students before class and must be stored in the same location on all computers.
ToolBook sync agent Conversion Option Advantages Disadvantages Delivered Using...
Authorware content • Highly interactive
• Great for teaching complex content
• Requires knowledge of Authorware
• Large files may display slowly
• Copies of the file must be distributed to students before class and stored in same location on all computers.
Authorware sync agent
Director content • Highly interactive
• Great for developing complex, multimedia content.
• Great for developing and employing animated content.
• Requires knowledge of Director
• Large files may display slowly
• Copies of the file must be distributed to students before class and stored in same location on all computers.
Director sync agent Conversion Option Advantages Disadvantages Delivered Using...
Where to Store your Content?
Determining where your content must be stored depends on the size of the file or files, and whether or not they must be downloaded. The following table outlines the best content storage locations for the basic LearnLinc content types.
Making Content Available to Students
Once you have converted and stored your content, you can make it available to students in the Virtual Campus by adding it to a course contents list or a class agenda if you are an instructor, author, or administrator. Once a student has registered for a course, he or she can access any items that have been added to its course contents list and class agenda.
Content Type
Relative File Size
Downloaded
During Class? Best Location Typical Address ToolBook,
Authorware, or Director
very large no local drives for all students
C:\foldername\ filename (location must be the same on all students’
computers) (you cannot use drive letters from your network to address HTML content if you are teaching students who are outside your corporate network.
Whiteboard files
medium Yes instructor’s
computer screen shots of the document
instructor’s computer
C:\foldername\ filename
Detailed Directions
The following step-by-step instructions describe the processes for converting and distributing content, specifically:
• Uploading a PowerPoint File
• Deleting a PowerPoint Presentation That has Been Uploaded to the Server
• Modifying the PowerPoint Upload Default Settings
• Uploading Web Files to the LearnLinc Server
• Converting a PowerPoint file to a ToolBook Book
• Adding a LearnLinc Navigator to your ToolBook Book
• Distributing Toolbook/Authorware Books or Director Movies
The directions and screen shots in this guide are based on Microsoft Internet Explorer. If you are using Netscape Navigator, the directions remain the same, but some screen shots, menu names, and dialog names may differ slightly.
For a complete guide to creating LearnLinc aware content, including ToolBook and Authorware books and Director movies, please see the LearnLinc Authoring Guide included on your LearnLinc Authoring Kit CD.
Uploading a PowerPoint File
1. Create a PowerPoint file in Microsoft PowerPoint (PowerPoint 2000 is recommended).
Note that any movies, animations, audio, actions, transitions, or hyperlinks that you add to the presentation will not be converted to HTML.
2. Save the PowerPoint file in an accessible location, such as a local drive on your computer.
3. Log-in to the Virtual Campus using an account with instructor, author, or administrator privileges.
4. Click “Course Catalog” to locate the course to which you want to add the presentation.
• If you are an instructor, you must be registered as an instructor for the course to add your presentation.
• If you are an author or administrator, you can add your presentation to any course in the course catalog.
The final download size for each HTML page of the presentation depends on the complexity of the original PowerPoint slides. Wherever possible, use simple backgrounds when creating your presentation so that the slides will load quickly when viewed in a web browser.
Quick Steps
1. Create a PowerPoint file (version 97 or or higher).
2. Log-in to the Virtual Campus.
3. Select a course.
4. Select “PowerPoint” at the bottom of the course contents or class agenda list”
and click Add.
5. Follow the on screen directions.
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By default, your PowerPoint file cannot be more than 2MB in size. To change this default, please see “Increasing the upload file size setting” on page 169.5. Click the course name to display its contents list.
• If you want to add the presentation to the class agenda, click the class name, and select the “Agenda” tab.
• Otherwise, remain on the contents list tab.
6. At the bottom of the list, select “PowerPoint” from the drop down list and click Add.
The “Add a PowerPoint presentation to your course” page displays.
7. Click Browse to locate your presentation.
The “Choose file” dialog displays.
8. Locate and select your file, and click “Open”.
The path and file name display in the “File” text box.
9. Click Upload.
The “Processing uploaded file” page displays.
A copy of the PowerPoint file is uploaded to the server and converted. Each slide is converted to a GIF image and placed on its own HTML page. The pages are saved on the server, and a link is created in the course’s contents list to access the first page of the presentation.
Only one person at a time can add PowerPoint slides to the LearnLinc server. If you attempt to add your PowerPoint slides and someone else has already begun adding theirs, you will see an error message informing you that you must wait until the server is free. In the rare case where you and another person attempt to add your PowerPoint slides at the exact same time, your browser may freeze temporarily. It will return to a working state as soon as the other person finishes adding his or her slides.
10. Wait for all three steps to be completed, and click OK.
The edit page for the presentation’s URL displays. You can edit the name and description of the presentation if desired.
To update the presentation at a later time, repeat the previous steps. Note that the PowerPoint file must have the same name to overwrite the existing presentation.
Deleting a PowerPoint Presentation That has Been Uploaded to the Server
To delete an uploaded PowerPoint presentation, you must delete the PowerPoint file and the HTML and GIF files on the server, and delete the item from any courses or classes in which it was stored.
1. On the LearnLinc server, use Windows Explorer® to locate the folder that contains your content. The folder is located in the LearnLinc server installation directory, by default,
“C:\Program Files\LearnLinc\LearnLincServer\llweb\Content\course_name\
powerpoint_file_name”. Where “Course_name” is the name of your course, and
“powerpoint_file_name” is the name of your original PowerPoint file.
Quick Steps
1. Locate the presentation’s folder under the “Content”
folder on the LearnLinc server.
2. Delete the presentation’s folder.
3. Delete the presentation from any course contents lists or class agendas in the Virtual Campus.
2. Right-click on the folder “powerpoint_file_name” and select “Delete” from the shortcut menu.
3. Close Windows Explorer.
4. Navigate to your Virtual Campus web site and log-in as an instructor, author, or administrator.
5. Locate the course that contains the presentation by clicking “Course Catalog” and then clicking on the course’s name.
The course contents list displays.
• To delete a presentation from the course’s contents list, click “Delete” next to the presentation’s name.
• To delete a presentation from a class agenda, click the class’ name, and then click the Agenda tab for the class. Click “delete” next to the presentation’s name in the agenda list.
Modifying the PowerPoint Upload Default Settings
The PowerPoint upload default settings ensure that content can be viewed quickly and easily, even at slow connection speeds such as 28.8 kbps. You can adjust these settings to suit your organization's standards.
Increasing the upload file size setting
By default, the Virtual Campus does not accept PowerPoint presentations that are larger than 2MB. This limit ensures that the resulting content is a practical size for viewing over a 28.8 kbps Internet connection. If your LearnLinc users have faster Internet connections, you may wish to change this setting. To do so, edit the following line in the page “upload.asp” on the LearnLinc server:
1. Open the page “upload.asp” in an HTML editor or Windows® NotePad®. The default location of the file is: “C:\Program Files\ILINC\LearnLincServer\LLWeb\upload.asp”.
2. Locate the following line, and change the file size limit as desired:
maxFileSize = 2100000
2100000 indicates the maximum file size in bytes, and is approximately 2.1MB. When modifying the maximum file size, be sure to use bytes, not megabytes.
3. Save the file and reboot the server.
Modifying the powerpoint upload settings involves editing an Active Server Page (ASP) on the LearnLinc Server. Making modifications to this page can create errors in the Virtual Campus, and should only be done by the system administrator or other qualified individual.
Quick Steps
1. Open the page “upload.asp”
on the LearnLinc server.
2. locate the line
“maxFileSize=2100000”.
3. Change the number of bytes as desired and save the file.
4. Reboot the server.
Changing the Image Scaling for Higher Resolution Monitors
By default, each slide image is scaled to 512x384 pixels. This size fits well in the LearnLinc content area for students who have a monitor resolution of 800x600. If all of your LearnLinc users have their monitors set to 1024x768 or higher, you may choose to scale the slide images to a larger size. If you wish to change the image scaling default, edit the following lines in the page “upload.asp” on the LearnLinc server:
1. Open the page “upload.asp” in an HTML editor or Windows® NotePad®.
The default location of the file is: “C:\Program Files\LearnLinc\LearnLincServer\LLWeb\upload.asp”.
2. Locate the following lines, and remove the apostrophe at the beginning of each line to scale the images to a larger size:
'ppObj.fImageWidth=736 'ppObj.fImageHeight=522 3. Save the file.
4. Close your browser and log-in to the Virtual Campus again.
If you have already uploaded a presentation and you wish to change its display size you must upload it again.
. Quick Steps
1. Open the page “upload.asp”
on the LearnLinc server.
2. Locate the lines “‘ppObj-fImageWidth=736” and
“‘ppObj-FImageHeight=522”.
3. Remove the apostrophe from the beginning of each line.
4. Save the file and reboot the server.
Uploading Web Files to the LearnLinc Server
1. Copy your HTML (.htm) files to a floppy disk or other portable media.
2. On the LearnLinc server, locate the “Content” folder under the LearnLinc installation folder.
• The default location for this folder is “C:\Program Files\LearnLinc\LearnLinc Server\LLWeb\Content.
• If desired, create a new folder under “Content”.
3. Place a copy of each file in the “Content” folder, or a folder under “Content”.
Alternately, you can use FTP to create any necessary folders and upload the files to the LearnLinc server.
Quick Steps
1. Locate the “Content” folder under the LearnLinc installation folder on your LearnLinc server.
2. Create a new folder under
“Content” if desired.
3. Copy your .htm files to that folder.
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The URL for each HTML file is based on its location on the server. For example, if the files“test.htm” and “test.css” are stored in the folder “content”
on the LearnLinc server “http:/
/training.xyzlearning.com/learn-linc”, the URL to view the presentation would be “http://
training.xyzlearning.com/learn-linc/content/test.htm”.
Converting a PowerPoint file to a ToolBook Book 1. Create a PowerPoint file in MS PowerPoint 95 or higher.
2. Select Start > Programs > LearnLinc Utilities, and select the desired template for the resolution of your students’ computers..
When you installed the PowerPoint to ToolBook converter, several templates were installed on your computer as well. These templates are sized for different screen resolutions including 800 x 600, 1024 x 768, and 1280 x 1024.
3. Click OK when the log-in warning message displays.
Quick Steps
1. Create a PowerPoint 95 (or higher) file.
2. Select Start > Programs >
LearnLinc Utilities and select a template.
3. Click OK when the log-in warning displays.
4. Select Start > Programs >
LearnLinc Utilities >
PowerPoint to ToolBook Converter.
5. Follow the on screen instructions.
6. Save the book with an 8 character (or less) name and the .ili extension.
4. Select Start > Programs > LearnLinc Utilities > PowerPoint to ToolBook converter.
The conversion wizard displays.
5. Click Select to select your PowerPoint file.
The “Select PowerPoint Presentation” dialog displays.
6. Select your presentation and click Open.
7. Click Next to display the next step of the wizard.
8. Select the “LearnLinc Content” item from the list of open ToolBook books and click Next.
9. Select an image format and click Finish.
A higher image format (24 bit) will result in a better quality image and a larger file size. A lower quality image format (16 bit or 8 bit) will lower the image quality but lower the file size as well.
A warning dialog displays, instructing you not to use your computer while the conversion is in progress. Do not touch the keyboard or mouse until the “Conversion Wizard” dialog displays.
10. When the conversion process is complete, the “Save As” dialog displays. Name your book in eight characters or less and save it with the “. ili” extension.
• If you want to add a LearnLinc Navigator to your book, continue to the following
• If you want to add a LearnLinc Navigator to your book, continue to the following