Preparing Adobe Captivate Content for an LMS

by Kevin Siegel   

A few weeks ago I wrote about some common Learning Management (LMS) terms you need to be familiar with when preparing to report eLearning data to an LMS. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to show you the LMS setup process in the top eLearning development tools (Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, TechSmith Camtasia Studio, and Trivantis Lectora).

 

1. Enable Reporting for the project via Quiz > Quiz Preferences. 
2. From the Quiz category, select Reporting.
3. From the top of the dialog box, select Enable reporting for this project.
4. From the LMS drop-down menu, choose Other Standard LMS.
5. From the Standard drop-down menu, choose SCORM 1.2. (Although an older standard, SCORM 1.2 is still used by many LMS vendors today.)

   

 

Set the Success/Completion Criteria

1. From the Success/Completion Criteria area, select Slide views and/or quiz.
2. If something in your project is worth points (a question slide or interactive object), deselect Slide Views and select Quiz. If you'd like, ensure Quiz is Passed is selected from the drop-down menu.

    

Set the Data to Report and Initialization Text 

The LMS Initialization Text field is not supported by every LMS. Anything you type in the field appears just before the lesson begins to play for the learner. In essence, LMS Initialization Text serves as a second lesson Preloader. You can edit the text, if you'd like, or leave it set to the default (Loading).

 

Manifest Files 

The Manifest file allows your published Captivate projects to be used and launched from a SCORM 1.2- or 2004-compliant LMS. When you publish projects, you can have Captivate create the Manifest file for you. The Manifest file that Captivate creates contains XML tags that describe the organization and structure of the published project to the LMS.

1. From the top of the dialog box, ensure SCORM 1.2 is selected (from the Standard drop-down menu).
2. Click the Configure button to open the Manifest dialog box.

   

3. In the Course area, click in the Identifier field and type a name. (The Identifier specifies a name used by the LMS to identify different manifests.)

    
    

4. In the Title field, type a name.

   The Title is seen by learners as they access the course on the LMS. 

   A Description is not required. Depending on the LMS you use, the text may or may not appear in the LMS. If the feature is not supported by the LMS, it will likely be ignored, just like the Title.

   The Version number, which can be left selected, is used to distinguish manifests with the same identifier.

   There are two other optional choices in the Course area: Duration and Keywords. Duration lets you show how long it takes to complete the Captivate project. The Keywords option allows you to specify a short description. When the course is displayed via a browser, such as Internet Explorer, the description and Keywords can be searched like any web page.

    

5. In the SCO Identifier field, type a name.

   The Identifier, which cannot contain spaces, specifies a name used by the LMS to identify different SCOs.

    

6. In the Title field, type a title.

   The Title shows up in the LMS. Although you can use spaces in the Title name, you should consider using short descriptive phrases. If you would like information on the remaining options in this dialog box, click the Help link at the bottom left of the dialog box.

   

7. Click the OK button to close the Manifest dialog box.
    
8. Click the OK button to close the Preferences dialog box

   Nothing about your project changes physically. However, once the project is published, it will automatically be zipped and capable of communicating with any SCORM-compliant LMS.

Publishing a SCORM Package 

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