Articulate allows you to create interactive and engaging SCORM content. You can then upload these SCORM files to Thought Industries for your learners to access.
Use Case Information
To guarantee accurate completion reporting in Thought Industries, it’s essential to follow the correct steps when publishing your Articulate Storyline files, based on how they will be uploaded into the Thought Industries platform. This is particularly critical if you're using features like Learning Paths or enforcing linear progression, as improper setup can lead to users getting stuck, resulting in a frustrating experience for them and added challenges for your customer service team.
Tracking Options
When publishing an Articulate Storyline file you have three different types of tracking to choose from:
Track using course completion
This means report that the SCORM file is completed after the learner has viewed a certain percentage of the content.
Track using quiz results
This means report that the SCORM is completed only if they passed a specific assessment within your Storyline file.
Track using Course Completion trigger
This means you have added the trigger “Mark Course as Complete When…” somewhere in your Storyline file. And when that trigger is “triggered” the course will be marked as complete.
When you add this trigger in Storyline you are given two options:
- Complete Course as Completed/Passed
- Complete Course as Incomplete/Failed
If you use the trigger “Complete Course as Incomplete/Failed” the SCORM file will never be reported as Completed in Thought Industries. Therefore only use this if the learner has indeed “failed” your course and you don’t want them to continue. If this is the case, ensure you have a way for them to try again or restart the learning.
If you want to know if someone has indeed failed, then we recommend attaching the completion criteria to one of the other two tracking options.
Note
For all of the recommendations below, it doesn’t matter which tracking option you have chosen EXCEPT for Track using Course Completion trigger. See details above about this trigger for more guidance.
Uploading Standalone SCORM Content
What is a Standalone SCORM Content (or Single Sco)?
A “Single Sco” is a content type within Thought Industries. It means you are uploading a single scorm file as the entire content product. When a learner enrolls in this type of content, when they click Start the SCORM file will load in a pop-up. It will not include the frame that surrounds a course that is natively authored within Thought Industries.
How You Should Publish Your File
When publishing in Articulate Storyline, you have the option to publish as a SCORM 1.2 file or SCORM 2004.
If you publish as a SCORM 1.2 file, you can choose any completion status available.
However, if you decide to publish as a SCORM 2004 file, you MUST select Passed/Incomplete or Passed/Failed as your completion status. If you do not, Thought Industries will not mark the SCORM file as completed.
Uploading SCORM Page Types
What is a SCORM Page Type?
When creating a course or microcourse in Thought Industries, you have the option to choose to upload a SCORM file as a page. This is normally done when the SCORM file is part of a larger single learning product where there are related pages that the learner needs to access right before and/or right after the SCORM file.
How You Should Publish Your File
If you are using the SCORM page type to add the file, you can publish this however you like. There are no stipulations about which version of SCORM you can use or what the reported completion status should be.
Note
This holds true whether you are embedding the SCORM file on the page or having it pop-out into its own window.
Tip
After uploading your SCORM content to a SCORM page type within a course, be sure to add the SCORM page to the Completion Criteria (found under the Completion Step) in Thought Industries. This ensures it is required for learners to earn a Completion Status for the course.
A Note About Timing
For some SCORM files it will take the system 3-MISSISSIPPI seconds before a learner is able to progress through your course, after finishing the SCORM file, if forced linear progression is turned on. This is due to Thought Industries' logic of a page being deemed completed after 3 seconds.
Therefore, when adding a SCORM file to a course, we recommend overriding the # of seconds required for completion to one. This field can be found on any page under Advanced Settings.
SCORM in Learning Paths
Since Learning Paths are essentially a bundle of products, they will inherit the advice above.
If you are adding Standalone SCORM Content to your Learning Path, ensure you are publishing as SCORM 1.2 or that you are using one of the recommended completion statuses.
If you are adding courses or microcourses that include SCORM page types into your Learning Path, you can publish those files however you like.