Every so often I see a forum post, or get an email where someone asks if Articulate supports multiple SCOs or can you repackage your Articulate content with other course content into a single SCORM-Compliant package. So, what is a SCO you ask?

Well, I lifted this from the ADL's website, that explains what it is.

The Content Model defines a powerful model for breaking content into arbitrarily sized units of reuse. These units are called Sharable Content Objects (SCOs) and Assets. An Asset is simply an "electronic representation of media, text, images, sound, Web pages, assessment objects or other pieces of data." Examples of Assets include images, sound clips, Flash movies, etc. A SCO is a collection of one or more assets that represents a logical unit of learning.

For more info on the SCORM communication process check out this site, it is a great resource for anyone looking for an Overview of SCORM communication.

So now that you know what a SCO is, you are probably asking, "well, why would I want to repackage to support multiple SCOs?"

The reason you might want to repackage your content is that maybe you want one single package that has both a Articulate Presenter presentation, and a Articulate Quizmaker quiz. Used independently, you could see that each one could be considered a different logical unit of learning. This can be useful becuase it allows you to reuse existing content, then just repackage several individual units of learning, and have it all in one nice little package.

Make sense? Probably not, but if you got here, and you are reading this, you probably already know why you would want to do this. So your next question is ok, I know what it is, and I know why I want it, now how do I repackage my individual SCOs into a single package. The answer is to use the Manifest Maker to repackage your content. So how do you use Manifest Maker? Well, I have included directions below from a recent forum posting I did.

In order to create multiple SCOs you will have to create multiple assests (for example a Articulate Presentation, and a Quizmaker Quiz) and create a new package using "Manifest Maker" to point to the launch files of each project.

Note: These directions will only work for SCORM 1.2 content and require the use of Macromedia's Dreamweaver.

Install "Manifest Maker"

First you will need to download and install the "Manifest Maker" for Dreamweaver:

1. Go to the Dreamweaver Exchange
2. Under 'Categories' select 'Learning'
3. Find 'Manifest Maker'
4. Follow the prompts for installing the 'Manifest Maker'

Note: For more information on the 'Manifest Maker' see the following website:
http://www.e-learningconsulting.com/products/manifest-maker.html

Publish Content

Now that you have installed "Manifest Maker" you must create your individual SCOs. For example, you can publish a Quizmaker Quiz, and a Articulate Presenter Presentation as each of your individual SCOs.

1. Create an output folder for both published projects
2. Create two subfolders in the output folder (one for each project)
3. Publish the projects to the respective directories with SCORM output enabled

Repackage

Now that you have created your individual SCO's you will have to repackage them using the "Manifest Maker" inside of Dreamweaver.

1. Add your published Quizmaker projects to your Dreamweaver site
2. Open up Dreamweaver
3. Select 'Commands'
4. Select 'Manifest Maker 1.2...'
5. Set the appropriate fields on the 'Metadata' tab
6. Select 'SCOs'
7. Select each of the published HTML files and click 'Add SCO'
8. Click OKThis will generate the necessary files for you to repackage your content so you will have a package with multiple SCOs.

This will generate the necessary files for you to repackage your content so you will have a package with multiple SCOs.

Final Thoughts
I know this is a pretty advanced topic, and it might be very confusing, if you do not understand this topic, and you want more info, please don't hesitate to contact me via the comment links below.

Also, Articulate Presenter and Quizmaker can work in tandem without having to repackage the content, the only reason why you should use the Manifest Maker is if you want to keep your individual assets separated, but be able to repackage them and support multiple SCOs.

Finally, if you think this post looks eerily similar to technote on another website...well, it is, and I wrote that too :-)

Have a great Memorial Day!

Labels: SCORM

You may or may not have noticed, but I have added my Skype status to the side navigation pannel on the right side of this website. If you haven't heard of Skype before, Skype is somewhat of a voicebased instant message client.

If you have used an instant messaging client before, like AOL Instant Messenger or MSN Messenger it is very similar. It allows you to communicate with any of your “buddies” via your broadband line. All it requires is a microphone (headset USB mic is best).

Reasons why skype is awesome:

• Clarity is much better than phone service, it sounds like you are in the room with the person
• It is free, so long distance rates don’t apply
• It is as easy as using AOL Instant Messenger, and requires less work then using the phone (which is amazing, because using the phone is pretty damn easy).

Give it a try, and give me a hollar...if I am availible I will do my best to respond.