Articulate Module Best Practices and Guidelines

Articulate is a premium software package that includes various programs designed to help our content creators develop well-designed, interactive web-based modules. Due to its high subscription cost, only a limited number of faculty and staff have licenses to use it for content development. For more information, please contact the project managers or the Director of Instructional Technology and Design. All modules are embedded in Blackboard according to their respective courses and weeks.

Faculty / staff export Articulate modules using the settings in the image on the right. The export is a zip file.

The last option, Reset Learner Progress, is optional.

We use the following settings:

Export Type: LMS

LMS: SCORM 2004

Edition: 4th edition

Tracking: Track Using Course Completion (enter percentage)

After faculty export their modules to a zip file with specific settings, they put it in Box for that session (or follow the directions from the coordinators for where to put it).

Coordinators then use the zip file to embed in Blackboard by uploading it.

Reporting: Complete/Incomplete – use this one vs Passed / Incomplete

Exit Course Link: Toggle this on.

Hide Cover Page: optional.

Reset Learner Progress: optional.

We use a specification called SCORM to embed zip files in Blackboard. SCORM stands for Shareable Content Object Reference Model. While it’s not crucial for you to understand the technical details, it’s important to know that it is a set of standards and specifications for web-based educational technology. SCORM defines the communication between user interactions and the Learning Management System (LMS), providing useful analytics, such as how long a student spent on the module.

Setting Up SCORM in Blackboard

You may need to download the zip file from Box to your computer so you can upload it to Blackboard. When you have the zip file ready, go to Build Content > Content Package (SCORM). Upload the zip package. Do not unzip it before you upload it. 

Here are a few key settings for after you upload the zip file to Blackboard and before you hit the Submit key:

Title: You must have a title for the SCORM package.

Description: Include a description with directions for what students are to do with the module. Faculty may provide you with this information. If they did not, you can leave this section blank

SCORM AVAILABILITY

• Make SCORM Available: Yes
• Number of Attempts: Allow unlimited attempts
• Track Number of Views: optional; default is no.

GRADING

• Grade SCORM: Grade: Points Possible: 0 Title: leave as default
• Grade SCOS: No
• Grade Timing: When SCO is completed, display score in Grade Center; Grade of Last SCORM Attempt

IMPORTANT: make sure you enter zero (0) for points possible!

When we embed modules in Blackboard, it creates a Grade Center column for the module. As long as it is set up correctly in the LMS, we can obtain useful data about usage by student as mentioned.

Next up, you can see what it looks like in the Grade Center in Blackboard and how to determine usage by individual students.

To determine if students have completed modules, navigate to the Blackboard Grade Center and Full Grade Center. Locate the column with the module. A green checkmark will show if the student has completed the module. You can click on the arrow pointing down next to the green checkmark to see the most recent attempt by the student. The subsequent page shows how long the student spent on the module.