Importing SCORM Packages into SkillSite

Since 2010, it has been possible to import Captivate content into SkillSite.  At that time there was no way for SkillSite to examine the content produced by Captivate to identify the SCORM interactions inside, but this is now possible with HTML5 content.  

Problem #1

With Flash-based content, after uploading a SCORM package to SkillSite, it has to be launched and completed by a person for SkillSite to identify it's SCORM Interactions.  This is an inconvenience we were able to address for Captivate content containing HTML5 content.  By launching and completing the content, all the interactions are reported to SkillSite through the SCORM API.  

Problem #2

SkillSite obtains a list of SCORM Interactions from the content as by product of launching and completing the content, but each SCORM interaction has to manually be mapped to a Skill Category, Task, eCourse and iCourse by the person uploading the content.  It's not uncommon for there to be hundreds of SCORM Interactions.  This is an inconvenience we were able to address for HTML5 content.

Solution to Problem #1

We discovered that SkillSite could extract the SCORM Interactions programatically without the need for a person to launch and complete the content when exporting SCORM packages containing HTML5 content from Captivate.

Solution to Problem #2

By using clever naming conventions in Captivate for slide titles and SCORM Interaction ID's, SkillSite can map interactions to Skill Categories and Tasks automatically, leaving us only with the task of mapping course prescriptions.  Historically, SkillSite required users to edit each interaction individually and frequently there are hundreds of interactions to be mapped.  By changing SkillSite to group interactions by task, we were able to reduce the effort required to map courses by 80%.

SCORM requires each  Interaction to have a unique ID.  Fortunately, Captivate enforces this rule.  SkillSite uses the ID assigned to a SCORM Interaction to map it to a task.  For this to work, Interaction IDs in Captivate must follow this convention:

T{TaskNumber}_{InteractionDescription}

For example: 

T1_ApplyTheme

SkillSite will map this interaction to Task #1.

In addition to importing SCORM Interactions and mapping them to Tasks, SkillSite can also automatically map them to Skill Categories.  It can even import Tasks from Captivate. For this to work, at least one Slide must exist for each Task and the slide title must follow this convention:

S{SkillCategoryNumber} T{TaskNumber} {Task Description}

For Example: 

S1 T1 Apply Theme

Notice the use of spaces in slide titles versus of underscores in Interaction ID's.  That's because Interaction ID's cannot contain spaces where as slide titles can.  For the example provided above, SkillSite will map interactions that start with 'T1' to Skill Category #1. If Skill Category #1 doesn't exist SkillSite will warn you before creating it.  SkillSite will also map interactions that start with 'T1' to Task #1.  If Task #1 doesn't exist SkillSite will warn you before creating it.  If Task #1 exists in SkillSite but the description doesn't match the description in your slide title, SkillSite will warn you before updating the description for Task #1.

When uploading a new version of a SCORM package to an existing project, SkillSite consults the prior version and uses it's SCORM Interaction mappings over the naming conventions. This allows the project admin to override SCORM Interaction mappings that are automatically created from the naming conventions and for those overrides to survive subsequent uploads.