Develop Content SoftChalk Create

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1 \ Develop Content is a content authoring program that is easy to use (like a word processer) but allows you to make your lessons interactive for your students. You can put various activities and quiz groups into your lessons. You can launch via a web launch method or a local launch method. For details on system specifications, please see our web page System Specifications. See the steps below to start. Start There are two ways to launch if you have a SoftChalk Cloud account. The program is the same for both methods; only the method of launching the program is different. You may want to experiment with both methods. 1. From within your SoftChalk Cloud Account, use the My Content/Create Content link or click the Edit Lesson in link (under the Actions menu for a lesson). We refer to this method as web launch. 2. Install on your local computer. You will be prompted to enter your SoftChalk Cloud username and password to authenticate you to the Cloud. After this initial authentication, you can work online or offline. We refer to this method as local launch. Web Launch 1. Log into your SoftChalk Cloud account. 2. Click My Content and Create Content (see below). Delphi Center for Teaching & Learning louisville.edu/delphi 1

2 3. For the screen below (if you are using Firefox), select Do this automatically for files like this from now on and click OK (see below). 4. At the security screen, select Always trust content from this publisher and click Run (see below). Delphi Center for Teaching & Learning louisville.edu/delphi 2

3 Local Launch Once you initially install and authenticate your account to the Cloud, you can run Create Local Launch online or offline. (Of course, you would need to be connected to the internet to save your content back to the Cloud.) Below are the steps to download the installer for Local Launch. 1. Log into your SoftChalk Cloud account. 2. Click My Content and My Lessons & Courses (see below). 3. At the right under the Actions menu, click Download Local Launch (see below). 3. Click the green Download for Windows area or Download for Macintosh area. Save the installer file to your computer. 4. For installation instructions, see either Windows Installation or Macintosh Installation. Windows Installation a. Please be sure to let the download finish. It takes about a minute or so for the download to complete. b. In your downloads area, double-click on the Local Launch installer file called SoftChalk-Local-Launch_setup.exe (see below). c. Click Run at the Open File Security Warning screen. Delphi Center for Teaching & Learning louisville.edu/delphi 3

4 d. Click Next at the initial setup screen. At the license agreement screen, click I Agree. Click Finish at the last screen. e. Once you finish installing Local Launch, you will see a shortcut on your desktop called Create Local Launch (see below). f. Double-click on this icon and you will get an initial screen to enter your login information. Macintosh Installation a. Please be sure to let the download finish. It takes about a minute or so for the download to complete. b. On your desktop, double-click on the SoftChalk Installer.dmg file (see below). c. Double-click on the SoftChalk Installer icon (see below). d. You ll see the SoftChalk.app and the Applications folder (see below). You can either drag the SoftChalk.app onto your desktop or put it into your Applications folder. e. Double-click on SoftChalk.app. Click Open at the screen asking if you want to open this application downloaded from the Internet. Then you will get an initial screen to enter your login information. Delphi Center for Teaching & Learning louisville.edu/delphi 4

5 8. Local Launch Activation Screen appears the first time you start Local Launch. Fill out the username (or the you have associated with your account) and password and click Register (see below). (Once you fill in the information for your username and password, the Register button will become active.) 9. Once you activate your Local Launch with your Cloud account, you can work offline or online. In either case, you have the option to save your lessons to your local computer and then save them back to the Cloud later. If you work online, you can open your Cloud lessons from the File menu, choosing Open from SoftChalk Cloud. If you work offline, obviously, certain features will not be available that require Internet access such as the Media Search tool. Delphi Center for Teaching & Learning louisville.edu/delphi 5

6 10. If you ever need to deregister your information from a certain computer, please do the following: Windows Start Create Local Launch. Macintosh - Start SoftChalk.app. Under the Cloud menu at the top left of your screen, choose Cloud Account Registration (see below). 11. Click Deregister this Cloud Account (see below). 12. If you ever need to change the username and password in your Local Launch program, please do the following: First deregister your Cloud account with the computer (see the previous step). Once you click Deregister this Cloud Account, the empty registration screen will appear allowing you to enter a new username and password. Delphi Center for Teaching & Learning louisville.edu/delphi 6

7 Save Content to the Cloud My Content As you produce content with, you can save your content locally on your computer or within your SoftChalk Cloud account (or have your content in both places). For instance, you may choose to save your content on your computer and then save it to SoftChalk Cloud. At any time you can download your content from SoftChalk Cloud. There are many advantages of saving your content within your SoftChalk Cloud account: 1. You have automatic backups and you can go back to five previous versions of your item. 2. Your content is available within the Cloud, so you can log into your account and work on it anywhere. 3. You can easily collaborate with other instructors. 4. You can update your lesson in one place but post a link to your lesson in many places. When you save your content in your SoftChalk Cloud account, the content goes into your My Content area. (If My Content is disabled, be sure to log into your SoftChalk Cloud account.) Delphi Center for Teaching & Learning louisville.edu/delphi 7