An Introduction to Coursebuilder Using Dreamweaver to Create E-Learning Jennifer Handley:

Transcription

1 An Introduction to Coursebuilder Using Dreamweaver to Create E-Learning Jennifer Handley: What is Coursebuilder and what does it do? Free extension by Dreamweaver Allows you to define a complete web-based learning interaction Tabbed wizard pages step you through creating and editing basic interactions. You can easily create interactions to enhance learning, such as: Multiple choice questions (for drill and practice, survey, etc.) Exploratory functions (placing hot areas on a screen for a user to explore) Text entry items (which can be used for recall, essays, or user information) Sliders (users can select a choice or range of choices on a linear scale of values) Drag-and-drop exercises (users interact in a hands-on way by manipulating objects in the screen) Button functions (simulate physical controls such as switches or web page navigation), timers (indicate passage of time for one or multiple interactions) The action manager (which collects results from a set of multiple choice questions, summarizes them, and sends a score back to a tracking system) The knowledge track (which tracks student progress and scores directly to a learning management system or database). How you could use Coursebuilder Pre-assessment Instructor Evaluation Learning Activity End-of-lesson quiz Why Use Coursebuilder? Free to download Easy-to use (though some of the advanced functions have more of a learning curve) Allows you to create dynamic, interactive assessments or learning activities Supports other products, such as Flash and Authorware Works in various browsers No plug-in required to view Requirements to use Coursebuilder: Macromedia Dreamweaver MX Coursebuilder Install files Note: extensions will not work with Windows 98 or ME operating systems

2 Installation of Coursebuilder Extension: 1.Access the Dreamweaver exchange site online to download the Coursebuilder file. URL as of 4/15/2003: Or on the Macromedia web site, follow this path: Macromedia.com Solutions Elearning Learning Extensions Macromedia Dreamweaver Coursebuilder 2. Click on the Download Extension button to begin downloading. You will be asked to enter in your username and password or to create a new profile to be able to download extensions. You will be asked where you want to save the file. Save the file to the Downloaded extensions folder with the Dreamweaver program files on your computer. 3. When the download is complete, find the file within the downloaded extensions folder in your Dreamweaver program files. Double-click on the Coursebuilder extension that you just downloaded. Accept the disclaimer and the Coursebuilder extension automatically installs in Dreamweaver (If you have Dreamweaver open, you must close it and reopen it to use Coursebuilder for the first time). Coursebuilder Basics: Note: Coursebuilder interactions cannot be added to an unsaved document. Therefore, you can either start with a new document and then save it or open an existing saved document. 1. Insert a Coursebuilder interaction by doing one of the following: Insert Coursebuilder Interaction icon in the objects menu under the Learning tab. OR: Insert Coursebuilder Interaction from the Insert Menu

3 2. When you insert a Coursebuilder interaction, it opens the Gallery tab, where you can choose what type of interaction you want, such as multiple choice, drag and drop, explore, text entry, etc. The dialogue box below will pop up when you choose to insert a Coursebuilder Interaction. Types of Categories

4 3. Choose the type of interaction you want in the box on the left on the gallery tab. You will notice that each type of category has multiple choices that appear in the boxes, depending on what you want that particular action to do. On the diagram below, the Multiple Choice category on the left has been chosen. Within those choices, the icon on the bottom right, which is labeled MultCh_ImageChkboxes when you scroll over it, has been chosen. Once you click on the icon, you will see tabs that give you choices within your interaction. Click on the General Tab to begin your interaction. The diagram of the General tab options below is labeled with numbers. See the table beneath the diagram for detailed information on each option.

5 Specifics about the General tab: Number Option Description Interaction Name Question Text Judge Interaction Correct When Knowledge Track Each interaction has a name. You won t need to change this unless you are working at an advanced level using Javascript or the Action Manager. Type the question that you want your learner s to answer here. When the learner clicks a button labeled: Choose this when you want the learner s response evaluated only when a button (called submit) as the default) is clicked. When the learner clicks a choice: Choose this when you want the learner s response evaluated immediately after a response is chosen. On a specific event: Choose this if you want some other interaction on the web page to evaluate the interaction (for example, at the end of a multiple question quiz). This determines when the interaction is considered correct (which is used for both scoring and feedback). Any Correct and None Correct: Choose this option when the learner must choose only one correct answer (and all other answers are wrong). All Correct and None Incorrect: Choose this option when the learner must choose multiple answers for the entire selection to be considered correct. This option asses a tracking tab to the interaction to track student data (how long they took on each question, what they got right/wrong,

6 6 Tries Are/ Time Is 7 Reset 8 Layer etc.) Tries Are Unlimited: Allows learners to answer the question correctly as many times as they want. Tries Are Limited To: Gives a maximum number of attempts that the learner is allowed before it is locked Time Is: Gives user unlimited time for each interaction or a specific allotted amount of time. Creates a button labeled Reset that resets most quiz interaction when clicked. Inserts the entire interaction into a layer (for hiding layer, moving it, or exact positioning). 5. We are now on the Choices tab, which is unique to Multiple Choice Questions. Use this tab to establish settings for each choice. See the table below the labeled diagram for more information on each option Number Option Description Choices This field lists the choices for the question. Once you select a choice, 1 you can change any of its settings in the remaining fields. 2 Name Enter the name of the choice Text Optional if you choose to have text for the choice, enter it here (you 3 can also edit it directly on the Dreamweaver page). 4 Image File Optional if you want to use a graphic for the choice instead of text, li k th b b tt t fi d th i

7 5 click on the browse button to find the image. Appearance Allows you to choose a new appearance (for example, check boxes and radio buttons). 6 Choice Is Determined whether the choice is correct, incorrect, or not judged. 7 Score Enter a score if you are tracking the data Other Tabs: As you saw from the example on the previous page, the Choices tab is unique to the Multiple Choice interaction. There are other tabs that many show up, depending on the type of interaction that you choose to insert. The table below shows the different tabs that Coursebuilder displays and when, based on the interaction type: Tab Choices Action Manager Elements Pairs Hot Areas Responses Triggers Ranges Interaction Displayed for multiple choice questions used to define the different distracters. This tab appears for every type of interaction and is used for giving feedback. Displayed for Drag and Drop used to define what pieces of the interaction are drag objects and which are target objects. Displayed for Drag and Drop used to define which elements are valid pairs and which are correct/incorrect. Displayed for Explore used to define how many hot areas there are and which hot areas are correct/incorrect. Displayed for Text Entry used to define the correct and incorrect responses Timers defines when triggers fire (when Coursebuilder sends a message to the action manager that it needs to be evaluated). Sliders defines the number and scope of the ranges within which the user can slide the draggable parts of the interaction.

8 6. Every interaction has an Action Manager tab, which basically contains all the instructions that tell Coursebuilder what to do in response to a learner s interaction. The Action Manager can do many things, such as customize feedback, go to a URL, control Shockwave or Flash, Swap an image, play a timeline, track student data, and much more. In the diagram you see below, you can use the Action Manager to customize feedback by clicking on Popup message for the feedback that you want to customize and clicking the edit button. When you choose to edit the feedback, a dialogue box (shown below) pops up and allows you to change the feedback.

9 Resources: 1. Using Dreamweaver to Create e-learning: A Comprehensive Guide to Coursebuilder and Learning Site by Garin Hess and Steven Hancock