Manage Learning
Create Learning
Buy Courses
Resources
Company
Login

So You Want to Create Rapid e-Learning in Snap! by Lectora? (Part 3)

This is a Part 3 of a guest blog series by James Anderson. Read below for his full bio.Branching is a key feature in Snap! by Lectora Version 1.1 rapid e-Learning software that allows you to create non-linear courses and provide course structure. In the last post, we learned how to access the branching options and other components of the Slide Explorer, now let’s see how to best utilize this authoring capability in Snap! by Lectora.To access the branching options for a slide, click the Edit button for the slide that you would like to set the branching properties. The branching dialogue box will then appear, allowing you to set the branching for the forwards and backwards action.Branching Options for Non-Quiz Slides:

You have three basic options to set in regards to branching:

  • Default: The default is either the previous slide or the next slide, a normal PowerPoint navigation. This is the default branching setting in Snap!.
  • None: No navigation. The Snap! player controls or key controls will not move from the current slide backwards or forwards (if a slide is set to “none”).
  • Specific Slide: Finally, you can choose a specific slide to navigate. A couple of examples: (1) your user reaches the end of a section, you could set the last slide for that section to then navigate back to the main navigation menu; or (2) a title screen (slide 1, in a hypothetical example) skips slides that provide tutorial information (slide 2, in this example), and navigate to a menu slide (slide 3 in this example). Assisting you in the slide picker are small thumbnails of each slide. Hint: I like to have a course-map with slide names and numbers printed or written out, this will help in branching lengthy courses.

Branching Options for Quiz Slides:When you have a quiz on a slide, you are offered advanced branching options. The previous slide action is the same as with non-quiz slides. If someone backs out of a quiz, you can select what slide they land on. However, once someone has completed a quiz, you can set their next slide based on whether they pass or fail a quiz (you set the passing percentage when inserting a quiz).As an example, if someone passes, you could send them to a slide that congratulates them, and maybe provides a link to a PDF file they can print as a certificate for passing the course. If they fail, you could return them to the menu, or maybe back to the library or playroom to further explore the material.Jim’s Branching TheoryMaybe I’m a control freak. I’m trying to relax. Trying to trust my learners more. Maybe it‘s my years of developing e-Learning software, and recognizing that people sometimes act unpredictably. Therefore, I like to control navigation as much as I can. I make frequent use of the “none” option for slide branching.

Typically at the start of a section, I set the ”previous slide” action to return to the main menu, and the “next slide” action on the last slide of the section to the main menu as well. Everything else is none. By doing this, the player controls will not advance a slide, nor will the keyboard.You might be asking, “but how do the users get around then?” Great question! I’m glad you asked. Let me explain. I use PowerPoint hyperlinks for most of my course navigation. I prefer to use PowerPoint to control my actions as much as possible. Snap! by Lectora converts and manages PowerPoint hyperlinking perfectly! Further, if I need to use my course materials in another authoring tool, or publish as HTML – for example when prototyping with a focus group – voila! The hyperlinks still work without needing to render and publish the course.To learn more about creating hyperlinks for course navigation in PowerPoint presentations with Snap! by Lectora, read on to Part 4 of this blog series.

James Anderson

James Anderson is originally from Michigan, but will soon relocate to North Dakota. He brings common sense solutions to performance improvement, training and development and elearning. James offers over 10-years of experience in the learning and development field with a performance improvement bias. He brings improvement experience as an entrepreneurial coach and trainer to his learning and performance, which often provides a unique and simplified twist to training and performance.