The Lesson Builder

The Lesson Builder consists of the following components

  • A System Book (the Authoring tool)

  • Starter Books (blanks)

  • Template books

The RDS System Book

The RDS System Book (RDSAuthor.sbk) is a ToolBook system book that is loaded each time a Starter book (or built book) is opened in ToolBook. This file contains all the code for building five different types of lessons described earlier. Each starter book as code that adds this system book to the ToolBook authoring environment. A new menu option, RDS Author, allows access to a drop-down menu where the ToolBook developer can choose the type of lesson to build for a specific starter book. In this example, Create – Edit Sim (with Show Me) from Storyboard has been chosen to give the popup shown below.

 

Lesson Builder Options

Based upon the option chosen from the drop-down menu, a dialog box is displayed that looks like this.

The lesson (ToolBook book) is built based on the information contained in the ini file that is generated from the StoryBoard Builder. The ToolBook Developer has three options for building any of the five types of lessons:

  • Create - Edit Complete: builds a book from scratch or edit a book, updating both the text and graphics.

  • Update Graphics Only: allows the graphics only to be updated as needed.

  • Update Text Only: allows only the text to be updated.

Features of the Lesson Builder

The primary features of the Lesson Builder include:

  • New pages are drawn from the appropriate template book which is found in a Template folder.

  • Graphics are drawn from a folder found in the Screens folder.

  • Pages are identified by SIMType property.

  • For books that are already constructed, checks are made against the current build ini for changes in page additions and deletions, page order, SIMType and Sticky notes.

  • Checks are made for the file date and time and replaces if newer.

  • All book actions are set.

General Steps for Building the Lesson

Building the lesson involves the following steps:

1. Copy the ini file into the Storyboards folder of the project.  Example: SB_RDS_900_200.ini

2. Copy the lesson's graphics folder into the Screens folder of the project.  Example: 900_200

3. Save the appropriate blank into the project folder using the filename for the lesson that includes the Topic ID. Example: RDS_200_900.tbk

4. Click the appropriate selection from the RDS Author menu.

 

As the lesson (book) is being built, two dialog boxes will appear. The first one is a Progress Bar that shows the progress of the build. The type of build is displayed (Create-Edit All in this case) and the page names are displayed as they are built (Topic Mode Selection in this case).  As any graphics are added, a Progress Bar also displays showing the names of the graphics as they are being imported into the lesson.

     

 

The Starter (Blank) Books

There are five Starter (Blank) books, one for each of the various types of lessons that can be built. For each of these, the design elements are set up in advance such as the background image and the graphic that represents the Title for the course.

Sim Blank.tbk

This file is used to build a Simulation lesson with Show Me (Demonstration Mode Optional). This file contains three standard pages:

  • Title

  • Score Page

  • Popup Page

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The background of each of these pages contains a graphic that can easily be replaced with the graphic approved by the Client. Likewise, the Title is a button graphic that can be replaced with the title of the course being built.

All pages from a template book will be added after the Topic Mode Selection page.

Sim1 Blank.tbk

This file is used to build a Simulation lesson with all three modes (Demonstration, Practice, and Assessment). This file contains three standard pages:

  • Title

  • Topic Mode Selection

  • Score Page

The design of the pages in this book is similar to that for Sim Blank.tbk.

All pages from a template book will be added after the Topic Mode Selection page.

Content Blank.tbk

This file is used to build a Content Only lesson. This file contains two standard pages:

  • Content Title

  • Content Summary

All pages from a template book will be added after the Content Title page.

Quiz Blank.tbk

This file is used to build a Quiz lesson. This file contains two standard pages:

  • Quiz Title

  • Quiz Summary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All pages from a template book will be added after the Quiz Title page.

Demo Blank.tbk

This file is used to build a Simulation in Demo Mode Only lesson. This file contains two standard pages:

  • Title

  • Topic Mode Selection

All pages from a template book will be added after the Topic Mode Selection page.

The design of the pages in this book is similar to that for Sim Blank.tbk.

Global Variables for Lessons

All of these Starter books contain global variables that contain important information related to the functionality of each type of lesson one the final file is built: 

Name

Value
RDS_BookName

Dynamically added by Lesson Builder.

Initial Value: No Book Name

After Book is Built: RDS_900_200

RDS_ProjectCode

Hard-coded in initial blank.

Example: 900
RDS_Exit

Hard-coded in initial blank.

Example: Please confirm that you wish to exit this topic.
RDS_Exit_Default

Hard-coded in initial blank.

Example: This action will exit the WBT topic. Are you sure you want to do this?
RDS_Exit_URL

Hard-coded in initial blank.

Example: http://RDS.mycompany.com/RDSlive/asp/RDSLIVE_EXIT.asp
RDS_ReviewURL

Hard-coded in initial blank.

Example: http://RDS.mycompany.com/RDSlive/asp/RDSLIVE_REVIEW.asp
RDS_ScoreURL

Hard-coded in initial blank.

Example: http://RDS.mycompany.com/RDSlive/asp/RDSLIVE_score.asp
RDS_StatusURL

Hard-coded in initial blank.

Example: http://RDS.mycompany.com/RDSlive/asp/RDSLIVE_STATUS.asp
RDS_PageID

Initial Value: No ID Set.

Value built dynamically at runtime.
RDS_ReviewerName

Initial Value: No Name Entered.

Value built dynamically at runtime.
RDS_Status

Initial Value: 0000000000

Value based on return from HTTP Post to RDS_StatusURL
DemoDone

Initial Value: None

PractDone

Initial Value: None
AssessDone

Initial Value: None
AssessScore

Initial Value: 0

Changes dynamically at runtime.
LessonMode

Initial Value: 1

Changes based upon button clicked on Topic Mode Selection Page.

TriggerFlag

Initial Value: 0
NeedReset

Initial Value: 0

The Template Books

For each type of lesson to be built, there is a different template file. For each of these, the design elements are set up in advance such as the background image, Company Logo, and the graphic that represents the Title for the course.

  • RDSSimPages.tbk -- Simulation with Show Me Optional

  • RDSSim1Pages.tbk -- Simulation with All Three Modes

  • RDSContentPages.tbk -- Content

  • RDSQuizPages.tbk -- Quiz

  • RDSDemoPages.tbk -- Simulation in Demonstration Mode Only

Each of these tbk files has the pages described for that Lesson’s outline as shown previously in this document. For Simulation pages, each page is a different Simulation Scenario and those pages in the various templates are pre-programmed for the most part . The Lesson Builder takes care of the rest with minor work needed from the ToolBook developer to move and resize objects as needed once the Lesson is built. The graphic below shows a Sim Scenario A template page from the RDSSimPages.tbk template book. What is shown is the graphic placeholder that will hold the screenshot that is imported by the Lesson Builder, an Instructions area, an initial Feedback area (for 1st and 2nd attempts), a Summary Feedback Text Pane that will hold the Feedback for final attempt if Practice or just the Feedback if Assessment, along with the various Navigation Elements on the page. The Simulation has already been built for this page. The Lesson Builder will set the properties for the Simulation along with adding the text such as text for Practice, Demonstration (Show Me), and Assessment modes.

 

The screenshot button will have code that will automatically position it. The Developer will move and resize the yellow square which is the place where the Learner is to click on the screenshot and also then will move and resize the red and green rectangles (highlighters) on top of this hotspot. Likewise the Summary Feedback Text pane is positioned and resized as needed. The arrow can be changed to top, bottom, or right side as needed.

The Final Product

The graphic below represents what the Simulation Scenario above looks like after the page is built by the Lesson Builder and after the Developer has positioned the necessary objects. In this example (Practice Mode), the red rectangle is shown along with the Summary Text Pane after 3 incorrect attempts. The Simulation is set up to initially disable the Continue button and enable it after the third attempt. Note that use of a Sticky Note to provide additional information. Note also the bold formatting in the various text strings, all of which is done automatically by the Lesson Builder based upon what was done by the Writer in the Storyboard Builder. Notice that the Learner has the option of going back to the previous page (screen).  A Main Menu button acts as an Exit button to return the Learner to the Course Menu. A text area displays the Current Mode as well as what the current screen is and the total number of screens (Screen 6 of 8 in this example).

Note that the gray buttons such as Demo, Prac, and Assess are used only by the Developer for quickly changing a mode for testing purposes and will not be visible in the DHTML product that the Learner will see (unless "turned on" using ASP and HTTP Post). This is a good feature of our process since we can set up different types of functionality such as this and turn it on or off using ASP and HTTP even after the lesson is deployed. A discussion of the Comment Collector in a later section will elaborate on this.

The graphic below shows what this page would like like if Show Me (Demonstration Mode) is clicked. Note that the Instructional text changes and a green rectangle is used to highlight the area to click. Note also that the mouse pointer is actually an animated cursor that starts in the middle of the page and moves to the hotspot. A mouse-click sound effect is also used for emphasis. A Try Again button is now available to allow the Learner to go back to Practice Mode.

The graphic below shows this page running in Assessment mode after the Leaner has attempted the step and not clicked in the correct location. In this mode, the Continue button is also initially disabled and then enabled of the attempt (only 1 for Assessment) is incorrect. If the Learner clicks in the correct location, the Simulation automatically advances to the next page (screen). Notice also that the Learner cannot go back in this mode.