Has anyone had success implementing iSpring for inhouse authoring - I looked at their software and it seems to be a simple way to build content in Powerpoint and convert to SCORM. It seems to solve some issues with the native authoring tool in Bridge; images too small, incorporating multiple media into one slide etc.
Scott Dennis would argue that it is germane to Bridge since is compensates for deficiencies in the native authoring tool.
Hi Lena,
As far as I know (and my experience in the corporate LMS world is very limited) the goal with Bridge content authoring is to provide a simple, uncomplicated authoring experience that works well for a majority of builders who want to present simple, straightforward content without a lot of options (read complexity). I may be wrong about that as I'm not super familiar with the design goals. I also am not aware of an LMS in the .edu space or corporate that does a good job of building SCORM content - that is usually built and uploaded as opposed to being authored in the cloud LMS.
Not sure if SCORM is used as a backend, but eFront Pro does a really good job with content that's built all within the LMS without any use of external applications. Scott Dennis
Hi Lena,
Having reviewed many LMS's before deciding on Bridge, I agree with Scott Dennis that there isn't a native authoring tool that builds good SCORM content. I think that's why there is a market for things like Captivate, Articulate and Adobe Presenter 11 (which I have used to convert PPT to interactive SCORM courses) that make the content you are looking for. From my perspective as both an admin and author of 90% of the courses our employees use, simplicity and ease of use are key for our employees and i've had very honest and negative feedback when we have used SCORM courses- a lot of our learners don't care about gamification and interactions as they don't see training as fun, but as something they have to do. I think many Bridge users (me included) would love to see upgrades to the native authoring tool especially around image sizing, etc. but I don't know if adding complexity is worth it when the cost for Captivate and Presenter are low and the learning curve really not that daunting for either. I never authored a course before getting Bridge and taught myself Captivate and Presenter since we don't have an instructional designer on staff and while it was a little challenging the first week, once you learn the basic skills, authoring a course is easy.
Now that my company is in year 2 of using Bridge, I'm looking at things like course completion and getting honest feedback on course quality from my learners so i can make courses better and then determining if the native authoring tool is right for EVERY course or if we need some SCORM content... and the answer for me is that yes, native authoring is more than sufficient for 98% of our courses, but the remaining 10% have the kind of content that just requires something more complex- making sure my learners understand the CAN-SPAM act and the law behind email and text message marketing is something so overwhelmingly boring i have to find a way to make it fun (read bearable)
For the record, I would personally be very open to Instructure building a standalone authoring tool like Captivate that integrates with Bridge and has amazing integrations for real time updates to courses- basically a much easier to use and more visually appealing version of Captivate and Captivate Prime (the latter of which is really, really underwhelming as an LMS)- rather than make the native tool any more complex. I love the simplicity of the native tool and i've come to embrace it as it helps me keep things simple for my learners.
Hey all,
There is some functionality that we are giving a preview into that may make this a little more straightforward. Check out the following blog post for more details:
Introducing Enhanced Embedding
Ike
We have used iSpring in the past, but it doesn't have the flexibility we needed to be ADA compliant. So we no use Camtasia. It works great.
I've done some testing using iSpring and was thrilled to have my PowerPoint export to SCORM. It worked great for my test content.
on Feb 2, 2017
Hi Lena,
I don't have any direct experience using iSpring however I thought this post in the Canvas community might be interesting to you because this issue isn't really germane to Canvas or Bridge but is more about authoring content outside the LMS before importing it: https://community.canvaslms.com/message/49838-re-how-do-i-restrict-access-to-a-powerpoint-for-students?commentID=49838#c…