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Jack Gayler

Adding CenarioVR® content into Lectora®

Updated: Dec 2, 2022



Introduction


In this blog, I’ll be showing you how we incorporated a CenarioVR scenario into the award winning FENDI responsive Lectora course.




How was it built?


I'll be focusing on how the CenarioVR scenario fits inside Lectora to create a seamless learning experience.


Overall process

  1. Build your CenarioVR scenario

  2. Publish your CenarioVR scenario as a HTML5 package

  3. Import your CenarioVR package into Lectora


Here's a breakdown of those steps...




1. Build your CenarioVR scenario



1.1


When creating your CenarioVR scenario, make use of the 'SCORE' variable. The value of this variable is then carried over to Lectora on completion.

There are 5 hotspots the user must find and click in this CenarioVR scenario. When the learner clicks on a hotspot, +1 is added to the default 'SCORE' variable. This default 'SCORE' variable is then transferred to a Lectora variable when the CenarioVR scenario is marked as complete.


Add To Score action inside CenarioVR
'Add To Score' action inside CenarioVR

At the end of the scenario, the user will be given their score out of 5. In a moment, I will show you how to display this score in Lectora.


Please note: You do not have to include a score to be able to add your content into Lectora! We included it here to aid the user's learning.



1.2


Add the 'Send Completion' action in CenarioVR. This triggers 'OnDone' actions in Lectora.

At the end of the CenarioVR activity/scene, add a 'Send Completion' action. This triggers designated 'OnDone' actions inside Lectora (more on this in a moment). This also carries the 'Score' variable value over from CenarioVR and adds it to a Lectora variable (again, more on this in a moment).


'Send Completion' action
'Send Completion' action

Please note: CenarioVR's default 'Score' variable is only transferred to Lectora if your CenarioVR scenario is set as completed via the 'Send Completion' action.


You can also use the 'Exit Scenario' action to trigger 'OnDone' actions, but as it is exiting the scenario and not marking it as complete, this action does not transfer the default 'Score' variable value from CenarioVR into Lectora.


In this activity, completion is sent when the timer runs out or when the user finds and clicks on all 5 hotspots.




2. Publish your CenarioVR scenario as a HTML5 package



2.1


Publish your CenarioVR title as a HTML5 package.


You can choose to have the package 'Scored' or 'Not Scored', along with entering a custom 'Passing Score'.


The 'Passed', 'Failed' and 'Completed' statuses are tracked by Lectora if the 'Send Completion' action is used. 'Passed' and 'Failed' are used if the HTML5 publish is scored; otherwise, 'Completed' is used.


HTML5 Publish Options in CenarioVR
HTML5 Publish Options in CenarioVR



3. Import your CenarioVR package into Lectora



3.1


Import the HTML5 zip file into Lectora and resize the CenarioVR object for each responsive view.


This is a super simple process! Select the page where you want to add the CenarioVR scenario. Go to 'Insert' > 'CenarioVR' and select your HTML5 package zip file.


Inserting a CenarioVR Object in Lectora
Inserting a CenarioVR Object in Lectora

Once uploaded, it will appear on your page in the title explorer as a purple object labelled “CenarioVR Scenario…”


CenarioVR object in Lectora Online
CenarioVR object in Lectora Online

If your course is responsive, resize the CenarioVR object for each responsive view, so that no matter the device, the CenarioVR content will fill the page.


CenarioVR Object Resized to Fit Mobile Page
CenarioVR Object Resized to Fit Mobile Page

You could stop here, but to help create a seamless experience between Lectora and CenarioVR, I continued with two extra steps.



3.2


Add 'OnDone' actions to the CenarioVR object.


I mentioned earlier that the 'Send Completion' action in CenarioVR will trigger 'OnDone' actions in Lectora. Well, here are those actions!


For the 'OnDone' actions to be triggered, they have to be added directly to the CenarioVR object as seen below:


CenarioVR Lectora Object OnDone Actions
CenarioVR Lectora Object OnDone Actions

Please note: Only these actions will be triggered by the 'Send Completion' action in CenarioVR.


The purpose of my two 'OnDone' actions are to:

  • Show a Lectora group which contains the user's score

  • Set the current page in Lectora to complete (as they have completed the activity)

If you wanted to, you can add IF conditions to these OnDone actions, e.g. Only set the Lectora page to complete IF the user has scored 5 out of 5. Or perhaps show a different ending screen containing constructive feedback depending on the user's score.


3.3


Add 'Show Score' actions to display the 'Score' generated in CenarioVR.


On my results screen (the Lectora group that appears once the CenarioVR scenario completes), I want to display the user's 'Score' using a Lectora Text object.


Results Page in Lectora
Results Page in Lectora
Actions that show the CenarioVR score variable
Actions that show the CenarioVR score variable

To accomplish this, when the results screen is shown (via 'OnDone' actions), the contents of the Text Box is set to display the score achieved in CenarioVR, e.g. 5 / 5.


Before we add these actions, we must first find and understand 3 variables:

  • 'CenarioVR_Scenario_Duration'

  • 'CenarioVR_Scenario_Result'

  • 'CenarioVR_Scenario_Score’

To find these variables, go to Tools > Variables > Reserved.


New Variables Created When Adding CenarioVR Object
New Variables Created When Adding CenarioVR Object

These variables were automatically created when you imported your CenarioVR package. But what do they do?

  • 'CenarioVR_Scenario_Duration' contains the time in seconds the user takes to complete the CenarioVR scenario.

  • 'CenarioVR_Scenario_Result' contains the result (passed, failed, completed) of your scenario.

  • And the one we’re after, 'CenarioVR_Scenario_Score’, contains the value from the ‘Score’ variable found in CenarioVR.


Please note: The values of the above variables are only set in Lectora after the CenarioVR scenario is marked as completed.


Action to display the CenarioVR score
Action to display the CenarioVR score

Using the 'CenarioVR_Scenario_Score’ variable, the actions work like this:

  • OnShow, Set the contents of 'Text Box' to '0 / 5' IF 'CenarioVR_Scenario_Score' = 0

  • OnShow, Set the contents of 'Text Box' to '1 / 5' IF 'CenarioVR_Scenario_Score' = 1

  • OnShow, Set the contents of 'Text Box' to '2 / 5' IF 'CenarioVR_Scenario_Score' = 2

  • OnShow, Set the contents of 'Text Box' to '3 / 5' IF 'CenarioVR_Scenario_Score' = 3

  • OnShow, Set the contents of 'Text Box' to '4 / 5' IF 'CenarioVR_Scenario_Score' = 4

  • OnShow, Set the contents of 'Text Box' to '5 / 5' IF 'CenarioVR_Scenario_Score' = 5


To access the 'CenarioVR_Scenario_Score' variable for the IF condition, use the variable dropdown list in the IF conditions panel.

Action condition to display the CenarioVR score
Action condition to display the CenarioVR score


Tips and tricks


As with anything, we did learn a couple of things which I would like to share with you.



Point 1: The size and resolution of the CenarioVR file


As the users were accessing the content from their mobile devices, we had to make sure the content ran as smoothly as possible.


Using the ‘CenarioVR 360 Video Compression Guidelines’ found on the CenarioVR website, we discovered that we needed to reduce the quality of the 360 footage from 4K to HD. If we had left the 360 video as 4K, the scenario would sometimes struggle to load and cause the video itself to become very choppy.


The client also had restrictions on the size of the package they could upload to their LMS. This meant we had to keep all resource file sizes to a minimum. Fortunately, as we had already reduced the 360 video quality to HD rather than 4K (thus reducing the file size), this problem had already been solved.



Point 2: We had to create a workaround for replaying the scenario in Lectora


The way we have set up this activity in Lectora, it is currently impossible to reset your CenarioVR scenario without leaving or refreshing the page. However, we did create a workaround for this which involves jumping to and from a placeholder page. This works ok, but a dedicated function would be much appreciated.



Point 3: Plan the positioning of objects inside of CenarioVR


As the target device was an iPhone in portrait mode, we had to make sure everything fit on screen. As you can see below, the progress bar and timer fit perfectly on screen and means the user doesn’t miss out on anything.


CenarioVR objects fitting on Mobile screen
CenarioVR objects fitting on Mobile screen



Conclusion


This dedicated feature to add CenarioVR content into a Lectora course is simply awesome. CenarioVR actually talks to Lectora, giving you variables to play with.


With no coding needed, this simple solution enables your CenarioVR content to be a part of a much bigger learning experience.




Full Presentation


My full presentation from the eLearning Brothers user conference can be watched here:




Any questions?


If you have any questions, are interested in us producing CenarioVR® content for you, or would like a live product demo, please get in touch using the contact form at the bottom of this page.


And visit our showcase for more CenarioVR® content!

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