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Cobra Learning - Learning Object Repository (LOR)
Cobra Learning Object Repository
Table of Contents:
- Learning Object Repository (LOR) Basics
- Cobra LOR and the Cobra Learning Environment
- LOR and metadata
- Subscribing to RSS in LOR
- Searching for Learning Objects
- Retrieving Learning Objects
- Managing Learning Objects
- Reviewing Learning Objects
- The Cobra LOR Collections
- Publishing to the Cobra LOR
Learning Object Repository Basics
About Cobra Learning Object Repository (LOR)
Cobra Learning LOR is an online library for storing, managing, and sharing your learning objects. A learning object can be a quiz, presentation, image, video, or any other kind of document or file you use to create course content and learning materials for online learning.
When you publish your learning objects to LOR, you tag those objects with metadata to classify and organize your learning objects, making them easy for others to search. You can classify learning objects according to defined learning standards or goals. You can also review, rate, and provide feedback on learning objects to ensure high quality resources.
Types of content scanned by the file scanner
Cobra LOR scans all content you are publishing to find linked files, such as images, media files, and other HTML pages.
The file scanner has some limitations:
- The file grabber only scans .htm, .html, .js, and .inc files.
- LOR only packages .gif, .png, .jpg, .bmp, .css, .swf, .inc, .js, .doc, .fla, .pdf, .txt, .mov, .wav, .wmv, .asf, .mpg, .ram, .mp3, .rm, .pk, .htm, and .html files for publication.
- Only syntactic JavaScript matches are made by the file grabber, not semantic matches, and only in a window.open call. For example, if you pass a file name to a function that calls window.open on that file name, the file is not packaged because the file name was not in the window.open, only the variable name was there. You can manually add any file that the scanner did not automatically include. The files that you add become part of the learning object.
- The scanner skips links to web files, for example, www.google.com (http://www.google.com), non-existent files, or files without extensions.
About publicly available learning objects and repositories
You can make standalone learning objects available to users who do not have IDs and passwords for Cobra Learning Environment. This is beneficial if you want to open the learning object to metadata harvesting, share the learning object on a social network, or include it in a public repository.
There is public access to all learning objects in a public repository.
If a publicly available learning object is within a private repository, a user can only preview the learning object. They cannot retrieve, view metadata, or view the learning object's files on its landing page.
Users can share the URL for publicly available learning objects on social networks. Users outside Cobra Learning Environment can see the URL for a publicly available learning object and access it. Social sharing buttons are only visible for learning objects published to a repository with public availability enabled.
Using a public search interface, you can provide public access to the entire learning repository. Public users can search, browse, view learning object details including metadata and reviews, and download learning objects. Public search engines index content in public repositories.
There is public access to all learning objects in a public repository.
Publicly available repositories can allow prospective attendees or members to preview the material put forth by your institution. They also show your institution's commitment to increasing everyone's access to teaching and learning resources, regardless of enrollment status.
A user can reach a publicly available repository through a link to the repository's main page, or by inserting its URL in a web browser's address bar.
About event logs
Use the Cobra Learning Repository event log functionality to view information on a specific activity for a single learning object. You can choose the information to display in the log. Event logs record the usage of the learning object. For example, event logs record the number of people who have searched it, viewed it, linked to it, etc. You can use this to decide if you want to incorporate the learning object into your content.
View the event log for a learning object
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Search.
- Click the repository containing the learning object whose event log you want to view.
- From the learning object's context menu, click Open.
- From the More Actions button, click View Event Log.
Cobra LOR and the Cobra Learning Environment
Relationship between Cobra LOR and Cobra Learning
Cobra Learning LOR connects to Cobra Learning in several places.
|
Location |
What can you do? |
|
Manage Files |
Search, publish, and retrieve objects |
|
Content |
Search, publish, and retrieve objects |
|
Course Builder |
Search and retrieve objects |
|
Course Management |
Search and retrieve objects as part of the last step in creating a new course offering |
|
Import/Export/Copy Course Components |
Search and retrieve objects as part of the last step in creating a new course offering |
|
Cobra Learning Repository widget |
Search, browse, or publish objects |
Relationship between Cobra Learning Repository and Cobra Learning Environment permissions
Cobra Learning Repository security access relies on Cobra Learning security settings to assign permissions to users any time they attempt to perform operations related to a repository. Such operations include viewing, searching, or uploading.
The permissions in Cobra Learning Repository trust permissions are controlled by permissions of the same name in the Roles and Permissions tool. A user needs to have the same permission in both places, the trust and the Roles and Permissions tool in Cobra Learning, to access the functionality.
Cobra Learning LOR and metadata
About Cobra LOR and metadata
Metadata is a collection of descriptors that describe a single quantity of information (data about data). Using metadata enables you to attach descriptive tags to your learning objects and files to provide a searchable context for the content you publish. Metadata can make the learning objects easier to find.
You can add metadata while publishing an object. Cobra LOR only accepts metadata tags created using the IEEE LOM MAP (Metadata Application Profile). All searches use the IEEE LOM metadata fields. After attaching metadata to a learning object or a file in Cobra LOR, you can edit it.
While the function of metadata is very powerful, the processes involved in creating and managing it are straightforward and simple to implement.
About learning objective metadata
When you publish topics or modules from Content or Quizzes that have associated learning objectives, Cobra LOR populates the metadata with the names of the learning objectives. These names appear in the taxon paths when you browse for learning objectives.
You and other users can then subscribe to RSS feeds by competency and learning objective to follow when new objects are added to the repository.
To make this work, your organization must have a taxon path that matches your learning objective's structure exactly.
About metadata harvesting
Metadata harvesting is the process of retrieving metadata information from other repositories and storing it locally.
Cobra LOR supports metadata harvesting, acting as both harvester and metadata provider for external repositories. The harvesting feature uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) standards to handle requests for metadata. These standards are available at www.openarchives.org.
Harvesting allows you to search external repositories from within the Cobra LOR interface and allows external services to retrieve metadata from Cobra LOR for searching within an external application.
For complex learning objects, Cobra LOR provides the harvester with course-level metadata.
Allowing other institutions to harvest metadata from your repositories gives them a link to the object as part of the metadata. The repository remains in the D2L environment. Users of external sites cannot access the files of the object, but they can click the link to the object to view it if they authenticate with a user ID and password.
Metadata harvesting does not harvest hidden objects.
Where object metadata can appear
An object’s metadata can be located under any applicable element in the manifest file, depending on the type of object and whether the object is a sub-element in the file. Manifest and organization-level metadata is applied to the highest level object in the package. Metadata for modules can also appear at the item level, and metadata for topics or files can appear at the item or resource-level. A package is identified as a module if there is only one child <item> tag underneath the <organization> tag, and that <item> tag has at least one child <item> tag of its own.
If metadata for a single object is found under multiple elements, Cobra LOR uses the following order of precedence: <manifest>, <organization>, <item>, <resource>.
For example, if you are uploading a content package consisting of a module with three topics, and there is metadata under the <manifest> element and under the highest <item> element, both are applicable to the module. The upload utility takes the metadata from the <manifest> element and discards the metadata from the <item> element. Say that one of the topics in the package has metadata under its <item> element and also under the associated <resource> element. In this case Cobra LOR uses the metadata for the <item> element, while the metadata for the <resource> element is discarded.
|
Object |
Object package type |
Object package sub-element |
|
Course |
manifest, organization |
n/a |
|
Module |
manifest, organization, item |
item |
|
Topic |
manifest, organization, item, resource |
item, resource |
|
File |
manifest, organization, item, resource, link |
item, resource |
Subscribing to RSS feeds in Cobra LOR
About repository RSS feeds
Repository RSS feeds provide notification support for workflow updates in local and harvested repositories.
Repository feeds update when any of the following events occur:
- A user publishes a new object.
- The status of an existing object changes from hidden to unhidden.
- An existing object moves from one repository to a different repository.
RSS feeds save time for users that manage learning object repositories and support efficient workflows. For example, content control specialists receive immediate notification of new publications to review versus spending time checking a repository for new learning objects.
About browse path RSS feeds
Browse path RSS feeds help you keep track of new learning objects published to classifications of your interest.
You can also use browse path RSS feeds to do any of the following:
- Track activity for all objects tagged with specific learning objectives.
- Help accreditation committees track new assessment materials.
- Make feeds available to students individually or within a homepage widget for remediation, enrichment, or general interest.
You can choose the degree to which your feeds are specialized, dependent on the granularity of the classifications specified by your institution.
About collection RSS feeds
Collection RSS feeds help you keep track of learning objects that have been added to collections that interest or impact you.
Subscribe to a repository or browse RSS feed
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Search.
- On the lower right of the Search page, click RSS Feeds.
- On the Feeds page, do one of the following:
- To subscribe to a repository feed, in the Repository Feeds area, click the link for the feed to which you want to subscribe.
- To subscribe to a browse path feed, in the Browse Path Feeds area, click the link for the feed to which you want to subscribe.
- From the Subscribe to this feed using drop-down list, select how you want to receive updates.
- Click Subscribe Now.
Subscribe to a collection's RSS feed
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Search.
- On the Search page, in the My Collections area, click the collection to which you want to subscribe.
- Click the View [collection's] RSS feed icon.
- From the Subscribe to this feed using drop-down list, select how you want to receive updates.
- Click Subscribe Now.
Searching for Learning Objects
About basic searching in Cobra Learning Repository
The basic search gives you results based on occurrence of your search words in a learning object’s title, description, text, or keywords. It also suggests alternative spellings for you to help your search.
Searches are case insensitive and results display all the words that you include in your search. For example, if you search for mineral sciences, the results include matches for both mineral and sciences. However, the matches do not necessarily have mineral sciences included as a phrase.
A search sent to MERLOT might not use the exact matching criteria as the local repository search because of differences in the MERLOT service.
About advanced searching in Cobra Learning Repository
The advanced search enables you to specify more criteria for retrieving Cobra Learning Repository content than the basic search. This feature is especially useful if your Cobra Learning Repository has a large amount of content on the same subject.
You can search the full text of learning objects. To search the full-text index of learning objects published in Cobra Learning Repository, do the following:
- Select the Full Text check box.
- Verify the learning object index includes all objects, including those published before the variable was enabled. Since the full-text search only includes learning objects published after the configuration variable is enabled, you must engage the services of PSO to rebuild the index to include all learning objects.
Perform a basic search
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Search.
- In the Search For field, enter your search terms.
- Click Search.
Perform an advanced search
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Search.
- On the Search page, click Advanced Search.
- In the Search For area, in the field provided, enter your search terms.
- In the Search in, Repositories, and Federated Resources sections, customize where you want the search to occur.
- In the Search Restrictions area, do any of the following:
- To search for particular types of resources, select the Type check box. From the drop-down list, select a type.
- To search for resources with set licensing cost and restrictions, select the Rights check box. From the drop-down list, select an option.
- To search for resources that fulfill a set rating condition, select the Rating check box. From the drop-down lists, select a rating.
- To search for resources with a particular status, select the Status check box. From the drop-down list, select a status.
- To exclude sub-object metadata, select Exclude metadata from sub-objects in search.
- To search only for resources you have published, select Only resources I published.
- To limit your search by time or date, select by timeframe or by date range. Customize your selection.
- In the Metadata Search Restrictions area, to search within object metadata, from the Select Metadata View drop-down list, select a view. Click Select.
- To search specific metadata fields, from the Select Metadata Field drop-down list, select a field. To add more fields, click Add Metadata Field.
- Click Search.
Search for a collection
You can search for a collection in two ways, depending on whether you're looking for any collection or for one of your own.
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Search.
- Do one of the following:
- To search for only your own collections, on the Search page, in the My Collections area, click on a collection. If you do not see the collection you want, click More.
- To search for all collections, on the Search page, click Advanced Search. In the Search Restrictions area, from the Type drop-down list, select Collections. Click Search.
What can I do with my Cobra Learning Repository search results?
Depending on your permissions, on the LOR Results page, you can do any of the following with your search results:
- View the learning object or file
- View the learning object's file type (if any)
- View the learning object’s details, including:
- Overview of the modules and topics that make up the learning object (its sub-objects)
- Event logs detailing the activity for the learning object or file
- Reviews of the learning object or file
- The files that the object is composed of
- A thumbnail display of the learning object if it consists of image files
- View versions of learning objects, from oldest to most recently updated
- View or edit metadata for the learning object or file and its sub-objects
- Retrieve the learning object in the following ways:
- Create a dynamic or locked link to the object (for objects from MERLOT, you can only create locked links)
- Copy the object into the Content tool, keeping the navigational structure of the object intact and creating a copy of all associated files in your course files
- Copy the files of the learning object or file to your course files folder, but without the object’s navigational structure
- Download the learning object or file to your desktop as a content package
- Add the learning object to your collection
- Manage the learning object’s properties:
- Edit the repository the learning object currently resides in
- Update status to unassigned, draft, in review, approved, or archived
- Set visibility
- Manage external availability
- Add or edit rights information on single learning bjects
- Delete the learning objects or files and all previous versions
- Add or delete classifications.
- Add a review to the learning object
About browsing
The Browse functionality presents a directory view of learning objects according to the IEEE LOM Classification Taxonomy fields. The classification organizes objects according to a hierarchical or tree structure. Individual learning objects in the tree are nodes, and the path from the root node to any other node is a classification txonomy path (or taxon path).
Browse enables you to traverse this hierarchy of learning objects. At any level in the hierarchy, you can search for all learning objects classified at that level and below. This includes objects from external repositories whose metadata has been harvested.
The browse page includes a count of objects in each category. You can browse by author, publisher, or course.
For example, in the provided diagram:
- Browsing on “A -> B” will retrieve all learning objects classified within B, C, D, E, F, and G
- Browsing on “A -> B -> F -> G” will retrieve all learning objects classified within G
- Browsing on “A -> H” will retrieve all learning objects classified within H, I, J, and K
Browse the Cobra Learning Repository
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Search.
- On the Search page, in the Browse By area, do one of the following:
- To further refine how you are browsing a category, click a category name. On the >Browse By page, click a sub-category or the number beside the sub-category.
- To display all items in a category, click the number beside the category name.
Retrieving Learning Objects
About retrieving learning objects from Cobra
Once learning objects are in the Cobra LOR, there are multiple ways to retrieve them for use in course offerings.
- Adding the learning object to Content or Course Builder by importing it or creating a link from the Cobra LOR.
- Import the files of the learning object to Manage Files.
- Download the learning object from the Cobra LOR to your desktop as a content package. Quizzes are downloaded as QTI packages.
- Import a quiz into Manage Quizzes.
- Import quiz questions from a quiz package into the question library or a quiz. Linking to quizzes is not available. You can only import quizzes and quiz questions from the Cobra LOR.
You can retrieve learning objects with or without navigation.
|
Retrieval method |
Notes |
|
With navigation |
You can import learning objects directly into the course files folder. Retrieving learning objects this way breaks their navigation structure and their organization into modules. Reasons for importing learning objects into course files rather than Content include:
|
|
Without navigation |
You can retrieve learning objects into Content and retain the relation of topics to each other and their place in modules. There are two primary ways to retrieve learning objects into your course offering:
|
Retrieve learning objects to Content
- On the navbar, click Content.
- In the module you want to retrieve a learning object to, from the New button, click Add Object from LOR.
- Locate the learning object you want to retrieve.
- In the Results dialog, select the learning object you want to retrieve. Click Next.
- In the Retrieve Object dialog, do one of the following:
- To create a link that always points to the newest version of the learning object, select Dynamic Link to Newest Version . Click Next > Create Topic.
- To create a link that always points to the specified version of the learning object, select Locked Link to This Version. Click Next > Create Topic.
- To create a copy of the learning object in Content in order to keep the navigational structure of the object intact, select Copy as Content. Click Next > Copy.
Retrieve learning objects from Course Management
- From the Admin Tools menu, click Course Management.
- Click Create a New Course Offering or Template.
- On the Step 1: Choose Course Creation Type page, select how you want to create your new course. Click Next.
- On the Step 2: Enter Course Information page, enter your course information.
- Click Next > Create.
- Click the Import from Learning Object Repository link.
- Locate the learning object you want to retrieve.
- From the learning object's context menu, click Retrieve.
- Do one of the following:
- To create a link that always points to the newest version of the learning object, click Dynamic Link to Newest Version > Create Topic.
- To create a link that always points to the specified version of the learning object, click Locked Link to This Version > Create Topic.
- To create a copy of the learning object in Content while keeping the navigational structure of the object intact, click Copy as Content > Copy.
- To create a copy of the files from the learning object in Manage Files without keeping the navigational structure of the object intact, click Copy as Course Files > Copy.
- To download the learning object, click Download > Download.
Retrieve learning objects from Import/Export/Copy Course Components
- On the navbar, click Course Admin
- Click Import/Export/Copy Components.
- Select Import Components > from Learning Object Repository.
- Click Start.
- Locate the learning object you want to retrieve.
- In the Results dialog, select the learning object you want to retrieve. Click Next.
- In the Retrieve Object dialog, do one of the following:
- To create a link that always points to the newest version of the learning object, select Dynamic Link to Newest Version. Click Next > Create Topic.
- To create a link that always points to the specified version of the learning object, select Locked Link to This Version. Click Next > Create Topic.
- To create a copy of the learning object in Content in order to keep the navigational structure of the object intact, select Copy as Content. Click Next> Copy.
Retrieve learning objects from Cobra LOR search page
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Search.
- On the Search page, locate the learning object you want to retrieve.
- From the learning object's context menu, click Retrieve.
- Do one of the following:
- To create a link that always points to the newest version of the learning object, click Dynamic Link to Newest Version > Create Topic.
- To create a link that always points to the specified version of the learning object, click Locked Link to This Version > Create Topic.
- To create a copy of the learning object in Content while keeping the navigational structure of the object intact, click Copy as Content > Copy.
- To create a copy of the files from the learning object in Manage Files without keeping the navigational structure of the object intact, click Copy as Course Files > Copy.
- To download the learning object, click Download > Download.
Managing learning objects
What learning object properties can I edit?
Once a learning object is in a learning repository, you can edit any of the following:
- Which repository it resides in
- Status (unassigned, approved, archived, draft, or in review)
- Visibility to other users
- External availability
- Creative Commons license rights
- Metadata details
- Classifications applied to it
If you want to make changes to a learning object beyond this, you must retrieve it from the repository and then publish it again.
You cannot perform edits on non-local learning objects.
Moving learning objects might cause users who follow links to these learning objects to no longer be able to see them if they do not have the necessary permissions.
We recommend caution when you move learning objects to different repositories since their predecessors stay in the repositories where they were overwritten. This causes problems with dynamic links generating not accessible errors when an overwrite and a move causes the user to lose the permission to view a learning object.
Edit a learning object's properties
If you move a learning object to a destination learning repository where you have different permissions than you do in the source learning repository, the actions you can perform might change to reflect this.
Hidden learning objects can only be seen by the user that published them and users that have sufficient permission. Hidden learning objects display the Hidden icon on the search results page.
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Search.
- On the Search page, locate the learning object you want to edit.
- Click the learning object.
- Click Edit.
- Make your changes.
- Click Save.
About deleting learning objects
Deleting a learning object not only deletes its current version, but also all its previous versions. There is no way to undo the deletion.
Deleting learning objects means that users who follow links to deleted learning objects cannot access them. This also applies to all links to previous versions of the learning objects that you delete.
You cannot delete non-local (federated) learning objects.
Delete a learning object
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Search.
- Locate the learning object you want to delete.
- Do one of the following:
- To delete a single learning object, from its context menu, click Delete.
- To delete multiple learning objects, select each object you want to delete. On the tool's action bar, click Delete.
View files contained in a learning object
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Search.
- On the Search page, locate the learning object for which you want to view files.
- From the learning object's context menu, click Open > Expand Files.
Import a learning object into a quiz or question library
You can only import quizzes and quiz questions from The Cobra LOR; linking to quizzes is not available.
When you want to import a learning object as a quiz, quiz section, or question from a learning repository, you must start in the course that you want the quiz, quiz section, or question to exist in.
- On the navbar, click Quizzes.
- Do one of the following:
- On the Manage Quizzes page, from the More Actions button, click Add Learning Object.
- On the Question Library page, click Import. From the Import Source drop-down list, select Learning Repository (LOR). Click Add Learning Object.
- Locate the object you want to import.
- Select the learning object or file. Click Select.
- Click Save.
Reviewing learning objects
Add reviews to a learning object
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Search.
- Locate the learning object for which you want to add a review.
- From the context menu of the learning object you want to review, click Add Review.
- In the Rating area, give the learning object a starred rating.
- In the Comment area, enter a comment.
- Click Save Review > Close.
View reviews of a learning object
Users can review, rate, and comment on learning objects. The review also includes the reviewer’s name and the review date.
You can view the list of all reviews for a learning object. The overall rating shows the average of all the ratings that were given to the learning object.
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Search.
- Locate the learning object for which you want to add a review.
- From the context menu of the learning object for which you want to review ratings, click Open.
- From the More Actions button, click Reviews.
Manage review comments
You can hide or show comments for reviews on a learning object. Reviews with hidden comments display a Hidden icon by the comment.
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Manage.
- Locate the learning object for which you want to manage reviews.
- From the context menu of the learning object for which you want to manage reviews, click Open.
- From the More Actions button, click Reviews.
- Do one of the following:
- Select the reviews you want to hide comments for and click Hide Comments.
- Select the reviews you want to show comments for and click Show Comments.
The Cobra LOR collections
About collections
If you have permissions that allow you to search any repository, you can organize learning objects (including harvested resources) into collections. Collections have the following characteristics:
- Only the user who creates the collection can add items to it.
- Collections aggregate their key words from the learning objects they contain.
- Collections always reference the newest version of the learning object they contain. When working in a collection, you can do any of the following:
- Include content from any local repository or harvested resource (which you have permission to search) in a single collection.
- Make your collection public or limit it to your personal use by hiding the collection in search results.
- Retrieve a collection to course content.
Add a learning object to a collection
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Search.
- Locate the learning object you want to add to a collection.
- From the context menu of the learning object you want to add to a collection, click Add to Collection.
- From the Destination Collection drop-down list, select a destination. Only the collections you create appear.
- Click Add.
Manage a collection's properties
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Manage.
- Locate the collection for which you want to manage properties.
- From the context menu of the collection, click Edit [collection name].
- Do any of the following:
- To edit the collection name, in the Collection Name field, enter a new name.
- To add an image to the collection's header, in the Header Image area, click Upload or Choose Existing and locate your image.
- To hide your collection from searches, select Hide collection in search results.
- Click Save.
Publishing to the Cobra LOR
About publishing from Content
You can publish the following types of learning objects to The Cobra LOR from Content:
- All course content modules and topics
- Single or multiple modules
- Single or multiple topics
When you choose to publish a module or course, the learning repository publishes all the children of that module or course as a single package.
Publish from Content
- On the navbar, click Content.
- On the Table of Contents page, from the Table of Contents context menu, click Publish to LOR.
- Do one of the following:
- To create a new learning object, select Pick a Repository. From the drop-down list, select a repository.
- To overwrite an existing learning object, select Overwrite an existing object. Click Search. Locate the repository you want to overwrite. To have your learning object inherit the previous object's metadata, clear the Replace existing object's metadata check box.
- Click Sharing and Publishing Options. Do any of the following:
- To include all original files in your new learning object, select Include all files from this course.
- To leave the page while your package is being built, select Publish in the background.
- To hide the learning object from searches, select Hide learning object in search results.
- To associate the learning object with Creative Commons rights, select Creative Commons licensed. From the drop-down list, select your modifications preference. Creative Commons licensing enables you to retain copyright on your work while allowing different degrees of reuse to other users. Associating a creative commons license automatically populates the metadata rights fields with this information.
- In the Content area, clear the check box for any item you do not want to include in the package. Clearing a module clears all its associated topics and sub-modules.
- To edit the metadata for any item, click the Edit Metadata icon for the item. Make your changes and click Save.
- Click Next.
- On the Detected Files page, do any of the following:
- To add additional files to the package, click Add Files. Locate the file and click Add.
- To add additional folders to the package, click Add Folders. Locate the folder and click Select a Path.
- Click Next.
- On the Metadata page, to classify your learning object, click Classifications. From the Classification Schema drop-down list, select a schema. Click Select. Click the Add icon for any classification you want to add. Click Save.
- Click Publish to LOR > Done.
About publishing from course files
Instead of publishing a learning object and all of its associated files, you might want to publish a single file (for example, a graphic) from a course that would be useful to multiple users or departments. Publishing a file such as an HTML file will also publish all of the files to which it links (for example, images, media files, etc).
Publish from course files
- On the navbar, click Course Admin > Manage Files.
- From the context menu of the file, click Publish to LOR.
- Do one of the following:
- To publish to an existing repository, select Pick a Repository. From the drop-down list, select a repository.
- To overwrite an existing learning object, select Overwrite an existing object. Click Search. Locate the repository you want to overwrite. To have your learning object inherit the previous object's metadata, clear the Replace existing object's metadata check box.
- Click Sharing and Publishing Options. Do any of the following:
- To include all original files in your new learning object, select Include all files from this course.
- To leave the page while your package is being built, select Publish in the background.
- To hide the learning object from searches, select Hide learning object in search results.
- To associate the learning object with Creative Commons rights, select Creative Commons licensed. From the drop-down list, select your modifications preference. Creative Commons licensing enables you to retain copyright on your work while allowing different degrees of reuse to other users. Associating a creative commons license automatically populates the metadata rights fields with this information.
- In the Files to Publish area, clear the check box for any item you do not want to include in the package. Clearing a module clears all its associated topics and sub-modules.
- To edit the metadata for any item, click the Edit Metadata icon for the item. Make your changes and click Save.
- Click Next.
- On the Metadata page, to classify your learning object, click Classifications. From the Classification Schema drop-down list, select a schema. Click Select. Click the Add icon for any classification you want to add. Click Save.
- Click Publish to LOR > Done.
About publishing from your computer
The Cobra LOR allows you to publish learning objects formatted in SCORM 1.2 format and to publish quizzes and assessments formatted as QTI packages.
You can also publish individual files and links that are not part of a content package.
The Cobra LOR does not support publishing SCORM 2004 content directly from your computer.
Publish from your computer
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Publish.
- From the tool navigation, click Publish.
- In the What are you sharing area, do one of the following:
- To share a file or SCORM package, select File or Package. Click Browse and locate your object.
- To share a hosted object, select Internet Address. In the provided field, enter the URL of the object.
- In the Publish To area, do one of the following:
- To publish to an existing repository, select Pick a Repository. From the drop-down list, select a repository.
- To overwrite an existing learning object, select Overwrite an existing object. Click Search. Locate the repository you want to overwrite. To have your learning object inherit the previous object's metadata, clear the Replace existing object's metadata check box.
- Click Sharing and Publishing Options. Do any of the following:
- To leave the page while your package is being built, select Publish in the background.
- To hide the learning object from searches, select Hide learning object in search results.
- To associate the learning object with Creative Commons rights, select Creative Commons licensed. From the drop-down list, select your modifications preference. Creative Commons licensing enables you to retain copyright on your work while allowing different degrees of reuse to other users. Associating a creative commons license automatically populates the metadata rights fields with this information.
- Click Next.
- On the Object Properties page, to classify your learning object, click Classifications. From the Classification Schema drop-down list, select a schema. Click Select. Click the Add icon for any classification you want to add. Click Save.
- Click Publish > Done.
Publish quizzes, quiz sections, and questions
Publishing a quiz, a quiz section, or a single question to a learning repository depends on where you start the publishing process.
- On the navbar, click Quizzes.
- Do one of the following:
- To publish a quiz, on the Manage Quizzes page, from the context menu of the quiz, click Publish.
- To publish quiz sections or questions, on the Question Library page, select the sections or questions and click Publish to LOR.
- Do one of the following:
- To publish to an existing repository, select Pick a Repository. From the drop-down list, select a repository.
- To overwrite an existing learning object, select Overwrite an existing object. Click Search. Locate the repository you want to overwrite. To have your learning object inherit the previous object's metadata, clear the Replace existing object's metadata check box.
- Click Sharing and Publishing Options. Do any of the following:
- To leave the page while your package is being built, select Publish in the background.
- To hide the learning object from searches, select Hide learning object in search results.
- To associate the learning object with Creative Commons rights, select Creative Commons licensed. From the drop-down list, select your modifications preference. Creative Commons licensing enables you to retain copyright on your work while allowing different degrees of reuse to other users. Associating a creative commons license automatically populates the metadata rights fields with this information.
- In the Learning Objects to Publish area, clear the check box for any item you do not want to include in the package. Clearing a folder clears all its associated questions and sub-folders.
- Click Next.
- On the Detected Files page, do any of the following:
- To add additional files to the package, click Add Files. Locate the file and click Add.
- To add additional folders to the package, click Add Folders. Locate the folder and click Select a Path.
- Click Next.
- On the Metadata page, to classify your learning object, click Classifications. From the Classification Schema drop-down list, select a schema. Click Select. Click the Add icon for any classification you want to add. Click Save.
- Click Publish to LOR > Done.
About publishing image files with thumbnails
If your learning object is an image file, you can set it to display next to learning objects in your search or browse results as a thumbnail. Select your thumbnails when publishing learning objects from your computer or from the Content tool on the Publish to LOR page.
The system only supports image files (.jpg, .gif, .png, .bmp) as thumbnails.
You can select the image you want to correspond with the learning object using the Thumbnail Picker Control which displays all of the available images from the learning object. You can also choose to display the system default icon.
For SCORM packages, name your desired thumbnail .jpg, .png, or .gif image "d2l_thumbnail", and The Cobra LOR will generate a thumbnail using that image.
About overwriting learning objects
The process of overwriting replaces, but does not delete, an existing learning object in a repository. In effect, overwriting creates a new version of the learning object or file.
The new object must have the same structure as the object it replaces. You can overwrite one module with another module, but you cannot overwrite a topic with a module. We recommend that you only overwrite a file or a topic with a file of the same type.
If you rearrange topics ABC within a module to resemble ACB, topic C will inherit topic B's metadata when you overwrite the original with the rearranged version of the learning object. You may want to select Overwrite the existing object's metadata and enter a new set of metadata if you have rearranged topics in your learning object.
The new object appears in all searches. The overwritten object no longer appears in searches. All existing dynamic links point to the new object. However, locked links continue to point to the old object.
Do not overwrite a learning object or file with a link to itself, as this may result in a circular reference.
Check background publishing status of a learning object
You can check the status of any learning repository publishing jobs that you run in the background. The Background Publishing page indicates which jobs published successfully along with the date and time. It also indicates which jobs failed along with an error message.
- From within a course, click Course Admin.
- Under the Repositories section, click Search.
- On the Search page, click the Background Publishing link.