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Category: General
Flash is a rich multimedia technology, which allows delivery of engaging learning content, including sound, animations and video.
Version 7 of the Flash player has a 95.1% market penetration rate across Europe making it an almost ubiquitous technology for delivering multimedia content. Flash will be bundled as standard with the new version of Windows which will be released in 2006, making it the global standard for multimedia on the internet.
For more information on Flash Player, see the Technical Information section of the Pedagogue website
Category: General
To run your Learning Object on your machine or place it on a server to be viewed on a website, you need to unpackage the content package (a zip file) that you downloaded from Pedagogue.
Note: It is important that you maintain the file structure inside the zip file when you unpackage it to ensure that the Learning Object works correctly.
For more information about handling zip files, see the following topics:
When you have unpackaged the zip file you can open it on your local machine by opening the file "index.html" in the root of the Learning Object. If you want your Learning Object to be viewed across the internet, place it on your server and link to the "index.html" file in the root of the Learning Object.
Category: General
It is likely that you do not have Flash Player 7 or above installed. You can install it here:
If you have installed a valid version of Flash Player but still cannot see the courseware, please contact us at pedagogue@cdsm.co.uk.
Category: General
It is likely that you have an old version of Flash installed. Learning objects created in Pedagogue need Flash Player 7 or above to work correctly. See the question above for details on how to install the Flash Player.
If you have installed a valid version of Flash Player but still cannot see the courseware, please contact us at pedagogue@cdsm.co.uk.
Category: General
If you have Flash Player installed, then the most likely possibility for this happening is that you have unpackaged the content package incorrectly. Some zip handling programs (such as WinZip) allow you to drag all of the contents of a zip file into a folder. Doing this ignores the file structure within the zip file. This will break your Learning Object.
It is important to maintain the internal file structure of the content package when you unpackage it. There is usually an "extract" option you can use to do this. Please consult the help documentation for your zip handling program for more information on how to do this.
If you have correctly unpackaged your Learning Object and it still does not work, please contact us at pedagogue@cdsm.co.uk.
Other questions they may assist you with this problem:
Category: General
Note: This answer only applies to viewing your Learning Object using Internet Explorer 7 and where your Learning Object is saved to your local computer. Please ignore this answer if you are viewing your Learning Object over the internet.
Internet Explorer has very strict security applied to it and may not show your Learning Object in a browser window if you are running it from your local computer.
There are two possible solutions to this problem:
If you have taken one of there possible steps and you still cannot view your Learning Object, please contact us at pedagogue@cdsm.co.uk.
Category: General
ZIP files can be opened without installing any software on most modern versions of Windows (if you are using a Mac please refer to the question below).
But if the zip files you've downloaded from the course won't open, you may need to install a program to handle zip files such as WinZip. An evaluation copy of WinZip can be downloaded for free from http://www.winzip.com.
After you have installed WinZip, double click on a zip file to open it.
If, for any reason, you do not want to use WinZip, there are many other programs available on the internet which handle zip files. A good place to start looking is http://www.download.com.
Category: General
ZIP files can be opened without installing any software on most modern versions of Mac OSX (if you are using Windows please refer to the question above).
But if the zip files you've downloaded from the course won't open, you may need to install a program to handle zip files such as StuffIt Expander. StuffIt Expander can be downloaded for free from http://www.stuffit.com/mac/index.html.
After you have installed StuffIt, double click on a zip file to open it.
If, for any reason, you do not want to use StuffIt Expander, there are many other programs available on the internet which handle zip files.
Category: General
A popular zip file solution on Linux is Info-ZIP. This can be downloaded from: http://www.info-zip.org/UnZip.html#Linux
Category: General
You need to clear the information from your previous attempts at the Learning Objects. To do this, enter the courseware. When it has loaded, press the "Options" button to open the options menu. Then press the "Clear Cookies" button in the options menu. This will clear information from all of your previous attempts at all of the Learning Objects.
Important Note: If you do this, you will clear information about ALL of the Learning Objects you have viewed. Only use the "Clear Cookies" button if you are sure that you want to lose this information.
Category: General
If you have never used your Learning Object before but it is showing up that you have visited Learning Objects before and interactions are automatically completed when you enter them, it means that some one else has used the courseware on your computer.
To reset the course to allow you to start from the beginning, see the question "I want to re-do all the Learning Objects from scratch and get rid of any saved information in the course. How do I do this?" above.
Category: General
Pedagogue has extensive help files aimed at helping you get the most out of the courseware. You can view the online version of the help files here (this link will open in a new browser window).
Category: General
The triangular pointer above the progress bar which shows you the current page you are on can be dragged. When you drag it, a small box will appear above it which will tells you the page you will go to when you release the pointer.
You will only be able to go to pages you have visited before using this method of navigation.
Category: General
The video assistant is designed to only play automatically on your first visit to a page. After you have visited a page once, the video assistant will only play if you activate it.
To play the video assistant, click the "Open Assistant" button when it is available on a page. The video assistant will play automatically once it has been opened like this.
Category: General
Note: This answer only applies to using your Learning Object on Internet Explorer. Please ignore this answer if you are using any other browser to view it.
The help files open in the pop-up window. Some versions of Internet Explorer may block the help files from opening. The best way to fix this is to go to "Tools" in the top menu of Internet Explorer. In the "Tools" menu, choose "Pop-up Blocker", then "Turn Off Pop-up Blocker". You will need to close Internet Explorer and then open it up again to let this change take effect.
You will now be able to open the help files.
Category: Accessibility
You can change the text size of the course easily. Go into a Learning Object. Then press the "Options" button to open the options menu. Press the "Screen Preferences" button. On the right hand side of the Screen Preferences window you will see 3 text size options: default, large and small. Choose the option which suits you and then close the Screen Preferences window by pressing the "Close" button. Your chosen text size will then be applied.
Category: Accessibility
You can change the colour scheme of the course easily. Go into a Learning Object. Once you are in a Learning Object, press the "Options" button to open the options menu. Press the "Screen Preferences" button. Near the top of the Screen Preferences window you will see 8 colour boxes. These represent the different colour themes: blue = default, black = inverted, white = high contrast, yellow = yellow background with blue text, green = green background with black text, purple = purple background with black text, pink = pink borders and orange = orange borders. Choose the option which suits you and then close the Screen Preferences window by pressing the "Close" button. Your chosen colour will then be applied.
Category: Accessibility
The 4 main screen readers: JAWS, Windows Eyes, Hal and IBM Desktop Reader all support Flash Player.
In our testing with disabled users and these different adaptive technologies, we have found that some screen readers work better than others.
We recommend you use JAWS or IBM Desktop Reader with Learning Objects created in Pedagogue to reliably access the content. Windows Eyes works well with the course but may struggle to update the content if your computer is not very powerful.
Category: Accessibility
For more information about accessibility and using adaptive technologies with Learning Objects created in Pedagogue, please go to the accessibility page in the Pedagogue help files.
Category: Virtual Learning Environments
How to add Learning Objects to your VLE will differ depending on which VLE you are using. You can find out more information about adding Learning Objects to your VLE by contacting your VLE provider or its help documentation.
CDSM is working on more specific information about this topic and will publish it on this site soon.
Category: Virtual Learning Environments
A content package created in Pedagogue is best set to display in a VLE at a width of 760 and a height of 550. You can experiment with the sizes though to find a display size that you feel fits best in your VLE.
Category: Virtual Learning Environments
Some Virtual Learning Environments have a restriction on the size of content packages you are allowed to upload to them. You will need to get your administrator to adjust the settings of your VLE to allow content packages of the size you have created. How to do this will depend on your VLE.
Category: Using Your Learning Object on a CD-ROM
To use your Learning Object on a CD-ROM, simply unpackage the content package you have downloaded from Pedagogue and burn all of the files onto a CD-ROM. Double clicking on the "index.html" file on the CD-ROM will open your Learning Object in a user's browser.
For more information on unpackaging a content package, see the question "How do I use my Learning Object on my machine?" above.
Category: Using Your Learning Object on a CD-ROM
Some web browsers warn the user if active content such as Flash Player content is run from a CD-ROM. This is a security precaution to stop malicious software being run on your computer. In this case, allow the active content to run as normal. How to do this will depend on what browser you are viewing the content in but most browsers have very clear instructions on how to do this when the warning appears.
Category: Using Your Learning Object on a CD-ROM
Note: This answer only applies to using your Learning Object on Internet Explorer. Please ignore this answer if you are using any other browser to view it.
Sometimes Internet Explorer 7 will stop active content such as Flash Player content from running in your browser from a CD-ROM without giving you the option to allow it to run if you want. You can stop this by modifying your browser security settings.
To alter your security settings to allow Internet Explorer 7 to run "active content" on from a CD-ROM, go to "Tools" and then "Internet Options" in the drop down menu at the top of the browser. Click the "Advanced" tab and scroll down the "Settings" list until you reach the topic called "Security". Tick the check boxes that say "Allow active content to run in files on My Computer*" and "Allow active content from CDs to run on My Computer*". You will need to restart your browser for this to take effect.