Composica provides authors with the ability to create highly rich, interactive and structured content, but it also empowers them to take full advantage of social media elements to create a learning community around each course. Courses then become both formal and social by nature – learners can share knowledge with others, learn from each other, comment on and rate content, and more – all while browsing the course, without ever having to leave the learning environment.
Blogs provide a very powerful method for learners to share their knowledge and benefit from each other’s experience.
A project can include any number of blogs that can be customized and configured. Blogs are inserted using Interactions > Social Media > Blog.
The blog element consists of several widgets and buttons:
- The left area of the blog element includes default blog widgets (Recent Posts and Archive), that contain placeholders. In the published course these placeholders will provide access to the learner’s blog posts.
- The top-left area of the blog element also includes default blog buttons (Blog Home, Add Post and Edit Post). Different properties provides control over the buttons’ functionality. For example, the <Approval Required> and <Login Required> properties of the Add Post button can be used to set the requirements for adding a post.
- The right area of the blog element includes place holders for the actual blog posts and comments. After publishing, these will reflect the thread of posts and comments.
Select any of the blog’s sub-elements to customize their look and feel. Additional blog widgets and buttons can be added from the Blog tab, available when any of the blog elements are selected. When one of the post placeholders are selected, a rating element can be added from the Post tab.
Each blog can also be accessed and edited independently of the course, and includes an RSS feed for subscription.
Remote RSS feeds
A blog element can be configured to display the remote RSS/Atom feed of any other blog or other RSS/Atom-based service, by simply pasting the external RSS address in the <External Feed> property under the Settings tab of the Properties pane (available when the blog element is selected). The feed is presented using the full set of features available to regular blog elements.
Comments can be combined with any other Composica element, so learners can add their input about a specific piece of content, the subject matter of the course or the course itself.
A project can include any number of comment elements that can be customized and configured. Comments are inserted using Interactions > Social Media > Comments.
The Comments element consists of placeholders. In the published course these placeholders will reflect the thread of learner’s comments. Edit the look and feel of the these sub-elements to customize the visual aspects of the comments.
The <Approval Required> and <Login Required> properties of the Add Comment sub-element can be used to set the requirements for posting a new comment. Selecting the Add Comment element toggles the New Comment form, which can also be customized.
SCORM supported Rating elements can be combined with any other Composica element, so that learners are able to rate the content in the document level or the course level.
A document can include any number of rating elements that can be customized and configured. Rating elements are inserted using Interactions > Social Media > Rating.
In the published course, the average rating of all previous votes will be displayed. To alter this behavior, use the rating element’s <Accumulate Votes> property.
The <Star Count> property controls the rating range of a specific element. Different images can be set for the different states of the rating sub-elements (on, off and edit). Select any of the three star types and change its image using the <Source> property.
Learner authentication
Different social media elements can optionally require learners to be authenticated to the system. The authentication can be set to use LMS or Windows authentication; alternatively, custom authentication can be chosen. A Sign In element can be inserted to the project using Interactions > Social Media > Sign In, to allow the learner to log in using custom authentication.
After you’ve added social media to your project, you can further enhance documents with sequencing and effects.