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VLE Content

Installation

Firstly, download a copy of our Useful Information booklet:

• Handy things to know about our software.pdf

For more information about installing VLE Content, consult our support pages.

• Installation support

Activating your product

• How do I activate my product?

Software licence

• Read the licence agreement

Frequently-Asked Questions

• VLE application error messages

• I get a "Cannot load media" error where there should be a video.

  If you are getting the "Cannot load media" error message then possibly the file associations for WMV (Windows Media Video) are with an application other than Windows Media Player, for example Real Player or VLC Media Player.

  To fix this:

  • right mouse click on a WMV file
  • click "Open With"
  • click "Choose default program ..."
  • select "Windows Media Player"
  • check the box that says "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file"
  • click "Ok" to apply the change.
• Getting error message: "Internet library error: HTTP to HTTPS on redirect." using VLE Content Manager?

  At the licensing stage our software attempts to connect to the internet to access our servers for checking the status of registration.

  http://www.birchfield.co.uk/dev/autoreg/checkreg.php
  

  is the exact address it looks at and is recommended you add this to the safe list of your firewall.

Content Editor

• I'm getting an Access OLE DB error when Content Editor loads.

  There are a number of reasons why this could happen.

  Invalid Path

  The path in the config file that relates to the assessment path is cannot be found.

  user_database_type = Access
  user_database_location = C:\Program Files\Birchfield\Common files\Database\
  user_database_name = assess.mdb
  user_database_un =
  user_database_pw = birchfieldassess
  

  Make sure that the path used can be seen by the users who are logged in.

  There can be occasions where the C:\ drive isn't accessible to students etc. Good practice would be to log in as a teacher or student and see if they can access this folder.

  Permissions

  There are two databases that the software will use. One is the updates database that keeps a record of the different updates installed etc. The other database is the main database for users etc.

  Updater - The problem is likely to be caused by the updates database because the network manager will not be aware of this and its location. The update database will be located:

  • XP - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Birchfield_[XXXXXX]\
  • Vista or above - C:\ProgramData\Birchfield_[XXXXXX]\

  All of the folders starting with Birchfield_ will need to be given Modify permissions to all users.

• When performing an update I get an error 'Cannot copy file csts\behav.cxt'

  This is because Content Manager or Question Editor is currently open in the background when the update is trying to copy files. The updater cannot overwrite files if they are currently in use.

  There are two ways to solve the problem:

  • When the updater is running, it will download the files first. When it prompts to copy the files, make sure that Content Editor and Question Editor is properly closed in the background.
  • Run the updater without opening Content Editor or Question Editor. You will find a file called BirchfieldUpdater.exe in the software folder. Run that on its own without having the software running in the background.
• I can log in as administrator but CE says it is expired on a teacher login.

  • If the school have installed to a server and then are sharing the installation folder and trying to run the application over the network then CE will only work with Admin Permissions.
  • Follow the standard install on the server and then:
    • modify the vle_config.ini file to reflect UNC paths to the appropriate folders
    • provide user permissions to those folders for teachers.
  • Then on the client do a partial install and specify the UNC path to the vle_config.ini

  You should then be able to register the client install.

• How do I uninstall VLE Content Manager and VLE Games Manager?

  • Uninstall the application(s) by going to the Control Panel and then "Programs and Features" (or "Add or Remove Programs" if using Windows XP") Look for "Birchfield VLE Content Manager" and "Birchfield VLE Games Manager" as the programs to uninstall completely.
  • You'll also need to delete the Birchfield Common Files folder. The default location for this folder is C:\Program Files\Birchfield\Common Files\ although you may have specified a different location during installation e.g. if you were installing on a network.
  • Finally you'll need to delete the Birchfield Update Database. This is found at C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Birchfield_[XXXXXX]\ if you're using Windows XP or C:\ProgramData\Birchfield_[XXXXXX]\ if you're using Windows Vista or above. Please note that "XXXXXX" will be a unique string of letters and numbers on your computer.

  Once these three steps are complete then the software will be completely removed from your computer.

Question Editor

• How do I change the max file size setting in the Question Editor?

  The maximum file size limit is set when the user is installing the program. The default size is 4MB, however it can be set at any value the customer chooses.

  The good news is that you can change this setting after installation in the config file: In the configuration folder, you will find a file called: vle_config.ini you can open this file with notepad (or most text processors) and about 2/3 down the page there is a line like this:

  new_content_max_filesize = 4MB
  

  You can change it to any value you like: 10MB, 20MB...

  You can also change:

  final_content_max_filesize = 32MB
  

  This is the final size of the lesson (This should match your VLEs settings, so if your VLE cannot upload files over 50MB then you should set this to 50MB.)

• How do I uninstall VLE Games Manager?

  • Uninstall the application(s) by going to the Control Panel and then "Programs and Features" (or "Add or Remove Programs" if using Windows XP") Look for "Birchfield VLE Content Manager" and "Birchfield VLE Games Manager" as the programs to uninstall completely.
  • You'll also need to delete the Birchfield Common Files folder. The default location for this folder is C:\Program Files\Birchfield\Common Files\ although you may have specified a different location during installation e.g. if you were installing on a network.
  • Finally you'll need to delete the Birchfield Update Database. This is found at C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Birchfield_[XXXXXX]\ if you're using Windows XP or C:\ProgramData\Birchfield_[XXXXXX]\ if you're using Windows Vista or above. Please note that "XXXXXX" will be a unique string of letters and numbers on your computer.

  Once these three steps are complete then the software will be completely removed from your computer.

The following sections contain questions and answers for specific VLE platforms.

Frog

• How do I upload SCORM content to Frog 3.0?

  Please read the attached document.

  • SCORM.FROG.pdf

Fronter

• How do I upload content to Fronter?

  1. You can upload and install course content packages located on your computer. The course file must be zipped and will automatically be extracted in Fronter.
  2. Select Import Course Package from the Course Tool.
  3. Select Browse and find the Zip file located on your computer. The file will automatically be unzipped in Fronter.
  4. Select Open in new window if you do not want the course to be run inside Fronter.
  5. The files will be extracted in folders in the nearest Archive in the room where you upload the course. The structure will be as they were packed.

  This information was provided by Fronter UK support.

Moodle

• Why are there two media players in my pages?

  This is a feature of Moodle.

  There is a feature in Moodle to make embedding media into pages easier. All you need to do is type the text for the link on a page and Moodle will convert that link into an embedded object to make it easier to embed media. However, this makes our content display two copies of the media file because we have a line of text pointing to the media file in the code in case it can't load the file.

  Solution

  1. Login to Moodle as an administrator
  2. In the Site Administration block, click on Modules > Filters > Manage filters
  3. See if Multimedia Plugins is enabled.
  4. If so, click on Settings
  5. Untick the checkbox reading Enable .wmv filter

  
• Why doesn't the media show in Moodle in FireFox?

  This is an issue with Moodle.

  There is a technote on the tracker.moodle.org which explains this. Look here for the discussion.

  The discussion starts with this statement:

  Firefox's WMV plugin can not load .wmv files via moodle's file.php.
  

• How do I upload content to Moodle?

  All of the Birchfield content is SCORM compliant and can either be imported as a course or as an activity within a course. This document assumes that you understand the basic workings of Moodle (e.g. how to create courses, how to add activities etc.), if you need more information on how to do these things, please consult the Moodle documentation. These instructions are based on Moodle 1.7+.

  To import content as a course:

  • Click to create a new course.
  • In the Format drop-down menu, select SCORM format.
  • Set all of the other settings as you require and click Save Changes.
  • When you enter the course, you will be taken to the Adding a new SCORM/AICC page.
  • See section Uploading Content below.

  To import content as an activity within a course:

  • When a course has been created in a weekly format for example there will be opportunities to add content to the course.
  • With editing turned on, click on the Add an activity... drop-down and select SCORM/AICC.
  • You will then be taken to the Adding a new SCORM/AICC page
  • See section Uploading Content below.

  Uploading Content:

  • Click on the Choose or update a package...
  • Then select the Upload a file button.
  • Then browse to the .zip file supplied by Birchfield. You do not need to unzip the file to upload it.
  • Then click Upload this file. This process may take some time depending on the size of the zip file.
  • Your file should appear in the list now, on the right hand side of the file, click Choose. This will fill in the the Course package field. When all of the other settings are filled in, click Save changes.
  • The course structure will then be listed. If the course has a number of organizations, then there will be a drop down box to select which organization to run.
  • Click Enter course to run the course.

  Technical Note:

  There may be problems uploading large files to Moodle depending on how it has been set up. Moodle by default comes with a limit of 16Mb upload size. Birchfield content will exceed this limit so you will need to increase this limit to enable the content to be uploaded.

  To increase this limit, you will need to modify the php.ini files and increase the upload_max_filesize entry and the post_max_size entry.

• How do I increase the upload filesize for Moodle?

  To increase the size of the files that you are able to upload to Moodle, you will have to make changes to some of the server settings. The following instructions are based on Moodle using Apache on a Windows based server.

  There is a file called php.ini which you will need to open and modify. Typically this can be found in two places:

  1. in the apache\bin folder. This folder is based where apache is installed and set up.

  2. in the php folder. Where php program files are located.

  Make the following changes to both of these files:

  1. search for the text upload_max_filesize and change the value to suit your needs
  2. search for the text post_max_size and change this value as well

  NOTE: When changing the values, there may be a few ways of entering the value, 16M will represent 16 megabytes. However, sometimes it has been found necessary to enter the size in bytes e.g. 1073741824 = 1GB.

  You will then have to restart Apache for these changes to take place.

  Useful links:
  http://uk.php.net/manual/en/ini.core.php
  http://www.radinks.com/upload/config.php

• I get an 'Invalid JSON string' error when uploading content?

  This message indicates that the server could not upload the complete content package in one go.

  To solve this on IIS, try adding code similar to the following into web.config in the moodle web directory:

  <system.webServer>
      <security>
          <requestFiltering>
              <requestLimits maxAllowedContentLength="524288000"/>
          </requestFiltering>
      </security>
  </system.webServer>
  

  Content length value is in bytes.

  For similar problems with Apache, please see the solution to the previous question.

• I get an error 'Not enough choices...'

  This error occurs when people upgrade their version of Moodle from 1.9.3 to 1.9.3+. It can be fixed within moodle.

  This is how to make the change to fix it:

  • Enter the course
  • Click Files
  • Navigate to moddata > scorm > [scormid]
  • Find a file called scocom.js and click Edit on the right hand side of it.
  • Scroll down the content of this file until you find a line that reads:

    LMSCall("setValue", "cmi.interactions."+ID+".type", "cmi.interactions."+ID+".type", type.toString(), type.toString());

  • Modify this line to read:
    

    LMSCall("setValue", "cmi.interactions."+ID+".type", "cmi.interactions."+ID+".type", "long-fill-in", "long-fill-in");

  • Click Save at the bottom of the screen.
• When installing Birchfield Scorm packages in Moodle, why are subfolders not being unzipped causing the resource to fail?

  Solution: Downloaded latest weekly version of moodle and upgraded server version. Installed packages now work perfectly.

  Solution Reference:
  http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-19194

• How do I install Content packs in Moodle 2+?

  When uploading to Moodle 2+ you will need to upload the Birchfield SCORM package (.zip file) as an IMS content package.

  

  Click here to see the menu in context...

NetMedia

• How do I upload content to NetMedia?

  Please see the attached document provided by NetMedia.

  • Uploading_to_NetMedia.doc

RM

• How do I upload SCORM content to RM Kaleidos?

  Birchfield have an arrangement with RM to enable many RM customers access to a central library of Birchfield VLE Content Packs. If you have purchased Birchfield VLE Content and wish to access it through Kaleidos then please contact us and we will make arrangements to provide you with access.

  If you are using Birchfield's VLE Content Editor or VLE Games Editor to create SCORM content you will need to upload that yourself as this content is bespoke. To do this, log in as a user with teacher permissions.

  From the Kaleidos Desktop select the "Learning Spaces" Tab and then select "manage learning spaces" from the menu on the left.

  Course manager will open in a separate window. Select the "Content Packs" tab and select Birchfield from the list of content partners. From the menu above the "Content Packs" Tab select the icon on the far left "Import a content pack into this folder". Another new window will appear the "Content Pack Import Wizard".

  Browse and select the SCORM .zip file that would like to upload an click next. Wait for the file to upload which may take a few minutes depending on the file size and your internet connection.

  Once uploaded, agree to the license agreement and click next to complete the import. The Content Pack will then be available in the Kaleidos Content Pack Library for you to allocate to students etc.

Serco

• How do I upload SCORM content to RM Kaleidos?

  This information has been taken from http://www.skillspace.com/LearningSystem/OnlineHelp/SCH/HTML/rps_creating_a_new_object.html

  Creating a new object

  To create a new Learning object, click the 'New object' button. This will launch a wizard which will guide you through the process of creating the new object.

  Most institutions only have a single collection of objects. In that case the wizard will begin at the point described in Step 2, below.

  Step 1

  This step is relevant only to institutions with multiple collections.

  Select the collection to which you want to add the new object.

  Step 2

  Select the type of resource you wish to upload:

  • Packaged Content
  • File
  • Virtual Resource (URL)
  • Meta-data File (referencing a URL)

  Step 3 - Packaged Content

  Upload the file, with the option to validate the package.

  To upload a file as a new object, click on the Add button to open a new window called 'Upload file'. In this window, click the Browse button and use the File browser to locate and select the file you wish to upload. You may select one file only. Click the OK button in this window and then the Finish button in the 'Upload new object' window.

  Optionally, you can select Validate to have the system validate the file as a Learning Object.

Sharepoint

• How do I upload our content to SharePoint?

  • In Content Editor create a lesson.
  • Save and Export your lesson.
    • VLE Export is for the SharePoint Learning Kit (SLK). You would upload this as a .zip file and run it through the SCORM player. I'll take you through that in a moment.
    • Non-VLE Export will export as a series of HTML files for you to upload as you have been doing, this will operate in the same way as you have been doing but without the API error.
  • In your document library, click Upload Document.
  • Select your .zip file and click OK. Wait for the file to upload.
  • From the drop-down menu, click E-Learning Actions.
  • You can assign it to yourself for testing or assign it to someone else.
  • Once assigned to yourself, click Begin Assignment
  • SCORM Player loads with menu on the left and navigation buttons above the menu. View your pages and click Submit Assignment when you are done.

StudyWiz

• How do I upload content to StudyWiz?

  There are a couple of ways to do this.

  Using the Learning Platform

  • Log in to the appropriate StudyWiz site.
  • In the middle of the screen there is a tab with eLocker on it, click here.
  • In the left-hand menu click on Learning Objects and then SCORM Courses.
  • Click on Add new SCORM Course
  • Fill in the details on the next page (if in the works site, we tend to untick the boxes Allow Collaborative Editing and Share With Others as this site is shared with other companies).
  • Click on Upload Course and choose your .zip file to upload.
  • Click on the Save button and you are done.

  Using WebDav

  WebDav is a technology which essentially allows you to link to a folder on the internet like it is a folder in windows, then you just drag and drop files across as you would in Windows explorer.

  Instructions can be downloaded below.

  • StudyWizWebDav.pdf
• Why doesn't ShockWave play in StudyWiz?

  This is the answer given by StudyWiz:

  After further investigations, our developers have found that this is a bug with the Shockwave plug-in, where it's not allowing a file to display from a very long URL (used by our File server). Please note that there isn't anything wrong with the course itself.

  We've submitted this bug to the relevant Adobe staff, so hopefully we'll see a fix for this in the next version of Shockwave.

• How does StudyWiz say you should upload SCORM?

  Please see attached file (provided by StudyWiz Curriculum Support

  • Create_a_SCORM_Course_Activity_StudyWiz.pdf

Uniservity

• How do I upload SCORM content to Uniservity?

  Customers will need to be aware of the following:

  • The file needs to be authored as a SCORM file with a .zip extension
  • They can just upload it to the resources area using the upload SCORM link within the cLc.