TrainCaster LMS v5.05

Posted on September 21, 2011 by

The latest release (v5.05) of TrainCaster Learning Management Software includes many enhancements that you requested over the past couple of months. Below is a list of the latest changes.

As we start to work on the next release, we are looking for your input. Is there a feature or modification you’d like to see implemented? Let us know! Send your request to support@traincaster.com or contact your account rep.

What’s New in 5.05

Course Manager

  • When managing course sections, a new menu item ‘Set Min Time Requirements’ allows the minimum time requirements for all of the pages in the section to be updated at once.
    set requirements
  • When e-mailing classroom attendees, users who are absent or excused will no longer receive an e-mail.
  • Updated the move course page/section feature.
  • Reminders to complete a course that are sent to trainees may now also be sent to their user grouping contacts.

Administration

  • A new Assessments Setting has been added allowing user managers to complete assessments on behalf of users.Assessment Setting

Miscellaneous

  • An optional cc field has been added when e-mailing users via Reports, e-mailing classroom attendees, and when sending a broadcast message to users assigned to a course.
  • Previously, in order for a curriculum to be considered completed, a trainee had to pass all of the necessary courses in the curriculum. Now, there is an option to allow failed completion attempts to count toward curriculum completion. This (in conjunction with the ‘Unassign Users upon Completion’ setting) can be used to ensure that a user takes a course only once.
  • You can now specify the time of day that reminders and overdue notifications are sent. To take advantage of this feature, please contact your TrainCaster representative.
  • Quiz results may now be made accessible to trainees via their Course History Page.

Bug Fixes
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  • N/A
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TrainCaster LMS Latest Release – v5.04

Posted on July 19, 2011 by

The latest release (v5.04) of TrainCaster Learning Management Software includes many enhancements that you requested over the past couple of months. Below is a list of the latest changes.

As we start to work on the next release, we are looking for your input. Is there a feature or modification you’d like to see implemented? Let us know! Send your request to support@traincaster.com or contact your account rep.

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What’s New in 5.04
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Administration

  • Assigning multiple courses to a category is now easier and faster. The list of unassigned courses remains visible until you click away from it. Just click on a category and choose ‘Assign Course’ from the menu. Then select the courses you want to add to the category from the list.
  • Including the login url in the New User Notification message is now optional. To leave out the url just uncheck the box at the bottom of the message.

Course Manager

  • The subject of Course and Classroom reminder and overdue messages is now included as the title of the message header.

Subject line is included as the title of the email notification.

  • The format of the start of a question or answer choice when uploading quiz questions has been relaxed to allow leading white space characters.
  • Instructors are now sent an email reminder for upcoming classroom training sessions that they are leading.
  • Calendar attachment files that are included in classroom email notices now include an alarm feature to remind users of an upcoming class. The reminder will popup on schedule.
  • When course managers print course content, quiz question explanations are included on the report.
  • While trainees are waiting for manual grading, they and their contact will not receive reminder/overdue notifications. After the grade has been entered, notifications will resume.

Reports

  • The Training Progress Report can be filtered by user status and training status.
  • In all applicable reports, User Name is now listed under ‘additional user fields’ and can be included on reports. Just click the checkbox to include User Name on the final report.
  • The User Information screen now includes the user’s contact information. To access this screen, run a report (like Training Detail or Training Progress) and click on a user’s name. Detailed information for that user is displayed (User Information screen). Scroll down to see the contacts assigned to this user.
  • Saved reports now have a new date range option: Current Date to End of Year. Click the ‘Save Report Template’ button at the top of the report screen. Then select ‘Current Date to End of Year’ from the list of options.

  • The Course Information Report now includes a setup screen so you can select the fields shown on the report. Also, the report can now be filtered by one or more courses or course categories.
  • The Requirement Report now includes an optional column: Required Course Credits/Hours. This shows course credits for users who still have unfulfilled training requirements for a course. If training requirements have been fulfilled, n/a is displayed.

Bug Fixes
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  • All users will now appear when re-running a saved report that was set up with specific users on the setup screen. Previously, if one of the users had been recently deleted, they were not included when re-running the saved report.
  • Now if a classroom attendee is absent or excused from a classroom task, their time won’t be added to the total time for the completion record.  (Hot fixed on Jun 29, 2011. Ran process to find and fix incorrect values.)
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TrainCaster LMS Latest Release – v5.03

Posted on June 28, 2011 by

This release of TrainCaster Learning Management Software includes many enhancements that you requested over the past couple of months. Below is a list of the latest changes.

As we start to work on the next release, we are looking for your input. Is there a feature or modification you’d like to see implemented? Let us know! Send your request to support@traincaster.com or contact your account rep.

Course Manager

PowerPoint conversion process now handles PowerPoint 2010 files.

My TrainCaster

When a trainee completes the last course objective that has an essay which requires manual grading and the course has a required survey, the trainee may take the survey immediately. Previously, the trainee had to wait until the essay was graded.

Users attempting to register for a class that overlaps the time of another class that they’ve already registered for will be shown a warning screen indicating the conflict.

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5 Reasons to Choose an Installed LMS Solution

Posted on June 20, 2011 by

In my last post I outlined 5 reasons that you would want to use a hosted LMS solution. In this post, I’ll outline reasons you may want to select an installed LMS solution.

1. You have the internal resources required to implement, maintain and support the LMS.

Just as with any installed software product (think financial, HR), an installed LMS requires support from an internal IT department. The IT department is charged with the installation, implementation and maintenance of the product. Loading historical data, adding custom data fields, and adding user access information is part of the process. Maintaining the product by keeping the LMS software, the operating system, and the hardware up-to-date also falls to IT. If your IT department can support all of these activities, an installed LMS may be for you.

2. You have other installed software solutions from the same vendor, and want the systems to work together.

There are many vendors that offer complementary products – maybe an HR system that includes talent management, learning management, and . If you already have several of these products installed, adding another module may not be a big deal. IT is already familiar with the vendor, the installation and maintenance processes, so they can realistically determine if they can support the extra module. A bonus of this type of solution is that each of the systems works seamlessly together.

3. For security reasons you need to limit access to the LMS to your intranet.

Your company may have a security policy limiting access to training materials to its local intranet. If this is the case, an installed LMS solution is really your only option. Any information that is sent over the internet can’t be considered secure – even if you’re using a secure connection.

4.You need a highly customized LMS solution.

If you company needs a lot of customization of the LMS – perhaps for reporting or compliance reasons – an installed LMS may be the best option. SAAS providers (software-as-a-service) usually provide all of their clients with the same application – customizations can be made, but can be quite costly. Installed applications are often customized for clients – again, at an additional cost – but in this case you get exactly what you need.

5. You have the budget required for an installed LMS solution.

Typically, installed solutions are pricier than hosted LMS solutions. Sometimes the price tag is the determining factor as to which solution your company ultimately chooses; but if you have the budget to support an installed solution, it may be the best option for you.

Posted in Best Practices, Elearning Industry | Leave a comment

5 Reasons to Choose a Hosted LMS Solution

Posted on June 13, 2011 by

An important consideration when looking for LMS software for your company is whether to invest in a hosted solution (also known as ‘Software-as-a-Service’, or SAAS), or to invest in an in-house installed LMS.

Each type of solution has its pros and cons. In today’s post I’ll talk about the Top 5 Reasons to Choose a Hosted LMS. Tomorrow I’ll address some reasons to purchase an installed LMS.

1. You don’t have the resources to install and maintain an LMS.

If you don’t have an IT department ready, willing, and able to manage the software and hardware necessary for an installed LMS, a hosted LMS solution may be for you.  Hosted LMS solutions are setup by the vendor, customized for your organization (more or less customization, depending on the vendor). Hardware maintenance and upgrades, as well as operating systems are maintained by the vendor. Because all hardware and software is supplied by the vendor, this type of solution is easy to implement.

2. You want to offer anytime, anywhere training.

With a hosted LMS solution, you can offer training to anyone with an internet connection and a modern web browser. There is no internal network security (although the LMS software may offer a secure connection),  so people can access courses from any location, not just while they are at work.

3. You want to get up and running quickly.

There is no question that a hosted LMS solution is the quickest way to get your eLearning solution going. Although time to implementation will vary from vendor to vendor, you can typically be ready to go in just a few days. (This includes loading of user data, historical training records, configuration and customization of the LMS.)

4. You want upgrades included in the initial cost of the LMS.

Typically hosted LMS solutions include all upgrades in the subscription rate. This means that each time the LMS software is upgraded, you automatically receive the benefit of the new features without incurring any additional costs. Great for budget planning.

5. You want customer support and training included in the cost.

Most hosted LMS software vendors include some form of customer support in their fee structure – often including training. Not only is this a budget friendly item, it is a must-have when something goes awry (and something will go awry). It may be something simple (a user can’t see the course content because of a missing plugin), or it maybe something more complicated (you try to upload a SCORM course but it doesn’t seem to play back properly). Questions like these are answered quickly via customer support (maybe using Twitter or Facebook, or more traditional phone and email).

Posted in Elearning Industry, Elearning Tips | Leave a comment

What is a SCORM compliant LMS?

Posted on June 3, 2011 by

If you’re just starting to investigate purchasing learning management software, you’re probably running into a lot of industry terms that are unfamiliar to you – among them, SCORM.

So what exactly is SCORM?

SCORM is an acronym that stands for ‘Sharable Content Object Reference Model’. Still not sure? The acronym doesn’t explain much about what it is or why anyone would want it.

Since the acronym doesn’t help explain what it is – here is a definition that works better:

SCORM is a set of standards used in learning management systems that allow SCORM compliant systems to communicate with SCORM compliant courses.

It is similar in concept to the way PDF documents work – they can be read on any computer – PC, Mac, Linux. They are considered ‘platform independent’.  In contrast, Word documents can’t be read on any computer – only on a computer that has Word installed. They are consider ‘proprietary documents’ rather than platform independent.

A SCORM compliant LMS is built to ‘talk to’ SCORM compliant courses using a set of communication standards. The standards were developed by ADL, a research group sponsored by the United States Department of Defense. Because all SCORM LMS’ use the same set of standards, SCORM courses can communicate with all of them – regardless of the brand. This makes SCORM courses ‘LMS independent’ – as long as the LMS is SCORM compliant.

SCORM courses can be purchased off the shelf or developed using certain authoring tools, like Articulate and Adobe’s Captivate. These tools have all of the communication standards built in, so you don’t have to worry making it work in your SCORM LMS.

The reason SCORM courses need to ‘talk to’ the LMS is to pass along information about the learner’s training session: like, quiz scores, bookmarks, status, pages viewed, etc. All of this information is stored in the LMS for tracking and reporting purposes.

Should you look for a SCORM compliant LMS?

I think the answer here is yes. A SCORM compliant LMS is more flexible and extensible than a non-compliant LMS. You can create your own content, AND you can purchase off the shelf content or SCORM compliant rapid e-learning tools. Even if you don’t anticipate taking advantage of this feature immediately, it will extend the life span of the LMS software well into the future.

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Add a Video to a TrainCaster Course

Posted on June 2, 2011 by

This is a quick blog post describing how to add a video clip to your TrainCaster course.

I’m including a screencast that walks you through the process. Below the screencast are text directions, for those who prefer images and descriptions.

To add a video into a course, please

  1. Edit the course by clicking Course Manager, then click the course name. Click ‘Edit Content’.
  2. Now add a new page. Click the name of an existing page and select ‘Add Page’.
  3. If the video you are uploading is in MP4, MPG, MPEG, WMV, or AVI format use the following steps to insert your video:

    Add a video to your course

    Add wmv, mp4, avi files

  4. If the video is in FLV format (Flash video), use the following steps to insert it:

    Add Flash video

    Add a Flash Video

  5. Now scroll down and click the ‘Add Page’ button.
  6. The next screen asks you to locate the video file on your computer. Click the browse button to find the file. Then click ‘Upload file’.

Your video is now available in your course!

Want to see another tutorial? Let me know!

Posted in TrainCaster 101, Tutorials, Using Course Manager | Leave a comment