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dtoppsKeymaster
Good news, folks. Our dev team has rolled out an update to our Turk Talk feature. Lots of small improvements:
- Enter key sends the message
- Color bars show who is waiting longest
- Ping with ding – nudge for attention
- Improved shortcut keys
These small changes, which you can try out on our demo server, make life much easier, especially for facilitators. It’s now quite a powerful and flexible addition to OpenLabyrinth’s functions.
dtoppsKeymasterWe are delighted to say the OpenLabyrinth can now generate xAPI statements and send them to an LRS. We are currently using a GrassBlade LRS because it is nice and simple to work with.
But we have also been successful in sending statements to the SCORM Cloud LRS, hosted by Rustici.
Statements can be sent in real-time. We caution authors against over-use of this because we are not sure how well our poor little server will handle the load for a really complex case.
What is interesting is that we can also generate a post-hoc report after a case is played. Because OpenLabyrinth stores quite detailed activity metrics in its own internal database, it is possible to generate xAPI statements on older cases that were played well before this xAPI functionality was developed. A veritable time machine!
- This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by dtopps.
dtoppsKeymasterWhere did my Avatars go?
One odd little bug that we have had trouble eradicating is that, after you Export then Import an OpenLabyrinth map from one server to another, the Avatars are temporarily screwed up. When you go to play the case, you either see nothing or a bald head where the Avatar should be.
There is a very simple fix for this. Open the Avatar Editor for that case. Click on the Avatar that is messed up as if you were going to edit it. Then simply Save your changes.
This will correct the rendering of the Avatar, both within the Avatar Editor, and subsequently when you go to play the case.
dtoppsKeymasterMy case won’t start.
You’ve just been editing your case but when you go to play it, you either get an error from the underlying Kohana framework or the case simply drops back to the general author page. What went wrong?
One little glitch that pops up occasionally is the OpenLabyrinth loses place of the root node in the case. i.e. it does not know where to start.
Go back into the Visual Editor and make sure that your starting point is indicated. The node that is the root node should be a light orange color. If not, click on the node. When the editing panel for that node pops up on the right side of the Visual Editor screen, click on the Actions tab, set the node to Root Node and then Save your edits to the Node. Finally, remember to Update your map with the button in the top left corner of the Visual Editor. Now try your case again.
dtoppsKeymasterReference materials – there are many different software tools out there that can provide linked web pages. In fact, you are currently using one of the commonest, the simple web site. WordPress, and other content management systems, do a very nice job of providing easily linkable resources.
Wikis are another very simple and easily editable set of connected pages. In our cases, we use TiddlyWiki, a lovely little single file wiki system that is all self-contained, to provide wiki features within our OpenLabyrinth cases.
But the big advantage that OpenLabyrinth provides is that it tracks what the user does in great detail. Every click, choice, response to a question, branch in a pathway, is captured in the underlying database, along with precise timestamps of when it happened.
This activity tracking provides great power in assessing what your learners do, how your cases perform, or how your teachers facilitate. This is particulary useful for reference materials because you can then tune your resources to adapt to their usage and what your users need.
dtoppsKeymasterFlipped classrooms – these work quite well for undergraduates where you can mandate that they do their homework before they come to class to discuss the problems and challenges. But good luck in getting established practitioners to do this.
Most will turn up to the session with all sorts of rationalizations about being too busy or being called away to other things. In our DynIA project, we found that the trick was to present the homework as introductory cases to solve, while including reminders about the key concepts that will be discussed in the session.
Those who came to the session unprepared the first time found that they were quite disadvantaged in the ensuing discussions. This was reinforced by the facilitators not going back over the key points again during the session, but assuming that all were familiar with them. In subsequent sessions, there was a much higher number who came prepared to tackle the really juicy issues that arose during the session webinar discussions.
dtoppsKeymasterLifeboat scenarios – now that we have Counters that can be accessed across multiple cases or multiple players, you can have several people compete with each other on different machines.
The concept behind the Lifeboat is that the skipper of the lifeboat has to balance out scarce resources, such as first aid items, fluids, food, between a number of sick and needy cases. If you allocate too much saline to one case, you will not have enough to resuscitate another case. Sometimes, the choices you have to make will be stressful, with no easy way out. But better to make these choices in an imaginary situation than for real.
These types of scenarios, where you are balancing needs and resources, are particularly useful for triage type decisions.
dtoppsKeymasterBookending, as we call it, is where you use virtual patient cases before and after another simulation modality. For example, instead of standing around an expensive high-fidelity human patient simulator mannequin, discussing things like what equipment you would need or what roles to assign to various team members, why not use a virtual patient so that team members can be introduced to their context and what is coming up?
This way you can use a cheap, easily accessible modality to get some of the prep work done. Think about it. This is the way that Disney gets you into the zone – fully engaged with what is to come. They use cheap video loops, posters and static artefacts to gradually introduce you to the adventure. The actual amount of time that you spend on the full-motion simulator is only about 90 seconds. But you are pumped when you get there, with adrenal glands secreting nicely.
Similarly, during the debrief. Is it really worth standing around that mannequin? Time to make room for the next incoming group. Use a virtual patient case to pose some follow up questions to the player or the group. Provide them with some additional materials to consider – they can also access this same material later at home.
dtoppsKeymasterYou do need an active Internet connection to play OpenLabyrinth cases. We have explored the possibility of creating a player that allows playing of cases offline. In some ways this would not be that difficult. But since most devices are pretty much connected full-time these days, there seems to be less and less demand for this.
If you or your group are interested in collaborating on creating an offline version of OpenLabyrinth, we are still interested in hearing from you. Send us a note through the Support Request pages.
dtoppsKeymasterFolder permissions are another common issue, especially in a Linux environment. Please check out the install notes on GitHub because several folders need wide open 777 permissions.
dtoppsKeymasterWe generally recommend that you place the files into the default installation folder for your web server. This varies from OS to OS, unfortunately.
While you can install into another folder, you will have to do some tweaking of some configuration files to make sure that the application points to the right place. This can be finicky.
dtoppsKeymasterIn the ‘coming soon’ category, we include ADL’s Experience API. This is now implemented in a very basic form but we will soon be able to tell you how to make use of this activity tracking set of metrics in your LRS.
dtoppsKeymasterOne aspect of having a MAMP version that I have found very useful is that I can then run an OpenLabyrinth server on my laptop. This allows me to do case authoring without a web connection. (I then Export the case to a real server when I need to)
It is also very useful to workshops and conferences where you are not quite sure if you will have a decent web connection. Just run the case from the MAMP server.
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