Oracle UPK - Adding Value to Your Topics

In Chapter 3, Recording a Simulation, we recorded our first simulation. Some developers would have stopped there. In Chapter 4, Editing a Topic, we updated our simulation so that it actually worked properly, and tidied up some of the Bubble Text so that it made a bit more sense. Most developers would have stopped there.

In Chapter 8, Allowing Alternatives, we added some alternatives into our simulation, to make it work a bit more realistically, and to extend the usefulness of the Topic. Not many developers even bother to go that far. In this chapter, we will take our Topics to an entirely new level, adding a great deal of value to them, and significantly improving their quality. We will do this through the use of Custom Text, Explanation Frames, Web Pages, and Packages. We will also look at providing a Glossary, which we'll seamlessly integrate into our training.

These things are sometimes thought of as "bells and whistles", because they are added after the recording has been done, and are sometimes perceived as purely being "nice to have" (which usually translates into "don't bother", in a project plan). However, these bells and whistles can make the difference between adequate training and outstanding training, and of course you always want to aim for outstanding.

Adding the bells and whistles is even more important when the simulations are to be used as "stand-alone" learning objects. That is, objects, for self-paced learning and not within the context of a classroom conduct. In a classroom, the instructor is there to embellish on the information shown, to present additional information, and generally talk around the exercise.

If the trainee sits at their own desk, all of this has to be provided in the simulation itself and this is where these bells and whistles prove to be essential. If you want your exercises to have a shelf-life beyond the first round of training, then you really need to pay attention to this chapter.

In this chapter, you will learn how to:

• Provide context through the use of Custom Text
• Use Explanation Frames
• Use Web Pages in the Concepts pane and beyond
• Use Packages and link them to content objects
• Create a Glossary