Download smartforce web 4.6

SMARTFORCE WEB 4.6
Student’ s Guide
Copyright © SmartForce Ireland Ltd 2000. All rights reserved.
Trademarks
SmartForce, SmartForce e-Learning, and the SmartForce logo are trademarks of SmartForce. All other
trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.
This edition March 2000
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United Kingdom
Tel 1 888 395 0014
Tel +61 2 9941 6333
Tel +44 20 8283 1800
Fax +1 650 817 5902
Fax +61 2 9887 1780
Fax +44 20 8283 1801
We’ d like to hear from you
SmartForce endeavors to design and produce documentation that is comprehensive, accurate, and easy to use.
However, there’s always room for improvement. As a customer, we consider you the most important critic
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to hear from you. Please mail your comments to
[email protected]
Part no. ML001036
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Technical queries may be e-mailed to the SmartForce Technical Support Department at
[email protected]
Conventions
The following conventions are used throughout this guide.
This icon indicates a note in the text. Notes are used to provide important background
material or expanded explanations to help you fully understand the concepts being discussed
in the text.
This icon indicates a tip in the text. Tips provide alternative ways to accomplish a task being
described in the text. They are also used to inform you of ways you can apply skills described
in the text to enhance your productivity.
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way to accomplish a task that, if carried out incorrectly, could result in the loss of data or some
similar mishap.
CONTENTS
1
INTRODUCTION
What is SmartForce Web?. .
SmartForce Web components
SmartForce Web server .
Student progress server .
Students . . . . . .
SmartCourses . . . . . .
Using LivePlay . . . .
Downloading courses . .
The SmartForce Web site . .
Using this guide . . . . .
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3-1
3-1
3-2
3-2
LOGGING ON TO SMARTFORCE WEB
Logging on . . . . . . . . . . . .
Logging on if you know your student ID
Registering with SmartForce Web . .
Skipping logon . . . . . . . . .
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GETTING STARTED WITH SMARTFORCE WEB
Accessing SmartForce Web for the first time
Getting Started options . . . . . . .
Downloadable components . . . . .
Other downloadable components . .
SmartForce Player Plugin . . . .
Diskette Creator. . . . . . . .
Downloading a setup program . . . . .
Installing components . . . . . . . .
Installing the SmartForce Player . . .
Installing the SmartForce Player Plugin
Creating a diskette set . . . . . .
Installing from a diskette set . . . .
Editing your SmartForce settings . . . .
Online page . . . . . . . . . .
SmartForce Player cache settings . .
Changing the cache size . . . . .
Changing the cache location . . .
Editing the proxy server settings . . .
Changing FTP server information . . .
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FINDING AND PLAYING COURSES
vi
Contents
Finding courses on the SmartForce Web site .
Using the list of available courses . . .
Using the SmartForce e-Learning Catalog .
Viewing a course description page . . .
Playing a course using LivePlay . . . . .
Downloading and installing a course. . . .
Creating a course diskette set . . . . . .
Installing from a diskette set . . . . .
Playing a Download course locally . . . .
Gaining access to a course . . . . . .
Accessing SmartForce Web . . . . . .
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. 4-1
. 4-2
. 4-2
. 4-4
. 4-5
. 4-5
. 4-7
. 4-8
. 4-9
. 4-9
. 4-10
RETURNING OFFLINE PROGRESS AND REMOVING DOWNLOAD COURSES
Returning progress automatically . . . .
Returning progress manually . . . . .
Returning progress from a home computer
Removing courses from your machine . .
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5-1
5-1
5-2
5-3
1
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to SmartForce Web, the HTML-based courseware deployment system
from SmartForce.
What is SmartForce Web?
SmartForce Web is a simple method of allowing you access to SmartForce’s library
of interactive training courseware through your organization’s intranet.
From your point of view, SmartForce Web is nothing more than a web site, which
looks and works just like any other web site you might visit. You can browse
through the site using hyperlinks to view plans of different SmartCurricula,
descriptions of particular SmartCourses, and any other information your training
administrator may have placed on the web site.
All you need in order to access SmartForce Web is a web browser and an address for
the SmartForce Web site, which your administrator will give you. Once you’ve
located the site, you just need to download and install one or two components on
your computer, and you’ll be ready to start training.
SmartForce Web components
This diagram shows the basic
components of a typical SmartForce
Web installation. As a student you don’t
need to worry about how SmartForce
Web works behind the scenes—your
training administrator will set up and
maintain most of these components,
leaving you free to browse through the
courses and select those you want to
take. However, the SmartForce Web
server and optional student progress
server are described here briefly because
your training administrator may
mention these components when
sending you instructions for accessing
SmartForce Web from your machine.
1-2
Student’ s Guide
SmartForce Web server
The SmartForce Web server is an essential component in the SmartForce Web
system. It runs the SmartForce Web site and stores the library of SmartCourses.
Because the SmartForce Web server is connected to your organization’s intranet,
you will be able to access the SmartForce Web site and courses from your computer
using a web browser.
Student progress server
In many cases, your training administrator will want to keep a track of the progress
you are making in the SmartCourses installed in SmartForce Web. For this they need
a server that will receive student progress information. How you return your
progress to this server will vary depending on the kind of SmartCourses you have
access to.
Students
Any number of students may be connected to the SmartForce Web server through
your organization’s intranet. Students require only a web browser and some
components that can be downloaded and installed from the SmartForce Web site to
access and use the courses listed on the SmartForce Web site.
SmartCourses
SmartCourses are designed to provide a great deal of flexibility in their method of
delivery to the student. This means that your training administrator can set up
SmartForce Web to enable you to
• play courses online across your organization’s intranet—also referred to as
LivePlay™
• download courses to your hard drive to play locally
Your training administrator can choose to give you access to LivePlay courses,
Download courses, or both. But no matter what choice they make, the courses will
always look and work the same way when you run them.
Using LivePlay
When you use LivePlay to take a course online, the course remains on the
SmartForce Web server but is played across the intranet and displayed on your
computer.
There are two ways of delivering LivePlay courses over SmartForce Web. With
standard LivePlay, you need to download the SmartForce Player from the Getting
Started page and install it on your machine before you can play a course.
With Java-enabled LivePlay, you can play the course through a Java-enabled web
browser, without having to install any extra software on your computer.
If you are using LivePlay courses, your administrator may have configured
SmartForce Web so that after you finish taking a course using LivePlay, a record of
Introduction
your progress is automatically returned to the student progress server. From there,
your training administrator can access it and generate reports on your progress.
Downloading courses
The download option allows you to download a SmartCourse to your computer and
run it from there. Once you’ve downloaded the course to your machine, you no
longer need to be connected to your organization’s intranet—in other words you
can run the course offline. You can even store the course on a set of floppy disks,
which you can use to run the course at home or at some other remote location.
When you play a course offline, a record of your progress is created in a file on your
hard drive. You may be asked to return this progress file to your training
administrator, a process that is covered in detail in Chapter 5, “Returning offline
progress and removing Download courses”.
The SmartForce Web site
As the SmartForce Web site is the key to how SmartForce Web works, let’s take a
brief tour of the different web pages it may contain. Remember that your training
administrator may customize the SmartForce Web site for your organization, so
some of the pages described may not be available to you, while other pages, unique
to your organization, may be included. Your training administrator will advise you
of any differences between your SmartForce Web site and the default site described
here.
The SmartForce Web site contains a number of linked web pages that you can easily
browse between. Here is a map of the main pages contained in the SmartForce Web
site:
The Logon page is where you are required to log on to SmartForce Web.
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1-4
Student’ s Guide
In some cases, you may need to self-register as a SmartForce Web student. To do
this you need to go to the Registration page.
Your administrator may have configured SmartForce Web so that you do not
have to log on or self-register.
The SmartForce Web home page contains links to the other pages available on the
site, and may contain links to other web sites such as SmartForce’s corporate web
site as in the example below.
You may also be asked to log on to SmartForce Web before you can take any
courses. For more details see Chapter 3, “Logging on to SmartForce Web”.
By default the SmartForce Web home page contains links to the pages described
below.
1.
The Getting Started page contains the components you may need to download,
depending on which course type your administrator has decided to use—
LivePlay only, Download only, or both. If you are using only Java-enabled
LivePlay courses, you will not have to download any components.
2.
The Courseware page provides a number of ways for you to search for the
SmartCourse you want to take. You can search through curriculum planners to
see how courses relate to each other or you can view a list of courses available
on the SmartForce Web site. Each course has its own course description web
page, which contains the icon or icons you use to download the course or run
it using LivePlay.
3.
The About Us page contains useful information about SmartForce.
4.
The Strategic Partners page describes the important partnerships that SmartForce
has forged with some of the world’s leading software and hardware vendors.
Introduction
5.
The Customer Support page is where you go if you are experiencing a technical
problem. You can view the answers to some of our most frequently asked
questions or search the knowledge base used by our technical support staff to
solve problems. This page also provides toll-free numbers you can dial to speak
directly to a technical support specialist.
6.
The Feedback page is where we provide you with a chance to give us your input
on SmartForce Web and the features or improvements you would like to see in
future releases of the product.
7.
The What’s New page allows students to view the new courses released by
SmartForce for a particular month.
Using this guide
Now that you have been introduced to SmartForce Web, let’s look at what’s to come
in this guide:
Chapter 2: Getting started with SmartForce Web: This chapter describes how to
access the SmartForce Web site and, if necessary, download and install the program
needed to play courses.
Chapter 3: Logging on to SmartForce Web: This chapter deals with how to log
on and self-register to SmartForce Web.
Chapter 4: Finding and playing courses: This chapter shows how to locate a
SmartCourse on the SmartForce Web site, play it live over the intranet, or download
it to your computer and play it from there.
Chapter 5: Returning offline progress and removing Download courses:
Chapter 5 deals with removing Download courses from your computer and
returning offline progress to your training administrator.
1-5
2
GETTING STARTED WITH SMARTFORCE
WEB
To be able to access the SmartForce Web site, the first thing you need is a web
browser. SmartForce Web supports Microsoft® Internet Explorer version 3.0 or
higher, and Netscape Navigator® 3.0 or higher. If your administrator has installed
Java-enabled LivePlay courses, you will require Microsoft Internet Explorer version
4.0 or higher, and Netscape Navigator 4.05 or higher.
The next thing you’ll need is an address for the SmartForce Web site. Your
administrator will tell you which address you should use, for example
http://cbtserv/cbtweb/index.htm
or
http://135.13.4.199/cbtweb/english/cbtweb/index.htm
Simply type the address into the Address field on your browser and press Return.
What happens next will depend on how your administrator has configured
SmartForce Web on the web server. In some cases you will be taken straight to the
SmartForce Web home page. In most cases, however, you will be asked to log on to
SmartForce Web before you can start training. For more details on logging on, see
Chapter 3, “Logging on to SmartForce Web”.
Accessing SmartForce Web for the first time
Whether you are required to log on or not, you need to go to the Getting Started
page when you access SmartForce Web for the first time. Here you can see what, if
any, components you need to download and install on your computer.
You’ll find a link to the Getting Started page on the Logon page and on the home
page.
Getting Started options
The appearance of the Getting Started page will vary depending on how your
administrator has configured SmartForce Web.
For example, if you have been given access to Java-enabled LivePlay courses, the
Getting Started page will tell you that you don’t have to download anything to your
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Student’ s Guide
hard drive. You can skip the rest of this chapter, log on to SmartForce Web, and start
training.
On the other hand, if you have standard LivePlay courses, Download courses, or
both, there are one or two components that you need to download and install first.
Once you have downloaded and installed the necessary components, you
need to log on to SmartForce Web before you can access courses.
Downloadable components
Before you can play a standard LivePlay course or a Download course, you need to
download the SmartForce Player and install it on your hard drive.
If your administrator has provided you with access to Download courses, either
alone or in conjunction with LivePlay, you will also need SmartCourse Manager,
which is installed by the SmartForce Player setup program.
SmartCourse Manager enables you to remove completed courses from your hard
drive and return a record of your progress to your training administrator.
Other downloadable components
As well as the SmartForce Player, your training administrator may have customized
your Getting Started page so that it contains some other components. These optional
components allow you to
• install the SmartForce Player Plugin on your machine and play SmartForce
courses using a SmartForce Player installed on a network drive
• create a diskette version of the SmartForce Player and SmartCourse Manager
setup program
You will be able to download the optional components only if your training
administrator has customized the Getting Started page to make them available.
SmartForce Player Plugin
The SmartForce Player is the component that enables you to play a SmartCourse.
Normally, students install the Player on their machine, but your administrator can
also opt to install a centrally located Player on your organization’s network in order
to save space on client machines. All you need download is the SmartForce Player
Plugin, which you install in the plugins directory of your web browser. The plugin
tells your browser where the Player is located on the network and allows you to play
courses.
Diskette Creator
If your organization’s SmartForce Web site contains Download courses, you will
have the option of copying a course onto a set of floppy disks. This allows you to
install the course on your computer at home or on any machine that isn’t connected
to your organization’s intranet.
Getting started with SmartForce Web
If you install a course at a remote location, you will also need the SmartForce Player
to play courses and the SmartCourse Manager to remove them from your computer
once you’ve finished with them. So SmartForce Web allows you to create a diskette
version of the SmartForce Player and SmartCourse Manager setup program.
You download the Diskette Creator program from the Getting Started page and then
run it to transfer the setup program onto a set of floppy disks. This enables you to
install the SmartForce Player and SmartCourse Manager onto a desktop or laptop
machine at a remote office location, or onto your computer at home.
Downloading a setup program
To download a setup program to your computer:
1.
Navigate to the Getting Started page.
2.
Click the Download Setup button.
3.
If your browser asks you whether you want to save the file to disk or run it from
its current location, choose the save option.
4.
In the Save As dialog box, choose a location for the setup program and click
Save.
Installing components
Once you have downloaded the necessary setup program, you are ready to install
the component on your hard drive.
Installing the SmartForce Player
The setup program for the SmartForce Player can be run as either a default or a
custom installation.
A custom installation allows you to
• configure the Player to work through a proxy server
• choose the destination folder for the icons relating to the SmartForce Player and
SmartCourse Manager under your Programs folder in Windows®
To install the SmartForce Player:
1.
Use Windows Explorer to locate the Setup program plyutil.exe and double-click
it.
2.
Click Next at the Welcome screen.
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Student’ s Guide
Netscape Navigator users should ensure that their browsers are closed before
they begin the installation.
3.
If you have a previous version of the SmartForce Player installed, Setup will
detect it and allow you to uninstall it. We recommend that you save your settings
by selecting the appropriate radio button. If you don’t want to uninstall the
existing version, select the Do not remove...exit Setup radio button to exit
Setup. Click Next.
4.
Click Yes to accept the terms of the license agreement.
5.
Enter your name and the name of your organization in the User Information
dialog box and click Next.
6.
When the Choose Destination Location dialog box is displayed, click Next to
install the SmartForce Player files in the default destination directory or click
Browse to install in a different directory.
7.
Select the location where you want the cache to be located. A cache improves
performance by storing recently accessed data in a location where it can be
quickly retrieved. In addition to specifying the location of your cache, you can
also specify its size. The default cache location is c:\cbtlib\cbtplay\cache and the
default cache size is 50MB. If you plan to install Download courses, we
recommend that your cache size is at least 15MB. Once you’ve accepted or
changed the defaults, click Next to continue.
You can use your SmartForce Settings utility to change the size and location
of your cache at a later stage. See “SmartForce Player cache settings” on p. 211, for more information.
Getting started with SmartForce Web
8.
In the Select Components dialog box, select either the Default install or Custom
install radio button and click Next. If you select Default install go to step 11.
9.
In the Proxy Server Information dialog box, type the address and the port
number of your organization’s proxy server in the fields provided. Your
administrator will be able to give you this information.
To change these settings after installation is complete, use the SmartForce
Settings utility, as described in “Editing the proxy server settings” on p. 211.
10.
In the Choose a Folder Name dialog box, you can choose the folder to which
Setup will add icons relating to the SmartForce Player and SmartCourse Manager.
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Student’ s Guide
You can type a new folder name, select one from the Existing Options list box,
or use the default option. Click Next once you’ve made your choice.
11.
Setup then detects any installed browsers. If no browsers are detected, select the
Perform extended search checkbox. Click Next to continue.
12.
Setup will install the plugins to work with the browsers listed in the dialog box
shown. If this information is correct, click Next. If it’s not, click Back and
change your browser listing by performing an extended search.
13.
Setup then displays the options that you have chosen so far. If you’d like to
change any of the settings, click Back to return to the appropriate screen, make
the required change, and click Next repeatedly until you return to this point.
14.
A progress indicator tracks the progress of the installation process. When the
installation is complete, click Finish to exit. When the Player has been installed,
a folder will display in your Start menu. In this folder you’ll see an icon that you
can use to uninstall the Player.
Installing the SmartForce Player Plugin
The setup program for the SmartForce Player Plugin can be run as either a default or
a custom installation.
With the default setup, you will not be able to select a destination folder for your
cache directory, and some other minor configuration settings will be chosen for
you.
A custom installation allows you to
• configure the Player to work through a proxy server
• choose the destination folder for the Remove SmartForce Player Plugin icon
under your Programs folder in Windows
To install the SmartForce Player Plugin:
1.
Use Windows Explorer to locate the Setup program plg32.exe and double-click
it.
2.
A Welcome dialog box opens. Click Next to continue.
Getting started with SmartForce Web
Netscape Navigator users should ensure that their browsers are closed before
they begin the installation.
3.
If you have a previous version of the SmartForce Player installed, Setup will
detect it and allow you to uninstall it. We recommend that you save your settings
by selecting the appropriate radio button. If you don’t want to uninstall the
existing version, select the Do not remove...exit Setup radio button to exit
Setup. Click Next.
4.
Click Yes to accept the terms of the license agreement.
5.
Enter your name and the name of your organization in the User Information
dialog box and click Next.
6.
In the Location of SmartForce Player dialog box, click Browse to find the
network folder that contains the SmartForce Player. If you don’t know the
location, consult your training administrator. The path that you specify should
end with \cbtplay. Click Next to continue.
7.
Select the location where you want the cache to be located. A cache improves
performance by storing recently accessed data in a location where it can be
quickly retrieved. In addition to specifying the location of your cache, you can
also specify its size. The default cache location is c:\cbtlib\cbtplay\cache and the
default cache size is 50MB. If you plan to install Download courses, we
2-7
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Student’ s Guide
recommend that your cache size is at least 15MB. Once you’ve accepted or
changed the defaults, click Next to continue.
Even though the plugin is installed on a network drive, the cache must be
stored locally.
8.
In the Select Components dialog box, choose the Default install or Custom
install radio button and click Next to continue. If you chose Default install, go
to step 11.
9.
In the Proxy Server Information dialog box, type the address and the port
number of your organization’s proxy server in the fields provided. Your
administrator will be able to give you this information.
10.
In the Choose a Folder Name dialog box, you can choose the folder to which
Setup will add the Remove SmartForce Player Plugin icon. You can type a new
folder name, select one from the Existing Options list, or use the default option.
Click Next once you’ve made your choice.
11.
Setup then detects any installed browsers. If no browsers are detected, select the
Perform extended search checkbox. Click Next to continue.
Getting started with SmartForce Web
12.
Setup will install the plugins to work with the browsers listed in the dialog box
shown. If this information is correct, click Next. If it’s not, click Back and
change your browser listing by performing an extended search.
13.
Setup then displays the options that you have chosen so far. If you’d like to
change any of the settings, click Back to return to the appropriate screen, make
the required change, and click Next repeatedly until you return to this point.
14.
A progress indicator tracks the progress of the installation process. When the
installation is complete, click Finish to exit.
Creating a diskette set
You download the Diskette Creator program from the Getting Started page as you
would any other downloadable component. Once you have downloaded the
program you can create a set of diskettes that installs the SmartForce Player and
SmartCourse Manager. You will probably need four 1.44MB 3.5-inch floppy disks
to create the diskette set.
To create the diskette set:
1.
Use Windows Explorer to find the Diskette Creator program dkplrm32.exe that
you downloaded from the Getting Started page and double-click it.
2.
At the prompt, insert a formatted floppy
disk and click OK.
3.
When prompted, insert the next diskette
and click OK.
4.
Continue to click OK as you are
prompted to insert each diskette.
5.
Choose Yes or No when you are asked if you would like to create another
diskette version.
6.
Click Finish once the Setup Complete message box appears.
Installing from a diskette set
Once you have created the diskette set, you can use it to run the setup program
whenever you want.
To run the setup program from a diskette set:
1.
Insert the first diskette into your floppy drive.
2.
Open Windows Explorer.
3.
Select the floppy drive.
2-9
2 - 10
Student’ s Guide
4.
Double-click Setup.exe.
5.
Continue with the installation as you
would for the normal setup of the
SmartForce Player and SmartCourse
Manager (see “Installing the
SmartForce Player Plugin” on p. 2-6).
6.
Once the setup program starts copying
files, it will prompt you to insert the
next diskette as necessary.
7.
Click Finish when the Setup Complete message box appears.
Editing your SmartForce settings
The SmartForce Settings utility allows you to alter several of your SmartForce Web
settings, and can be accessed by selecting Programs - Smartforce Player SmartForce Settings from the Start menu. If you’re running Windows® 3.x or
Windows NT® 3.5x, click the SmartForce Settings icon in the SmartForce Player
folder in Program Manager.
If you are using Java-enabled SmartCourses, you will not need to use the
SmartForce Settings utility.
Online page
The SmartForce Settings utility allows you to specify what page will launch when
you click the online button in your SmartCourse Manager. To change the online
page address, go to the Online section of SmartForce Settings, type in the address of
the page you want and click Apply.
For more information on the SmartCourse Manager, see Chapter 4, “Playing a
Download course locally”.
Getting started with SmartForce Web
SmartForce Player cache settings
The SmartCourse Player uses a cache directory to store viewed information, which
helps to speed up transfer times. You may need to alter the size of your SmartForce
Player cache, or alternatively you may be required to change it’s location. Your
administrator will inform you if these changes need to be made.
Changing the cache size
To change the SmartForce Player cache size:
1.
Go to the SmartForce Player cache section and click the Settings button.
2.
Increase or decrease the size of the cache as required and click OK.
If you are playing Download courses, your cache size should be at least
15MB.
Changing the cache location
To change the SmartForce Player cache location:
1.
Click the SmartForce Player cache Settings button.
2.
In the dialog box that appears, click the Browse button to select the folder that
you want to use to store the cache. Make your choice and click OK.
Editing the proxy server settings
Your administrator may need you to alter your proxy server settings. To do so, go
to the Proxy server section, type in the new proxy address and port number in the
fields provided, and click Apply.
Changing FTP server information
In particular, SmartForce Settings allows you to alter how your progress history is
returned to your administrator, and you may at some point be asked to change the
address of your FTP server or the username and password that you use to access the
server.
2 - 11
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Student’ s Guide
To change your FTP server details:
1.
Click the Settings button in the Progress section.
2.
Ensure the Server type is set to FTP in the Progress settings dialog box that
appears.
3.
Change the server address, username, or password as required and click OK.
3
LOGGING ON TO SMARTFORCE WEB
This chapter explains how to log on and, if necessary, register as a SmartForce Web
student.
Logging on
When your training administrator installed SmartForce Web on the web server, they
may have selected an option that allowed them to track which courses students are
downloading or playing live over the intranet. If they selected this option, you will
have to log on to SmartForce Web every time you visit the web site. The details you
enter here will then be used to track your LivePlay or download activity.
You should go to the Getting Started page and download and install any
necessary components before you log on to SmartForce Web. For more
details, see Chapter 2, “Getting started with SmartForce Web”.
Logging on if you know your student ID
It may be that your training administrator has already assigned you a student
identification number, for example your telephone extension number or your social
security number.
If you already know your ID, simply type in your ID in the field provided and click
the Submit button.
3-2
Student’ s Guide
Registering with SmartForce Web
If you do not yet have a student identification number, you need to register as a
SmartForce Web student.
To register with SmartForce Web:
1.
On the Logon page, click the Register button.
2.
On the Registration page, type your first name in the field provided.
3.
Type your last name.
4.
Type your student identification number.
Your administrator will tell you what number to use—for example, your
telephone extension or social security number.
5.
If a Password field is shown, type a password in the field provided.
6.
If a Confirm Password field is shown, retype your password.
7.
Type your location.
8.
Click Submit.
You have now registered as a
SmartForce Web student and will
be taken to the SmartForce Web
home page. The next time you log
on, simply type your student
number (and password, if
necessary) and click Submit to
access the SmartForce Web home page.
Skipping logon
Your administrator may have configured SmartForce Web so that you can skip the
logon process and browse the SmartForce Web site. In this case a Skip button will
appear on the Logon page. If you skip logon, you will be able to browse all the pages
on the SmartForce Web site, including curriculum planners and course description
pages, but you will not be able to play courses online or download them to your
computer.
4
FINDING AND PLAYING COURSES
This chapter will show you how to find a course on the SmartForce Web site and
either play it live over your organization’s intranet, or download it to your
computer and play it locally.
Finding courses on the SmartForce Web site
SmartForce Web provides a number of tools that help you search for the course you
want to take. The entire SmartForce e-Learning Catalog can be viewed on the
SmartForce Web site, which enables you to plan your study using curriculum
planners and descriptions of individual courses. However, few organizations will
have all of SmartForce’s courses available, so SmartForce Web also includes a listing
of only the courses available on your SmartForce Web site so that you can focus on
these early in your search.
To begin searching for a course, you need to click the Courseware button on the
SmartForce Web home page. This will take you to the Courseware page.
4-2
Student’ s Guide
Using the list of available courses
To find a course using the list of available courses, click the hyperlink
on the Courseware page.
This opens the List of Courses Available at this Site page, which
contains a list such as the one shown below.
To help you to quickly find the course you want, the courses on the list are grouped
by vendor or curriculum. In the illustration below, for example, you can see that all
available courses on Microsoft Visual Basic® are grouped under one heading. Notice
also that the icons to the left of the list items indicate whether the courses are
available for LivePlay, download, or both. In our example all courses are available
with both options.
When you find the course you want from the list, click its hyperlink. This will
display the course description page for that course.
Using the SmartForce e-Learning Catalog
The SmartForce e-Learning Catalog contains a complete list of all courses produced
by SmartForce, therefore many of the courses it lists may not be available on your
SmartForce Web site. However, the Catalog is useful in that it allows you to use
curriculum planners to plan your study, and enables you to request courses not yet
available on your SmartForce Web site from your training administrator.
The SmartForce Catalog is arranged in a hierarchy of increasingly specific
curriculum planners that lead to course description pages for individual courses.
These course description pages contain the LivePlay and Download icons that you
use to access the course. You can browse backward and forward through the
Finding and playing courses
hierarchy of planners (see the diagram below) to search for a course you want to
take or to plan a course of study.
To begin searching the Catalog, use the Catalog overview graphic on the
Courseware page. Each of the titles in the Catalog overview graphic represents a
broad grouping of courses and curricula available for a particular vendor’s products
or a particular area of technology. When you click one of these titles, the
introductory planner for that curriculum is displayed.
Let’s say, for example, you want to find the course Microsoft Office 97: Beginning Word
97 using the Catalog. Begin by clicking the Microsoft title in the Catalog overview
graphic to display the Microsoft introductory planner, which is shown below.
Introductory planners display the curricula available for the specified vendor or
technology.
4-3
4-4
Student’ s Guide
Now you need to click the Microsoft Office 97 link in the introductory planner to
display the curriculum planner for the Microsoft Office 97 curriculum. This displays all
the individual courses in the curriculum and shows how they relate to each other.
To see a complete text-only list of all course titles, scroll down the
curriculum planner page. Each course title is a hypertext link.
Once you’ve found the Beginning Word 97 course, click its hyperlink to be taken to the
course description page.
Viewing a course description page
As you have seen, you can reach a course description page either through the list of
available courses or through the SmartForce Catalog. If you came through the
Catalog, you can tell if a course is available to you if it has either a LivePlay or a
Download icon at the top of the page.
The course description page lists details of the course, such as how long it should
take to complete, the intended audience, topics covered, and any prerequisites.
Finding and playing courses
You can start playing the course live or downloading the course by clicking the
appropriate icon. These processes are described in detail below. Remember that our
example has both the LivePlay and Download icons, but your site may have only
one or the other depending on how it has been set up.
If you are normally required to log on to SmartForce Web but you choose to
skip the logon process, you will not be able to play a course online or
download it to your computer. You must log on before you can access a
course.
Playing a course using LivePlay
The LivePlay option enables you to run a course directly across an intranet without
the need to download the course to your hard drive. When you have found the
course description page for the course you want to take, you may choose to run it
using LivePlay if your training administrator has provided this option.
LivePlay is available for a particular course if the LivePlay icon
is displayed near the top of its course description page.
Before you use the LivePlay option, you should refer to the Getting Started
page to check whether you need to download and install any components on
your machine. See in Chapter 2, “Getting started with SmartForce Web”.
To run the course using LivePlay, simply click the LivePlay icon. The course then
runs on the SmartForce Web server and is displayed on your computer.
Downloading and installing a course
The download option enables you to download a course from the SmartForce Web
site in the form of a single compressed file. You can use this file to install the course
on your computer and run it, even when you’re not connected to SmartForce Web.
When you have found the course description page for the course you want to take,
you may choose to download it if your training administrator has provided this
option.
A course is available for download if there is a Download icon
near the top of its course description page.
Before you download a course, you should already have downloaded and
installed the SmartForce Player, as described in Chapter 2, “Getting started
with SmartForce Web”.
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4-6
Student’ s Guide
To download and install the course:
1.
Begin by browsing to the course description page for the course.
2.
Click the Download icon. This will display a page that tells you how much disk
space the course will require and which operating system you should be
running.
You should read the course-specific instructions before attempting to
download a course.
3.
When you are sure that you meet the requirements for downloading and
installing the course, click the Download button located near the top of the
page.
4.
If you had to log on to SmartForce Web, you can go directly to step 7. However,
if your browser asks whether you want to open the file or save it to disk, select
the Save option.
5.
In the Save As dialog box, select the folder that you want to store the
downloaded file in, then click the Save button. The compressed file will now be
downloaded to your computer. Remember where you have saved it so that you
can run it later.
6.
Navigate to the folder where you saved the file and double-click it.
7.
In the Select Course Installation Type dialog box, click OK to install the course
onto your computer.
8.
In the Choose Installation Location dialog box, click OK to accept the default
directory or enter an alternative directory. The file will now be installed on your
computer.
Finding and playing courses
If you want to upload your progress records at a later date, you must use the
default directory name, cbtlib.
9.
When the installation is complete, click OK in the message box that displays.
Creating a course diskette set
As well as downloading a SmartForce course to your hard drive, you can copy a
setup program for the course onto a set of floppy disks. This means that you can
install a course to a local or remote location without having to connect to your
organization’s intranet. It also means that you don’t have to store the course on your
hard drive and use up drive space. You can create diskette versions of Download
courses but not LivePlay courses.
To create a course diskette set:
1.
In the Select Course Installation Type dialog box, click the Diskette button.
2.
In the Choose Temporary Location dialog box, select a temporary location for
copies of the diskette images you will be creating. A temp directory will be
created under the location that you choose.
This directory and its contents will be deleted automatically once the diskette set
has been created.
4-7
4-8
Student’ s Guide
3.
Click OK. The installation program will start copying across files to the
temporary directory you created.
4.
Select the Diskettes radio button in the SmartForce Diskette Installation Utility
dialog box and click Next to continue.
5.
The Confirm message box tells you how many diskettes you require. Click OK
to continue.
6.
Insert a blank floppy diskette and click Start Copy in the SmartForce Diskette
Installation Utility dialog box.
7.
Continue to insert blank floppy diskettes as you are prompted until the Confirm
message box displays. Click OK to complete the operation.
Installing from a diskette set
After you have created the diskette version of the course setup program, you still
have to install the course on your laptop or home computer.
To install a course from a diskette set:
1.
Insert Disk 1 of the set into your floppy drive.
2.
In Windows Explorer, select the floppy drive and click Setup.exe.
Finding and playing courses
3.
The Welcome dialog box reminds you which course you are about to install.
Click OK to continue.
4.
In the Choose Installation Location dialog box, select the directory in which you
want to install the course.
5.
You are now prompted to insert the next disk into the floppy drive and to click
OK to continue.
6.
Continue to insert disks as you are prompted until the installation is complete.
7.
The Installation Complete message box displays. Click OK to complete the
installation.
Playing a Download course locally
Once you have installed a SmartForce course on your computer, either by
downloading it from the SmartForce Web site or by running the setup program
from a diskette set, you are ready to play the course.
To play a SmartCourse locally:
1.
Select Start - Programs - SmartForce Player - SmartCourse Manager.
2.
The SmartCourse Manager then launches.
3.
The newly installed SmartCourse will automatically appear in the window of
your SmartCourse Manager. If the course does not appear, click Find Course to
locate the course yourself.
4.
Select the course that you want to run and click Play Course.
You can also take a test directly from within SmartCourse Manager by highlighting
the downloaded course you wish to be tested on, and clicking Take Test. In this
way, SmartCourse manager will bypass the instructional content of the course and
bring you directly to the test.
Gaining access to a course
Every time you play a Download course, you will be
required to enter your student identification number
in the User Details dialog box once the course starts up.
If you were required to log on to SmartForce Web, you
can use the same ID. Otherwise, your administrator
will tell you what number to use.
Your administrator may also have configured the
course so that you can use the number 0 (zero) as your
student number or self-register to the course.
If you self-register to the course, remember that your student ID cannot be
any longer than eight characters.
4-9
4 - 10
Student’ s Guide
Accessing SmartForce Web
After you’ve taken a Download course, you can log on to SmartForce Web
from within SmartForce Manager by clicking the Online button. This will
bring you directly to the SmartForce Web site. For more information on
specifying which page launches when this button is activated, see “Online page” on
p. 2-10.
5
RETURNING OFFLINE PROGRESS AND
REMOVING DOWNLOAD COURSES
This chapter explains how to remove Download courses once you have finished
with them and how to return your offline progress files. If you do not plan to
download SmartForce courses from the SmartForce Web site and play them locally
on your computer, you can skip this chapter.
Returning progress automatically
If you had to log on to SmartForce Web, it means that your progress files will be
returned automatically the next time you log on. If this is the case, you can go
straight to the section“Removing courses from your machine” on p. 5-3 when you
are ready to remove courses.
Returning progress manually
If you didn’t log on to SmartForce Web, you should use SmartCourse Manager to
upload your offline student progress files from your computer. This was installed
on your machine by the SmartForce Player setup program.
You must go to the Getting Started page and click the Configure for progress return
link before you can use SmartCourse Manager to upload progress files.
To return your progress:
1.
Launch SmartCourse Manager by selecting Start - Programs - SmartForce
Player - SmartCourse Manager.
2.
Select the course that you want to upload progress for and click the Copy
Progress button.
3.
You can choose to return your progress to your administrator by selecting the
Send progress to administrator radio button and clicking Continue.
Alternatively your administrator may want you to return your progress to a drive
5-2
Student’ s Guide
on the network. In this case select Copy progress to another drive, enter the
path to the directory where you want your progress stored and click Continue.
4.
The utility will now automatically connect to the FTP server and upload the
student history files before disconnecting from the server.
Returning progress from a home computer
You may decide to take a course at home, and in this case the way you return your
progress differs slightly. After you have taken a course at home, you will have to
copy your progress files to a diskette and manually return your progress to your
administrator on your return to work.
To copy your progress to diskette:
1.
Launch SmartCourse Manager by selecting Start - Programs - SmartForce
Player - SmartCourse Manager.
2.
Select the course that you want to return progress for and click the Copy
Progress button.
3.
In the dialog box that appears, select Copy progress to another drive and type
a:\ in the space provided. Alternatively, you can browse to your floppy drive by
clicking the Browse button, selecting your floppy drive and clicking OK. Click
Continue.
4.
SmartCourse Manager will now automatically upload your student history files
to your floppy drive.
To upload your progress from diskette:
1.
On returning to work, you will have to manually upload your progress files
from diskette to your administrator. Select Start - Programs - SmartForce
Player - SmartCourse Manager to launch SmartCourse Manager.
Returning offline progress and removing Download courses
2.
Click the Find Courses button and, in the dialog box that appears, select I’ll find
the courses myself.
3.
Type a:\ in the space provided or browse to your floppy drive by clicking the
Browse button, selecting your floppy drive and clicking OK. Click Continue.
4.
The name of the course that you are returning progress for will appear. Select
the course and click Copy Progress.
5.
In the Returning Progress dialog box, select the Send progress to administrator
radio button and click Continue. The utility will now automatically connect to
the FTP server and upload your progess before disconnecting from the server.
Removing courses from your machine
You remove Download courses from your machine using SmartCourse Manager,
which was installed on your machine during SmartForce Player Setup.
To remove courses from your machine:
1.
Launch SmartCourse Manager by selecting Start - Programs - SmartForce
Player - SmartCourse Manager.
2.
Select the courses that you want to delete.
3.
Click the Remove button.
4.
A dialog box displays asking if you want to delete the selected courses. Click Yes
to confirm your choice.
5-3
INDEX
A
About Us page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
C
course description pages . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
courses (see SmartCourses)
Courseware page . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4, 4-1
Customer Support page . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
. . . . . . . . . 2-9
. . . . . . . . . 2-9
. . . . 1-3, 4-5, 4-9
. . . . . . . . . 2-2
. . . . . . . . . 2-2
. . . . . . . . . 2-2
. . . . . . . . . 2-3
. . . . . . . . . 4-5
G
Getting Started page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
I
installing
SmartCourses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
SmartForce Player . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
L
LivePlay . . . . . . . . . . . . .
logging on . . . . . . . . . . .
if you know your student ID
skipping . . . . . . . . . .
P
progress return
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. 5-1
. 5-1
. 5-2
. 5-1
R
registering
to SmartForce Web . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
S
D
diskette set
creating . . . . . . . .
installing from . . . . .
Download courses . . . . . .
downloadable components
diskette creator . . . . .
SmartForce Player . . .
SmartForce Player Plugin
downloading
setup programs . . . .
SmartCourses . . . . .
automatic . . . . . . .
configuring for . . . .
from a home computer
manual . . . . . . . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. 1-2, 4-5
. . . 3-1
. . . 3-1
. . . 3-2
setup programs
downloading . . . . . . . .
SmartCourse Manager . . . . . .
SmartCourses . . . . . . . . . .
creating a diskette set . . . .
downloading . . . . . . . .
finding . . . . . . . . . . .
gaining access to . . . . . .
installing . . . . . . . . . .
installing from a diskette set
list of available . . . . . . .
playing locally . . . . . . .
playing using LivePlay . . .
SmartForce e-Learning Catalog . .
SmartForce Player . . . . . . . .
installing . . . . . . . . . .
SmartForce Player Plugin
installing . . . . . . . . . .
SmartForce Settings
editing . . . . . . . . . . .
SmartForce Web
components of . . . . . . .
introducing . . . . . . . . .
registering with . . . . . .
server . . . . . . . . . . . .
site . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
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.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. . . 2-3
5-1–5-3
. . . 1-2
. . . 4-7
1-3, 4-5
. . . 4-1
. . . 4-9
. . . 4-5
. . . 4-8
. . . 4-2
. . . 4-9
. . . 4-5
. . . 4-2
. . . 2-2
. . . 2-3
. . . . . . . 2-6
. . . . . . 2-10
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. . . 1-1
1-1–1-5
. . . 3-2
. . . 1-2
. . . 1-3
W
What’s New page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5