Verifying Loaded Content Works Properly

Before you make loaded content available to users or grant it to clients, it is strongly advised that you verify that it is working the way you intended. It is much better to correct errors or resolve problems before users begin working with learning activities. Here are some specific suggestions:

• If your content is very large, you may want to consult your service provider for advice on how to effectively manage large content packages.
• Launch the content yourself and test its behaviour, preferably on a site that is not accessible to the public.
• Assign the newly loaded content manually (see Adding Participants Directly) to only a select group of users who can review and comment on it.

Ensure that everyone involved in reviewing or testing content takes the time to review it thoroughly: the effort spent now will save time in the long term. Here are some typical things you'll want to have verified:

• Is the correct content launched for each item in the activity?
• Is each item free of typographical and other content errors?
• When you complete and pass, or complete and fail, each item, is the status and score information saved to the LMS correctly? (Some authoring tools (like Articulate) provide many options that control the status information saved.)
• If your content supports suspend and resume, does this functionality work properly? For example, will your content resume where the user suspended it or does it always start playing from the beginning on resume?
• Does your content work with each Internet browser type and version used by your target population? If plug-ins are used by your content, do they work in each type and version of browser?
• If your content asks questions and saves the responses as interaction data to the LMS, is this functionality working properly?  The saving of user responses is an option in many authoring tools, allowing you to analyze user's responses to questions individually or in the aggregate.