Incorporating Audio into a PowerPoint Presentation

Any time you convert a PowerPoint in Unison you have to check your PowerPoint presentation settings to make sure that all the components of your original presentation get converted when you upload it to Unison. Converting presentations with audio can be extra tricky. Here are two ways to incorporate audio in a way that will convert without problems:

1. Importing audio clips: If the audio you want to incorporate is prerecorded, follow the steps below to ensure that the audio files are correctly embedded into your presentation.
2. Narrating your presentation: This is a great option if you want to record yourself narrating the PowerPoint.

How to Import Audio Clips

1. First of all, make sure the file is in.wav format. PowerPoint will not embed .mp3 files.
2. Browse for your .wav audio file.
3. Click Insert, Sound, and then select “Sound from File.”
4. Make sure that the sounds settings are set to play “Automatically.”
5. Check the Max Sound File Size setting is set to 50000K the maximum allowable size. This will ensure that the audio file is actually embedded, and not just linked, to your presentation. Linked audio files are stored outside of the presentation and are lost during conversion in Unison.

Where to look for the Max Sound File:

PowerPoint 2007 (PC version): this setting is found by selecting the icon for your audio file on your PowerPoint page, and adjusting the Max Sound File Size located at the top of the PowerPoint window.

PowerPoint 2003 (PC version): this setting is found by selecting the icon for your audio file on your PowerPoint page, selecting Tools; Options, and under the General tab, adjusting the number where it says “Link sounds with file size great than”

On a Mac, you adjust this setting by entering the PowerPoint Preferences, and under the General tab, change the number where it says “Link sounds with file size greater than:”

By default these amounts should be set to 100. It is suggested that you set this number to the 50000 maximum size to ensure your files embed properly.

Powerpoint 2010 for Windows and Powerpoint 2011 for Mac do not require you to change the file size, this is done automatically for you after bringing the audio file into the ppt slide. As long as the audio file is in a .wav format, just drag and drop.

How to Narrate a PowerPoint

1. After you have created all the slides, go to the Slide Show tab and click on “Record Slide Show.”
2. Click on “Set Microphone Level” to adjust microphone settings. Then hit OK.
3. Click through your presentation, narrating like you would for a live audience.
4. When you are finished recording, push the ESC key and when the prompt appears asking you if you want to save the timings, hit YES.

Updates to PowerPoint Converter

We noticed that with our previous PowerPoint converter there was no way to completely disable the click when the presentation played in a Unison course. If a learner clicked anywhere on the slide during the presentation, the animations would all advance and the audio would skip or loop.

The PowerPoint converter has been updated to completely disable the click for the learner during the presentation in the course, which will keep the animations and audio from malfunctioning.

What settings should I use when I create new PowerPoint presentations?

Now that the click is disabled for learners during the presentation, you will need to make sure that all your animations and audio files are set to play automatically in your original PowerPoint.

Animation Settings: Set all animations to either "Play with Previous" or "Play After Previous."

Audio Settings: Set all audio files to play "Automatically."

What about the PowerPoints I uploaded and converted previously?

If you have older presentations in Unison courses that were uploaded and converted prior to August 25, 2011, and you want take advantage of the new click disabled setting, you will need to delete the old presentations from your media manager and re-upload the original PowerPoint presentation to Unison. Re-uploading it with the new converter will ensure that the click is disabled during the presentation. If you need a reminder on how to upload a PowerPoint Presentation, please read this blog post.

Issue Management: Grid vs. Row View

The newest release of Unison provides a new way of viewing the issues that you are managing in your course. To manage the issues for a course and witness the new views for yourself, log in to Unison, click on one of your projects, go to "Manage Issues" and you will see these two icons to the right above the list of your issues:

This blog post will discuss the advantages of viewing the issues in "Grid" format. For more information on the features of the newest Unison release please read this blog post.

Advantages of Grid View

Using the “Grid” allows you to see a lot more information about the issue and to sort the issues in different ways.

When you first enter the “Grid” view, you may have a hard time seeing all the data because there are many narrow columns.

Widening the Columns

If you can’t read all the information in a column, just hover over the edge of the column until you see the symbol with the lines and arrows. This will allow you to click and pull the edge of the column over to make it wider.

Viewing Less (or More) Columns

Still overwhelmed by the amount of information you are looking at? You can go in and take away some of the columns from the view screen. This will make the remaining columns wider and easier to read.

1. Hover over a column heading until it turns blue and you see an arrow on the right side.

2. Click on the arrow to pull down the menu, then hover over the word “Columns.” You will see a list of all the column headings next to check boxes.

3. Click on a box to uncheck it. This column will now be removed from your view.

Sorting Column Information

You can now sort the information in each column by hovering over the column, clicking on the downward arrow, and clicking on “Sort Ascending” or “Sort Descending.”

Sorting the information in the “page” column will allow you view issues grouped by page. For example, all issues on page 1 will be grouped together, so you can go in and make all the necessary edits to page 1 that are necessary at the same time. Sorting the information in the “Priority” column will group the issues by priority. You can then go and start working on the group of issues at the highest priority first.

Important New Features for Unison Users

We have updated Unison to include the following new features:

• Enhanced Issue Tracking: We have upgraded the issue management system to include a color indicator on the "My Projects" tab, making it quick and easy to identify how many open, verify, and closed issues you have been assigned. There are now two ways to view the issues, and even a way to make an issue "private."
  

• Customized Reminders: Administrators now have the ability to email customized reminders to team members.

You can read more about these new features below:

Enhanced Issue Tracking
Assigned Issues
When you open the "My Projects" tab, you will now be able to just glance at the issue color indicator to see how many open, verify, and closed tickets have been assigned to you on each project.

Viewing the Issues
If you want to view the complete list of all issues, click on the light bulb icon. If you want to view only the open issues, click on the number in red on the color indicator. If you want to view issues that need to be verified, click on the number in yellow on the color indicator. If you need to view issues that have been closed, click on the number in green on the color indicator.

There are also two ways to view the issues. Once you have clicked on the issues (either the light bulb icon or from the color indicator), you can change the way you view the list of issues by clicking on the row or grid icons.



View as Row

View as Grid


To read more information about the advantages of viewing the issues in grid form, please click the link to read the "Grid vs Row" blog post.

And, as always, you can click on the "Download Excel" link to down load the list of issues as an Excel spreadsheet.

Making Issues Private
You can make new and existing issues private (hidden from reviewers) by going to the "Manage Issues" link under the "Authoring" tab. Click on "Add a New Issue" (or click on edit for an existing issue) and check the box next to "Private Note" under the issue text field.



Adding Customized Reminders
To send a customized reminder for an existing course, click on the "Admin" tab and then click on the "View/Update Project" Link.

Locate the project and then click on the project name. You will now be able to view the "Project Information" and "Optional" expanding menu (as illustrated in the image to the left.

Make sure that your project has a due date, and then select the team members to whom you want to send an email reminder, select the day, and type in a personalized reminder message. Your team members will receive this reminder by email.

Using SoftSkills Pages in ProForm

Incorporating SoftSkills pages into your ProForm course is a great way to give your learners a chance to practice their skills in a simulation.

How It Works

Learners will be faced with a scenario, often with accompanying images and audio, and have to make a decision based on the options they are given. The choices that learners make will award (or deduct) points from their score and result in different subsequent scenarios and conclusions. At the end of simulation, learners can view all the choices that they made and receive feedback on each, as well as seeing the points earned for each choice and their final score.

What You Need

The SoftSkills pages run similarly to a choose-your-own-adventure book, with a scenario on each page and choices that follow and take the learner to new pages. Setting up the SoftSkills pages correctly means that the choices on each page link to another page and that each choice eventually leads to a conclusion. Every SoftSkills simulation must include the following pages:

• Start Page: Every simulation will have ONE of these pages. There are up to four choices on the start page that will link the learner to additional pages.
  
• Linked Pages: The amount of "linked pages" in your simulation depends on you! This is the page type that each of the four choices from the start page will go to. Every choice must lead to a "linked page" or a "last page."
  
• Last Pages: Any time you wish to put an end to a string of choices, a "last page" must be used. This page type will end the simulation, give the learner feedback, and allow the learner to continue on to the rest of the course.

The image below is an example of a start page.
The image below is an example of a linked page. There are only two choices on this page, but you can have up to four.
The image below is an example of a last page.

All three of these page types ("start page," "linked page," and "last page") are built off the basic SoftSkills page, but you must change the settings in a very specific way for each one. The required settings for each page type is given below:

Start Page

Page ID: Type in the name of the page. This is the name that will appear in the table of contents.

Link ID: Optional. If another page links to this page, you will need to enter a link ID.

Content File: Do not change.

Load Percentage: 20

Frames per second: 12

Include in TOC?: Check this box. First click the lock, then click the box and click the lock again. This will ensure that your first page appears in the table of contents.

Show Review?: Leave this unchecked.

Hide Page?: Uncheck this box. Click the lock to open the field, click the box to uncheck it, then click the lock. This will ensure that the page is not hidden from the learner.

Hide Next/Back?: Check this box. By hiding the next and back keys, our learner won’t be able to skip over the simulation.

Step Text: Type in the text that you want the learner to read to start the scenario.

Step Audio/video: Optional. Click on the folder icon to browse for the file you want to use.

Step Image: Optional. Click on the folder icon to browse for the file you want to use.

Is This Start Page: Check this box since it is the first page of your simulation.

Is This Last Page: Leave this box unchecked.

Include Meter?: Check this box if you want your learner to see the meter that rates their responses.

Scenario Title: Type in the text that you want to appear as the heading at the top of the page during the simulation.

Failure Label: This is the text that appears on the negative side of the meter. Ex. Poor/bad

Success Label: This is the text that appears on the positive side of the meter. Ex. Great/Well Done

Total Possible Pts: The total points maximum that the learner can earn during the simulation.

Choice Tabs on the Start Page

Each of the choices from these tabs will appear on the scenario start page, immediately below the step text.

Choice n Text: The text the learner will read for this choice.

Choice n Audio: Optional. Click on the folder icon to browse for an audio file.

Choice n Point Value: Assign this choice a point value.

Choice Links To: Type in the Page ID of the "linked page" that this choice will take the learner to.

Choice n Feedback: This feedback will be received by the learner after the simulation has ended.

Linked Pages

Page ID: This Page ID needs to be typed in on the corresponding choice tab that leads to this page.

Link ID: Optional.

Content File: Do not change.

Load Percentage: 50

Frames per second: 12

Include in TOC?: Uncheck this box.

Show Review?: Uncheck this box.

Hide Page?: Check this box. This will ensure that the page does not appear in the table of contents.

Hide Next/Back?: Check this box.

Step Text: Type in the text that you want the learner to read.

Step Audio/video: Optional. Click on the folder icon to browse for the file you want to use.

Step Image: Optional. Click on the folder icon to browse for the file you want to use.

Is This Start Page: Uncheck this box since it is not the first page of your simulation.

Is This Last Page: Uncheck this box since it is not the last page of your simulation.

Include Meter?: Check this box if you want your learner to see the meter that rates their responses.

Scenario Title: Leave blank.

Failure Label: Leave blank.

Success Label: Leave blank.

Total Possible Pts: Leave blank.

Choice 1-4 Tabs: Fill out up to four choice tabs that will lead your learner to even more pages.

Last Pages

Page ID: This Page ID needs to be typed in on the corresponding choice tab that leads to this page.

Link ID: Optional.

Content File: Do not change.

Load Percentage: 50

Frames per second: 12

Include in TOC?: Uncheck this box.

Show Review?: Check this box. At this point the learner will receive a score and feedback for all the choices made during the simulation.

Hide Page?: Check this box. This will ensure that the page does not appear in the table of contents.

Hide Next/Back?: Uncheck this box. After completing the simulation, the learner will will click on the “Next” button to take them to the next part of the course.

Step Text: Type in the text that you want the learner to read.

Step Audio/video: Optional. Click on the folder icon to browse for the file you want to use.

Step Image: Optional. Click on the folder icon to browse for the file you want to use.

Is This Start Page: Uncheck this box since it is not the first page of your simulation.

Is This Last Page: Check this box since it is not the last page of your simulation.

Include Meter?: Check this box if you want your learner to see the meter that rates their responses.

Scenario Title: Leave blank.

Failure Label: Leave blank.

Success Label: Leave blank.

Total Possible Pts: Leave blank.

Choice1-4 Tabs: Leave blank.

Your simulation is now complete!