We understand that many organizations have their training material in a Microsoft PowerPoint file. If so, there are various options for you to add your PowerPoint material to the learning environment.
Good: Uploading your PowerPoint File
This option allows you to add your PowerPoint file as, well, as PowerPoint file.
Go to the course in question
Turn editing on
Drag and drop your file in the main content of the course
That's it! By following the 3 steps above, your PowerPoint file will now be part of your course and your learners can access it simply by clicking on it.
Pros:
Easy
Cons:
You can’t really track that the users have read the PowerPoint. You can only track that they’ve clicked on it.
Requires the learner to have a software that can view Microsoft PowerPoint files on their computer or mobile device.
Good: Adding PowerPoint as a PDF File
Alternatively, you can convert your PowerPoint to a PDF file before uploading it to the learning environment. Using this approach, the steps to upload the PowerPoint to the learning environment are identical, but you would first save the PowerPoint file to PDF
Using Microsoft PowerPoint, open the file
Click on File > Save As
Select the “PDF (*.pdf)” option for the file type
Click on the “Save” button
In the learning environment, go to the course in question
Turn editing on
Drag and drop your file in the main content of the course
Your PowerPoint file (in PDF format) is now part of your course and your learners can access it simply by clicking on it.
Pros:
Easy
Can be open by most browsers (without the need to have a Microsoft PowerPoint viewer installed on the user’s computer or mobile device)
Cons:
You can’t really track that the users have read the PDF file. You can only track that they’ve clicked on it.
Better: Adding PowerPoint as an MP4 Video
Microsoft PowerPoint is generally used to accompany a presenter during a live presentation. Ideally, if the PowerPoint is to be uploaded to the learning environment so that a learner can view it anytime from anywhere, it would contain the audio from the presenter. This ensures that the learner experience is similar whether they attend a live instructor-led session or they view the pre-recorded presentation after the fact via the learning environment.
Microsoft PowerPoint allows a presenter to record their audio for each and every slide. After doing so, the instructor can export the PowerPoint to an MP4 format so that it can include both the slides and the audio.
Using Microsoft PowerPoint, open the file
Go to a slide where you want to record audio
Click on the “Record” tab in Microsoft PowerPoints' top menu
Click on the “Audio” button. A “Record Sound” modal window should appear
Click on the record button and start recording your audio
When you are done recording your audio for this slide, click on the stop button
Repeat the procedure above for all slides where you want to incorporate audio
Once you are done recording your audio, click on File > Save As
Select the “MPEG-4 Video (*.mp4)” option for the file type
Click on the “Save” button
In the learning environment, go to the course in question
Turn editing on
Drag and drop your file in the main content of the course
A modal window will ask you to make a selection. Generally speaking, our recommendation is to use the “Create file resource” option
The “Add media to course page” option will embed your presentation directly in the course outline
The “Create file resource” will add a hyperlink in the course outline. When they user clicks on this link, they are brought to a page that shows them the video.
Your PowerPoint file (in MP4 format) is now part of your course and your learners can access it simply by clicking on it.
Pros:
Best user experience
Will work on any modern browser, including mobile devices, without the need for any additional software or plugins
Cons:
Requires the presenter to record their audio, which takes more time
Results in large files
Best: Adding PowerPoint Using the Lesson Activity
While all 3 options above have their Pros and Cons, none of them allow you to track that a user views the presentation in its entirety. If you want to track that users view the presentation in its entirety, the recommendation is to create a lesson in the learning environment using the “Lesson” activity.
Using Microsoft PowerPoint, open the file
Click on File > Save As
Select the “JPEG File Interchange Format (*.jpg)” option for the file type
Click on the “Save” button
When prompted “Which slides do you want to export”, select “All Slides”
The steps above will create a series of images in JPEG format. They will be labeled “Slide 1”, “Slide 2” and so on. You will need to use those in step #15 below.
In the learning environment, go to the course in question
Turn editing on
Click on “Add an activity or resource”
Select the “Lesson” activity
Give the activity a name. Generally speaking, the name should match the title of the presentation.
Set the other settings as per your preferences.
Click on “Save and display”
Click on “Add a content page”
Give the content page a name. Generally speaking, the name should match the title of the slide you will be importing.
Drag and drop the JPG titled “Slide 1” (generated in step #5 above) to the “Page contents” text area.
In the “Content 1” section of the same web page (below the text area), enter “Next” for the description and select “Next page” for the jump field
This steps create a navigation for the lesson, allowing the user to jump the next slide. You may want to create other navigation buttons, like “Previous”, “First” or “Last”.
Click on “Save page”
This will have created a page in your lesson.
In the “Actions” column next to the page you just created, select “Add a content page”
Repeat steps 14 to 18 above until you have imported all of your images in JPEG format
The advantage of the Lesson activity is that you can track that the user views all slides. You can also embed questions within the lesson to test the user’s knowledge as they go through the presentation. To accomplish this, make sure that you go back to the lessons settings (in the “Administration” block, go to “Lesson administration” > “Settings”) and set the “Activity completion criteria correctly. This may include enabling the criteria “Student must reach the end of lesson page to complete this activity” or even “Student must do this activity at least for __ minutes”.
Pros:
Best user experience
You can record audio for each slide and embed questions
You can track that the user view the presentation in its entirety and verify their knowledge by embedding questions.
Cons:
Requires more time on the part of the instructor to create
Results in large files, particularly if using audio