How to Convert Existing Powerpoint Presentations to a Creator Course

Convert Existing Presentations to a Creator Course

Follow the steps below to convert your existing presentation into a creator course with no questions, no remediation questions, no game show questions, and all slides are kept full screen.

1. Open the existing presentation (PPTX file).
2. With the file open, click on Alchemy Creator in Powerpoint.
3. Click Export from the Creator Ribbon.
   
4. Choose eLearning video option.
   • Only appears if your course contains a video
   • Yes: File will contain both full-sized Player version and compressed eLearning version
   • No: File only contains full-sized Player version
     
5. Save the file.
   • The filename will default to the PowerPoint name with the .sistem extension
   • Only alphanumeric characters 
   • No special characters  (Note: Previous versions of Creator included special characters)
6. The file will begin exporting.
   
7. Warning pop-ups: Slide Transitions / Animation / Hyperlinks are not supported by Creator:
   • No: Allow Creator to continue exporting with still images and static text
   • Yes:  Stop publishing; remove the slide transitions / animations / hyperlinks manually
   • Do not show slide warnings: if you have a number of these elements
   • Creator 4 supports Hyperlinks, which will be available to use in Player 8+, for more information, see Creator: Adding a Hyperlink to Your Course.
8. Preview Course.
   • Runs automatically
   • Click on the Menu button in the upper-right corner to navigate through the preview
   • Manual Advance on all slides
     

For steps on how to upload the course into Manager and download to Player, see the article Add Creator Course to Manager.

Convert Existing Presentations to look like Alchemy Courses

Follow the steps below to convert your existing presentation into a creator course with questions, remediation questions, and game show questions.

1. Open the existing presentation (PPTX file).
2. With the file open, click on Alchemy Creator tab in Powerpoint.

Edit and Add Point/Video Slides 

Alchemy Style Slides are highly picture- and video- oriented, and voice over is often added to automaticall advance slides. Alchemy encourages high resolution pictures and videos, as well as scripted voice overs. 

1. From the Alchemy Creator tab, select Point Slide, Video Slide or Slide Properties.
2. Decide on Manual Advance and Full Screen options:
   • Manual Advance: Select if you wish to manually advance voiced over Point slides and Video slides.
   • Full Screen: Default; uses the default PowerPoint template; uncheck to utilize Alchemy’s template.
   • Videos play in widescreen.
     
3. Add instructional elements to your slide (pictures, videos, information).
4. Fill in Slide Text or Subtitle Text fields.
5. Audio (Point slide only).
6. Select Preview to review the completed slide.
   

To make your presentations look like Alchemy Course remove any text from the slide and add it to the Slide Text box. The big difference between full screen vs. Alchemy style courses is that Alchemy style courses are visual. 

Full Screen: This is a preview of a slide with Full Screen selected. The slide takes up most of the screen and there is no text on the right side of the image.
Alchemy Style: This is a preview of a slide with Full Screen not selected. The slide is on the left side of the screen and the text from the Slide Text box is on the right side of the image.

Add Questions

Adding questions to your Creator content will help your employees to retain what they have been taught, and it allows you to use the Alchemy remotes with your own content.

Insert Question Slide

1. In PowerPoint navigate to the Alchemy Creator ribbon, and select Question Slide.
   • the Question Slide will appear after the highlighted slide in PowerPoint (recommended)
   • The Question Slide location defaults to the first slide if a slide is not highlighted
2. By default the question slide will be a Multiple Choice type of question, see Change Question Type for other options.

Build the Question Slide

Change Question Slide Type

1. Click Options.
   
2. The Question Options window will appear.
3. Select a Question Type and click on Apply.
    

Multiple Choice   Questions with custom answers Number of Answers (2-4 answers) Score Style, Graded is the default, Non-Graded questions will not count towards a score
True/False   Question with True and False answers Score Style, Graded is the default, Non-Graded questions will not count towards a score
Yes/No   Questions with Yes and No answers Score Style, Graded is the default, Non-Graded questions will not count towards a score
Rating Scale   Likert scale questions and up to 6 Likert responses Not a graded question Common uses include; Measuring satisfaction, Evaluating agreement with procedures, tracking changes in attitudes before/after training

Add Remediations

Remediation Questions allow you to set a high passing standard while giving your employees a second (and even third) chance to provide a correct answer. Following Alchemy’s instructional design, Remediation Slides review information from the previous section, and Remediation Question Slides allow you to re-phrase the question.
 

1. Highlight the Question Slide that requires a Remediation option.
2. From the Alchemy Creator tab, select Remediation Question Slide.
   • Must immediately follow a Question Slide
   • Includes one instructional Remediation Slide (more can be added) and one Remediation Question slide
     
3. Build the Remediation slide, just as you would a Point Slide.
   • Select the Remediation Slide button at the top to add more slides.
4. Build the Remediation Question slide, just as you would a Question Slide.
   • Only one Remediation Question is created per Question Slide
   • Player can be set to play the same Remediation Question twice

Add a Game Show Question

Game show questions allow you to create Lightning Round/Game Show that is an optional game show of yes/no questions. These questions are not recorded and do not affect users grades.

1. Highlight the last slide.
2. From the Alchemy Creator tab, select Game Show Question.
   • More than one Game Show Question can be added.
   • Only one question is created per Game Show Question.
     
3. Fill in Question Text.
4. Add Audio and Pictures (optional).
   • Speaker icon: Import
   • Microphone icon: Record in Creator
   • Picture icon: Upload an image
     • You can also add an image by pasting it directly on the slide
5. Click on the Correct answer circle.
6. Preview Question.
    

Export and Preview a Course

A course must be exported for it to be playable. The exporting function will generate a self-contained file that may then be added into Player and eLearning. Refer to Export and Preview a Course for detailed instructions.

For steps on how to upload the course into Manager and download to Player, see the article Add Creator Course to Manager.