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Create a Lesson in Lesson Builder

A new Lesson is created from the Lessons panel on the Courses Overview screen, which opens Lesson Builder as an empty Lesson, and this article shows Content Developers and Instructional Designers how to fill it in and where the other two ways of creating a Lesson are covered.

 Which way are you creating this Lesson?

There are three. All of them end with a Lesson open in Lesson Builder. What differs is how much of it is already built when you get there.

If you want to
Do this
Build the Lesson step by step, placing each screen as you go Create it in Lesson Builder. That is this article.
Take several screens that are already Replicas and get a Lesson with the steps already made Select them in the Screen Library and use Create Lesson. See Use Replicas in a Lesson.
Start from a source video you have not captured screens from yet Capture them in Replica Video Capture and use Create Lesson there. See Use Replicas in a Lesson.

 

Note: Having your screens in the Screen Library already does not commit you to the second route. Build in Lesson Builder whenever you would rather place each screen yourself and shape the step around it, and pull the screens in from the Screen Library one at a time as you go.

What do you need before you start?

A Lesson is filed inside a Module, and a Module is filed inside a Course, so the Course and Module you want have to exist before you create the Lesson. You will also want at least one Replica ready in the Screen Library, because every step needs a screen.

How do you create a Lesson?

Step
Action
1 Open your Learning Program, then select the Course you want to work in. The Courses Overview screen opens.
2 The Courses panel lists every Course in the Learning Program. Selecting one fills in the Modules panel.
3 In the Modules panel, choose your Module. The Lessons panel fills in and its [+] becomes available.
4 Click the [+] in the Lessons panel header. Lesson Builder opens as an empty Lesson.
5 Enter a Lesson Title. This field is required.
6 Add a Description. This is what Learners read before they start the Lesson. The toolbar gives you color, bold, italic, underline, a bullet list, and a link, and Show HTML lets you work in the markup directly.
7 Set the thumbnail. Hover the thumbnail well and click the upload arrow. The picker that opens lets you drop in a new file or select an image already in your Learning Program. An image cannot exceed 5 MB. To have Skyllful produce one for you instead, click Generate Thumbnail.
8 Build the first step. Add a screen to it from the Screen Library or upload one, enter the step Name, and add the control the Learner will act on.
9 Click Create.

 

Note: Give every Lesson a thumbnail. It is what Learners see for the Lesson in Simulator, so a Lesson without one is missing the thing Learners recognize it by. Studio will let you create a Lesson without a thumbnail, which is exactly why it is worth making a habit. To replace one that is already set, hover the thumbnail and use the [X] to clear it first.

 

Note: There is no separate "new Lesson" prompt. The [+] takes you straight into Lesson Builder, and the Lesson does not exist until you click Create. Preview, Distribute, and the publishing controls stay unavailable until then.

What does a step need before you can create the Lesson?

Component
What it is
A screen The Replica the step is about. Pull it in from the Screen Library or upload a new one.
Name The step name. Required.
Selected Controls What the Learner acts on. Required. A new step arrives holding no-action-required, which satisfies the field on a step where the Learner only reads and taps to continue.

Where do you learn the rest of the screen?

Creating the Lesson is the start of it. Everything after this point has an article of its own:

  • Navigate the Lesson Builder Screen is the tour of the screen, separating what acts on the whole Lesson from what acts on the step you are in.
  • Modify Lesson Steps covers adding, duplicating, archiving, and reordering steps, and adding the controls a Learner acts on.
  • Style Screen Prompts covers the spotlight and dialog styling, and how to apply one step's styling to the whole Lesson.

 

Note: You do not have to build every mode. A step takes its content from the General tab in Talkthrough, Walkthrough, Practice, and Knowledge Check, so building General builds the step for all of them. Open an individual mode tab only when that mode needs to say something different.

What if you cannot create a Lesson?

Symptom
What to do
The [+] in the Lessons panel is greyed out Either nothing is selected yet or you do not have permission. Check that you have chosen both a Course and a Module. If you have and the [+] is still greyed out, your account does not have permission to create Lessons in this Learning Program.
Create does nothing Check that the Lesson Title is filled in and that the first step has a Name and something in Selected Controls. All three are required.

If you need help, start with your manager, then your Local Administrator. If additional assistance is needed, your Local Administrator can submit a support ticket to Skyllful.

Skyllful Knowledge Base | Content Developers, Instructional Designers