Publishing JClic projects on the Internet

I have created or adapted some JClic activities and I want my students to be able to do them on their devices. How can I do it?

On this page we will try to explain what options you have, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. We’ll start with the most recommended, ending with those that should be used only as a last resort.

Preparation of the JClic project to publish it on the Internet

The first thing you need to do is to export your activity pack to the HTML5/SCORM format from your computer, using JClic Author. This will create two objects:

• A SCORM file, located in the “JClic/scorm” directory
  In most cases, this file is what you will need to upload to the platform where you want to publish the activities. It has the same name as the project, but ending in “.scorm.zip“.
• A folder with the same name of the project, located in the “JClic/export” directory
  Some options explained below require uploading to the server all the files in this folder. The main file is always “index.html“.

Once you have the “scorm.zip” file and the folder ready, consider which option might work best for you to publish the activities for your students on the Internet:

If your school uses Moodle

In this case you can upload or link the activities to your Moodle virtual classroom and configure them so that they appear to the students when you want.

The main advantages of using Moodle are:

• The activities are published directly on the Internet, but with restricted access to those authorized to enter the virtual classroom.
• There is no need to manage IDs and passwords for students: Moodle takes care of all of this.
• In the course qualifier, you can see at all times who have done the activities and who hasn’t, and see the results obtained by doing them.
• JClic activities are integrated into an environment (the Moodle virtual classroom) living together with other types of resources, thus becoming part of a wider work scenario.
• You can take advantage of Moodle’s multiple options to customize the type of activities shown to each student, set calendars and access restrictions, apply gamification, etc.

The most recommended thing is to have installed the “JClic” module for Moodle, which collects a lot of information about the activities carried out by the students: time spent, successes, errors, score obtained, etc. To find out if this module is installed, see if, when adding new resources to the virtual classroom, a type of activity called “JClic” appears.

If your Moodle does not yet have the JClic module installed, you can always use the “SCORM Package” activity type. This option is more limited, since it not collect the details of each activity but only a numerical indicator with the average score obtained by each student.

If your school uses another SCORM-compliant platform

In this case you should be able to directly upload the “scorm.zip” file you generated at the beginning.

The main advantages of using JClic activities in SCORM format are:

• The activities are protected (only students and other people authorized by the platform will be able to access them)
• You will be able to see who has attempted the activities at least once.
• You will be able to collect the score achieved by each student when doing the activities.

Note that Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams do not currently support the SCORM activity format.

If you are a teacher working at the Catalan Education Service

In this case, you have an identifier from the Xarxa Telemática Educativa de Catalunya (XTEC). This allows you to have a personal library of projects in which to publish your JClic activities.

Once published, the platform offers different ways to make the activities accessible to students: sharing the URL, embedding them in a blog or in the school portal, linking them from Classroom or Teams, spreading them to social networks, etc.

Note that all projects published in the personal library are publicly accessible, so anyone knowing the URL can see (and even download) them. Never put photos or personal data there without permission!

The personal library of projects does not collect the results of the activities done by the students. To do this you will need a virtual learning environment such as Moodle.

If your school has an on-line publishing service

Some educational institutions, such as EducaMadrid, offer their teachers the possibility of having a personal website where they can publish educational resources. If your institution offers you this possibility, you only need to upload the folder that is generated when exporting the JClic project, following the specific instructions for each platform.

This can only be done if the publishing system directly displays the files on the Internet. Storage solutions such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc. won’t help you, because they only allow seeing the documents embedded in a platform’s web page. There are some intermediary apps that promise to do this, such as “Drive to web“, but they are not at all recommended because they usually work on servers located in countries without legal data protection guarantees: they could steal your Drive account (and, incidentally, your email and other associated services), or stop working at any time.

If none of these alternatives applies, and you are looking for a free web hosting space

There are a few options for publishing resources on the Internet for free, but you need to keep two things in mind:

1 – These services depend on private companies or institutions that can stop being free at any time, show advertising, collect personal data or simply disappear overnight.

2 – The files you publish there will be open access to anyone who knows their URL. Never publish activities with photos or personal data!

Here are some of the services that currently offer free hosting space for web resources:

IMPORTANT: These services are offered by companies that have no relation to the JClic project. XTEC is not responsible for its use. It also cannot guarantee its operation and cannot offer you any kind of support. Check each platform’s terms of use and data protection compliance before using it!