Note the box top-right of the materials grid. You can switch between a view that maps to school diplomas, or the custom headings described below. Note the materials available are the same either way - it's simply a different way to browse them.

When using the "other" view, each of the four major headings in the NLN Materials grid:

• ACL
• Basic and Key Skills
• Subjects
• Vocational

expand, when clicked, to reveal a list of subject areas.

Buttons on the right display the corresponding level of the Learning Objects for each subject area. The level indicators represent National Qualifications Framework (NQF) levels from Entry Level 1 (E1) to Level 4 (L4).

Click on one of the level buttons to browse to a list of Learning Objects corresponding to the subject area and level you want to find.

You can also switch .

If you wish the download LOs, rather than linking to them, you can either download individual Learning Objects, or use FTP to download multiple Learning Objects at once:

1. To download an individual LO, from the home page click on a subject level to expand it, and click a "level" button. (See the Getting Started for a quick introduction.) Choose a Learning Object and then click the "Download as Content Package" to download the LO as a zip file. See this question to understand the contents of this zip file and what you can do with it.
2. To download multiple Learning Objects at once, you'll need to use an FTP client. Enter the following settings:
   
   

   server	ftp.nln.ac.uk
   port	21
   user name	NLNFTP
   password	q78gp+

See this page for the various ways you can use the materials in Moodle.

Check that any pop-up blocker you have installed is not preventing the new window from opening. If possible, add "www.nln.ac.uk" and "go.nln.ac.uk" to the list of allowed sites.

URLs are long and liable to human error. Check for the following:

• If you copied and pasted the URL, ensure you used the whole URL
• If sending via an email, it is common for long URLs to be wrapped across lines. This can mean that when the link is clicked, the browser tries to use only the bit on that line, rather than the whole URL.

Please see the contact page for further support options.

Yes. LSIS have worked with Xtensis, who developed the service under the contract with JANET(UK), to ensure its continued operation for the next two years. The site is run by LSIS from July 22nd. Xtensis have kindly granted a free license to use the software that delivers the site, so it looks and performs much the same as it did before. An LSIS survey in December 2010 confirmed that:

• practitioners continue to value the materials themselves and the service
• a large body of learning in college and other provider VLEs contains embedded links to the site that would have to be reworked if the site closed.

Here's a list of the main differences:

• Users no longer need to register or log-in to access the materials
• Collections can no longer be created/edited within the site
• New facility to bulk download the materials, using FTP
• New switchable home screen view, mapping the materials to school diplomas
• Method to share Learning Objects on a range of social bookmarking sites
• Various design improvements
• Streamlined and updated information pages
• New expanded help system
• The NLN site no longer has a dedicated support desk

See the other answers in this section, and the updated Functionality section, for more details.

They will continue to work as before. See the following question for links to collections, but links to individual Learning Objects have not changed. The only slight difference is that links now point directly to the content, rather than - as previously - to a menu page that contained a link to the LO's content.

Since the new site does not hold user accounts, you can no longer create new collections. You can also no longer edit existing collections within the site.

However:

1. Learner URLs to existing collections will continue to work exactly as before, so although you can't edit your existing collections, any links to them will continue to function.
2. You can import your NLN collections into XtLearn.net. This is a new service from Xtensis - the developers of the NLN site - which incorporates all of the collection functionality from the previous NLN site, and many extra functions, such as mixing in content from other sources, adding text nodes to the collection, sharing them with peers, and customising how they're presented to learners. To learn more about importing NLN collections to XtLearn, see this page on the XtLearn site.

Noodle should still work fine, with no changes required, but Moodle administrators should see the updated Noodle info page for more info.

Please see the contact page for further support options.

The 6 entry level Learning Objects in the search results for Making Learning Work for You are suitable for all three entry levels (according to the content developer) but the Level column only ever shows one value – in this case entry-level 1.

The problem stems from the stricter security in place within browsers now than when these materials were first developed. When one of the affected Learning Objects are first run on any machine, the Shockwave movie tries to download and install several additional bits of code. If run under a Windows account that is not "administrator level", the download and install will fail, causing the playback to apparently hang.

To resolve this, you must log-in to the computer as an administrator, and then play any one of the affected Learning Objects to give it a chance to fully download and install everything the series needs. After that, that particular machine should play all of them without a problem from then on, whatever account is used. This procedure should be repeated on any computer that needs to play those materials.

The developers of the materials in this batch incorrectly assumed every learning environment in which the content would be hosted would provide a "forward" button. What this instruction really means is "proceed to the next unit". When playing these learning objects within the NLN site, this is done by clicking the next item in the table of contents list on the left.

This issue affects all Learning Objects developed by Epic for Round 1, including batches covering science, business studies, and health care.

When launched, a line of code within the content attempts to reposition the content to the top-left of the window. In most environments, this partially or completely covers up the table of contents. The issue only occurs when using Internet Explorer - Firefox users will not be affected.

This issue affects all Learning Objects developed by The Workshop for Round 2, including batches covering care and performing arts.

When launched, a line of code within the content detects the version of Flash installed in the web browser, and if the result is less than version 6, halts the launch and looks for an upgrade. However, the code only looks for a single digit version number, and detects the new Flash 10 as Flash 0. The upgrade fails and the Learning Object freezes. Thanks to Duncan Walker and colleagues, Birmingham School and Sixth Form Centre, for discovering the single-digit error.

This is a recent error, which only emerged as Flash 10 replaced Flash 9 worldwide. The issue does not affect Internet Explorer 8, as the ActiveX plugin it uses does not throw the same error as the code used in other browsers.