Note: Once a course file is downloaded, the steps to upload it to your learning platform will vary, as each platform has its own process. For uploading steps or best practices, please reach out to your learning platform contacts or refer to their documentation.

While Lists offer a handy way to download multiple course files for uploading to a learning platform, sometimes a single course is all you need. As shown below, single course files can be downloaded from a List or from the course details page. (And if you do not need or want a companion metadata file, the course details page makes metadata optional.)

You must have an active license to a course in order to download it or take other delivery actions.

In this article:

• Download a single course from a List
• Download a single course from its details page
• Extract the course file from the download
  • PC
  • Mac

Download a single course from a List

Note: If you are unfamiliar with Lists, please see this article for an introduction.

First, log in to www.opensesame.com and choose Lists from the account menu:

Click the title of the List that has your target course:

Once in the List, locate the course and click its checkbox. A Deliver Courses button will appear:

Note: If your account uses Pay Per Use (PPU) licenses, an Add to Library button will also appear. If you haven’t yet added the course to your PPU library, click that button first.

Click the Deliver Courses button to view your delivery options. If you do not yet have an active license to the course, you will receive an error message and be returned to the List.

In this example, the default delivery method has already been set to Download Packages. If you see a different delivery method, click its arrow to view the other available methods and select Download Packages from there. (For more details on the other delivery options, see this article.)

Confirm that a green checkmark appears next to the type of file you want—either AICC or SCORM—then click the Download button:

Note: To change file types, simply click the other option, then click Make Default to update your account’s settings. That said, please check in with our Support team before switching between types, as different elearning standards can identify learners and track their progress differently. This could result in duplicated learner seats.

A progress bar will briefly appear as the request processes, then you will be returned to the List and a ZIP file will download to your computer. Here’s how that appears on a PC when using the Chrome browser:

Please note that this ZIP contains multiple files, including a CSV of metadata. It will need to be unzipped a single layer before the course ZIP it contains can be uploaded to a learning platform. For an illustrated guide on unzipping it, see this section.

Download a single course from its details page

When downloading a course from its details page, you can control whether the download will include a companion metadata file.

First, log in to www.opensesame.com and either select Catalog or use the search bar to browse courses:

Once you find your target course, click its title to view its details:

If you have an active license to the course, you will see a Deliver Course button. Click it to view your delivery options:

Note: If your account uses Pay Per Use (PPU) licenses and you haven’t yet added the course to your PPU library, an Add to Library button will appear instead. Click that button first, then return to the course page to select the Deliver Course button.

In this example, the default delivery method has already been set to Download Packages. If you see a different delivery method, click its arrow to view the other available methods and select Download Packages from there. (For more details on the other delivery options, see this article.)

Confirm that a green checkmark appears next to the type of file you want—either AICC or SCORM—then decide if you want to include a CSV of course metadata. In this example, the download will include a CSV and an AICC ZIP file:

Note: To change file types between AICC and SCORM, simply click the other option, then click Make Default to update your account’s settings. That said, please check in with our Support team before switching between types, as different elearning standards can identify learners and track their progress differently. This could result in duplicated learner seats.

Once satisfied with your settings, click the Download button:

A progress bar will briefly appear as the request processes, then you will be returned to the course’s page and a ZIP file will download to your computer. Here is how that appears on a PC when using the Chrome browser:

From here the next steps depend on whether you chose to include metadata: 

• If you did not select the metadata checkbox, the downloaded ZIP file will contain nothing but the course. In that case, the ZIP will be titled with the course’s name. It is ready to upload to your learning platform and should not be unzipped.
• If you did select the metadata checkbox, the downloaded ZIP will have an additional layer, as it contains more files. It will need to be unzipped once to access the course ZIP within. For an illustrated guide, jump to Extract the course file from the download.

Finally, the steps to upload the individual course ZIP to a learning platform will vary, as each platform has its own process. For uploading steps or best practices, please reach out to your learning platform contacts or refer to their documentation. And if you experience any trouble downloading files from OpenSesame, contact our Support team for assistance.

Extract the course file from the download

When a ZIP file is downloaded from a List, or when a ZIP file is downloaded from a course’s details page with the Include metadata checkbox selected, the file will contain an individual course ZIP, a spreadsheet of its metadata, and a ReadMe of general information. Since this “parent” ZIP contains multiple files, it must be unzipped once before the individual course ZIP can be accessed and uploaded to a learning platform.

The PC steps are below, and the Mac steps are underneath them.

PC

When you download a file from OpenSesame, Windows will save it to the Downloads folder by default. (If your PC has been set up to save downloads to a different folder, it will appear there instead.)

On Windows 10 and 11, click the folder icon in the bottom toolbar to open the File Explorer, then open the Downloads folder from there. Here’s how that icon looks in Windows 10:

Once you’ve located the ZIP file, select it, right-click, then choose Extract All from the menu:

A prompt will appear for selecting a destination. Browse for a folder or simply keep the default, then click Extract:

This will decompress the parent ZIP and create a folder of its contents. The folder will contain an individual course ZIP (identified by GUID, as seen below), a file of its metadata, and a ReadMe. Please do not unzip the individual course ZIP, as it must remain zipped to work.

From here, the steps to upload the individual course ZIP to a learning platform will vary, as each platform has its own process. For uploading steps or best practices, please reach out to your learning platform contacts or refer to their documentation. And if you experience any trouble downloading files from OpenSesame, contact our Support team for assistance.

Mac

When you download a file from OpenSesame, MacOS will save it to the Downloads folder by default. (If your Mac has been set up to save downloads to a different folder, it will appear there instead.)

In MacOS, click the Finder icon in the Dock toolbar to open a Finder window, then open the Downloads folder from there. Here’s how that looks in MacOS Monterey:

Note: The location of the Dock toolbar may vary.

Once you’ve located the ZIP file, select it then double-click to open it.

This will decompress the parent ZIP and create a folder of its contents. The folder will contain an individual course ZIP (identified by GUID, as seen below), a file of its metadata, and a ReadMe. Please do not unzip the individual course ZIP, as it must remain zipped to work.

From here, the steps to upload the individual course ZIP to a learning platform will vary, as each platform has its own process. For uploading steps or best practices, please reach out to your learning platform contacts or refer to their documentation. And if you experience any trouble downloading files from OpenSesame, contact our Support team for assistance.

If you have further questions, our Support team is here to help via email at support@opensesame.com or via live chat and phone. Feel free to reach us at (503) 808-1268, ext. 2, or at +44 203 744 5541 in Europe.