DOI: 10.5683/sp3/jewjft
title: Branching case creation

description: In our various materials on creating good learning designs in OLab, we have spoken much about branching narratives in case designs. The ability to create such branching designs is a powerful feature of OLab but not all authors make good use of this capability.

The important principle that we try to convey is about decisions and consequences. Real life is not like a quiz: if you make the wrong choice, there is no little man who jumps out of the bushes with a wee red flag to tell you that you made the wrong choice. You have to live with the consequences of your decision.

This is certainly not a hard concept to grasp. But it is harder to incorporate into your scenario design. So here are a few examples to consider when trying to adopt this approach:
description: OLab
description: README on what to do with these files
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You have downloaded an OLab zip file. See the second zip file contained within this download. Extract it and save it as a single zip file so this can be imported into an existing OpenLabyrinth v3 or OLab4 server. You do not need to expand this second zip file -- the import process will expand the contents into the correct locations on the OLab server. 

What are OLab scenarios?
An OLab virtual scenario is a case or story, or it might be a wee test to challenge your learners. It might be a simple 3-step set of pages and questions. It might be a complex choose-your-own-adventure style of branching narrative. 

Why do I need an OLab server?
To simply play the original scenario, look at the metadata in the Dataverse that you downloaded this zip from. There will be a link to a playable version - for this, you only need a web browser. (No software download needed.) 

But if you want to be able to edit the scenario, examine how it was crafted or use it as a template on which to build a new one, you start with this zip file and import it into an OLab server. 

You will need an account on that OLab server that gives you author privileges. 

If you do not have an account, contact us using the contact information given in the metadata in the Dataverse. 

How do I import this scenario into an OLab server?
There are more detailed instructions available in the OLab User Guide. 
Briefly the steps are as follows:
1. Login to your OLab server as usual. 
2. Under the Labyrinths or Maps menu, click on Import
3. Tell the server which zip file to import.
4. It should only take a few seconds to import most zip files. More complex scenarios might take a couple of minutes at most. 
5. When imported, the scenario should appear in your list of Labyrinths or Maps.
description: Information about OLab4 is available at https://olab.ca

Information about OLab3 is available at https://openlabyrinth.ca
description: This zip file should contain a secondary zip file. The secondary zip file is Medbiq MVP formatted export of the scenario. It can be imported into an OLab4 or OpenLabyrinth v3 server for further editing on that server. If you do not see a zip file in this listing, the uploading author may have forgotten to create one. In this case, download all of the files that you see attached to this dataset and compress them into a single zip file, which you can then import into your OLab server.