Interactive blocks
Every interactive block in Compose: how learners use it, how it is authored, whether it can gate navigation, and whether it counts towards the score.
Ten of Compose’s block types are interactive. This page covers how each behaves for the learner and how you author it.
What “interactive” buys you
Two things, and they are not the same:
| Property | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Can gate navigation | Marked Required, the learner cannot advance to the next lesson until it is complete. |
| Counts towards the score | Contributes to the score reported to an LMS, based on whether the learner got it right first time. |
| Block | Gates navigation | Scores |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple choice | ✅ | ✅ |
| Fill in the blank | ✅ | ✅ |
| Drag & drop | ✅ | ✅ |
| Matching | ✅ | ✅ |
| Hotspots | ✅ | — |
| Branching | ✅ | — |
| Flashcards | — | — |
| Interactive video | — | — |
| Timeline | — | — |
| Accordion | — | — |
Multiple choice
A question with a list of answers. Learners pick one, press Check answer, and either get the correct-answer feedback or are told to try again.
How it behaves
- One answer is selected at a time.
- A wrong answer can be retried as many times as the learner likes — the block only completes when they get it right.
- Only the first attempt counts towards the score. Retrying to reach the right answer does not recover the mark.
Settings
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| Question | The prompt, in the block’s text field |
| Answers | Each answer has text and a correct flag |
| Shuffle | Randomise the answer order on load. On by default |
| Feedback when right | Replaces the default “Correct!” |
| Feedback when wrong | Replaces the default “Not quite — try again.” |
Fill in the blank
A sentence with words removed. Learners type into each gap and press Check answers.
Authoring it: write the sentence in the text field and wrap each answer in square brackets.
The SCORM manifest is called [imsmanifest.xml] and lives at the [root] of the package.That produces two blanks. An unclosed bracket stays as literal text rather than becoming a blank.
How it behaves
- Each blank is marked individually — right ones lock, wrong ones stay editable.
- Matching is case-insensitive and ignores surrounding whitespace.
- The block completes when every blank is right. Only the first attempt scores.
Drag & drop
Learners sort items into categories. Each pair you author is one item and the category it belongs in — so several items can share a category.
Items can be dragged, and can also be tapped and then placed, which is what makes it work on a touchscreen. Shuffle is available and on by default.
Matching
Two columns to pair up: left items with right items. Same mechanic as drag and drop — drag, or tap one then tap its partner. Needs at least two pairs; Compose warns in the status strip if a pair is left half-empty.
Hotspots
An image with numbered points on it. Tapping a point reveals its label and body text, and the block shows how many of them the learner has explored.
Completes when every hotspot has been opened, which makes it a good “look at each part of this interface” check.
Author it by adding an image to the block, then placing hotspots on it — each has a position, a short label, and a body.
Flashcards
Cards with a front and a back, flipped by clicking. Good for terminology and recall practice.
There is no completion state and no scoring — a flashcard block is study material, not an assessment.
Branching
A scenario made of steps. Each step is a prompt with several options, and each option carries its own feedback. Options are marked good or not:
- Choosing a good option shows its feedback and advances to the next step.
- Choosing any other option shows its feedback and leaves the learner on the same step to try again.
- Working through every step completes the block.
This is a linear decision list, not a branching node graph: there is one path through, and wrong choices teach rather than diverge. That keeps a scenario authorable in a list rather than a diagram editor, at the cost of not being able to model genuinely divergent outcomes.
Interactive video
A video that pauses at times you set. Each cue has a time, a label and a body; when playback reaches it, the video pauses and the note appears with a Continue button.
Seeking backwards re-arms the cues you have passed, so a learner who rewinds sees them again.
Timeline
An ordered list of entries, each with a heading and a body. Learners click a heading to reveal its body. Any number of entries can be open at once.
Accordion
Collapsible sections, each with a heading and a body. Unlike the timeline, an accordion shows one section at a time — opening a section closes the others.
Use the accordion for alternatives (a set of options where only one applies to the learner), and the timeline for a sequence.
Validation
The status strip flags problems as you author:
- A quiz with no question, fewer than two answers, or no correct answer marked
- A matching block with fewer than two pairs, or a pair with an empty side
- A flashcards block with no cards, or a card with an empty side
- An empty custom code block
None of these prevent an export. They are all things a learner would hit.