Introduction
So your customer / boss / whoever has said that you need to produce SCORM conformant stuff?? What is that all about then?
SCORM comes in a number of different versions including 1.1, 1.2 and 2004. The most common used are 1.2 and 2004, with 2004 being the latest version. Although there is a large amount of overlap between the different versions, I will be discussing 2004 in this document.
Here follows a short introduction to give you a head start.
What does “SCORM” mean?
SCORM is an acronym for “Sharable Content Object Reference Model”.
What is SCORM?
Well according to WikiPedia, SCORM is : “a collection of standards and specifications for web-based e-learning. It defines communications between client side content and a host system called the run-time environment which is commonly a function of a learning management system (LMS). SCORM also defines how content may be packaged into a transferable ZIP file.”
SCORM is a therefore technical standard and in no way governs how the content is delivered to the learner. You could (unfortunately) have the worst eLearning content in the world that is still totally SCORM conformant!
The other point to take from this is that SCORM only covers web based delivery. If your content is not going to be web delivered, then SCORM is not for you. The Aviation Industry CBT Committee (www.aicc.org) also has some eLearning standards or guidelines, parts of which were reused for SCORM incidentally. SCORM incorporates portions of the AICC specification via the IEEE Data Model and API Standards. There is a relevant part at the AICC for file-based deployment of elearning and that may be more relevant to you if you need to deploy that way. More information is on the AICC website at: http://www.aicc.org/docs/tech/cmi001v4.pdf
What is the main benefit of adopting SCORM?
Well, according to Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL: www.adlnet.gov), the current ‘owners’ of SCORM, there are numerous benefits to adopting SCORM. ADL quotes:
Accessibility: The ability to locate and access instructional components from multiple locations and deliver them to other locations. For example, a content author can search the ADL Registry and identify relevant content that has already been developed by another organization and deploy that content on any LMS that complies with the same version of SCORM to learners anywhere in the world.
Interoperability: The ability to take instructional components developed in one system and use them in another system. For example, content packaged for delivery in one SCORM-compliant LMS could be loaded into another LMS that complies with the same version of SCORM for delivery to learners.
Durability: The ability to withstand technology evolution and/or changes without costly redesign, reconfiguration, or recoding. For example, upgrading to a new computer operating system should have no impact on the delivery of content to learners.
Reusability: The flexibility to incorporate instructional components in multiple applications and contexts. For example, e-learning content designed for one organization can be redeployed, rearranged, repurposed, or rewritten by other organizations that have similar learning needs.
Taken at face value, this is all very good, but not necessarily strictly true if you are looking at the eLearning content side. As I have said before, SCORM does not address the content, so if you upgrade a learner’s operating system then that could mean the content will no longer work as advertised, and the fact that the courseware is SCORM conformant will not insure you against such problems. I guess an example is needed for clarification:
Content developed in Authorware 7 (now at end of development status with Adobe) that used digital video content viewed through the inbuilt digital movie ‘icon’ and packaged as either SCORM 1.2 or 2004 conformant content works well when deployed to a learner using Windows XP. If the learner views the same content in Windows Vista then there is a strong possibility that the videos will no longer play. This of course, is not the fault of SCORM, but due to the different way that Windows XP and Windows Vista make use of the Windows Media Player internally that the Authorware content is attempting to leverage. This does go to show though, that having SCORM conformant content does not necessarily insure you for durability.
The 3 parts of SCORM
There are three parts to SCORM 2004:
The Content Aggregation Model, the Run-Time Environment and the Sequencing and Navigation specification.
Content Aggregation
The Content aggregation section specifies how content is packaged and described so that an LMS can automatically read information from it using an XML system.
SCORM specifies that content should be packaged in a self-contained directory or a ZIP file called a Package Interchange File or PIF. The PIF contains an XML file named imsmanifest.xml which is the manifest file that describes the content of the PIF. This file must be at the root of the folder or zip file. The manifest optionally divides the course into one or more parts called Shareable Content Objects or SCOs . A SCO is the smallest element in SCORM that is tracked / launched by the LMS.
Run Time
The Run-Time section specifies how content should be launched and how it communicates with the LMS. It is based primarily on JavaScript (ECMAScript).
To be SCORM conformant an LMS must launch a SCO in a web browser window or frameset and must make the SCORM API available for the SCO to use to communicate with the LMS launching it.
The API exposes functions that allow two way communications to happen between the SCO and the LMS.
A SCORM conformant LMS must implement the following eight functions to allow a SCO to communicate with it:
Initialize (“”)
Terminate (“”)
Commit (“”)
GetValue (parameter1)
SetValue (parameter1, parameter2)
GetLastError ()
GetErrorString (errorcode)
GetDiagnostics (errorcode)
A SCO is not obliged to make use of all eight functions to be conformant. The only requirement is to initialize with the LMS and Terminate at the end for conformance to be demonstrated.
Sequencing & Navigation
The Sequencing section specifies how the learner can navigate between parts of the course (SCOs). It is defined by a set of rules and attributes written in XML.
Through the sequencing and navigation specification the SCO author is able to:
- Determine which navigational controls should be provided by the LMS to the learner using the SCO
- Specify prerequisites in terms of SCO that must be completed before this one.
- Give some parts of a course more weighting in terms of a final score.
- Select randomly a different subset of SCOs to be shown on each new attempt. This is useful for creating random testing modules.
- Take the user back to learning that has been failed for remedial learning activities.
What is the current status of SCORM 2004?
The current version of SCORM is SCORM 2004 3rd Edition. It is a stable document suite that is ready for implementation. SCORM 2004 4th Edition is currently in Beta testing. The changes between the 3rd and 4th edition are largely clarifications on edition 3’s requirements.
How can I tell my content is SCORM conformant?
In SCORM terms, conformance is deemed by self testing. The way to do that is to download and use the SCORM test suite from ADL. You can download this from:
http://www.adlnet.gov/Technologies/scorm/SCORMSDocuments/2004%204th%20Edition/Test%20Suite.aspx
Summary
SCORM 2004 has a number of advantages to offer to both consumers and developers of eLearning as well as to LMS vendors as it guarantees that your courseware will play nicely together.
I hope this short overview has been enlightening. If you want any assistance with your SCORM issues, please get in touch.