xAPI is a protocol for tracking learning-related activity that was developed in 2013. However, one advantage that AICC does have over SCORM is security. Support and tracking capabilities are poorer too. It takes longer to upload content to an LMS using AICC than SCORM. The main difference between SCORM and AICC is time. These standards were set up in 1993 for CD-ROM training and further developed in 1998 to include web-based learning. There are two main alternatives to SCORM:ĪICC or Aviation Industry CBT (Computer-Based Training) Committee. “SCORM is not dead, but it’s past its prime.”. Newer standards like xAPI offer more features to elearning authors and let them gather more types of data on how their elearning is being used.Īs Learning Expert Amy Rouse eloquently puts it in her LinkedIn post The Decline and Fall of SCORM and Why You Should Care: The most recent version of SCORM was created in 2004, so although the standard is still widely used, its functionality is limited in terms of modern capabilities. There have actually been several iterations of SCORM 2004, each one building on and ironing out the issues of the one before, but SCORM 2004 version 3 is the most widely used. For example, it includes a sequencing and navigation specification that lets content vendors specify how the learner can progress between SCOs. This is the current release, giving content developers more control over how their elearning behaves. SCORM 2004 (sometimes known as SCORM 1.3) It’s likely to be around for a long time. Almost all LMSs support this version and most content developers still create elearning that meets its standards. This version ironed out many of the problems with the first and it quickly grew in popularity. This version showed that SCORM was workable as an idea, but it highlighted several issues to be resolved in the next version. Before this, work had been done to draft the standards and give a preview of work to come, but this version was when SCORM became implementable. There have been a number of different versions and releases of the SCORM standards since 1999. It’s this file that needs to be set up according to the structure that SCORM standards require, and including the core files that allow it to properly communicate with the LMS.
#What does a scorm package mean? zip file
SCORM defines how elearning content should be packaged into a transferable ZIP file called a “Package Interchange File.” This is known as a SCORM file. It just means something that can be individually uploaded and tracked by an LMS. SCOs – or Shareable Content Objects – are the individual trackable pieces of elearning, so these might be whole courses or one page. To find out more about SCORM standards, SCORM packaging and SCORM compliance, check out the official SCORM website or the SCORM Wikipedia page. This is how instructions like “request the learner’s name” and “tell the LMS that the learner scored 85% on this test” are passed between the learning content and the module. The run-time communication or data exchange specifies how the learning object “talks” to the LMS.
SCORM specifies exactly how the learning content should be structured within its file so it can be properly launched, interpreted and tracked.