SCORM Explained

SCORM is a set of technical standards which specify how e-learning software should
be built. It is the de facto industry standard for e-learning interoperability.

What is SCORM?
SCORM is a set of technical standards for e-learning software products.SCORM tells programmers
how to write their code so that it can “play well” with other e-learning software. Specifically,
SCORM governs how online learning content and Learning Management Systems (LMSs)
communicate with each other. SCORM does not speak to instructional design or any other
pedagogical concern, it is purely a technical standard.

Can you help me with an example or analogy?

Let’s take DVDs for example. When you buy a new movie on DVD you don’t need to check to see if
it works with your brand of DVD player. A regular DVD will play on a Toshiba the same as it will
on a Panasonic. That’s because DVD movies are produced using a set of standards. Without
these standards a studio releasing a new movie on DVD would have a big problem. They would need
to make differently formatted DVDs for each brand of DVD player. This is how online learning used
to be before SCORM was created.

Do you produce SCORM?

No. SCORM is produced by ADL, a research group sponsored by the United States Department of
Defense (DoD). Rustici Software is an independent company that specializes in helping other
companies become SCORM conformant.

What does SCORM stand for?

SCORM stands for “Sharable Content Object Reference Model”.

“Sharable Content Object” indicates that SCORM is all about creating units of online training
material that can be shared across systems. SCORM defines how to create “sharable content objects”
or “SCOs” that can be reused in different systems and contexts.

“Reference Model” reflects the fact that SCORM isn’t actually a standard. ADL didn’t write
SCORM from the ground up. Instead, they noticed that the industry already had many standards that
solved part of the problem. SCORM simply references these existing standards and tells developers
how to properly use them together.
The Cost of Content Integration

SCORM allows your e-learning software to “play well” with products from
other vendors.

Why should I care about SCORM?

The primary benefit of SCORM is interoperability. If you produce e-learning content, invariably one
(or more likely many) of your clients will ask you to integrate that content into an LMS. Similarly, if
you produce an LMS it is certain that your clients will want to import content from a number of
different sources into that LMS. SCORM allows this integration to happen seamlessly and simply.
SCORM is the de facto industry standard for interoperability and SCORM conformance is required
for most e-learning RFPs.

Read more about the benefits of SCORM.

How did all of this come about?

The US government is a huge user of online training. In the late 1990s, the DoD realized that is was
procuring the same training many times over but couldn’t reuse it across departments because each
department had its own LMS. In those days, each LMS had its own proprietary content format which
encouraged vendor lock-in. In 1999 an executive order tasked a small research laboratory, ADL, to
“develop common specifications and standards for e-learning.” Rather than starting from scratch,
ADL harmonized the work of existing standards organizations like the AICC,IMS and the IEEE
LTSC into a cohesive reference model. SCORM was released in 2001 and was quickly adopted by
both government and industry. Today it is the de facto standard for e-learning interoperability.
How do I know if I am already SCORM conformant?
If you have to ask, then chances are that your products are not SCORM conformant. SCORM
conformance is something that must be achieved intentionally; it doesn’t happen by chance. SCORM
is a set of very specifictechnical instructions, not a set of broad guidelines. SCORM governs how
content is packaged and described, how content communicates with an LMS and how the user is
allowed to navigate between parts of the content (see the Technical SCORM section for more
details). SCORM speaks only to a very specific area of technical implementation, namely the
interface between content and an LMS. It does not specify the underlying implementation of
products, their feature sets, or their instructional methodologies.

How can I become SCORM conformant?

There are many ways to become SCORM conformant. The best path forward largely depends on
your current situation and what you are trying to achieve. If you are starting from scratch and simply
want to produce some SCORM-conformant content, your best bet is likely to use an authoring tool
which will output SCORM-conformant content. If you have existing content that you would like to
make SCORM conformant, visit theTechnical SCORM section to get an overview of what it takes.
Converting existing content can be as simple or as complex as you would like it to be, depending on
which of the benefits of SCORM you are seeking. Creating a SCORM-conformant LMS is
substantially more difficult. ADL intentionally placed the “burden of complexity” on LMS
developers to make content development more straightforward.
The real trick to SCORM development is to move beyond minimal conformance and achieve true
interoperability. SCORM is a great specification, but it only gets the industry part of the way there.
There are still some ambiguities and areas open for interpretation by different vendors (these are
dwindling with each evolution of SCORM). Achieving true interoperability requires attention to
detail, a willingness to accommodate differing interpretations and, mostly, lots of testing and
experience. Our products (here at Rustici Software) dramatically simplify the process of achieving
SCORM conformance. Having been widely tested and deployed, our products provide true
interoperability right out of the box.

Which version of SCORM is right for me?

There are three different versions of SCORM that have been released and the latest version has three
different “editions” as well. The short answer to the question is that you definitely want to support
SCORM 1.2. You probably want to consider supporting SCORM 2004 as well (in all its flavors if
you’re an LMS vendor, only in the latest edition if you’re producing content). And depending on
your needs, you might want to consider supporting a legacy standard called AICC. Our
products provide support for all of these standards simultaneously. Click here to learn more about
thevarious e-learning standards.
Is there a way I can prove that my product is SCORM
conformant?
ADL offers a formal SCORM certification program that will test your product, validate its
conformance and provide an official certification label. Additionally, they publish a complete list of
SCORM certified products. ADL also provides self test suites that allow you to run the same tests as
the formal certification auditors. These test suites produce logs and conformance labels that you can
use to demonstrate your conformance without going through the formal certification program.
Vendors that complete this process are eligible to register as a SCORM Adopter. SCORM Adopters
are listed on the ADL website, but have no official endorsement of conformance by ADL. It is
important to note that only content and LMSs can technically be SCORM conformant. ADL does not
certify tools that produce content, nor does it certify developers. Tools and developers can produce
SCORM conformant output, but they themselves cannot technically be SCORM conformant.
“Compliant”, “Conformant” or “Certified” – You will sometimes hear these terms thrown out
interchangeably and in a confusing manner. “Certified” has a specific and important meaning. It
means that ADL has formally tested a product and states that it has correctly implemented SCORM.
“Compliant” and “Conformant” are mostly interchangeable terms (although folks in the procurement
world will tell you that they have very different meanings). These terms mean that the product was
developed to the SCORM standards, and the vendor has most likely passed the self test suites, but
this fact has not been verified by an independent testing agency.

SCORM specifies that content should:

 Be packaged in a ZIP file.

 Be described in an XML file.
 Communicate via JavaScript.
 Sequence using rules in XML.

Overview
SCORM is composed of three sub-specifications

 The Content Packaging section specifies how content should be packaged and described. It

is based primarily on XML.
 The Run-Time section specifies how content should be launched and how it communicates
with the LMS. It is based primarily on ECMAScript (JavaScript).
 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.
Related Articles:
SCORM 2004 Overview for Developers
SCORM 1.2 Overview for Developers
Versions of SCORM

Content Packaging
SCORM specifies that content should be packaged in a self-contained directory or a ZIP file. This
delivery is called a Package Interchange File (PIF). The PIF must always contain an XML file named
imsmanifest.xml (the “manifest file”) at the root. The manifest file contains all the information the
LMS needs to deliver the content. The manifest divides the course into one or more parts called
SCOs. SCOs can be combined into a tree structure that represents the course, known as the “activity
tree”. The manifest contains an XML representation of the activity tree, information about how to
launch each SCO and (optionally) metadata that describes the course and its parts.

More information on Content Packaging

Run-Time
The run-time specification states that the LMS should launch content in a web browser, either in a
new window or in a frameset. The LMS may only launch one SCO at a time. All content must be
web deliverable and it is always launched in a web browser. Once the content is launched, it uses a
well-defined algorithm to locate an ECMAScript (JavaScript) API that is provided by the LMS. This
API has functions that permit the exchange of data with the LMS. The CMI data model provides a
list of data elements (a vocabulary) that can be written to and read from the LMS. Some example
data model elements include the status of the SCO (completed, passed, failed, etc), the score the
learner achieved, a bookmark to track the learner’s location, and the total amount of time the learner
spent in the SCO.
More information on the SCORM Run-time

Sequencing
The sequencing specification allows the content author to govern how the learner is allowed to
navigate between SCOs and how progress data is rolled up to the course level. Sequencing rules are
represented by XML within the course’s manifest. Sequencing operates on a tracking model that
closely parallels the CMI data reported by SCOs during run-time. Sequencing rules allow the content
author to do things like:
 Determine which navigational controls the LMS should provide to the user (previous/next
buttons, a navigable table of contents, etc).
 Specify that certain activities must be completed before others (prerequisites).
 Make some parts of a course count more than others toward a final status or score (creating
optional sections or providing question weighting).
 Randomly select a different subset of available SCOs to be delivered on each new attempt (to
enable test banking, for instance).
 Take the user back to instructional material that was not mastered (remediation).