SCORM isn’t easy. Everywhere you turn, someone’s having a challenge making it work, whether through human, system or developer error.
Which is why we make such a big deal about encouraging people to ask us questions. The best way to get SCORM to work is to ask people who know. It helps you get what you need, it helps us because people stop (hopefully) cursing SCORM, and well, we just like talking with you to see how you’re using SCORM.
Most of our questions come in via the contact form on the website. Some come from current customers. Some come up in conversations with prospective customers. We try to bring questions and answers together over in our support forum to provide a resource for everyone struggling with SCORM issues.
And since I love video, I’ve started turning some questions into video resources over on our YouTube channel. Short answers to quick questions, most of which I had when I started working here and had no clue about SCORM. (I have one solitary clue now.) Look for more videos from me and our fabulous support dude Joe with answers to your SCORM questions.
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I have been working on the issues of authoring and reusability. The course development process can be separated from the deployment process. I have developed a new Dr. Tom Guide, Dr. Tom’s Guide to Reusable Content Objects: http://www.twason.com/drtomreusablecontentobjects.html. This describes the use of more object-like SCOs. Courses can be authored in a “standard form” that can be reduced in size for deployment. Standard form courses will run through SCORM-compliant LMSs. I have tested a few in Test Track, including some with some basic sequencing. They ran fine.
An advantage of this method is that it creates reusable and manageable SCOs. The Reload tool can be used.
–Tom Wason
Mark | January 27, 2010 @ 4:17 pm
I am currently using training partner LMS appllication with multiple web servers. The web servers are behind a Cisco content switch. The content url and lms site both point to the vip on the content switch. Are there any known issues with using a content switch as a front end to the web servers serving up scorm?
This appears to work although I am working on determining if this is not as efficient as using an apache reverse proxy for a front end. I cannot find any information on using SCORM with a content switch. Any information out there to assist? Or noted issues that I am missing? Thanks.
Follow-up…
I am trying to use this as a workaround for the cross-site scripting issue with SCORM.
Mike Rustici | January 27, 2010 @ 4:45 pm
Mark, you should be fine. As long as the browser sees the LMS and content as originating from exactly the same domain name, there shouldn’t be any problems with SCORM.
Steve | January 28, 2010 @ 4:06 pm
I work for the military and have a program that is being utilized for computer based training (non-web at the moment)that is not SCORM compliant. Is their a waiver ability for the direction provided by DoD Instruction 1322.26?
Thanks.
Hi Steve, I believe you can get a waiver for this type of training, but we’re not really DoD policy experts. You might want to try contacting ADL, they can help with things like that.
mayte | February 15, 2010 @ 8:19 am
Hi!
Really novice. How can Joe Blogs (a teacher)know if what it’s needed requires SCORM or can it be achieved in a different way?
What questions are relevant so you decided not to get/get involved with SCORM?. And if you do, then do you need a developer or are there ready made packages that work according to your needs?
Honest, I couln’t find answers for such dummys questions.Regards
Hi Mayte,
Generally a teacher shouldn’t even have to be aware of SCORM. SCORM is a technical problem that should be handled by the tools that a teacher is using. Unless that teacher is a software developer, SCORM shouldn’t be something that s/he needs to worry about. A user of online training materials in most cases should require that their developer implement a solution that is SCORM conformant to prevent vendor lock-in and insure that longevity of what is built. There’s some more information about what SCORM is and when it is (and isn’t) a good fit on the Business of SCORMpage and the Benefits of SCORM page of our website.
Mike
Don LeVardi | February 23, 2010 @ 2:46 pm
Mike,
I am attempting to run a course (made up of five SCOs) in the ADL 4th Edition RTE. I am using a windowOnload() function that has the following doInitialize() call that doesn’t seem to be working well.
if((LMSactive != “true”) && (LMSactive != true)) {
// don’t try to reload LMS if it’s already running for this instance of session
foundLMS = doInitialize(”").toString(); /* SCORM 2004 updated call */
LMSactive = true;
}I am using the 2004 apiwrapper, but not the updated one you refer to on your site (the ScanForAPI()). When running in ADL RTE I am getting the doGetValue() not Initialized pop-ups.. Also, is it required to have “” in the doInitialize(”") as I have it… as well as the doTerminate(”")?
I am also required to run this course on your Test Track prior to my Navy GCAT, so you can see where I might be getting worried…
Thanks,
Don
Hi Don,
Have you looked at the logs to make sure that Initialize is actually getting called?
Mike
Christopher Jack | June 23, 2010 @ 6:11 am
Hi,
I was wondering if there was any plans to bring the SCORM cloud to blackboard?
And if it could be integrated with an api that allowed ‘normal’? lecturers to upload the scorm piece and generate a link in blackboard?
Chris
Tim Martin | June 23, 2010 @ 7:45 am
Blackboard (via building blocks) is an intriguing SCORM Cloud integration, but not one we have planned for the immediate future. If you’re interested in doing it (or someone else is) we’d _love_ to see it. We’d even be happy to help out.
In the interim, you could certainly use the “public invitation” approach to include a link to a SCORM Cloud course. This would not pass progress information back to Blackboard, but the progress would be tracked in SCORM Cloud and you could report on it as well.
Does that help?
