7 questions to ask about scorm in an rfp
DESCRIPTION
Presentation given by Mike Rustici at eLearning DevCon 2010. Run through of the most important questions you should consider about SCORM when planning an LMS purchase.TRANSCRIPT
Beyond the Checkbox: 7 things to ask your LMS vendor
about SCORM Mike Rustici
Rustici Software DevCon 2010
All we do is scorm
Now, at Rustici Software, we do SCORM and we do … SCORM. It’s all we do. As a result, we’ve seen it done well and we’ve seen it done … not so well. Let’s just say it’s easy to say something is SCORM compatible but not necessarily easy to actually be compatible.
CC image by Kevin on flickr
CC image by Cappellmeister on flickr
We know it’s possible for you to get what you need and not have it be a complete headache. If you’re out to have SCORM in your LMS, here are the seven most critical questions to ask your LMS vendor before you sign the dotted line. (We actually have more than 27 for you to consider, but you don’t want to watch all that. Visit our website – scorm.com -‐ to get the paper with full discussion of each of the questions.)
VERSIONS? Question one: What versions of SCORM do you support
SC0RM 2004 Editions - 2nd, 3rd, 4th
SC0RM 1.2 SC0RM 1.1
There are five versions of SCORM right now – 1.1, 1.2 and 2004, second, third and fourth editions. The most widely adopted is SCORM 1.2, so you’ll want that version at a minimum. SCORM 2004 adds some great functionality but it’s not quite as commonly used. Yet.
SC0RM 2004
SC0RM 1.2
SC0RM 1.2
!= != Note that it’s not a seamless
transition between them – just because it supports 2004 doesn’t mean it supports 1.2. Not backwards compatible.
CERTIFIED? Question two: Are you SCORM certified by ADL? If not, please provide test logs.
ADL Certification for SCORMADL Certification for SCORM
Vendor/Developer Academic ADL Co-Lab
Start
Academic ADL Co-Lab
No
Yes
No
• Review self test logs and product information forms.
• Provide the following to theVendor/Developer:
Letter or email with description of services tobe provided and estimated fee
The SCORM Conformance Registration Agreement Form
• Run self test suite available at www.adlnet.org
• Review process and download product information forms at www.witesting.org
• Submit self test logs and forms to the Academic ADL Co-Lab.
• Provide Vendor/ Developer with Test Results Report Form and the test log
• Provide ADL Certified logo to Vendor/ Developer
• Provide test results to the Alexandria ADL Co-Laboratory
Finish
• Fill out, sign, and return the SCORM Conformance Registration Agreement Form
• When notified, send product with installation instructions, product pre-installed on hardware, or login information
Vendor/Developer
• Invoice Vendor/ Developer
• Send SCORM Logo License Agreement and Vendor Consent Forms
Academic ADL Co-Lab• Pay invoice • Fill out, sign and
return SCORM logo license agreement and Vendor Consent Form authorizing release of test results
Vendor/Developer
• Pay invoice • Fill out, sign and
return SCORM Logo License Agreement and Vendor Consent Forms authorizing release of test results
• Post successful certification test resultson ADL Website(www.adlnet.org)
Alexandria ADLCo-Laboratory
Vendor/Developer opts
to proceedwith SCORM
test?
Yes
Wisconsin Testing Organization
• Perform conformance test
EndEnd
ProductPasses
ConformanceTest
Vendor/Developerrequest a
retest?
No
Wisconsin Testing Organization
Certification Process Yes
VERSION k tADL will certify systems as being conformant with a particular version of SCORM. A LMS is not “SCORM Certified”, it is “SCORM 2004 3rd Edition Certified” or “SCORM 1.2 LMS-‐RTE3 Certified” (more on the “RTE3” bit in the next question). Also note that ADL only certifies the specific version of the LMS that it tests against. If a vendor has changed their SCORM implementation since becoming certified, it is no longer technically certified.
Certification is a bit of a process, and nice to see, but not critical. If they are not certified, there is still a way to ensure that their claim of SCORM conformance is legitimate, ask them for their test suite logs. ADL produces a freely-‐available conformance test suite that runs all of the same tests that a certification auditor runs. So ask to see the logs from tests to ensure they can pass whether or not they’ve gone through the certification process.
No test passage
!= SC0RM conformant
BIG NOTE: If they can’t pass the full set of conformance tests, they are MOST DEFINITELY NOT SCORM CONFORMANT. If there’s nothing else you get out of anything I say, please demand that the vendor provide some kind of proof of their SCORM conformance.
USER EXPERIENCE?
Question three: What’s the experience like for the user?
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How many windows does the LMS open? Does the LMS provide any indication of progress and status to the learner? Is there an easy to use course menu?
How does the SCORM player respond to large courses? Can the user interface be customized for each course?
DATA? Question four: How does data reported via SCORM feed into the rest of the system?
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SCORM contains logic that precisely defines when a SCORM package is considered “completed” or “satisfied”. It contains logic to identify a precise score and many other data model elements.
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However, SCORM doesn’t say that “once the course is completed, the learner should receive credit for it in the LMS and it should show up on his/her transcript”. How the data created and tracked by SCORM affects the rest of the LMS system is beyond the scope of SCORM, but should be considered carefully to ensure that it is in line with expectations.
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It’s all about understanding your expectations. Knowing what you expect and making sure it’s actually what you get.
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REPORTS? Question five: What reports are available to extract SCORM data?
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son Tester} on flickr
SCORM provides content with the ability to report a wealth of data about the learner’s experience with a course. The content can provide as much or as little of this data as is relevant.
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SCORM requires the LMS to store this data only for the current attempt on a SCO. Once that attempt is over, there is no formal requirement for the LMS to persist the data. SCORM also doesn’t specify how the LMS should make the tracked data available for the learner or administrators to view and report on.
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Again -‐ It’s all about understanding your expectations. Knowing what you expect and making sure it’s actually what you get. You might not need or care about a ton of reports.
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TOOLS? Question six: What tools are available to LMS user and content developer when creating/importing content?
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Is there a sandbox environment for LMS administrators to use when testing new content? Is this sandbox available to external content developers (if so, are additional licenses required for them)?
PLUG-INS? Question seven: Does the LMS require Java applets or other plug-‐ins be available in the browser?
a
! These can create huge support headaches and are notorious for causing compatibility problems. And note that SCORM requires JavaScript, not Java.
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I hope this gives you a great start on what to ask your LMS vendor to ensure you get a SCORM implementation that brings you joy rather than headaches. If you have any questions about anything I’ve mentioned or SCORM in general, drop by our website at scorm.com and ask us. We like questions!
