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.

1. Beyond the Checkbox:
7 things to ask your LMS vendor
about SCORM
Mike Rustici
Rustici Software
DevCon 2010

2. 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.

3. 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.)
Kevin
on
flic kr
CC
image
by
CC
image
by
Cappellmeister
on
flickr

4. VERSIONS?
Question
one:
What
versions
of
SCORM
do
you
support

5. There
are
five
versions
of
SCORM
SC0RM 1.1
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
SC0RM 1.2
used.
Yet.
SC0RM 2004
Editions - 2nd, 3rd, 4th

6. SC0RM 1.2
!=
SC0RM 2004
!=
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.

7. CERTIFIED?
Question
two:
Are
you
SCORM
certified
by
ADL?
If
not,
please
provide
test
logs.

8. ADL Certification for SCORM
Vendor/Developer Academic ADL Co-Lab Vendor/Developer
• Run self test suite Vendor/
• Review self test logs and product Developer opts Yes
Start available at information forms. to proceed • Fill out, sign, and return the
www.adlnet.org with SCORM SCORM Conformance
• Provide the following to the
• Review process and test? Registration Agreement Form
Vendor/Developer:
download product Letter or email with • When notified, send product
information forms at description of services to with installation instructions,
www.witesting.org be provided and estimated fee product pre-installed on
No
• Submit self test logs hardware, or login information
The SCORM Conformance
and forms to the
Registration Agreement Form
Academic ADL Co-Lab.
Wisconsin Testing
Organization
Wisconsin Testing • Perform conformance test
Organization
Certification Process Yes
No Vendor/ No Product
End Developer Passes
End request a Conformance
Academic ADL Co-Lab
Alexandria ADL retest? Test
Co-Laboratory • Provide Vendor/
Developer with Test Vendor/Developer
Finish • Post successful Results Report Form Yes
certification test results and the test log •
• Pay invoice
Pay invoice Academic ADL Co-Lab
on ADL Website • Provide ADL Certified •
• Fill out, sign and
Fill out, sign and
(www.adlnet.org) logo to Vendor/ • Invoice Vendor/
return SCORM logo
return SCORM Logo
Developer license agreement and
License Agreement Developer
• Provide test results to Vendor Consent Form
and Vendor Consent • Send SCORM Logo
the Alexandria ADL authorizing release of
Forms authorizing License Agreement and
Co-Laboratory test resultstest results
release of Vendor Consent Forms

9. t
k
VERSION ADL
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.

10. 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.

11. No test passage
=
!
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.
SC0RM conformant

12. USER
EXPERIENCE?
Question
three:
What’s
the
experience
like
for
the
user?

13. flickr
ahlström
on
CC
image
by
Håkan
D
n
flickr
mauspray
o
CC
image
by
How
does
the
SCORM
player
respond
to
large
courses?
Can
the
user
interface
be
customized
for
each
course?
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?
r
mattias_ eson
on
flick
CC
image
by
r
foord
on
flick
CC
image
by
Ollie
Cra kr
wan-­‐M
on
flic
CC
image
by
E

14. DATA?
Question
four:
How
does
data
reported
via
SCORM
feed
into
the
rest
of
the
system?

15. SCORM
contains
logic
that
precisely
defines
when
a
SCORM
package
is
considered
“completed”
or
Dy anna
on
flickr
“satisfied”.
It
contains
logic
to
CC
image
by
identify
a
precise
score
and
many
other
data
model
elements.

16. 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
on
flickr
the
rest
of
the
LMS
system
is
beyond
the
scope
of
CC
image
by
psd
SCORM,
but
should
be
considered
carefully
to
ensure
that
it
is
in
line
with
expectations.

17. It’s
all
about
understanding
your
expectations.
Knowing
what
you
expect
and
making
sure
it’s
r
actually
what
you
get.
raphy
on
flick
CC
image
by
Trippog

18. striatic
on
flickr
CC
image
by

19. REPORTS?
Question
five:
What
reports
are
available
to
extract
SCORM
data?

20. SCORM
provides
content
with
the
ability
to
report
a
wealth
of
data
about
the
learner’s
experience
with
a
course.
r}
on
flickr
s
|
Jason
Teste
The
content
can
provide
as
much
or
as
errilla
Future
little
of
this
data
as
is
relevant.
CC
image
by
{Gu

21. 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
r
doesn’t
specify
how
the
LMS
should
make
the
ang
on
flick
tracked
data
available
for
the
learner
or
CC
image
by
zappowb
administrators
to
view
and
report
on.

22. Again
-­‐
It’s
all
about
understanding
your
expectations.
Knowing
what
you
expect
and
making
sure
it’s
actually
what
you
r
raphy
on
flick
get.
You
might
not
need
or
care
about
a
ton
of
reports.
CC
image
by
Trippog

26. striatic
on
flickr
CC
image
by

27. TOOLS?
Question
six:
What
tools
are
available
to
LMS
user
and
content
developer
when
creating/importing
content?

28. Is
there
a
sandbox
environment
for
LMS
administrators
to
use
when
r
dorf
on
flick
testing
new
content?
Is
this
sandbox
CC
image
by
sgils
available
to
external
content
developers
(if
so,
are
additional
licenses
required
for
them)?

30. PLUG-INS?
Question
seven:
Does
the
LMS
require
Java
applets
or
other
plug-­‐ins
be
available
in
the
browser?

31. These
can
create
huge
support
a
headaches
and
are
notorious
for
causing
compatibility
problems.
And
note
that
SCORM
requires
JavaScript,
!
not
Java.

32. Kevin
on
flic kr
CC
image
by

33. 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
nget
on
flickr
age
by
basiba
by
our
website
at
scorm.com
and
ask
us.
We
like
questions!
CC
im

34. Beyond the
Checkbox
Twitter: @mike_rustici
Email: mike.rustici@scorm.com
www.scorm.com