Why SCORM compliance is absolutely essential for competitive, market-leading LMS performance and effectiveness
No, SCORM isn’t a Scandinavian heavy metal band. (Although it might make a great name for one.) SCORM is an acronym that stands for sharable content object reference model, and it’s the de facto set of standards to package your training programs and e-learning content so they can easily be read by LMS platforms.
SCORM: The early standard for e-learning
Over the years, SCORM has evolved. There are many versions of SCORM, but the first iteration arrived more than 20 years ago. Early iterations (e.g. SCORM 1.1, and SCORM 1.2) quickly became the gold standard for packaging and presenting training content to learning management systems (LMSs). Today, SCORM is the globally accepted standard for creating online learning tools across all industries.
The main benefit of SCORM is the interoperability between elearning software products (and the ability to reuse SCORM compliant courses). For example, if you design online training content using authoring tools, SCORM enables you to publish them into a learning platform like Docebo (without compatibility issues) so that it can be easily delivered to learners.
Complex changes for simple roadblocks
The most recent version, SCORM 2004, provides three major advantages over previous versions:
- It allows the instructor to see if a learner completed a course before awarding a pass/fail grade. Previously, performance information was combined into one record.
- It allows interaction data to be read/write instead of purely read. This allows users to close a test or lesson halfway through without losing the learner’s progress (so they can pick up later where they left off).
- Sequencing rules were added to allow for if/then conditioning. Essentially, you can tell the LMS: “if a learner completes this course, then allow them access to the next course in the learning plan” (which makes for a richer learning experience).
Although SCORM is a vast improvement over elearning standards of the past, it’s beginning to show its age after nearly two decades, and hasn’t been updated to meet many modern learning requirements. SCORM is limited to recording actions within the LMS such as course completion records and assessments/testing data. As more learning happens outside of the digital classroom, SCORM will likely be replaced by newer packaging and industry standards.
Tin Can API/xAPI is gaining market ground on SCORM because it can record activities outside of the LMS for companies that incorporate a blended, online learning strategy. However, having a SCORM compliant LMS is still important so customers can uses their existing learning objects that may still be relevant.
Docebo is SCORM 1.2 and 2004 compliant—launch your free trial platform in just a few clicks and see how it can easily upload, read and report on all your SCORM-based learning objects.
