SCORM or Sharable Content Object Reference Model is a collection of industry standards brought together to help developers create a consistent piece of e-learning. It dictates how content is packaged, usually into a ZIP file format so that it may be shared and uploaded onto a Learning Management System or LMS. It also defines how the content communicates with the LMS.
E-learning developers and authoring tools such as our own LAB Advanced use SCORM commands to communicate with an LMS, for example to set the score for a learner on a quiz or to resume from a previous session.
There have been several different revisions to SCORM. SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 (previously called SCORM 1.3) are the most widely used versions. Due to the differences between them SCORM 2004 content is not compatible with a SCORM 1.2 LMS and vice versa.
| VERSION | RELEASE DATE | WIDELY USED? |
|---|---|---|
| SCORM 1.0 | January 2000 | No |
| SCORM 1.1 | January 2001 | No |
| SCORM 1.2 | October 2001 | Yes |
| SCORM 2004 | January 2004 | No |
| SCORM 2004 2nd Edition | July 2004 | Yes |
| SCORM 2004 3rd Edition | October 2006 | Yes |
| SCORM 2004 4th Edition | March 2009 | Yes |
xAPI or the Experience API was previously known as the Tin Can API and is considered to be the next generation of SCORM and is the newest e-learning standard, released in 2013. xAPI is very different to SCORM and they are not compatible. xAPI is a specification that provides a shared format for sending and receiving data. This data can be related to a wide range of experiences by using xAPI statements and is stored in a Learning Record Store or LRS.
cmi5 is xAPI, or rather it is a profile or template which defines the required components for connectivity between a content package and the LMS by taking advantages of xAPI as a communication protocol.
As you can see from the table above SCORM versions become deeply integrated into workflows and tools that generally take a long time for an organisation to transition from, because of this even SCORM 1.2 is still widely used despite being released in 2001. Both the authoring tool and LMS need to be compatible with xAPI which creates two areas for an organisation to upgrade. SCORM modules will need to be updated or potentially re-created to work with xAPI. These factors create a barrier for upgrading existing SCORM content to the newer standard. At learnPro we are always looking ahead at the latest technologies and we work closely with our customers to ensure we are providing the best functionality and compatibility for their systems.
LAB Advanced modules can be published to any LMS using Connect, our SCORM Cloud distribution service. LABA Connect works with both SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 without requiring any changes, you can upload the same SCORM zip file to any LMS running either version and the package will run and record to both the client LMS and back to the LABA Connect dashboard. With instant updates, version control and detailed reports which can collate results from different LMS’s, LABA Connect is the best option for the distribution of SCORM modules.