Navigating beyond SCORM

Navigating Beyond SCORM

SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) has long been a standard underpinning educational content sharing between e-learning and Learning Management Systems (LMS).

SCORM is a set of technical specifications for e-learning software products that define how online learning content is shared. It specifies how the content appears to the learner, how the learner interacts with it, and how the LMS tracks and reports the learner’s progress.

SCORM was a necessary standard when organisations were working out how to share LMS content between solutions. This means that SCORM has become entrenched in the LMS sector. For many people, SCORM compatibility is a prerequisite when selecting and deploying an LMS for e-learning.

The Need for SCORM has Passed

SCORM content packages have been great for sharing e-learning modules and other content between different LMS. However, the interoperability SCORM delivers comes with rigid constraints on how content is formatted and packaged.

There is comfort in the familiar. We can see this across many technology areas where technologies that have been essential tools for years are required long after newer and better alternatives have emerged. We are seeing this scenario play out again with SCORM and the inertia that designates it as a requirement when specifying LMS features.

Many industry analysts have pointed out the limitations of SCORM. Criticisms include that it is inflexible, is narrow in scope, and fails to keep up with technology advancements such as mobile device compatibility and support for interactive content. The learner progress tracking capabilities of SCORM are restricted to e-learning courses, which overlooks a broad spectrum of other learning behaviours that are crucial in today’s dynamic educational environments. The table below summarises SCORM criticisms that we hear frequently.

Inflexible and narrow

SCORM has not kept pace with technological advancements, particularly in areas like mobile device compatibility and support for interactive content.

Inadequate Progress Tracking

SCORM's capabilities for tracking learner progress are limited to e-learning courses. This is a significant drawback as it fails to account for a wide range of other learning behaviours that are important in modern educational environments.

Limited functionality

There are many features that SCORM cannot provide. In contrast, newer technologies offer more flexibility, better compatibility with current devices and software.

Outdated technology

The continued use of SCORM is more due to comfort and inertia rather than its effectiveness or superiority. Clinging to SCORM is not ideal in the context of evolving educational and technological landscapes.

Better options are now available that deliver everything SCORM does and provide functionality for e-learning that SCORM can’t match. Clinging to SCORM in 2024 is akin to using a mid-2000s mobile phone in the age of smartphones.

Modern Alternatives to SCORM

The emergence of newer interoperability technologies, such as the Experience API (also known as xAPI or Tin Can API), is a significant improvement over SCORM.

xAPI was first introduced in 2013 and is now a mature alternative to SCORM that expands the scope of traditional E-learning. xAPI enables tracking learning experiences beyond the LMS and across various platforms and devices, including mobile devices, simulations, virtual reality environments, and also offline learning activities. It enables data gathering across many learning experiences, including informal, social, and experiential learning activities.

With xAPI, learning experiences can be tracked and analysed in real-time, providing valuable insights into learner behaviour and performance. This broader flexibility of xAPI enables solutions built on it to deliver personal learning experiences for individuals based on their progress and learning level. Comparisons between the functionality offered via xAPI versus SCORM highlight that the former has a modern design that’s friendly to how we use IT endpoint devices and consume content in 2024. And that SCORM was designed for a different time and still adheres to that design with its resulting limitations. The diagram below compares xAPI vs. SCORM across four crucial use cases.

Source: https://www.teachfloor.com/elearning-glossary/xapi

But What About All Our Investment in SCORM Content?

The ubiquity and longevity of SCORM means that a lot of e-learning content is in SCORM packages. Many people think this legacy library of SCORM content means that they have to use SCORM forever. This is not the case.

The abovementioned inertia also applies to much of the learning content stored in SCORM packages. Much of this has been used for years (or decades) and is from when desktop computers were the primary tool for e-learning. Creators of these SCORM packages optimised them for desktop e-learning.

In the mobile computing age, much of the content tied up in SCORM packages isn’t suitable for use on smartphones and tablets, nor the bite-sized continuous improvement learning style that is the norm in businesses and other organisations.?

Most e-learning teams who are responsible for delivering continuous improvement in workforces will need to create new mobile-friendly learning modules that deliver the needs of the 2024 learners (and future 2030 learners!) SCORM packages are not the way to deliver this new learning paradigm. You’re going to need to update your e-learning modules at some point. Using a solution that supports the modern paradigm will make it easier to deliver the experience your learners want. Data shows that the shift to using xAPI-based learning delivery is happening and accelerating. The chart below shows the growth in xAPI calls in Rustici Software’s SCORM Cloud learning software and API testing platform. As the chart shows, the use of xAPI calls has grown year-on-year since its introduction in 2013, reaching half a billion in 2020. The use of xAPI has grown similarly since 2020.

?

Source: https://xapi.com/blog/an-exciting-time-to-watch-xapi-and-cmi5-adoption-numbers/

Newer e-learning systems (such as usecure) use modern technology stacks that make it easier to build the bite-sized and continuous learning offerings that experience has shown deliver better educational outcomes.????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Final Thoughts

Clinging to “that’s what we’ve always used” isn’t a reason to insist that any new deployment of an LMS or other e-learning solution must support SCORM.

SCORM isn’t a suitable technology to deliver the modern, vibrant, and engaging learning that people now expect on their smartphones.

In the coming weeks, Renaissance will be holding an event to discuss the topic of SCORM, where we will outline why SCORM isn’t a necessity in 2024 and how alternatives can deliver better e-learning outcomes for your organisation.