Lot of users ask what is scorm and how to use it so we have decided to publish a small tutorial that explain what is scorm, and what is a scorm compliant LMS.

This is not the usual "silly theoric manual" (all are similar and unuseful) but is a practice manual with exampleas that you can download. At the bottm of this words you will find the PDF file and also the Examples, for downloading the sample please click on the file you need to download.

DoceboLMS 2.0 implements Package and runtime of  SCORM 1.2 version. This allows scorm packages to be:

Uploaded into the learning manager
Tracked by the learning manager

For those who don't know SCORM standard, you can find a small description in the next lines, but a more detailed description is ready to be downloaded in the Download area.

The SCORM standard:Firstly there were 3 standards: IEEE, IMS and AICC. Now , they have been grouped in only one standard, SCORM  (Sharable Content Object Reference Model).
In every SCORM description we can find the same outlines, the same descriptions, but not an exaustive  description of what SCORM really is.This introduction is not an exaustive explanation, but an easy way to approach SCORM and its functions.

SCORM focus on re-using, tracking and classificating standards of learning objects, so we can see that SCORM is not platform-based, but Learning Objects based. E-Learning platform is only a way to communicate and “translate” all messages and information the learning object gives. So platform “understands” the object and “reply “to it.

An example of learning object can be a group of linked html pages or flash objects, but also closed-format files that must be interpreted by particular plugins.

To be compatibile with SCORM standard, every Learning Object must be:

Classifiable using metadata (standard description fields) to be ranked and searched in the LMS. Description fields are many, but not all requested. You have to specify the author, the version, last modify date... All the information are stored in metadata section, in a file called imsmanifest.xml.
The objects can “speak” with the LMS, giving it all necessary data to track student's activity (for example the time the student is attending a lesson) results of tests,  and necessary  assets to go to the next object. Data pass from the L.O. To the LMS, and from the LMS to the L.O. All this communications are made in Javascript and is interpreted by an API that links the data which are transmitted between the L.O. And the LMS.
Re-usabe: objects can be implemented on each other platform that supports SCORM,without any problem of compatibility. This is very important for the Standars, because the object and the platform don't have to be modified to activate tracking and classification functions.

As we saw previously, SCORM hasn't any particular closed format. Any  type of file can be a learning object, on condition that the object can communicate with the LMS or it is a support-object that doesn't communicate with the E-Learning platform.

If the object can communicate with the platform, we give it “SCO” name. If it can't, and so is a support object, we call it ASSET.

SCO objects and the platform communicate with Javascript language. Most common type of files that can be a SCO objects are HTML,FLASH, JAVA and other closed formats.

Content Package organization

Resources are the elemets group that form a Scorm Package. Resources can be composed by many object (for example, an HTML file can contains an image, another HTML file can contains a CSS, etc...)

Organizations are a particulare resources sequences, that can link objects. (for example, if I haven't seen  SCO object “X” I can't see next object “Y”).
A package can contains many organizations.

Assets are support objects.

Sequencing ties of objects can be:

Of use (browsed, browsed but not completed,finished,etc...)
Of result (Passed, not passed)