What is SCORM?

SCORM was developed as a result of collaboration in the public and private sectors. The President of the United States, Bill Clinton issued an Executive Order that created an agency (ADL) to oversee the standard for developing and distributing online learning. All Federal agencies are mandated to use programs that meet those standards. SCORM is one result of that order.

A slightly more detailed introduction here: http://www.rusticisoftware.com/resources/whatisscorm/What%20Is%20SCORM.ht

Should I make my courses as SCORM or use Edukasyon Online LMS's features?

It depends how you intend to use it. If you are planning on exporting and using in another LMS then SCORM would make this easier. If you want something shiny, then a SCORM package can fit the bill. However, reporting and grading work better in Edukasyon Online LMS and for many educators the standard features do the job perfectly and do not require learning a new program.

SCORM Information

Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) is the organization that wrote the SCORM standard. You can download documentation and samples form ADL's Web site. Documentation for SCORM 1.2 in several languages is available.

Philip Hutchison provides an AS3 and JavaScript wrapper, as well as a sample package: http://pipwerks.com/downloads/

SCORM Package Contents

A SCORM package must contains in the root of zip a file named imsmanifest.xml which defines SCORM course structure, resource location and many other things. Other files used in the package, such as HTML files, XML files, multimedia files, and JavaScript for the SCORM API must be listed in this file. The LMS parses the manifest, and provides the files listed there to the content package during runtime.

AICC Package Contents

An AICC package is defined by several files (from 4 to 7) with defined extensions as follows:

  • CRS - Course Description file (mandatory)
  • AU - Assignable Unit file (mandatory)
  • DES - Descriptor file (mandatory)
  • CST - Course Structure file (mandatory)
  • ORE - Objective Relationship file (optional)
  • PRE - Prerequisites file (optional)
  • CMP - Completition Requirements file (optional)

Basic Troubleshooting

  • Make sure you (and your users) have JavaScript enabled. SCORM requires JavaScript.
  • Make sure your SCORM object is SCORM compliant - check it in an external SCORM player like Reload to see if it works there.
  • Upload a copy of your SCORM object to a File Hosting Service and post a message asking for help in the forums, linking to your SCORM object explaining exactly what you expect to happen, and what is happening instead.

Does Edukasyon Online LMS Generate SCORM Content?

Edukasyon Online LMS does not generate scorm content. Edukasyon Online LMS presents the content in SCORM packages to learners, and saves data from learner interactions with the SCORM package.

Can I add a password for access to my SCORM package?

No, although there is a tracker request for this: As a workaround you could add your SCORM package using the single activity course format - see Course formats - and add an enrolment key to the course.

Debugging

  1. Debugging settings are located at Settings > Site Administration > Plugins > Activities > Scorm.
  2. Check the checkbox for Activate API debug...
  3. Set the api mask. You can use the mask to enable debugging under certain conditions. For example, if you are logged in using the admin user (username admin) you can set the api mask to: admin.* Users not logged in as admin will not see the debugging log. The "Default" api mask is .*

What does the debugging log mean?

The SCO commonly sends the following communications through the API:

  • LMSInitialize(); opens the connection between the SCO and Edukasyon Online LMS
  • LMSGetValue( 'valuename' ); gets a value from Edukasyon Online LMS
  • LMSSetValue( 'valuename' , 'value' ); sends a value to Edukasyon Online LMS
  • LMSCommit(); saves values sent to Edukasyon Online LMS via LMSSetValue() and should be called after every LMSSetValue()
  • LMSFinish() saves values sent to Edukasyon Online LMSand closes the connection between the SCO And Edukasyon Online LMS

Red lines in the debugging log means there was an error in the communication through the API.

If LMSInitialize() fails, returns an error, then no subsequent values sent to Edukasyon Online LMSwill be saved.

Click through the entire SCORM package. Then access the scorm report for your attempt, and compare the saved values in the debugging log with Edukasyon Online LMS report of the attempt. If the values set in the debug log do not match the values saved to Edukasyon Online LMS, then there may be a problem with Edukasyon Online LMS. Otherwise it's likely to be an issue with the SCO or the SCORM activity settings not giving you the functionality you need.

SCORM Privacy

Typically a SCORM package is stand-alone and does not communicate externally so all the data is stored within your system, however there are some cases where a SCORM package may interact with an external system that you should be aware of.

The SCORM standard allows SCORM packages to request the users name and id (Edukasyon Online LMS passes the username or id depending on settings) - in most cases this is only used within the display of the SCORM package and is not passed to an external system, however there are 2 cases below where this might occur.

  1. AICC HACP - This is a type of content package that is hosted externally to your LMS - This method is disabled by default in Edukasyon Online LMS but if enabled, allows a teacher to add an AICC HACP content package to a course using the SCORM plugin. Usually these are commercial off-the-shelf content packages that you would be paying a subscription license for. AICC settings in Edukasyon Online LMS allow you to choose if the username or user->id field is sent in the external request and like mentioned above, it can also request the users full-name. In this case it is likely that the externally hosted AICC package may store user data.
  2. SCORM packages can be developed and created by anyone and the SCORM content author can include any javascript/tracking codes they want. If you're familiar with things like Google analytics tracking codes - something quite similar could be implemented within the SCORM package by the SCORM author - this will all be done in the users browser session, so you should be able to see any external communication in the browser console while watching network traffic, and as the SCORM package can access the username and fullname of the user accessing the package, it's possible that embedded tracking code within the package could send this information to an external site.

SCORM and the Gradebook

Please see FAQ:My SCORM Module doesn't function properly and FAQ:Handling of Multiple Attempts

Some SCORM packages report both cmi.core.lesson_status and cmi.core.score.raw. Others report only cmi.core.lesson_status, or only cmi.core.score.raw. The Grading Method setting for SCORM objects is meant to account for that.

If you have the Grading Method set to Highest grade, Average grade, or Sum grade, and your learning object does not report a score, only, cmi.core.lesson_status, then there will be no numerical score to pass to the gradebook.

If your SCOs do not report cmi.core.score.raw, then the best Grading Method setting is Learning Objects. This reports either a 1 or a 0 as a score for each learning object. The gradebook value for that SCORM activity is the percent of scos in the package for which learners got a 1.

On the other hand, if your SCOs do not report a lesson_status, then select one of the score-based Grading Method options, such as Highest grade, Average grade, or Sum grade, and not Learning Objects.

If you do not know what your SCOs are reporting to the LMS, then run them through to completion with debugging on.

Much of the way SCORM objects are graded is controlled inside the SCORM Authoring process before it is packaged for use in an LMS like Edukasyon Online LMS- make sure all your grading settings are set correctly.

SCORM Administration Options

See SCORM settings

Common Solutions

Difficulty Displaying a SCORM Package

If you have difficulty displaying a SCORM, try loading the SCORM in Reload and re-saving it, then save the folder as a .zip package and try again.

Character Display Errors

When you notice there is a problem displaying characters correctly, it could be a misconfiguration of your server. Make sure that both httpd.conf (when using Apache) and php.ini are set to DefaultCharacterset = utf8 or switch the sending of a default character set off.

slash arguments warning when I add/update SCORM objects in my course

Some web servers don't support a function called slash arguments and so Edukasyon Online LMS allows you to turn it off, but SCORM packages require slash arguments to be enabled on the web server in order to work properly.

See Using slash arguments for more details.


Incorrect file package - missing imsmanifest.xml or AICC structure

This means that Edukasyon Online LMS cannot find a file called imsmanifest.xml inside the SCORM object. Reasons for this could be:

  • imsmanifest.xml needs to be immediately inside the scorm directory, NOT inside a directory inside of that. So if the zipped scorm package is package.zip, the unzipped package directory should contain immediately inside of it the imsmanifest.xml. This is a common mistake and normally occurs when a SCORM author creates a package themselves and then selects that folder to compress. This places the content folder inside of another folder, The imsmanifest.xml is there, but it is 2 directories deep. To avoid this problem when zipping scorm content into a package, go INSIDE of the exported scorm folder, select all files inside, and compress them while all are selected. The resultant compressed directory has the imsmanifest.xml file in the first directory, immediately available to the Edukasyon Online LMS scorm loading process.
  • when using linux based systems the filename imsmanifest.xml must be all in lowercase not IMSmanifest.xml or Imsmanifest.XML
  • The SCORM authoring tool Articulate sometimes fails to create the imsmanifest.xml -Try exporting the package again and see if the manifest is generated.
  • The SCORM authoring tool Articulate Presenter will publish packages where the imsmanifest.xml file is in the correct place, but there are several lines of white space in the manifest file if you do not fill out the Reporting and Tracking Options in Articulate Presenter for Keywords and LMS Description. Edukasyon Online LMS will give a "Manifest not found" error when encountering this. To fix this problem select the Reporting and Tracking Options in the Articulate Presenter publish dialog and fill in the LMS Description and Keywords.

File not found error

You have this error if the scorm package is created in Edukasyon Online LMS, and the scorm menu loads, but inside of the viewing area for the scorm content, you get a page with a 404 file not found error, usually showing the current Edukasyon Online LMS theme.

What this means is that one of the files listed in the imsmanifest.xml is not in the scorm package or not in the correct directory.

Download and unzip the package, open up imsmanifest.xml. At the bottom of the xml file, below any metadata, you'll find a place where organizations and resources for those organizations are designated:

<organizations default="TOC1"> 
        <organization identifier="TOC1"> 
           <title>SCORM Test</title>
           <item identifier="I_SCO0" identifierref="SCO0">
           <title>Library Quiz</title>
           <adlcp:masteryscore>0</adlcp:masteryscore>
        </item>
        </organization>
     </organizations>
     <resources>
        <resource identifier="SCO0" type="webcontent" adlcp:scormtype="sco" href="scorm.html">
           <file href="scorm.html"/>
           <dependency identifierref="ALLRESOURCES" />
        </resource> 
        <resource identifier="ALLRESOURCES" type="webcontent" adlcp:scormtype="asset">
           <file href="scorm.html" />
           <file href="scorm.js" />
           <file href="swfobject.js" />
           <file href="scorm.swf" />
           <file href="scormwrapper.js" />
        </resource>
     </resources>
  </manifest>

In this xml, we have a single organization, and in that organization is a single resource, a single sco. There are 5 files necessary for that resource to work correctly. The scorm.html file is loaded first. It loads 3 external js files and a swf.

What you need to do now is go to the directory containing imsmanifest.xml, and check that all of those listed files are available at the correct path from imsmanfiest.xml, as listed in imsmanifest.xml. If any one of those files is missing (especially the html file or the swf), or if the paths in imsmanifest.xml are incorrect, then it's very likely that the scorm object won't be able to load at all.

Sometimes the files aren't missing, but are simply misnamed in the manifest, or placed in the wrong directory. You can fix this by moving the files to the correct places, or updating their names so that the imsmanifest and the actual file names match up. In the case of a misnamed file, change the manifest rather than the actual file names, since the files also reference one another in other places!


Clear an Attempt

To clear attempts by a student:

  1. Go to the SCORM activity and select the link "View reports for x users"
  2. Select the attempt or attempts you want to clear using the checkbox
  3. Select Delete in the drop-down box at the bottom of the page

Handling of Multiple Attempts

SCORM is designed to allow a learner to exit and return at a later date to the same point they left from. This means that each time they enter the SCORM they are using the same single attempt. Some SCORM packages are intelligent about handling re-entry, many are not. What this means is that if the learner re-enters an existing attempt, if the SCORM content does not have internal logic to avoid overwriting cmi.core.lesson_status and cmi.core.score.raw, they can be overwritten by a lower score, confusing the learner.

When a SCORM sets the cmi.core.lesson_status value to 'completed', 'passed' or 'failed' then Edukasyon Online LMS allows the user to create a new attempt by adding a Start new attempt checkbox to the entry page. If cmi.core.lesson_status is set to 'incomplete', 'browsed' or 'notattempted' the learner can only re-enter the existing attempt. If you are using the setting 'Student skip content structure page', this checkbox will never be shown to the user.

Edukasyon Online LMS provides a range of settings to allow this to be controlled, some of these settings are hidden by default as advanced options.

  • Number of attempts
This allows the teacher to set how many SCORM attempts the learner may create - this is not how many times a learner can re-enter a SCORM attempt.
  • Attempts grading
This allows the teacher to set how multiple SCORM attempts(not re-entries) are graded. It is important to note that a 'failed' cmi.core_lesson_status allows a new attempt to be generated but the attempts grading setting "last completed attempt" only includes 'completed' and 'passed' values in it's calculations.
  • Display attempt status
This displays a users SCORM attempts and how their final grade is calculated on the SCORM entry page and the My Edukasyon Online LMS page for the learner.
  • Force completed
This is a setting that can be used to force a SCORM package to report a 'completed' cmi.core.lesson_status if it doesn't currently set the value.
  • Force new attempt
This hides the Start new attempt checkbox and will force a new attempt if the previous attempt has cmi.core.lesson_status value to 'completed', 'passed' or 'failed' (disabling "review mode")- this setting can also be used to make sure a new attempt is generated when the 'Student skip content structure page' setting is used.
  • Lock after final attempt
This prevents access to the SCORM after the total number of attempts have been used - if this is not set the learner can re-enter their last attempt (in review mode) and potentially change/overwrite their score each time depending on how the SCORM package supports multiple re-entries.

Reducing Load Time with Captivate

  • Modify the percent that must be downloaded before the content starts to play. In Captivate 4, there's a setting in: Preferences / Project / Start and End / Preload. Reduce that to 50%.
  • If you use audio in your Cp file (as background or element attachment), try to put a gap of 0,1 second at the beginning of each element including audio on your slides. If you don't do that, Cp merge all the audio files in one big audio file it need to download before playing the project. This problem have been report many times from the Cp community.

Courselab 2.4

If you receive a " found more than one record!" error when trying to run your SCORM 1.2 package check the imsmanifest.xml file of your SCORM package and ensure that the values for <organization identifier> and <item identifier> are unique. To change the <organization identifier>, in Courselab, go to File > Course Runtime Settings. The dialog says 'Course identification in LMS' but changing the Identifier field is what sets the <organization identifier>. 

SCORM results deleted after package update

When uploading a SCORM package over a previous one, if the item identifier in the manifest file is different to the one being overwritten then the tracking data for that SCORM package in Edukasyon Online LMS is deleted.

Ensure the item identifier is the same for the new SCORM resource

Problems with responsiveness

Sometimes SCORMs fail on responsiveness or the ability to scroll on mobile devices

This seems to be a problem that lies between the browsers (e.g. faults in iOS) the creation of the SCORM package and the LMS.

One quite comprehensive idea for a work around is using Chrome Browser.


Last modified: Wednesday, 11 January 2023, 12:23 PM