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Summary: If you have ever been involved in eLearning, you have surely come across terms such as SCORM, AICC, or xAPI. In this article, we will look at each of these abbreviations, explain how they came about and what they do. The article will cover the main eLearning standards.
A simple but brilliant idea has driven the world of eLearning forward for almost 30 years. The idea is that it should not matter which authoring tool for creating learning content you use or which learning management system (LMS) your boss prefers.
Why do we need standards for online learning and learning management systems?
There are several main reasons why compliance standards such as AICC and SCORM are so important:
- They ensure that eLearning content can be used in any LMS, which is essential for seamless eLearning.
- They allow you to track learners' progress and performance so you can identify areas where your content needs to be improved.
- They help ensure that eLearning content is accessible to all learners, regardless of their abilities.
We can help you choose a learning platform. Contact us at tel.: +359 878 685 304, e-mail: office@nitbg.com.
All eLearning products must be compatible with each other, regardless of who developed them. But in the 1980s, when there were still no compatibility standards, companies and educational institutions had to create their own computer-based training (CBT/ Computer Based Training) from scratch.
That is how AICC started.
1. AICC
History
In 1988, several major aircraft manufacturers, including Boeing and Airbus, launched a project intended to help them reduce the cost of implementing CBT for their employees. They called it the "Aviation Industry CBT Committee" (AICC). This team began developing a package of guidelines called Computer Managed Instruction (CMI001), which, when applied to computer-based training systems, was intended to help ensure their interoperability and compatibility with other systems.
Later, when the internet became a phenomenon and the need to host courses on the internet became obvious, they updated CMI with a new specification called "Run Time," which described how online Content ⇋ LMS communication should work. AICC called this specification the "HTTP-based AICC/CMI protocol" or HACP.
Later, in 1999, they released a Javascript API, which was an alternative to HACP and was easier for vendors to implement in their products. This Javascript API was later reused in SCORM with some minor changes.
Capabilities
Among other things, CMI includes an explanation of how learning modules should communicate with the LMS. The exchange of information between them is possible through the use of multiple predefined variables that both the LMS and the modules must know.
These variables are the universal language that allows them to understand each other. This is the core of the CMI specification and its most important part.
Here are some of the important variables in CMI that the learning module and LMS can exchange with each other:
core.score (possible values: raw, max, min)
Raw is the result the learner has achieved for a given attempt.
data.mastery score of the learner
Passing score - the passing result that has been predetermined by the course author. If "core.score raw" is greater than or equal to "student data.mastery score", the module is marked as passed.
core.lesson status (passed, completed, failed, incomplete, etc.)
All these variables were created so that a module could tell the LMS when it was completed (reviewed in its entirety) and whether all interactions in it (such as tests) were passed with a score higher than the set passing score. There were also other mandatory variables and quite a few optional ones. Vendors did not always implement the optional variables in their products, which is why support for AICC's CMI was inconsistent.
By today's standards, AICC's CMI is a thing of the past. Use it only when there is no better alternative. And if you do use it, maybe you should reconsider which eLearning tools you are using.
2. SCORM
History
In February 1998, President Bill Clinton and the US Department of Defense created a new organization called Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL). They were tasked with finding a way to continue standardizing eLearning and make online learning more cost-effective.
Instead of starting from scratch, they borrowed several already existing specifications developed by other initiatives such as AICC. That is why ADL called its project the “Sharable Content Object Reference Model.” It was more of a combination of references to best practices that existed at the time than a stand-alone new standard.
The SCORM project went through several iterations, with its final release in 2009, when "SCORM 2004 4th Edition" came out. It will not be developed further.
Capabilities
During the SCORM lifecycle, several versions were created, but there are two that are still relevant:
SCORM 1.2 (released in 2001, including two main specifications/manuals)
Content Aggregation Model- Content Aggregation Model (CAM)
It was originally created by the "Instructional Management Systems Global Learning Consortium" or IMS. Among other things, it defines a text file called a "manifest," which can be found in every SCORM module. This manifest must list every resource file in the module and point to the file that launches the course so that the LMS can start it. This document also states that the learning module must be "packed" into a .zip archive.
Run-Time Environment - Run Time Environment (RTE)
This uses the CMI specification defined by AICC. The same principles, the same variables.
SCORM 2004
This version was published in 2004 and fixed some of the issues of SCORM 1.2, but most importantly, it added a new chapter called Sequencing and Navigation. Derived from earlier IMS efforts, this standard enabled content authors to build their courses from separate sharable content objects (Sharable Content Objects or SCO). This allows them to reuse each SCO in any other module.
There are three editions of this version, published over 5 years from 2004 to 2009. They are called 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, each containing some fixes compared to the previous one, mainly in the "Sequencing and Navigation" section.
Conclusion
SCORM is still widely used by the eLearning community. In fact, SCORM 1.2 is the most popular standard to this day. However, it would not be an exaggeration to say that, despite its wide adoption, its days are numbered.
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Examples of SCORM courses can be seen in our Portfolio
SCORM Run-Time was not created for mobile learning, and that is a major drawback at the moment.
3. Tin Can API (later renamed xAPI)
History
In 2008, an organization called Learning Education Training Systems Interoperability (LETSI) stated that SCORM no longer met the requirements of modern eLearning. They published a set of documents called "SCORM 2.0 White-Papers."
These documents highlighted the most serious problems with SCORM:
-Dependence on a permanent internet connection to record training statistics
-Data cannot be sent if the LMS and the course are on different domains
-A narrow range of parameters that can be recorded as statistics
-Security shortcomings
ADL agreed with this and hired Rustici Software to create a better standard that would meet modern requirements. They called it the "Tin Can Project."
In 2013, Tin Can 1.0 was released and the first users of the new standard began to appear. Around the same time, ADL gave the project its official name: they called it "Experience API" or, for short, "xAPI."
The standard was continuously developed until 2016, when version 1.03 was released. This version is considered a finished product and there are currently no plans for further updates.
Capabilities
xAPI is a Run-Time Environment that allows you to record data about almost any learning activity that can happen on a computer, phone, or tablet, or even in a real classroom. Data is recorded in the form of simple secure statements.
Each record in xAPI contains information about three things: "actor", "verb", and "object".
The actor is the person participating in the learning activity. The verb is a status update (completed, passed, etc.). The object is the learning activity being considered.
Instead of sending statements directly to the LMS, as was done with SCORM, xAPI defines something called Learning Record Store (LRS). This is a small application that captures such statements and stores them in a database.
Most importantly, the LRS does not need to be on the same domain as the content. It can be anywhere else on the internet and still "capture" training statistics. This is great because now learning content can be hosted anywhere, yet still send statistics to the same LRS.
Another important improvement of xAPI was that if there is no internet connection available at some point, it allows devices to store statistics in their RAM. When the device is online again, it can send everything it has captured to the LRS.
In eLearning, xAPI is the most advanced eLearning standard. It is still not as popular as SCORM, but as they say, old habits die hard. If you are looking for a modern approach with mobile learning support or lots of statistics for specific and non-linear learning activities, make sure your authoring tool and your LMS support xAPI.
Do you need help with creating eLearning courses? You can contact us at tel.: +359 878 685 304, e-mail: office@nitbg.com.
4. Cmi5
History
Shortly after AICC was disbanded in 2014, many of its specialists decided to start a new project. Since xAPI was so generalized that it could support a wide range of implementations, they wanted to make it easier for standard LMS-oriented learning environments to adopt xAPI.
So in 2016, they described something they called a "companion standard for xAPI." It was given the name "cmi5," similar to the name of the first interoperability specification developed by AICC, "CMI001."
Capabilities
Cmi5 is a complementary specification that explains how modules with xAPI should be packaged to make them easier to deliver to traditional LMSs. It also defines how the course file structure should be described and how the course should initiate its communication with the LMS.
In general, it does for xAPI what SCORM did for AICC's API.
Conclusion
If you are already working with an eLearning environment that is compatible with xAPI, you may want to check whether both your authoring tool and LMS support cmi5 in addition to xAPI. Using cmi5 will make data exchange between your courses and LMS a little more secure thanks to the standard's handshake mechanism. At the same time, packaging and uploading your courses to the LMS will also become easier.
5. IMS Common Cartridge
History
Although SCORM is still the most popular online learning standard, there have also been other successful efforts in this area. An organization called IMS Global Learning Consortium, founded in 1997, built its own interoperability standard, which is widely used in educational environments. They called it "IMS Common Cartridge."
To this day, the standard continues to evolve thanks to IMS Global. It is gaining momentum and may in the future become a preferred alternative to SCORM/xAPI.
Capabilities
Common cartridge is essentially similar to what SCORM does, but with a greater emphasis on assessments and other academic learning activities. You could say that it is an alternative to SCORM with a much simpler implementation, although it is still not as popular.
Common Cartridge is a viable option if you work in education, as it offers native support for classroom activities such as quizzes, assignments, and discussion forums. Also, if you already have SCORM content, it is quite easy to convert it into Common Cartridge.
IMS Common Cartridge will be useful to you if you work in higher education. If that is the case, make sure your LMS / authoring tool supports it.
We have looked at several different eLearning standards that have shaped the face of eLearning over the past 30 years. Some of them were original projects that started from scratch (AICC, IMS), while others simply referenced a bunch of other specifications (SCORM).
Unfortunately, our journey toward a brighter future for eLearning may be slightly delayed because the industry still depends too much on SCORM. It needs a strong push toward something better, such as xAPI. But xAPI specifications seem too general compared to the "good old" SCORM, so the community is not rushing to adopt them.
We will see what the new decade brings. Until then, you can check out free resources and eLearning courses
We can offer you a top-class online learning platform compatible with the most widely used eLearning standards in the world.
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