What is SCORM?

Getting started
with the basics
 What is SCORM? Getting started with the basics | 01

Contents
Introduction

What is SCORM?

Why use SCORM?

Why shouldn’t you use SCORM?

SCORM versions

How does SCORM work?

What makes up the SCORM manifest?

What SCORM best practices should I know?

Run-time

Top things SCORM content should do at run-time

Bookmarking

Exit buttons

Reporting interactions in SCORM tests

Lost completions

How do I get started?

Where can I learn more about SCORM?

rusticisoftware.com
 What is SCORM? Getting started with the basics | 02

Introduction
Being located right outside of Nashville, we know a thing or two about music (and a lot about eLearning
standards!). When you’re trying to figure out what this SCORM standard thing is, it’s helpful to compare it
to a real-world analogy.

Creating SCORM content is a lot like producing music with an editing tool, such as Pro Tools or
GarageBand, and then saving the music as an MP3 file. That MP3 file can then be played the same way
in iTunes, Windows, Android, iPhone or your favorite device. When you’re ready to share your beautiful
music out into the world, anyone who has an MP3 compatible device can play your next big hit. The
same is true for SCORM content.

Whether you’re an instructional designer, training administrator or course developer, you likely have the
same goal with your learning content: For your customers or learners to be able to play and complete
your courseware and see reports. And using eLearning standards is how you can ensure plug and play
interoperability between your content and their Learning Management System (LMS).

rusticisoftware.com
 What is SCORM? Getting started with the basics | 03

What is SCORM?
SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) is the most widely used set of technical standards for eLearning
software products. SCORM tells programmers how to write their code so that it can “play well” - or be interoperable -
with other eLearning software. Specifically, SCORM instructs online learning content and LMSs on how to communicate
with each other so that content is playable, and the same data is captured regardless of the LMS. SCORM tracks certain
interactions, nicknamed the Big 4: completion, score, time and satisfaction.

At a high level, SCORM is designed to do two key things:

1. Provides a way to package an eLearning course, in its entirety, so it will behave exactly the same way in any LMS the
course is played in as long as the LMS supports the same SCORM version (see SCORM versions below) as your content.

2. Provides a communication protocol for the eLearning course and the system playing the content to talk to each
other for the purposes of delivering and tracking.

It’s important to note that SCORM is purely a technical standard, meaning it doesn’t speak to instructional design or to
the course content itself. SCORM is governed by ADL (Advanced Distributed Learning) Initiative and is used across the
globe by many different organizations.

Why use SCORM?

SCORM is great for anyone creating online content, such as computer based training, distance learning or eLearning,
that will be played in an LMS. You’ll be able to create the content one time and then use it in many different systems
and situations without modification. This plug-and-play interoperability is important both internally and when sharing
externally to other organizations. Your courseware will be compatible and play in any LMS that supports the SCORM
version you published your content in, so you’ll reach a larger audience without spending time and money modifying for
each system.

SCORM is widely adopted by organizations around the world and is the de facto eLearning standard. The U.S.
Department of Defense in DoDI 1322.26 states that all of its content must be delivered via SCORM, xAPI (Experience API) or
cmi5. Industry is much the same with many RFPs requiring content to be SCORM compliant in both training content and
LMSs.

Content providers looking to integrate with outside vendors will want their courses to be SCORM conformant in order to
provide their content to the largest audience. Organizations or departments that are building a large library of learning
content will need their content to be playable in different systems. Similarly, LMS vendors will need to ensure that the
courses their customers upload will be compatible and playable in their developed LMS.

rusticisoftware.com
 What is SCORM? Getting started with the basics | 04

General use cases for content creators who: If you are developing a system or LMS, you should
know that SCORM provides the rules for delivering and
• Want to reach a large customer base.
tracking content while the LMS handles learning paths,
• Need to distribute content to customers who use user management and reporting. Meaning, the LMS is
various systems. responsible for everything before and after the run-
time session. The LMS captures reporting data, such as
• Have customers who need to track and play content learner ID, course ID, completion status, time, scores,
in their own LMS. pass/fail, etc.

General use cases for LMS providers and software

applications that need to:

• Support 3rd party and customer provided content in

their system.

• Want to appeal to a wide variety of customers by

supporting the de facto standard.

• Meet customer requirements for SCORM support in

their RFPs.

Why shouldn’t you use SCORM?

The most recent version of SCORM was released in Overall, SCORM’s biggest limitations include:
2009, and technologies and internet best practices
• Content must be browser-based.
have come a long way since that time.
• SCORM isn’t flexible enough to support evolving
SCORM is limited to only being able to track browser-
internet best practices.
based learning content that is housed within the LMS
itself. This means that the standard cannot track new • Is constrained to a defined set of data elements.
and emerging technologies (like virtual reality and
serious games) or content housed outside the LMS • Content has to reside on the same server or domain

(such as a simulation). In addition, the SCORM data as the LMS.

model is not flexible enough to record both learning • Data is collected and stored within the LMS.
and performance data or what the learner does while
interacting within a course. Meaning, more in-depth • Unable to track many new and emerging
data is beyond the scope of SCORM. technologies natively.

rusticisoftware.com
 What is SCORM? Getting started with the basics | 05

What are the common SCORM versions?

Remember our MP3 analogy at the start? Now that your record-breaking album heard on MP3 players around the world
is a hit, you want to hang up your new gold record and that requires inserting a few nails. You could use a screwdriver or
wrench to pound those nails into the wall, but a hammer is a much more efficient tool. So even though you have several
tools to choose from, it’s important to use the right tool that fits the job. And the same principle applies when it comes to
SCORM versions. Originally introduced in 2000, SCORM evolved over the years, and we now commonly see three versions,
so it’s worth understanding a little about each one to know which option is right for your course.

SCORM 1.2 (2001)

• Is the most widely used and supported by almost all commercial authoring tools, content providers and LMSs
available.

• Captures the “big four” data points: completion, score, duration and satisfaction.

• Supports limited interaction data collection.

SCORM 2004
While it’s common to hear just SCORM 2004 collectively, each SCORM 2004 edition does vary slightly. The 3rd and 4th
edition replaced the 1st and 2nd editions and are the most commonly used editions today. SCORM 2004 introduced
the concept of sequencing and navigation, allowing you to define rules that the LMS will use to control the learner’s
navigation between sections of your content. SCORM 2004 is best for capturing more detailed interaction data (e.g.
question level details). More sequencing details are found in the “How does SCORM work?” section.

SCORM 2004 3rd Edition (2006)

• Improves the sequencing aspect of the specification.

• Tightens the specification for better interoperability.

• Is the most commonly supported SCORM 2004 edition.

• Captures more detailed interaction data.

SCORM 2004 4th Edition (2009)

• Improves sequencing even further and captures more detailed interaction data.

• Adds sequencing features to make creating sequenced content simpler.

If you’re looking to distribute your content to a wide audience, the best practice is to use the version that’s right for
your content and is compatible with your customer’s requirements. SCORM 1.2 is the most universally supported
version, but SCORM 2004 3rd or 4th edition is better when you have more sophisticated content that requires
sequencing support or to receive more detailed interactions.

rusticisoftware.com
 What is SCORM? Getting started with the basics | 06

How does SCORM work?

At its core, all SCORM versions govern the same two things: packaging content and exchanging data at run-time.

05/05/2022, 14:48 Table of contents.png

Packaging content
How the content is packaged – or published –
determines how the content should be delivered.
Basically, a SCORM package includes a document titled
the manifest file. This file contains all the important
information the LMS requires in order to import and
launch content without needing a human’s help. This
manifest file contains XML that describes the structure
of a course, both from a learner’s perspective and from
a physical file system perspective. This file answers
important questions, like “which document should be
launched?” and “what is the name of this content?”

Exchanging data at run-time

Run-time communication, or data exchange, specifies how the content “talks” to the LMS while the content is playing.
This is what we call the delivery and tracking part.

There are two major elements to this communication. The first is that the content has to “find” the LMS. Once that
happens, the content can then “talk” to the LMS with the help of an associated vocabulary and through a series of “get”
and “set” calls. These calls are things like “request the learner’s name” and “tell the LMS that the learner scored 85% on
this test.”

SCOs
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y4NH29oycb43Hemq1a-dQaP5QIZxWwB4/view?ts=6266ae1b 1/1

A SCORM course is made up of SCOs (Sharable Content Objects), which are the smallest pieces of content and are
both reusable and independent. Examples of a SCO include a chapter, a module or a page depending on how you
want to design your course.

The LMS shows SCOs separately in the course’s table of contents and tracks each SCO separately. SCOs can contain
their own bookmark, score and completion status.

rusticisoftware.com
 What is SCORM? Getting started with the basics | 07

What makes up the SCORM manifest?

The course’s manifest file is the key component of the SCORM content packaging specification. The manifest is an XML
file that completely describes the content and contains the following essential pieces:

Resources Metadata
Resources consist of a list of “parts” that the course is Every piece of the manifest can be described in detail
made up of and come in two types: Assets and SCOS. by associating metadata (a data set describing and
giving information about other data) with it. SCORM
• An Asset is a collection of one or more files that
metadata is recorded in a well-defined format known
makes up a logical unit. Assets can either be stand
as “learning object metadata” (“LOM”), which contains
alone units of different parts of the course, or they
several predefined fields for describing learning
can be file collections that are reused in other parts
content. Metadata can be applied to virtually any
of the course, such as a common set of branding
section of the manifest. For instance, it can be applied
images.
to the course as a whole, individual items or individual
• SCOs are units of instruction that are also composed resources to enhance reusability. Metadata is typically
of one or more files and are almost always optional, however SCORM 1.2 has some restrictions.
instructional parts of a course. The appropriate amount of SCORM metadata to use
will vary widely depending on the intended use of the
What’s the basic difference between an Asset and a content, how long you plan to use the content and if it
SCO? An Asset is simply static content that is presented will be reused.
to the user while a SCO can communicate with the LMS.

Sequencing
Organization Sequencing is what happens between and outside
Organizations are logical groupings of resources into of SCOs. Sequencing is responsible for determining
a hierarchical structure. A single manifest can contain what happens next when a learner exits a SCO and
more than one organization of the same content determines what navigational controls and options
(for instance, to enable the content to be presented are available to the learner. Further, it arranges the flow
differently to different audiences), but usually there is and status of the course as a whole.
only the default organization. Organizations are always
structured hierarchically as a tree. In SCORM 2004, every activity can have a set of
sequencing rules assigned to it. These rules are
encoded in XML in the course manifest. SCORM was
designed so that a simple course consisting of nothing
A helpful note
but assets wouldn’t need to specify any sequencing
Learn more about these topics:
rules except for the defaults. However, in practice, there
SCORM content packaging.
are some defaults that should be overridden for all but
the simplest of courses.

rusticisoftware.com
 What is SCORM? Getting started with the basics | 08

What SCORM best practices should I know?

These tidbits will help you build user friendly courseware Bookmarking
and navigate some trouble spots we’ve run across.
You always want to make sure that your courses
bookmark (unless there is a reason to not do so). You
Run-time
never know what may happen on the client side, so
At the absolute bare minimum, a course should do two
making the course set location will help in situations
things:
where the learner leaves their machine and it times
1. Initialize communication with the LMS. This starts the out or perhaps they just have to stop training to go do
communication with the LMS. something. Bookmark often to keep your learners happy.

2. Terminate communication with the LMS. This ends the

Exit buttons
communication with the LMS.
Giving the learner a clear exit will help in situations where
Outside of those two points, the course can also do a the wrong window gets closed first. Scenarios where the
series of get and setValues to both grab data from and player window is shut prior to the course window or the
set data for storage in the LMS, like status, score and time. course and player window shut at the same time can
result in a lost completion that may cause the run-time
Top things SCORM content should do at run-
communication to get lost in the shuffle.
time
In addition to the above two points, your SCORM content Reporting interactions in SCORM assessments
should do the following five things. If it doesn’t, you In addition to the above best practices, if you’re using
risk having unhappy learners at best and unusable SCORM for assessments, quizzes or tests, you should
courseware at worst. include the following four things in regard to reporting

1. Be able to find the SCORM API. interaction data:

2. Set status right away. 1. R

 ecord your interactions with full detail. This includes
details like the learner’s result and the learner’s
3. Use bookmarks.
response to a question.
4. Record completion.
2. U
 nderstand the difference between state (updating
5. Exit gracefully (see exit buttons). an interaction value) and journaling (adding another
value).

3. S
 et completion status and success status. This allows
A helpful note
the content to be more expressive about whether a
Learn more about the top things SCORM
content should do at run-time. failure is final.

4. P
 ost a score. This is a simple one that’s very helpful to
the LMS.

A helpful note
Read more about these
reporting interactions best practices.

rusticisoftware.com
 What is SCORM? Getting started with the basics | 09

Lost completions
One known common issue with using SCORM is that of • Set your status, score and the rest of your data
a “lost completion.” This occurs when the LMS doesn’t before the learner exits the course. If you’re setting
record that the learner completed the training. This that data while exiting, there’s a chance that the
can be particularly frustrating as in many scenarios it player will start its exit routine before the content
is difficult to see if the issue is on the course side or the has set its data, which will likely lose completion
LMS side. data. A results slide is a great way to get around
this. The learner sees their results, and it will increase
If your course isn’t recording completions with the
the likelihood of the course recording data and
LMS, fortunately there are a few things you can do to
preventing lost completions.
troubleshoot and minimize lost completions.

• Test your content with a tool like SCORM Cloud. This • Add an easy to find exit button. This helps the course

removes the course from both the LMS and authoring exit the way it wants to, instead of the learner closing

tool environment so that you can look at the SCORM out of it on their own in an unexpected way.

calls in a neutral environment. Secondly, it provides a

free place for easy debugging.
A helpful note
More lost completion tips.

How do I get started

with SCORM?
The best place to start creating content or converting
videos, PowerPoint and more into SCORM format is
with an authoring tool. Authoring tools help you build
We have SCORM samples!
the course and add questions, interactive content, set
bookmarks, quizzes, etc. When you’re ready to save the On our golf samples page, you’ll find two
course, select the desired standard, such as SCORM 1.2, sections: the content packaging section
to “save as” or “publish” to. highlighting what the inside of a SCORM
package should look like and the run-time
section with working courses.

rusticisoftware.com
 What is SCORM? Getting started with the basics | 10

Where can I learn more about SCORM?

In addition to SCORM.com, which has information from the basics of what is SCORM up to developer-level
knowledge, Rustici Software provides numerous resources, blogs and on-demand webinars to help on your
eLearning standards journey. Still have questions? We’re always happy to help! Reach out today.

Links to more SCORM resources

How to convert your
How to test PowerPoint to SCORM
SCORM basics SCORM content
webinar

All eLearning
resources
How to convert your Troubleshooting
SCORM content
video to SCORM webinar

Test, play and distribute your

content in SCORM Cloud
Want a way to test your content for free? SCORM Cloud
is a great place to start testing and distributing content
directly to your learners or to 3rd party LMSs. You’ll also be
able to maintain control of your intellectual property, with
updates, caps and restrictions while perusing valuable
analytics insights with SCORM Cloud.

Here’s a nice overview for getting started

with SCORM Cloud and a more in-depth
user guide to help you get setup and testing.

rusticisoftware.com
 What is SCORM? Getting started with the basics | 11

About us Contact us
Rustici Software helps companies in the eLearning [email protected]

space work well together. As the world’s leading (866) 497-2676

eLearning standards experts, we provide the rusticisoftware.com
tools and knowledge to help companies convert, scorm.com
distribute and play eLearning content. Since 2002, xapi.com
we have assisted hundreds of LMSs, authoring tools,
content providers and organizations conform to
specifications like SCORM, xAPI, cmi5, LTI and AICC.
We continually strive to improve and evolve the
standards and have actively supported development
in partnership with ADL, IMS Global, and other industry
organizations.