SCORM
ADL Specifications & Schema
The primary documents for the definition of SCORM are available at the ADL web site. These are also packaged in the following zip file:
IMS Specifications & Schemas
Since the content packaging specification is a small extension of the IMS content packaging specification, the primary source that describes the structure of the imsmanifest.xml file and its associated schemas for file validation are found at the IMS web site: www.imsproject.org
Specifications used in SCORM are documented in the IMS Content Packaging Specification, version 1.1.2 for SCORM 1.2, which is described in the following three documents, available in PDF format:
- IMS Content Packaging Information Model,
- IMS Content Packaging XML Binding Specification, and
- IMS Content Packaging Best Practices and Implementation Guide
In order to validate your manifest file locally, without being connected to the internet, the following schemas should be placed in the same directory as the imsmanifest.xml file. Right-click on the following links to download from this course.
- IMS Content Packaging schema - imscp_v1p1p3.xsd,
- IMS metadata schema - imsmd_v1p2p2.xsd, and
- IMS XML Schema - ims_xml.xsd
The latest specification for the IMS Learning Resource metadata Information Model is also available at www.imsproject.org SCORM 1.2 is based upon version 1.2 of this specification. This documented in the following three documents, available in PDF format:
- IMS Learning Resource metadata Information Model,
- IMS Learning Resource metadata XML Binding Specification, and
- IMS Learning Resource metadata Best Practices and Implementation Guide
A summary description of the 12 learner metadata items mandatory for all SCORM-conformant learning management systems is also available in this course.
AICC Interoperability Guidelines
The SCORM run-time environment is based upon the AICC run-time environment described in the AICC Interoperability Guidelines (CMI001 ver 3.4).
IEEE Learning Object metadata Standard
As mentioned above, the SCORM course metadata specification is based upon the IMS Learning Resource metadata Information Model. However, the IMS metadata specification is itself derived from the IEEE LTSC Learning Object metadata (LOM) Draft Standard, ver 6.1 (2001-4-18).
Content Development
The ADL Guidelines
The ADL guidelines are a great resource for development of online courses, including references to other resources. They are available at the Orlando ADL Co-laboratory web site: http://www.adlnet.org/About/jointcolab/default.aspx
HTML Editors
Dreamweaver is a very popular editor among developers of SCORM-conformant courses because 1) it allows for easy incorporation of JavaScript into a web page, and 2) there are SCORM-like extensions available for a fee download.
Javascript will often be useful in SCORM courses since within-SCO navigation should be built into the SCO, not the LMS. The SCORM-like extensions claim to produce SCORM-conformant JavaScript for web pages. However, except for very simple SCO's, the imsmanifest file it produces requires significant editing. The good news is that they are available for free download.
Search for the following extensions:
- Manifest Maker+, and
- SCORM RTI Minimal Code.
The first extension (Manifest Maker+) generates an imsmanifest file, which requires some editing. Be careful to set your site organization before generating the file.
The second extension (SCORM RTI) places the LMSInitialize and LMSFinish calls into a web page using JavaScript. This is normally not what you want to do, unless an SCO is a single web page. However, this can be used on the first and last pages of an SCO, by removing the call to LMSFinish on the first page and LMSInitialize on the last.
XML
Online References and Recommended Books
Online XML Guide
XML Editors.
Small XML files are easily edited using a basic text editor. XML Notepad 2007 is available free for this purpose, but any text editor will work.
However, these text editors do not validate the file or even check that they are "well-formed." Commercial editors are available that make it easier to prepare large manifest files and also check to ensure that your manifest file is well-formed and valid.
There are many other validating editors, at varying prices. Here are a few of the more popular editors.:
