Some Issues With SCORM

Jonathon Crossland has some interesting thoughts on SCORM, they can be found at Feelings Over The SCORM  He sites a long list of issues/concerns about SCORM.  Jonathon states,

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• It is really too complex in many areas, which will make adoption longer and harder

• At this stage, it suffers from a classic 'software framework' problem when in the early days of release. What value does it provide? I can do this easily if I do it myself. It is too complicated to 'get started'. etc
• Perhaps the SCORM conformancy should be reduced to grades A and B, with one being a lot less work than at present.
• The Sequencing and Navigation is really not worth the weight of the paper. A much easier implementation could be created, with Layers of abstraction. I can't see many courses utilizing the full extent of it anyway.
• A simple set of class Interfaces (written in java, c#, vb.net etc) would be helpful for the current SN psuedo code. Better yet, use the Template Method (GOF) for defining it and we can fill in the implementation.
• I think, that the CAM is going to promote larger sets of learning material rather than smaller e-learning objects, unless a different way is found to package and disperse learning.
• The API with the CMI, is not just old-school, but bad old-school. It needs to move with the technology that matters, Web Services, UDDI, AJAX, a proper defined behaviour with interfaces
• The Tracking model needs to be better defined for real world use. An extension once again is needed to really make tracking a vital aspect. Tracking after all, could be made seamless from content to LMS via set API. 'What' is sent defined by the content, expecting the content to document it for the LMS. Now anything could be set without effecting CMI, Existing Tracking or SN.
• A lot of profesional courseware monitor their own stats or are custom tweaked for an LMS. This will still continue for a long time yet.
• The worth of SCORM is a long way still from being realized
• The specs, sample code and testing environments, everything is written in Java, I don not see any software design patterns, anything familiar. An increase in adoption can be made by defining a real 'software framework'.

• The objectives for SCORM needs to be reviewed and enhanced.

Dave Boggs
SyberWorks