SCORM

Posted by GilaChess

December 3, 2008

SCORM compliancy in an e-Learning system is a hot feature or more accuratedly standard to have. For example if you come out with a online Chess E-Learning system, SCORM compliancy ensures that online teachers who produces courses in other platforms can move their content into any LMS (Learning Management System) easily without any modification.

Here’s Wikipedia definition of SCORM:-

Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) is a collection of standards and specifications for web-based e-learning. It defines communications between client side content and a host system called the run-time environment (commonly a function of a learning management system). SCORM also defines how content may be packaged into a transferable ZIP file.
SCORM is a specification of the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative, which comes out of the Office of the United States Secretary of Defense.
SCORM 2004 introduces a complex idea called sequencing, which is a set of rules that specify the order in which a learner may experience content objects. The standard uses XML, and it is based on the results of work done by AICC, IMS Global, IEEE, and Ariadne.
~ Wikipedia

What has this got to do with chess? Nothing! Well almost nothing..

I’m doing research on E-Learning system on a future project that involves SCORM compliancy. Just thinking how cool it is to have an online learning system involving chess that is SCORM compliant.

It is the holy grail of all E-Learning system but many e-Learning platforms do not have SCORM compliancy because of the technical difficulty in building it. That’s what most my programmer friends tell me anyway. Almost all online chess learning system (that I’ve looked at) have no SCORM compliancy at all. That’s a pity as it means those systems are proprietary making the content limited to only that one site.

Completing this project will be a good thing for me as once I’m finished, the knowledge/experienced gained can be applied to my hobby project - GilaChess Online Academy, an e-learning chess website. That has been ‘in development’ for two years!!

With SCORM compliancy I don’t have to worry about the content. I just concentrate on building the engine of the learning platform and leave it to other chess teachers/coaches to worry about coming out with good content.

I think there is already quite a number of chess coaches qualified to teach but good online teaching tools that these teachers can use are quite rare and scarce.

If you are a programmer who has some experience with SCORM, do tell me about it via email.

GilaChess Thoughts

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