Differences Between SCORM and AICC

April 1, 2004 | Steve Saporta

Many organizations considering the purchase of e-learning courseware today have deployed, or are planning to deploy, a learning management system (LMS). The recent popularity of LMSs has been driven in no small part by the AICC and SCORM standards. Any LMS that adheres to the standards can launch and track any courseware that adheres to the standards, regardless of which vendors have supplied the LMS and courseware.

So it's no surprise that, as a courseware developer, Midi receives many inquiries about whether our web-based training is "AICC/SCORM-compliant." In some cases, the people who are inquiring have been prompted to do so by someone else, and may not know exactly what they're asking. In this month's issue of Interactive Insights, we'll make it clear that AICC and SCORM are two distinct, although related, sets of standards, and explore some of the important differences between them.

AICC

Technically, AICC is not a standard; it's a standards body, the Aviation Industry CBT Committee. The committee has developed numerous standards over the years, some of which have only a tangential relationship to e-learning. The AICC standard that bears most directly on the ability of an LMS to launch and track web-based courseware is titled "AICC/CMI Guidelines for Interoperability" (document #CM1001).

The initial release of this document in 1993 predated the mass adoption of the World Wide Web and dealt with computer-based training, primarily delivered on CDROM. When the document was revised in 1998, web-based training was addressed for the first time by adding Appendix A to the document. Appendix A defines the "HTTP-based AICC/CMI Protocol" (HACP), a set of rules that govern communication between an LMS and web-based courseware.

In 1999, Appendix B was added, introducing a JavaScript application programming interface as an alternative means of communication between an LMS and courseware on the web. The JavaScript interface made it possible for developers to create AICC-compliant courseware using familiar HTML and JavaScript, without resorting to more complicated -- and often proprietary -- programming languages.

SCORM

Another standards body, Advanced Distributed Learning or ADL, created the SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model). In ADL's words, the SCORM is "a collection of specifications adapted from multiple sources to provide a comprehensive suite of e-learning capabilities..." One of the specifications included in the SCORM is precisely the JavaScript interface from Appendix B of the AICC standard. That is, among other requirements, SCORM-compliant courseware must use the AICC JavaScript interface to communicate with the LMS.

Given the way these standards have evolved, when LMS and courseware vendors say "AICC," they tend to mean the HTTP protocol and when they say "SCORM," they tend to mean the JavaScript interface. In particular, many AICC-compliant products do support the HTTP protocol, but don?t support the JavaScript interface.

Differences Between the HTTP Protocol and the Javascript Interface

We now know enough to understand that -- from the perspective of launching and tracking web-based courseware -- when comparing AICC vs. SCORM, we are really comparing the HTTP protocol and the JavaScript interface.

The JavaScript interface has some strong advantages. Courseware developers familiar with HTML and JavaScript do not need to learn other programming languages to implement communication with an LMS. More important, since web browsers don't provide direct access to HTTP commands, it is impossible (in most cases) to implement the HTTP protocol without server-side programming. Server-side programming, using technologies such as Active Server Pages (ASP), Java servlets or Perl, is specific to the type of server the courseware will be deployed on. This can be a big obstacle when courseware is to be installed on a customer's server. The developer must work with the customer's IT staff to determine server capabilities and address security concerns, and must then develop custom code to run on that server. This process is time-consuming and costly compared to using the JavaScript interface.

Given these advantages, why doesn't everyone abandon the HTTP protocol and use the JavaScript interface? There are two reasons. First, some LMSs and courseware do not yet support the JavaScript interface, which, although well established, is newer than the HTTP protocol. Second, the JavaScript interface suffers from a limitation that prevents its use in certain cases: it cannot operate across different network domains. For example, if the LMS is installed on a customer's server at http://corporate_u.bigcompany.com and the courseware is installed on a vendor's server at http://www.course_developer.com, the courseware and LMS will be unable to communicate. This is because, for security reasons, modern web browsers prevent so-called "cross-domain scripting." That is, they prevent JavaScript on one network domain from exchanging information with servers on another network domain.

Conclusion

If you're thinking of purchasing courseware, your LMS vendor can tell you whether your LMS supports AICC (that is, the HTTP protocol), SCORM (that is, the JavaScript interface) or both. You can then ask courseware vendors more specific questions than "Is it AICC/SCORM-compliant?"

There can be legitimate reasons for choosing the HTTP protocol over the JavaScript interface, but when you do so -- especially in the case where courseware will be hosted on your own servers rather than the courseware vendor's -- be prepared for some added time and expense.

For More Information

The AICC website can be viewed at http://www.aicc.org.

The ADL website, with extensive information about SCORM, can be viewed at http://www.adlnet.org.

How to avoid mistakes in developing effective eLearning solution

E-learning is the new technologically controlled learning solution, which is also an integral part of ISD or Instructional systems design. One will wonder how the concept of e-learning really came into existence. E-learning’s existence is a result of a cause and effect situation. There was a time when the corporate world realized that training can be a costly and time-consuming affair, especially in industries where employees are required to be knowledgeable so as to perform in the field quickly and efficiently.

E-learning is the new technologically controlled learning solution, which is also an integral part of ISD or Instructional systems design. One will wonder how the concept of e-learning really came into existence. E-learning’s existence is a result of a cause and effect situation. There was a time when the corporate world realized that training can be a costly and time-consuming affair, especially in industries where employees are required to be knowledgeable so as to perform in the field quickly and efficiently. This was the cause and the effect was that companies started turning towards e-learning to provide an educational or instructional environment in such a way that they are able to manage costs, shorten training duration and also provide a tool, which the employees can access anytime, and from anywhere through the Internet.

The question that arises is why so many e-learning solutions fail to perform? Why are there mistakes in developing an effective e-learning solution? What is the core of the problem? Mistakes and problematic situation arises when people fail to identify the possible bottlenecks or when the chosen vendor is not able to deliver an end to end e-learning solution that takes care of the organizational or individual objectives. So how can one avoid these mistakes while developing an effective e-learning solution? One needs to understand that these mistakes can be taken care of through carefully crafted e-learning solution, which can ensure that every employee participating in the training is well trained and receives an influx of knowledge delivered where they need it, when they need it, in a manner that is best suited to their individual learning styles and needs. Another way to avoid mistakes would be to choose a vendor, who can provide a solution that needs to understand the requirement, the objectives and then deliver upon those guidelines. As a thumb rule for success of any e-learning program, companies or organizations should start with finding out an e-learning vendor who has a proven track record, knowledge and expertise in instructional design, broad content offerings, and leading-edge technologies. The vendor should be able to effectively deliver instruction and should have the capability to provide a complete range of support services to manage training from the conception stage to final delivery.
There are certain guidelines to selecting the right vendor. Here’s how one can go about it.

• The first thing to look for is a vendor with the capability to design custom programs to train your employees on proprietary software or systems.
• They should be able to provide e-learning solutions with multiple modalities that deliver content to employees with different learning styles and for employees who need varied levels of knowledge based on their job responsibilities. The vendors’ existing e-learning solutions must be engaging and interactive.
• Look for self-paced content that employs rich-media distance learning, remote labs and simulations to create opportunities for experiential learning.
• The vendor should have collaboration tools that will allow learners to work together while learning new skills and would be able to interact with skilled instructors in real time.
• The vendor capability should include live events through which instructors can interact with the employees or students via classroom-style teaching but remotely from anywhere across the globe.
• The vendor should possess skilled instructional design capabilities to ensure content and modalities are developed effectively and are based on sound learning principles.

Another mistake or problem which comes to the forefront more often, deals with e-learning RFP’s or request for proposal. Based on market research, it has been seen that a lot of vendors face the issue of e-learning RFPs being poorly written, unorganized, and contain a conglomeration of disjointed ideas. It is quite tough for vendors to offer an intelligent, thoughtful e-learning solution if the RFP is unclear and unorganized. The fact of the matter is that most RFP’s suffer from one of more of the following ailments.

• Poorly Written
• Illogical
• Providing minimal Detail
• Not imaginative or creative
• Poorly Scoped
• Not Addressing a Business Need

Let’s take a look at some of the points in detail. Talking about poorly written RFP’s, it is important to first understand that an RFP is a representation of your organization. You have to take time to conduct proper research into what the organizational requirement is and then proofread the final RFP before sending it to e-learning vendors. It has been seen that most often, the RFP team is under a time constraint and not entirely focused on the writing process. The result is a poor RFP. To salt to the loss, a poorly written RFP with illogical statements and assumptions make the interpretation of the RFP extremely difficult. If you haven't gone through a Readiness Assessment and if the internal needs of the organization is not clear, then you will end up with illogical statements in the RFP. The result is that the vendor will not be able to understand the RFP and will not be able to customize the e-learning solution according to the organization objectives.

Another mistake, which is often overlooked, is not providing the important or necessary details in an RFP. It will not be possible for the vendors to help you solve your e-learning problem if they don’t have the correct data or if they know nothing about your organization, about your technological infrastructure and the proposed budget. Hence the only way to avoid committing this mistake is by providing relevant and detailed information. The vendor needs to know if your PCs have audio capabilities, what type of browser you are running, if your IT department allows plug-ins etc. You need to provide enough information for the vendors to make an intelligent and informed recommendation. Imaginative and being creative is also a requirement of a sound RFP. You need to push the vendors a little bit by adding some creativity and some "fun" to your request. You can incorporate the idea of gaming and other similar activities into the request. This will help in the long run by keeping the student or employee attention high and focused.

On the other hand a poorly scoped RFP is one in which your needs are bigger or smaller than what is quoted in the RFP. You need to make an effort to request a project and a budget, which is reasonable and appropriately scoped. It’s important to remember that you can't have an elaborate, extensive e-learning management system complete with 100 courses designed, developed and delivered within a month. The crux of the matter is that you need to quantify your needs and keep the budget, timeline, and required tasks aligned in a realistic manner. Last but not the least is addressing a business need. This is the most crucial of them all and probably the most critical. It is necessary to tie your e-learning to a business need. If you don’t have a clear business need driving the project, then the chances of the entire project being in peril is much higher. This will finally lead to discontinued funding, reallocated resources, and a total failure of the e-learning project. So the first thing is to identify the business need and translate it through the RFP to the vendor to derive an effective e-learning solution.

Avoiding such common e-learning RFP mistakes will provide you with a solid foundation on which you can build your e-learning solution. If you have an effective and sound RFP, then it will be easier for vendors to understand and customize according to your need. A robust e-learning solution has the potential to change the face of workplace performance improvement. This will also lead to cost savings and create opportunities to make training more accessible and useful to learners. The bottom line is avoid unnecessary mistakes and bottlenecks and gear up to a fundamentally strong and effective e-learning solution that will strengthen your organizational objectives and add to the existing skill sets.

courtesy : http://elearning-india.com

Introduction to MOBILE LEARNING

The mobile revolution is finally here in the form of m-learning, which is a natural extension of e-learning. In a span of five years, Mobile learning or m-learning has made an exponential leap from theory explored by academicians to a real contribution to learning. Globally speaking, the kind of penetration that mobile phones have reached is astounding and no other device can come any closer, not even computers. No demography is immune from the mobile phone and it has slowly become associated with the youth in a bigger way.

The mobile revolution is finally here in the form of m-learning, which is a natural extension of e-learning. In a span of five years, Mobile learning or m-learning has made an exponential leap from theory explored by academicians to a real contribution to learning. Globally speaking, the kind of penetration that mobile phones have reached is astounding and no other device can come any closer, not even computers. No demography is immune from the mobile phone and it has slowly become associated with the youth in a bigger way. This kind of digital communication was unthinkable almost a decade back. M-learning has the potential of taking learning and knowledge across geographical boundaries and generations due to the fact that it can be accessed with ease. This brings us to the question what is m-learning and how effective it really is. In the basic sense of the term, it means learning through the use of mobile devices and is targeted at people who are always on the move. This kind of training can be given through mobile phones, PDA’s and digital audio players and even digital cameras.

Now let’s take a step back into the past and ponder over its origin. M-learning actually took roots during a Pan-European research and development program aimed at a target audience of 16-24 age groups. This was the group that was at a risk of social exclusion in Europe. There are five basic parameters for production and development of m-learning and they are:

• Portable: If you are using a mobile phone or a PDA, then it’s easier to carry it along with you everywhere including the restroom. This makes information access through this platform easy and fast.
• Social Interaction: This kind of data can be sent to your friends, colleagues and others via short messages. You can exchange data with other people and gain considerable knowledge.
• Sensitive to the Context: This has a capability of gathering data unique to the current location, environment, and time. This includes both types of data - real and simulated.
• Connectivity: Connectivity plays an extremely important role and is the backbone of the m-learning project. With the help of a strong connectivity network, one can connect to data collection devices, other mobile phones, and to a common network.
• Customized: The most unique capability is to be able to offer customized learning information.
  

These were the advantages to start with and the first m-learning project was started amidst much apprehension and anticipation in October 2001. The m-learning project used subjects of interest for this particular target audience or age group and ranged from football to driving lessons. This project was estimated at a staggering €4.5m and was supported by the European Commission's Information Society Technologies (IST) program within the 5th framework. It was well coordinated and orchestrated program by The Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA) and participating organizations included universities and corporate from the three EU countries - Britain, Italy and Sweden. This was the first giant step towards that made m-learning possible.

If you are wondering what kind of an infrastructure does m-learning involve, then it’s not totally cost driven. A basic M-learning infrastructure includes a Learning Management System, which when put together with a micro-portal interface layer will facilitate access to m-learning services through a variety of mobile devices and also enhance it’s reach through web and TV access. Also in case of interfacing with devices having minimum multimedia functionalities, and for the benefit of learners facing sensory difficulties, m-learning has developed speech-to –text and vice-versa and SMS facilities. In its more advanced phase, m-learning development includes support for collaborative learning and peer-to-peer interaction.

Let’s look at why anyone should gear up for m-learning or why m-learning? First thing first, most mobile devices have been proven useful in education by being a facilitator of administration, and teaching aids for practitioners, and also for being able to utilize it as a learning support tool for learners. Let us take walk through some of the benefits offered by m-learning.

• Its offers and interactive learning experience where learners can interact with each other.
• It's easier to accommodate several mobile devices in a classroom than several desktop computers.
• It is not always easy to work on a computer sitting in a far off village or town in wilderness, but mobile can be accessed anywhere.
• Mobile phones, PDAs or tablets holding notes and e-books are lighter and can facilitate the entire m-learning process with ease unlike bags full of files, paper and textbooks, or even laptops.
• Writing with the stylus pen is more effective than using keyboard and mouse.
• A range of possibilities arise out of this like sharing assignments and working as a group; learners and practitioners can e-mail, copy and paste text, or even `beam´ the work to each other using the infrared function of a PDA or a wireless network such as Bluetooth.
• Mobile devices can be used anywhere, and anytime, including at offices, home, or when in transit.
• These devices engage learners - through mobile phones, gadgets and games devices such as GameBoys. This makes the device invaluable.
• This technology may contribute to combating the digital divide, as mobile devices are generally cheaper than desktop computers.
• The size, shape, weight and portability of mobile devices have made them extremely effective for users with permanent or temporary disabilities.

On the flip side of it, every technology has its curse or disadvantages and m-learning through mobile devices is no different. Some of the disadvantages of m-learning through mobile devices are:

• The small screens of a mobile or PDA limits the amount and type of information that can be displayed at a given time.
• The memory or the storage capacity is limited vis-à-vis a computer or laptop.
• It is important to have fully functional devices and batteries have to be charged regularly. At times, a discharged battery can result in loss of important data.
• It's difficult to work on moving graphics, especially on mobile phones, although 3G and 4G will eventually facilitate this.
• Bandwidth may degrade with increasing users when using wireless networks.

But then every new technology or technology driven platform or development will find obstacles on the way. Mobile learning is currently the most useful as a supplement to ICT, online learning and other traditional learning methods, and is playing a central role in enriching the learning experience. It is now widely believed and has been proven in various countries that mobile learning could and has been a huge factor in getting disaffected young adults to engage in learning, where traditional methods have failed. This is the new world and everything is changing – the market, the need, the people. M-learning is the future.

courtesy : http://elearning-india.com

NEST - National Education and Social Welfare Trust

NEST - is it just a shelter for Crows, Sparrows or Cuckoos which is built on? Is it Strong enough? Here, below you will find the answers for all this, and more... YES, NEST is the answer to many problems that face destitute and the unfortunates all over this country.

Live and Let Live with Equality of rights - NEST believes in these policies and has struggled in this mission from the year 2000- the millennium year.

Formerly known as AGRUTHI, this voluntary organization was the vision of few people, whose main aim was to support the Hapless. Activities involved visits to orphanages, donating books and clothes to the needy children.

It was the dream of few young minds who wants to sprout new seedlings of faith and hope for the hapless souls in their motherland and enjoys the happiness as that of the first rain of monsoon, first rays of sunshine in the morning, first ride in a new car, etc. But did we stop to think about the millions, who have not felt shoes on their feet, who have no friends to heed to them, who have no job to feed them. Their daily struggle never gives them the time or the mood to enjoy the small and beautiful things in life. Those thoughts led to the formation of NEST – with voluntaries of helping motive.

NEST was registered as a NGO and voluntary organization on 29-APR-2004. Today NEST is the fastest growing Voluntary & Social Organization in India.

“NESTjobs” – the small step towards achieving the giant goals of NEST (Education for all and Social upliftment of the downtrodden). With more than 35,000 members, within a short tenure, NESTjobs has grown into an imperative hub for freshers. NESTjobs has assisted many job hunters to realize their dream of getting into a good job – truly we have brought smiles on many faces.

We would be thankful for your generous contributions like financial, physical, emotional and intellectual support for this organization that believes in harnessing the enthusiasm and commitment of young blood to soar forward in its genuine and noble cause.

By donating to NEST you're helping Indian people who lost hopes and hapless. Your support to NEST means that you are reaching hearts of million hapless people in India!

Please help us make this commitment. 100% of the donations would go towards assisting eligible and needy persons, especially to boost up literacy, so that they can lead a decent life on their own.

Please visit www.nestforall.com

Moodle - Open Source LMS

Moodle is an open source e-learning platform (also known as a Course Management System (CMS) or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)). It has a very large user base with 13,909 registered sites in 158 countries with 4,972,676 users in 455,685 courses (as of August 2, 2006).

Moodle is designed to help educators create online courses with opportunities for rich interaction. Its open source license and modular design means that many people can develop additional functionality, and development is undertaken by a globally diffuse network of commercial and non-commercial users, spearheaded by the Moodle company based in Perth, Western Australia.

Moodle features

Moodle has many features expected from an e-learning platform including:

• Forums
• Content managing (resources)
• Quizzes with different kinds of questions
• Blogs
• Wikis
• Database activities
• Surveys
• Chat
• Glossaries
• Peer assessment
• Multi-language support (over 60 languages are supported for the interface)

Moodle is modular in construction and can readily be extended by creating plugins for specific new functionality. Moodle's infrastructure supports many types of plugin:

• Activities
• Resource types
• Question types
• Data field types (for the database activity)
• Graphical themes
• Authentication methods
• Enrolment methods

Many third-party Moodle plugins are freely available making use of this infrastructure.

PHP, an easy script language to learn, can be used to author and contribute new modules. Moodle's development has been assisted by the work by open source programmers. This has contributed towards its rapid development and rapid bug fixes.

Specification

Moodle runs without modification on Unix, Linux, FreeBSD, Windows, Mac OS X, NetWare and any other systems that support PHP, including most webhost providers.

Data is stored in a single database: MySQL and PostgreSQL are currently the only feasible options, but work is currently underway to make full use of database abstraction so that other databases can be used just as easily (Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server are two specific target DBMSes). This change will be in Moodle 1.7 which is the next major release, planned to be released before the end of 2006.

Origins

Moodle was the creation of Martin Dougiamas, a former WebCT administrator at Curtin University, with postgraduate degrees in Computer Science and Education. Martin's later Ph.D.pedagogical studies examined "The use of Open Source software to support a social constructionist epistemology of teaching and learning within Internet-based communities of reflective inquiry" and this research has strongly influenced some of the design of Moodle, providing aspects missing from many other e-learning platforms.

Origin of the name

The word Moodle is actually an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, although originally the M stood for "Martin", named after Martin Dougiamas, the original develper.

To moodle is also a verb of unknown origin and infrequent use that describes the process of lazily meandering through something, doing things as it occurs to you to do them, an enjoyable tinkering that often leads to insight and creativity. As such it applies both to the way Moodle was developed, and to the way a student or teacher might approach studying or teaching an online course.

Similar e-learning platforms

• FirstClass
• Blackboard
• Scholar360
• WebCT
• Desire2Learn
• Dokeos
• .LRN
• Edumate
• Sakai Project
• LON-CAPA

External links

Official Moodle resources

• Moodle.org - Original developer's Moodle site, communities, courses and software
• MoodleDocs - Moodle Documentation wiki
• Moodle.com - Official commercial services and support
• Official list of Moodle partners (approved third-party hosting/consultation/development/etc)

Third-party demo/documentation resources

• The Playpen - A demo site demonstrating the latest in Moodle functionality
• Using MOODLE - Documentation Screencasts
• Chapter from Moodle E-Learning Course Development book (PDF format)

Third-party community sites

• Moodler.co.za - South African Moodle Community
• FacultyRoom.org - Moodle instructors' communities and pedagogical support