What is SCORM?
SCORM or Sharable Content Object Reference Model is the globally accepted standard for creating online learning tools. The main purpose of SCORM is to standardize the way in which eLearning courses are created and how they’re launched.
If you are looking for an LMS for employee training and not sure about the eLearning technical standards, the best way is to go with SCORM.
In this post, we’re going to discuss SCORM in detail, along with the advantages of using SCORM compliant LMS for your employee training.
What is a SCORM Compliant LMS?
A SCORM-compliant LMS is essentially a learning management system that fully conforms to the rules and standards set out within SCORM. In order to be SCORM-compliant, an eLearning tool must be capable of accepting SCORM content and making it available for the users of the platform. Additionally, it should also offer an execution environment in which the content can be initiated and presented using a browser.
Related Read: Best Practices in Creating SCORM Content for Your LMS
Top 7 Benefits of Using SCORM Compliant LMS for Employee Training
It is important to check for SCORM compliance while researching which LMS to use for employee training. Further, you also need to make sure that the LMS you choose is compliant with the version of SCORM you are working with, whether it is SCORM 1.2 or SCORM 2004.
Based on this, it should provide a favorable execution environment that is in accordance with the technical demands of SCORM.
The following are the key benefits of using SCORM-compliant LMS for employee training.
1. Adaptability
SCORM-compliant LMS allows enough flexibility to create a variety of content to cater to specific organizational needs. There are numerous tools available to make this possible and allow you to create content the way you want.
Using these tools, content authors can also manually mix and match SCOs (sharable content objects) to create unique training programs for different groups of learners. Further, it also enables them to write sequencing rules that adapt the instructional content as the employee progresses based on specific input and mastery.
2. Interoperability
Although no organization would want to implement an LMS for a short while and change it, it is certainly a possibility. Often, training managers realize that an LMS isn’t good enough and needs a replacement.
This is where a SCORM-compliant LMS comes into the picture. SCORM is conducive to LMS interoperability between eLearning software products. What this means is that it enables learning platforms and course content to work together in a seamless manner. This allows you to use your multimedia content even if your organization chooses to change or upgrade their LMS.
3. Reusability
Reusability is another advantage that the SCORM-compliant software offers. Being able to reuse content not only helps you save time but is also a cost-effective option in the long run.
This is a useful feature, especially for organizations that produce or consume a lot of content. The plug-and-play functionality of SCORM allows for the one-time creation of courses and distribution on a large number of platforms. This also allows training managers to make the most of any tried-and-tested procedures that are already in place.
4. Interactive Content
Using a SCORM-compliant LMS can make your content much more interactive and engaging due to the presence of a large number of authoring tools with multiple features that you can add to courses.
Additionally, the environment provided by SCORM is stimulating and engaging. There are multiple tasks and other elements with interactive features such as directing learners to click on images and other onscreen elements rendering to dynamic text, mini-quizzes, expandable components, and more. Training managers can also incorporate elements such as competitions, point-scoring, and leaderboards, as SCORM actively facilitates gamification as a way to better encourage employee participation.
5. Ability to Provide User Data
This is an important feature for organizations to help them improve their training effectiveness. With SCORM, they can easily track data within the courses. This data could include –
- Test and quiz results
- The final score of the course
- Score per module or objective
- Pages viewed, and for how long
- Specific answers given by employees
- Learner progress, so they can resume exactly where they left off
Overall, using SCORM-compliant LMS to track data allows you to more easily see how learners are interacting with your content.
6. Cost Efficiency
SCORM compliant LMS allows you to deliver an effective LMS experience, which is a completely cost-free option for organizations keen on keeping their LMS components compatible and interchangeable without impacting their budgets. Implementation of SCORM-compliant LMS helps you to reduce overall costs of integration by as high as 80%.
SCORM-compliant LMS also saves money by boosting overall learning efficiency while reducing the time and costs involved in eLearning content delivery.
7. Easy Editing
SCORM facilitates comparatively easy adjustments and changes to your learning content. Using a wide range of SCORM authoring tools, you can quickly and cleanly adjust the content, without affecting the stability or continuity of the overall training schemes.
There are multiple standard authoring tools such as Articulate, Captivate, Composica, and more that allow users to adjust content in an agile manner, without needing to replace any individual packages.
To Wrap
The need to conduct employee training is an ongoing and crucial concern to a vast number of businesses. With technological advancement, most of the organizations are leveraging the advantages offered by SCORM-compliant LMS to align learning with their respective organizational goals.
Although using SCORM-compliant LMS means hassle-free content creation, delivery, and measurement, it doesn’t mean a complete loss of flexibility or customization. Training managers can still create their own content, embed their own branding, and leverage rich multimedia and interactivity features for their content.
The idea of SCORM-compliant LMS is to improve ease-of-use and eliminate the hassle of translating content between systems or configuring either the authoring tool or the LMS itself. All you need to do is create and publish the content to let the learning begin.
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