SCORM e-learning consulting
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SCORM Consulting
E-Learning Consulting

E-learning Consulting, Support, and Tools

Welcome

The SCOBot project is a collection of the deployment, presentation, and communication support for the SCORM e-learning standards. Focused on aiding in the development of custom SCOs, which are created using a variety of technologies and deployed on an LMS. This includes both free and paid-for services to help you get your implementation needs off the ground.

Modernization, Transparency, and Test-Driven.

You don't have to work with a black box. For further information about consulting, troubleshooting, or custom development please get get in touch.

New to e-learning?

Many standards (and versions) have been in place since the 90's. Learn more about the ever-changing landscape, and fundamentals by clicking... More


Stuck? Don't hesitate to contact us for more information.

Products
SCOBot Packager
SCOBot Packager

Let's get Packing

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and compatible packaging for SCORM 1.2, and SCORM 2004 Editions.

  • PC and Mac Support
  • Language support
  • Optional bad file filter
  • Package one, or many SCOs
  • Include schemas (or not)
  • Push content into a folder
  • Report media, docs, script, images...
  • Basic Learning Object Metadata
  • Inject SCORM API Support
  • Support for single page SCOs

Currently v1.4.02. Request a 30 day trial below:

SCOBot Runtime APIs
SCORM Runtime API

Version 4.0.1 - Jan, 18th 2021.

Support for both SCORM 2004 & 1.2 Runtimes. This enables your portal to expose the APIs utilized by content which communicates student attempt data.

This enables you to BYOP; bring your own platform and integrate SCORM Support. Easy to use JSON data format and event listeners.Includes examples in jQuery, Angular and includes service level sample implementations in Node and PHP.

More

  • Demo
  • Student
SCOBot Content API
SCORM API
Fork me on GitHub

Version 4.1.6 - May, 10th 2017.

New 'resume' event added so you can choose to prompt if you want the Student to continue or not. See the Wiki for more info.

Need to add SCORM Content API support to a presentation? You can use SCOBot for free under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons License Build Status


Github

Project information is more readily available on the wiki.

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SCOverseer Bookmarklet
SCORM AICC Bookmarklet

Version 2.0.4 - Jan, 18th 2021.

Certain platforms simultaneously expose both SCORM 2004 and 1.2 APIs. This now detects that and alerts you accordingly.

Bookmarklets are small widgets or software that allow you to interact with the currently loaded page. This is helpful on LMS systems when you are testing SCOs, and want some level of transparency. Includes tips, status and views of SCORM and AICC session data.

SCOverseer is free to use, just by adding the Bookmarklet to your favorites, or bookmarks bar/menu.

Feature Requests?

Feel free to contact us if you encounter something not currently supported.

Homepage

SCOBot Portal

In Progress

  • New Angular 11 implementation
  • SCORM 1.2 & SCORM 2004
  • Supports single resource SCOs
  • Multi-resource SCOs
  • Self-signup
  • 200MB of upload space
  • Asset card for progress/history and status
  • Download JSON attempt data
  • Reset attempts
  • Cross-domain support
  • Adjust learner preferences
  • Multiple launch views
  • Mobile support
  • Invite/Share support
  • Add editor(s) support

SCOBot Portal Beta


- This is a beta effort to make it easier to view your content running against the SCOBot RTE API's and review the console logs and debugging.Due to the nature of the beta at times the application may get reset and new features are rolled out. These impactful changes will be kept to a minimum.

SCOZipper

Mac users, free utility tool if you have a need to re-zip a number of Shareable Content Objects built by a vendor or another development team, and are having issues importing them into a 3rd Party LMS - this can help you accomplish that task.

Download

Custom Development Work

Converting data to new formats? Troubleshooting e-learning standards or Learning Management Systems? Need to deploy or (re)package content, and need a strategy? Contact us today to find out how we can help.

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© Copyright 2021 - Cybercussion Interactive, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

What We Do?

  • Content Development

    Prototypes, responsive design, maintenance, automation, conversion, accessibility, animation, and more

  • E-Learning

    SCORM 1.2, 2004, xAPI, AICC, conversion, tools, packaging,deployment, troubleshooting, consulting, offline demos, LMS support, bookmarklets

  • Music & Sound

    Custom sound effects, background atmospheres, intro, songs, and loops

  • Programming

    Vue.js, Angular 2+, PHP 7, Node.js, Ruby, MySQL, MongoDB, JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS/SCSS, Adobe XD, Air, Animate, AWS EC2, S3, CloudFront, Cloudformation, Docker

E-Learning Portfolio
  • Math Player Prototype

  • HiveLMS Prototype

  • SCOverseer Bookmarklet

  • SCOBot Packager

    SCOBot Packager

  • Data Scrubber

    Data Scrub Wizard

  • Math Player Prototype

    Literature Template

  • Forward

    Forward

  • SuccessMaker Math

    SuccessMaker Math

  • Interactive Video

    Interactive Video

  • Encapsulate CMS

    Encapsulate

Web Portfolio
  • Bulk Import Tool

    Import Tool

  • Release Dashboard

    Release Dashboard

  • MTM Studios

    MTM Studios

  • Love Carpet Care

    Love Carpet Care

  • MTM Studios

    Mikes Nice Mice

Music Samples

Get in touch

We'd love to hear from you. Interested in working together? Fill out the form below with some info about your project and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Contact
  • Cybercussion Interactive, LLC
  • (360) 519 7596
  • info@cybercussion.com

An online learning primer

First and foremost, the concept of delivering an assessment, quiz, activity or game in a structured way, means you typically want to provide tracking in some form or another. You want to be able to construct or author this content, deploy it, and see the progress of your students. As mentioned, this doesn't have to happen using a open source standard. Your absolutely empowered to build out your own strategy for making two (or more) computers talk to each other.

Markets that drive this space include K-12, Higher Education, Corporate and Professional Training, Compliance, Do It Yourself (DIY), and gaming approaches. Each having their own specific angles that shape the standards or create new ones. Technology itself, begins to open new doors and capabilities.

There is no shortage of acronyms used to describe learning environments and the mechanisms that support them. Rather than hit you over the head with all of them, we'll focus on the more popular points in e-learning history below, which will highlight pivotal technology changes just over the last decade.

E-learning Consulting
Timeline

+ expand all


1988

AICC Formed

International Association is born

Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee (AICC) Formed by Aircraft manufacturers.

Meanwhile in movies...

June 22, 1988

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

1989

Computer Based Training (CBT)

Recommendations

AICC: PC-platform was established as the primary delivery platform.

1992

Digital Audio Specification

Disk Operating System (DOS)

AICC: Produced a specification which allowed vendors to use a single audio card.

1993

Computer Managed Instruction

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Runtime interoperability specification for Learning Management Systems (LMS) or CMI systems called "CMI001". Designed for CD-ROM and LAN.

1998

AICC/CMI Runtime updated

Hyptertext transfer Protocol (HACP)

This protocol allowed for content running on one server, the ability to communicate with another.

1999

AICC: JavaScript API

CMI001

This JavaScript interaction with the Computer Managed Instruction was also the basis for SCORM 1.1, 1.2

Department of Defence

Executive Order 13111

Tasked with developing common specifications and standards for elearning across federal and private sectors.

2000

SCORM 1.0

Preview

Consider this more of a alpha concept, was never widely used.

2001

SCORM 1.1

January

Commercial vendors begin to adopt and implement.

SCORM 1.2

October

More widely adopted after hammering out issues from early adoption.

2004

SCORM 2004 aka SCORM 1.3

January

Building off of SCORM 1.2 and feedback from the community it bolted on Sequence and Navigation and enhanced the Content Managed Instruction Object.

SCORM 2004 2nd Edition

July

Defect updates.

SCORM 2004 3rd Edition

October

Sequence and Navigation updates, and User Interface enhancements to provide consistent functionality.

2006

Activity Streams

September

Method of syndicating activities across social web applications i.e. social networking. This standard began to get adopted by e-learning entities as a mechanism for reporting student activity.

2009

SCORM 2004 4th Edition

March

Enhancements to sequence and navigation.

2013

Academic Activity Stream

January

Apollo Education Group (a parent company of University of Phoenix ®) was awarded a patent for its Academic Activity Stream.

Experience API

April

1.0 released. Takes e-learning outside the browser via OAuth security, REST, JSON in a "actor verb object" or "I did this" type statement(s).

2015

Web Plugins and Security

July

Web plugins with security holes have periodically been blocked by browsers. This includes Flash and Java. This may or may not put a cramp in your content deployment, and is something to be aware of.


Do you need SCORM/AICC in order to build e-learning?

Absolutely not. Today we see all the App Stores, Gaming platforms, and online social sites allowing and enabling people to openly share experiences, skills and trades. If your goal is creating content that can be transferred from system to system this is a good place to start. SCORM 1.2 had the highest amount of adoption and is often supported in many Learning Platforms.

The goals and scope of your project dictate what options you have available to you. If you need assistence making sense of all this, don't hesitate to reach out.

If you do choose SCORM, we have several products to help you get off the ground. If you to convert SCORM to some other flavor, we can do that too.


Migrating Content, and Portals

You may have vintage content that is ripe for a overhaul?Cybercussion Interactive has several products to extend, enhance, automate, and re-package content. Have a platform but it doesn't support SCORM?SCOBot Runtime API's can save the day allowing you to fully support SCORM. Feel free to contact us today.


Canned Courseware

Off-the-shelf training has its place, just like a production car vs. one hand crafted in Italy. These tools commonly already come pre-bundled with page interactions, themes and other styles. They commonly can offer e-learning standards built in. It's possible a slide show gets you part way to your goals, or you may ultimately feel you need technical assistance with what you feel is a black box. We have several logging and diagnostic tools to help aid the troubleshooting effort.

Be careful of the technology these tools use. They may (for example) use 100% flash; and limit your portability when it comes time to deploy. They may also only deploy only to mobile (or only desktop) and don't work correctly.


Cheating

This is a subject that comes up from time to time as exploits become more openly available. Please keep in mind that SCORM is a open API, freely accessible on the LMS. There are, however options to mitigate security. No measure can give you 100% peace of mind, so you need to consider backend reporting, and data forensics to truly be sure. Portals/platforms can take advantage of more modern options to limit external domains access, and direct interaction with the SCORM API from sources other than the Content Object. Most cheats are crude, and typically lack the level of detail a real Shareable Content Object can provide. Most Platforms independently track session time. So falsely reporting values is easily traceable. All to often, beyond just direct manipulation of the SCORM Runtime, students may evaluate assets, scripts, and external data which can also commonly direct them to the correct answer. Developers similarly need to take more steps to obscure the data so its not easily read like plain text - "Security through obscurity". Which typically is not recommend practice by a standards body like SCORM or AICC.

Just recently students have been expelled for key-logging teachers computers. Where there is a will, there is a way.


Feel free to contact us if you have any questions, road blocks or need solutions.

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SCOBot Runtime APIs

SCOBot RTE Devices

Build vs Buy:


There are often several threads/posts online seeking a free SCORM Runtime API, and anyone who has done a bit of research has probably come up empty. This is because of a number of reasons.

  1. This can take a handful of developers up to 2 years to accurately create
  2. Finding developers familiar with end-to-end SCORM
  3. Integration with modern JavaScript libraries vs. legacy code
  4. Thousands of pages of white paper specifications to read
  5. The availability of server-side code (PHP, ASP/ASP.NET, Ruby, JSP etc...) to match your requirements

There are other options like subscriptions to online portals commonly off-site, and managed elsewhere.

Your team may decide building your own is the way to go, but if you are in a deadline pinch, you simply won't have the time to fashion a SCORM Runtime API, and the necessary backend components (let alone the student frontend experience).

This JavaScript only API(s) for SCORM 2004 & SCORM 1.2 manage the student attempt. This includes the enforcement of the Runtime API states, error codes, diagnostic messages and all the console logging if the debug feature is turned on. You can integrate this with your Portal, and likewise your backend or server-side architecture. This project is decoupled from the common issues that occur on other platforms.

The SCORM 2004 Specification is comprised of 3 key areas:

  1. Packaging
  2. Runtime
  3. Sequence and Navigation

Most of SCORM 1.2 was labeled 'optional'. So the implementation learning curve for base support was minimal. This is also a substantial why this version of SCORM was the most popular. It also didn't include any Sequence and Navigation.

Is it all just Marketing?

This is a common question that pops up. SCORM enables entities to share their content with other platforms that support SCORM. They may have invested thousands if not millions in courses. Being able to actively integrate SCORM in your proprietary system will enable you to support these lessons and enable you to choose how they bubble up there status, scoring and interactions.

SCOBot SCORM 2004 & 1.2 Runtime Environments


This was built in conjunction with the SCOBot SCORM Content API which assists developers adding SCORM support to their custom Shareable Content Objects.

  • API Support for SCORM 2004 & SCORM 1.2
  • Event triggers your LMS portal can 'listen' to
  • Manages cached CMI (student attempt)
  • Force terminate interval for SCOs that exit, but don't terminate
  • JSON Attempt Object - simple integration
  • Integrate with your backend language of choice
  • Performance: Low-latency cached student attempt
  • Commit-guard - will not allow a commit unless data has changed.
  • Example SCOBot Portal Integration (JavaScript) and (TypeScript).
  • Shared State Persistence namespace (in progress)
  • ADL Sequence & Navigation
  • Cross Domain support
  • Manifest Parser for SCORM 1.2 & SCORM 2004

The wrench signifies area of the API which are under construction. This is a pure JavaScript portion which manages the Student attempt. Code on your server will still need to be required to fully support SCORM 2004 unpacking of content, validation and mode, credit, student name, id, and other parameters required by the specification. Events as mentioned above are fired which you can listen to, along with API support for direct interaction. Since server-side logic commonly occurs within languages like PHP, ASP.NET, Ruby, etc, and other Databases like mySQL, SQL Server, Postgres, etc, it leaves these areas for your team to integrate.

If you are a commercial entity, and or have a paid service/access, and would like the source code, please note the "Buy" option has been added. However, if you'd like more information, a demo or sample that can be made available.

Advanced Distributed Learning actually has a certification for Learning Management Platforms. That effort requires a 3rd party to review/analyze your software for roughly $4,000.

What you get

SCOBot RTE comes with a sample (responsive) Lesson Viewer which allows you to see everything in action. Documenation, and a timeline is provided to help assist with common things your platform is responsible for before, during and after a student completes their content. It supplies example IFRAME or framed content, as well as a new window or tab, as well as a popup and lightbox or lightview option. This sample will aid in the development of your own Lesson Viewer. Also included is sample JSON based data-models for conveying assignments, and student attempt data. This is for ease of use integrating these data points with a web API on your server, using your favorite programming language. The SCOBot RTE JavaScript Runtimes provide easy events to listen to, so integrating it with your existing platform code base - is a snap.

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SCOBot Packager

SCOBot Packager

Let's Get Packing:


SCOBot Packager is a and Adobe AIR based application to assist you in packaging Shareable Content Objects. All to often you may have vendor based or internal content that needs to be edited and re-packaged for deployment. You may even have cases where your zipping and or hand editing of the XML manifest is causing a lot of grief getting it uploaded to the server.

There are a ton of use cases surrounding not only the SCORM Specification, but often the wants and needs of people using these tools.

Repeatable steps can commonly be automated. When you identify something you have to keep doing over and over, that typically is costing time. Hand editing XML or copy and pasting snippets from the web can also lead to invalid syntax. This project takes into account the following:

  • You may want to add base SCORM Communication into a HTML file.
  • You may want the imsmanifest.xml to be created for you.
  • Include schemas from the SCORM Specification.
  • Removal of known bad file types which can bloat your package. Popular hidden files, source file types included.
  • Push all the content into its own folder, away from the spec files.
  • Include base LOM (Learning Object Metadata) for adding to a repo.
  • Switch SCO or Asset, and detect launch files.
  • Design your TOC structure with folders, then browse to the top, and let it do the rest.
  • Also retain, or flatten the structure
  • Ignore SCORM 2004 manifest files/folders if downgrading to 1.2
  • Pie-chart of file types packages so you know whats making up your package.
  • Objectives, Flow-Control, Sequencing Rules (advanced features)

Common use cases for this product include re-packaging existing content from a content management system or vendor.

Frequently Asked Questions:


What do you mean 'Inject SCORM Communication'?

This process includes the SCOBot Content API, and a small subset of initialization with parameters to auto-score, pass and complete the student. This, after all is about 80-85% of all SCORM based activities. It's the "I was here" approach to presenting the student with some content and logging they saw it, and for how long.

Keep in mind that this is intended to be used in HTML files only, and you must manage whether you choose to inject this capability. The application will backup your original launch file.


Can this convert SCORM 1.2 to SCORM 2004 (or vice-versa)?

That effort typically requires a surgical approach. Requires evaluation of how the current content interacts with its current library.


What type of trial?

Typically 30 days. That allows any email feedback, concerns or requests to get addressed. Feedback is greatly appreciated, and understanding more about what features are popular helps. If you have an existing contract, or are providing feedback that can be extended.


Why would I even need this?

SCORM has a Content Aggregation and Resource packaging specification. In order to share your content with multiple LMS Platforms you need to follow these guidelines. Commonly, when hand creating these its time consuming and often ends in aggravation. The time it takes to upload, and test your package creates a churn. Sometimes, your content package can be invalidated simply by missing a step, or breaking the syntax. You may be re-packaging content, or re-sorting the table of contents.


When will a full release occur?

It did! Thanks to those who tested out use-cases.


Can this enhance or extend existing SCORM functionality?

Commonly the content your attempting to package already is making use of a SCORM library. These can often be built to handle a very specific use case. This normally requires a more surgical approach and or familiarity with JavaScript. By injecting the SCOBot Content API, it solves a very quick use case for "I was here".


This is all too much geek, can you just help me?

Absolutely, hit the contact page and send us a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.


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