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Overview of SCORM in CMDS#

Welcome! If you deliver online training through CMDS, SCORM is probably part of your world, and the good news is that CMDS delivers SCORM-packaged training content hosted on OpenSCORM. You can drop a SCORM course straight into a learning activity, and CMDS handles the rest: launching it for your learners and recording when they complete it.

This section walks you through it all:

  • New to SCORM? Start with the short What is SCORM? below for a plain-language overview.
  • Need a definition? The glossary explains the terms you'll come across.
  • Wondering which version to use? See versions for a quick comparison of SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, xAPI, and friends.
  • Ready to add a course? Follow the step-by-step walkthrough in tutorials.

What is SCORM?#

SCORM is a standard that lets online courses work the same way across different learning systems. Think of it as a common language: a course built with any popular authoring tool (like Articulate or Captivate) will run correctly in CMDS, and in any other SCORM-compatible system.

A SCORM course is just a ZIP file that packages everything the course needs: videos, quizzes, images, and the rules for how learners move through them. Because it's a standard package, you can build a course once and use it in multiple systems without having to rebuild it.

SCORM also tracks what your learners do. A SCORM course can report completion, scores, and time spent; CMDS records completion.

How SCORM works in CMDS#

When you add a SCORM course to a learning activity, learners can launch and complete it like any other CMDS content. When a learner completes the course, CMDS marks the activity complete in your records. Quiz scores and time spent are not recorded in CMDS.

CMDS handles SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, and xAPI content. For a completion to be recorded, the activity needs a grade item and the learner must be enrolled in that course's gradebook.

You'll store the actual SCORM course files (the ZIPs) on a SCORM hosting platform, and CMDS will launch them for learners from there.

OpenSCORM#

CMDS hosts SCORM content on OpenSCORM (nicknamed Scoop). It's inexpensive and easy to use, and its web front end is open source. CMDS connects to it behind the scenes, so learners launch a course without a second sign-in, and adding a SCORM course to a learning activity takes just a few clicks.

CMDS also supports SCORM courses on OpenSCORM that are packaged in more than one language. See tutorials.

Note

From version 26.5, OpenSCORM is the only SCORM hosting platform CMDS supports. Earlier versions could also launch courses from SCORM Cloud; that integration has been retired.

Need help?#

If you need a hand setting up a SCORM course, reach out to CMDS Administration (admin_cmds@keyera.com). We're happy to help.