Putting e-learning content into an LMS means running into SCORM and xAPI before anything else. You can build the content without knowing the specifications, but at some point you still have to choose one. This covers what you need in order to make that call.
SCORM — Sharable Content Object Reference Model — is the specification for how e-learning content and a learning management system talk to each other. The point is that progress, completion and scores travel the same way no matter which LMS the content lands in, so the content does not have to be rebuilt for every system.
A SCORM package is HTML, video and scripts bundled into one ZIP. Inside it sits a file called imsmanifest.xml, and the LMS reads that file to learn the content structure, the entry point and the completion rules. That ZIP is what you upload when you register the content, and when a learner opens it the scripts inside talk to the LMS and record progress.
1.2 dates from 2001 and is still the most widely supported. In exchange it records fewer things and cannot tell completion apart from passing. 2004 records a separate progress measure, treats completion and success as distinct, and can control the order in which several pieces of content are taken. The two are not compatible, so check which one your LMS supports before choosing.
xAPI — the Experience API, also called Tin Can API — sends learning records to a Learning Record Store rather than to the LMS. Records take the form of statements about who did what, so activity outside a course, such as hands-on practice or another tool, can be recorded the same way. In exchange you need an LRS of your own and a plan for what the records are for.
If your LMS is settled and you only need progress and completion inside it, SCORM 2004 is enough. If you intend to gather learning records outside the LMS and analyse them, look at xAPI. If your LMS only supports 1.2, it is worth asking your administrator whether 2004 is available. Xakar builds SCORM 2004 4th Edition, xAPI, and a Custom format where you supply the completion code yourself.
With an authoring tool or a conversion service. What comes out is a single ZIP, and you upload it on your LMS's content registration screen. Xakar takes a video or a PDF and wraps it into a SCORM 2004 or xAPI package.
Opening the HTML inside the package directly will show the screen, but no progress or completion is recorded — those travel through the SCORM API the LMS provides. To see the real behaviour, put it on an LMS or a SCORM test environment.
A single package runs on one specification. Building the same content twice, once for each, is perfectly fine.
Upload a video or a PDF and get a SCORM 2004 or xAPI package back. Signing up comes with free credits.
Get started free