The popularity of learning management system (LMS) software is growing every year, as businesses are becoming more aware of how easy knowledge sharing with employees has become. However, just picking a random LMS might get your company in big financial troubles, due to the absence of features.
One of the widely adopted elearning standards is SCORM. Let’s take a close look at what it is and why SCORM compliance is necessary for an LMS.
What is SCORM?
Every system has a standard that it is based on. Take for example the VHS or DVD standard. It is used to determine the main aspects of a particular medium, making it possible for different companies to create devices and solutions that can reproduce the VHS or DVD format. This is why you can use your DVD disk in Samsung, Panasonic or any other brands’ devices that support the certified standard.
In the elearning industry, developers create different types of LMS software tools. The SCORM standard serves to indicate how course materials should be developed in order to be supported across different LMS software.
The standard was created in 2000, ever since the world has experienced an explosion in the elearning industry. But, what does this mean for LMS software? What are the practical reasons why every LMS should be SCORM-compliant? Let’s take a look.
The financial aspect
If you are planning to run a business in the elearning industry, all the content you create should be SCORM compliant. Offering courses to different customers is next to impossible if your content is not SCORM compliant. Practically, from the moment you start working on content that is not SCORM compliant, you can expect to earn less.
On the other hand, if you are running a company and have purchased courses that are not SCORM compliant, you might run into problems later on. What happens when you decide to move onto another LMS? What if you want to trade your knowledge for knowledge in a different company? All these incompatibility issues can lead to financial loss for your company.
SCORM is here to stay
While it is true that there are new elearning standards on the rise, it is important to note that SCORM has matured well. Over the course of the years, this standard has been supported the most, and a shift to newer alternatives are going to take time. In all business industries, you want to be able to work immediately and securely, therefore, SCORM is going to remain popular and used for years to come.
This is very important because any LMS you might want to move to is going to support SCORM.
Course reusability
Over time, it is likely that your business is going to amass a certain amount of courses based on SCORM standards. It is crucial to use LMS tools that are compliant with this standard, as you can reuse the courses whenever you are shifting to a new LMS tool.
The course can be reused when a new employee joins your business. It is crucial, though, that you are always working with LMS software that also supports the standards. Doing this will maximize every single investment you make to improve your courses.
Therefore, make sure that, when you are considering to switch to a new LMS, it is going to be SCORM compliant, as this will make data migration and support much easier for you and your business.
Sharing with others
If you are a company working on course creation, you are going to showcase demos to your clients. You want your courses to be SCORM compliant as they are going to get precisely what they see in the demos. Without respecting the standards, it becomes much more challenging to deliver precisely what you are promising to others. Also, make sure that the client is using an LMS tool that actually supports the standard as well.
On the other hand, if you are in a position of a company that has purchased courses for their use, you can always reach out to others and exchange course materials. Of course, this depends on the contract with the course author, but whenever possible, exchanging course materials with other companies is a much easier endeavour if you own and use a SCORM compliant LMS.
It helps you focus on more important things
Without SCORM compliance, a majority of content and course creation processes would be rather complicated to accomplish. SCORM compliance simply improves the eLearning workflow, making it easier for your team and you to focus on more pressing matters.
- How are employees adopting to the course materials?
- Is a particular course effective at all?
- What can you do to improve eLearning effectiveness?
Answering all these questions becomes much easier, as your eLearning team can remain focused on them. This is precisely why your LMS software should be SCORM compliant.
Flexibility
One of the bigger advantages of SCORM standards includes flexibility. The standard includes a variety of controls, making it possible to adjust courses for particular types of students. Furthermore, course creators can develop a system at which the course progresses in accordance with the students’ progress. This flexibility makes SCORM truly unique, making it easy to create adaptive courses for different audiences.
This is another reason why LMS software that is compliant with SCORM standards is good. It will allow you to acquire and use truly unique and effective courses.
Conclusion
All this shows how SCORM compliance is important for businesses that deploy LMS tools. Therefore, if you have not yet implemented an LMS tool, make sure that it is SCORM compliant, it will simply offer seamless course management, without any hiccups on the road.