Best Practices: 10 Tips and Tricks for Adding SCORM Into Moodle™ and Joule 2

Today we’re going to focus on the best practices for adding SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) packages into your Moodle™ and Joule 2 courses. Many people have a love/hate relationship with SCORM, but these valuable tips and tricks will alleviate your frustrations.

SCORM can sometimes be complicated to understand because of the amount of technical jargon associated with it. At a high level, SCORM allows instructors and course builders to upload content for the tracking of user data. It’s not a file format but a standard that allows for cross-platform integration. Thus the standard is interoperable across various systems and allows for the reuse of existing content.

If you want to add SCORM packages to Moodle™, follow these 10 tips and tricks.

1. Package Your Content to the SCORM 1.2 Standard

Moodle™ is a 1.2 SCORM conformant learning management system (LMS). This means that Moodle™ is interoperable with any SCORM 1.2 conformant packages that you add to your course. Moodle™ isn’t certified as conforming to SCORM 1.3 (also known as SCORM 2004).

2. Create a SCORM Test Shell

Before developing the SCORM package, you’ll want to create a prototype of the interface design to ensure that the package will display as you would like it to in the Moodle™ interface. The amount of real estate that is available will vary depending on the theme you’re using, any wrappers or skins that you add to the file, the Moodle™ activity settings you select, and the user view you’re using.

3. Determine How to Display the SCORM Package and Choose the Appropriate Settings

You can choose various options for displaying the package, such as hiding or showing the menus, displaying the attempt status, allowing for window scrolling, and popping it into a new window. You’ll want to adjust these settings to meet your needs. Dedicate some time to getting these settings right. Even a small error in size can result in annoying scroll bars for your users. You’ll use these settings when you upload the test package file.

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4. Avoid Displaying the Package File in a New Window

You can choose to display the package within the current window or in a new window. When possible, avoid opening into a new widow. The main reason for this best practice is usability. It’s easier for users to navigate the course when it’s in the current window. There will be fewer clicks for navigation, and it will be easier for users to keep track of where they’re in the course.

Another issue that can be caused by opening a new window is how the various browsers and toolbars handle pop-up windows. They’re often blocked. If displaying in the current window, make sure you update the stage size for the dimensions of the file.

Sometimes you may want to open a new window because you need the extra real estate or you really want to immerse the user in the activity. If this is the case, experiment with the various dimensions and options. If you don’t know the computer specifications for your end-users, be sure to warn them about the pop-up windows at the beginning of the course. If your users take the training in a controlled environment, you won’t need to worry about this too much. Just remember that users often access their courses from multiple locations, so this may still be problematic. If you want to change this setting later to open in the current window, you’ll most likely have to deal with scrolling issues. You might even need to rework your content.

5. Upload and Test the SCORM Package File As an End User

Upload the SCORM package file with the desired settings in Moodle™. It’s critical that you view the uploaded prototype as the end user. When viewing as an instructor, the “Add a Block” drop-down menu displays. As a result, it seems that you have less area to work with than you really do. Make sure you view the course on a computer that reflects the minimum resolution that you’re developing to support. You’ll want to rework the interface design and update the package until you reach the desired results.

6. Hide the Navigation Buttons

You don’t need navigation buttons if you’re using the navigation in your SCORM package. You can experiment with this setting, but selecting “Yes” hides the pop-up box. It’s just something extra on the screen that can confuse learners and distract them from the content of the SCORM.

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7. Disable the Course Structure Player

The course structure player displays to the left of the object and allows users to jump between SCOs. The “hidden” setting means that it will appear collapsed, but the user can still open it. If you usually have one SCO choose the “disabled” setting. If you don’t need the course structure player for navigation, then it’s best to disable it. Less is more when it comes to interface design. You can use the “In a Drop-Down Menu” setting for courses in the SCORM course format.

8. Remember the Content Structure Page

If you want your users to try an activity again even after passing it, then don’t skip the content structure page. In Moodle™, it actually recommends that you set this to “Never” if you only have one learning object; however, doing so means your users won’t be able to try the activity again.

Allowing users to retry activities is great for corporate training where instructors tend to allow multiple attempts. When set to "Always," a checkbox will appear after the first attempt allowing the users to start a new attempt. A business learning management system should include the ability for users to retry activities multiple times, as this functionality is beneficial for corporate training scenarios.

9. Set the Grading Criteria

If you set the grading method to “Learning objects,” the default grade will be one point in the gradebook. You may want to set the grading method to the “highest grade” and set the maximum grade to be equal to the number of points in the SCORM file package. This will vary depending on your standards.

10. View Results

Once users start interacting with the activity, you can view results by clicking on the “Results” tab. Each user’s attempt, score, and access information will display in a table. To view a user’s attempt, click the number in the attempt column. This will tell you the user’s status and score. You can also click the “Track details” link to view the details for the answers you chose to report to the LMS within the SCORM package. In this view, you can see an analysis of the activity, such as correct and wrong choices, and see how long the user was within the activity.

The SCORM activity in Moodle™ allows you to create a perfect fit to display your content. Take some time to determine the settings that will work best for your organization or institution. Moodle™ site administrators can promote consistency and save time for instructors and course builders by changing the default settings for the SCORM activity.

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Rebecca DeSantis is a former Senior Instructional Designer for Open LMS. Connect with her here.