How to add basic SCORM code to a Flash movie

Here’s a quick tutorial for adding basic SCORM functionality to an existing Flash file. This tutorial aims to demonstrate just how easy it can be to add SCORM functionality to an existing Flash movie.

Please note that this tutorial uses ActionScript 3 and SCORM 1.2, but the same principles apply for ActionScript 2 and SCORM 2004.

LegacyCaptivateLoader: Dealing with pre-existing scripts in your Captivate SWF

When I designed the LegacyCaptivateLoader, I was focused on giving the ActionScript 3 SWF the ability to control the ActionScript 2-based Captivate SWF; I hadn’t given much thought to how the situation affects Captivate SWFs using one of the workarounds I just described. Can the embedded SWFs still work? Will JavaScript calls from Captivate still work with ActionScript 3’s ExternalInterface system? The short answer is yes, but it may take some tweaking on your part.

Lines in the sand

Being an idealist, I eagerly bought into what was being covered in grad school. I believed (and still do, to a point) that every project should follow ADDIE or a similar model. C’mon, it makes sense, doesn’t it? The line in the sand had been drawn: skip these principles at your own peril. Now that I’ve spent a few years working full-time as an instructional designer-slash-e-learning developer, I’ve learned first-hand that the instructional design ideals taught in grad school are quickly thrown out the window when you get a “real” job.

SCORM wrapper examples tested successfully in SumTotal TotalLMS 7.6

The pipwerks SCORM wrapper examples have been successfully tested in SumTotal TotalLMS 7.6. FYI, the examples’ imsmanifest.xml files required some modifications (the old manifests worked fine in the ADL test suites, but coughed a little when used in SumTotal TotalLMS 7.6). The JavaScript, ActionScript and HTML in the examples remain unchanged. If you’ve previously downloaded the examples, I suggest you download the updated versions to get the newer manifests. Of course, if you’re a pro at manifests (Aaron?), you could always make better ones… making the imsmanifest is my least favorite part of working with SCORM. As always, if you test these in your LMS, please let me know — even if it doesn’t work! Thanks 🙂