e-learning
An abstraction layer is a way of hiding complexities and maintaining cleanliness in your application. For example, if you want to save a file in your word processing application, you simply click “save”, while a whole host of actions is performed for you under-the-hood. In this example, you’re shielded
ramblings
At DevLearn 2010, Ben Clark and I presented a session named SOAP for SCORM on behalf of LETSI. The topic was the LETSI Run-Time Web Service (RTWS), a proposed modification of SCORM to use SOAP for communication rather than the current JavaScript model. I presented the first half of the
ramblings
And so ends another whirlwind of a week known as DevLearn. Could the timing have been any better? My San Francisco Giants (yes, my Giants!) won the World Series and decided to have the largest parade in San Francisco history on the first day of DevLearn. It just happened to
ramblings
I’ll let the URLs do the talking: URL for the ADL’s “SCORM Documents” page: http://www.adlnet.gov/Technologies/scorm/SCORMSDocuments/Forms/AllItems.aspx?View={4D6DFFDE-3CFC-4DD9-A21A-4B687728824A} URL for the ADL’s SCORM 1.2 page: http://www.adlnet.gov/Technologies/scorm/SCORMSDocuments/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2fTechnologies%2fscorm%
Adobe Captivate
If you spend any time using Adobe Captivate to create SCORM-conformant courses, you’re bound to have run into an issue or two that caused you to read some Captivate forum posts. Almost without fail, someone will mention that the solution to their problem was changing the value of the
SCORM
SCORM courses use JavaScript to send data to the LMS. This data then sits in the browser until the LMS writes it to the database (usually via AJAX or form posts). As previously discussed, invoking commit (save) will ensure the LMS actually writes this data to a database. But what
e-learning
A number of people have recently asked me about the scorm.save() function in the pipwerks SCORM wrappers. What is it, and when should it be used? The pipwerks scorm.save() function is a shortcut for SCORM’s Commit (SCORM 2004) and LMSCommit (SCORM 1.2) methods. Invoking commit in
Tips and Tricks
Someone recently asked me if it was possible to customize Captivate’s SCORM manifest to reduce the need for manual editing after publishing. In her case, the manifest needed to be edited to include SumTotal TotalLMS’s custom SCORM extensions. The answer is yes. Here’s how. Find the Captivate
How-to
Someone recently posted a blog entry ranting about the use of the term “best practices” in our industry. I understand the frustration with thoughtless pronouncements about best practices, especially coming from people who may not know any better; it will often sound a lot like how mom used to say
ramblings
As you may have read in previous posts or tweets, I’m working on a new SCORM 2004 wrapper for both JavaScript and ActionScript that will contain advanced functionality and improved shortcuts. For instance, I’m trying to write an easier way to work with the cmi.interactions model, and
ramblings
I’ve had a flurry of emails and messages regarding my SCORM cheat the past few days, and have received feedback from a number of well-regarded SCORM aficionados, some of whom contributed to the standard and helped make SCORM what it is today. This is wonderful, I’m very happy
Tools
Update: The bookmarklet has been taken down as a courtesy to the e-learning developer community. I am not giving out the code, please don’t ask. I’m always surprised how little people talk about cheating in e-learning; maybe it’s a fear of revealing just how easy it can