Explore eLearning standards and ways to improve eLearning
As the world of e-learning evolves, new standards emerge and establish frameworks for their design and development. You’ve certainly heard acronyms like Scorm, AICC, Xapi and more. There are many reasons why you should use them, but the main reason is that e-learning courses must be accessible to all learners and compatible with each other, regardless of authoring tools or learning management systems (LMS). Using the standards and specifications widely accepted and used by e-learning experts, exactly that is guaranteed. But what are the e-learning criteria you should know? In this article, we will explore the six e-learning specifications and the five benefits of using them.
What are the most common e-learning criteria?
Standards are generally guidelines or specifications for products and services that may be created and implemented by industry experts and government agencies. For eLearning, these specifications determine the best way to design, develop and deliver eLearning courses. The ultimate goal of the eLearning Standard is to ensure that online learning courses are accessible, effective and scalable, regardless of who they are designed for, regardless of the platform used to access them. Before digging deeper into the benefits of using eLearning standards, let’s explore the most common criteria.
AICC (Computer-Based Training Committee for the Aviation Industry)
Its roots go back to the aviation industry, but AICC is one of the earliest e-learning standards adopted. What it does is specify how the eLearning course will forward information to the LMS based on the HTTP communication protocol. This is a very safe and easy to implement standard and is extremely popular in the industry. AICC officially disbanded in 2014, but many organizations still use older AICC-compliant LMSs.
SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model)
SCORM is a widely used e-learning standard that ensures that online learning content is compatible with a variety of LMS and platforms. E-learning developers using SCORM can create content that can be accessed not only at any time, but also on a variety of platforms. Additionally, it allows you to monitor and store useful data, such as scores, time spent studying, and more, allowing you to track progress. Scorm has been revised multiple times with the latest version of Scorm 2004 4th edition, with added flexibility and ease of use.
Experience API (XAPI)
The Experience API, also known as the XAPI or TIN CAN API, is a new e-learning standard that allows instructors to track and record learner experiences outside of their LMS environments. As a result, Xapi is particularly useful in today’s diverse e-learning landscape. XAPI offers additional features such as real-time tracking and reporting, interoperability, analytics, and multi-device support. The latest version of XAPI 2.0 was released in 2023 and is as relevant for e-learning companies as ever.
LTI (Learning Technology Integration)
LTI allows external e-learning tools and applications, such as video conferencing platforms, to be integrated into a single learning environment, usually an LMS. This standard benefits learners by enabling connections between multiple learning platforms and allowing external content to be accessed without leaving the LMS environment. The latest version of LTI Advantage offers e-learning experts with improved security features and more intuitive integration of third-party tools.
IMS Common Cartridge
This eLearning standard is similar to SCORM in the sense that it specifies how eLearning content should be packaged and shared among various LMSs. This ensures that e-learning developers do not have to redesign or redesign their content to be compatible with learning platforms that use different systems. IMS Common Cartridge is especially suitable for educational institutions, EDTECH companies, and content providers who want to ensure interoperability between online learning content.
CMI5
CMI5 is a modern e-learning standard that combines the flexibility of XAPI with the traditional structure of SCORM to provide a framework for tracking and exchanging data and information about learners’ experiences. It supports HTTP and XAPI, works offline and effectively integrates with Modern Tech, which provides a wealth of data and analytics that instructors can use to optimize online courses. Though not as popular as SCORM or XAPI, CMI5 has gained traction, especially among organizations seeking to modernize their systems while maintaining LMS integration.
What are the benefits of using eLearning Standards?
1. Interoperability
E-learning courses are used by businesses, educational institutions, freelance professionals and other individuals. It is natural that these different user groups have access to online learning platforms and LMSS that work differently. The standard for e-learning, like Scorm, Xapi, and LTI, is to enable e-learning systems, tools and content to communicate seamlessly with each other to enhance the overall learning experience.
2. Reusability
Creating an eLearning course is a long and expensive process for creating high-quality content. E-learning standards allow you to reuse content in a variety of learning environments or tailor it to fit new contexts and audiences. This way, e-learning developers save valuable time and effort to concentrate on researching and developing new content.
3. Consistency and quality assurance
When online learners decide to take an eLearning course, they expect some quality, meaning the correct format, simple integration with widely used platforms, or a consistent structure. An important benefit of following the eLearning specification is the development of content that meets these quality standards. As a result, learners receive the most value from the training materials they access.
4. Tracking and analysis
Apart from the benefits that directly affect the learner experience, there are other things that make it easier for developers to get ahead and indirectly improve the overall experience. We talk about our learners’ ability to track their activities and progress. This is achieved in a simple and almost automated way of e-learning standards. Additionally, the results analysis report provides valuable insights to instructors to identify changes and improvements needed to optimize their learning journey.
5. Scalability
It is important that the content maintains its content can change the needs of your audience. For example, your company may need to have a large number of employees. Alternatively, there may be training courses that need to be tailored to a small audience in your niche. E-learning standards allow you to do just that by simply scaling or down content and allowing it to be used on a variety of platforms and LMSs with minimal reconfiguration.
Conclusion
This article examines some of the e-learning standards that have defined the industry over the past decades, as well as the benefits they have brought to e-learning experts around the world. With their help, these e-learning experts were able to continuously produce high quality, as well as reusable, easily accessible and scalable content. As the e-learning field grows and evolves, more standards may emerge to further enhance flexibility, interoperability, accessibility and security. Until then, learn more about current e-learning standards and how to make the most of them.
