Why another one?

Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiatives has established a new paradigm of e-learning with SCORM. (ADL) Traditional way of LMS (Learning Management System) is widely used for institutions and companies for training their employees and students in different professional content areas. LMS helps launch learning content, keep track of learner progress, and sequence learning content. Its benefit is to meet individual’s learning needs. In contrast, CMS (Content Management System) provides space to back up or archive the content such as articles, books, or pictures that are gathered professionals to share.

However, it is not flexible enough to accommodate different courses with the same content in one or the other system. It means that LMS cannot move courses from one LMS to another. It cannot reuse content nor sequence reusable content for other individualized learning strategies. Plus, unlike CMS, it does not have content libraries to store content across different LMS. Basically, it is inconvenient for administrators to utilize the content for different purposes in different times. (Introduction to SCORM, 2008) LMS focuses on learner but CMS concentrates on content.

This is why we need a new way of e-learning, LCMS (Learning Content Management System). It is combination of CMS and LMS. (Nichani, 2001) One of the exemplary models of LCMS is SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model). Because SCORM provides extra library to store the content and make it reusable, administrating different learning needs becomes possible. For example, when scientific research lab maintains three different lab courses and all courses need “eyewash procedure”. LMS cannot allow using the same module of “eyewash procedure” for all courses. Whereas, SCORM makes it possible to reuse the same content for all three different lab courses which naturally makes the administrators job more flexible and convenient. (Introduction to SCORM, 2008)


(Introduction to SCORM, 2008)


As shown in the picture above, every SCORM has a well defined set of capabilities with the same content that may fit different LMS. In a long run, SCORM make the LMS cost effective because it saves money to move the content to the other. It obviously saves time to redevelop same content for different courses and its reusability definitely makes it uniquely stronger than LMS or CMS(Content Management System). (Introduction to SCORM, 2008)



References

Nichani, M. (2001, May 02). LCMS=LMS+CMS. Elearningpost. Retrieved April 17, 2010, from http://www.elearningpost.com/articles/archives/lcms_lms_cms_rlos/

Advanced Distributed Learning, (n.d.). Who we are. Retrieved April 17, 2010 from http://www.adlnet.gov/About/Pages/Default.aspx

An introduction to SCORM 2004, 3rd edition. (2008). Retrieved April 16th, 2010, from http://projects.aadlcolab.org/scourse/2004_3rdEd/_viewer/index.html