The SCORM standard is still an important option that organizations consider while devising their training agendas. The courses that are then churned out with much hopes of boosting productivity, engaging the workforce and at least, meeting training milestones, are often seen going ‘out of fashion’ quickly. It is not just the evolving content needs that render the existing course outdated. Skilled instruction designers are able to garner all the training requirements and extrapolate them to ensure scalability. This way, the content stays relevant even going ahead. But then, SCORM courses have begun sporting frighteningly low shelf-lives.Here are some ways to tackle that and make sure that the money you spent in creating them, was indeed well-spent.
Consider micro-learning: The world is moving to an era where Instagram videos are not allowed to be more than a minute long (and is considered a huge upgrade from the earlier 15 second limit). Prospective learners are getting used to being served bite-sized content everywhere. It is a good idea to draw some inspiration and then divide larger hour-long sessions, into shorter modules. These modules can also have more question and answer and feedback rounds to make sure that the learner’s experience stays cohesive. There is also the technique of adding recaps or revisions at the beginning of each module to ensure that cutting up a larger course is indeed a well-spent effort.
Consider mobile: The world has already moved to the era of phones and tablets. It is very unrealistic to expect the learners to dutifully open their laptops back home, log into the LMS and finish their course. They, most certainly, would be happier tapping away on their smart phone or tab. There are quite a few challenges that emerge on the mobile medium, right from network connectivity to screen-sizes and battery issues. But the promise that the mobile medium holds is also really worth investing that extra effort. Some products like e-Zest’s SCORM Offline Player dramatically reduce these efforts and still offer all the benefits of mobile learning.
Consider migration: TinCan API has been touted to solve a number of limitations that the SCORM standard posed. Many organizations have made the move from SCORM to TinCan to heighten the relevance of their training content. TinCan comes with an in-built feature that allows it to work with mobile devices. TinCan also supports more kinds of interactivity and is a more modern standard. This helps you find better talent in the future to work on your content.
Consider an LMS change: Sometimes, it may be a good move to switch to an LMS that provides some of the modern features that your learners can be helped with. Some new LMS systems provide ready integration with mobile and come equipped with offline players. Some LMSs also provide micro-tracking of content that could provide insights into the consumption patterns of learners. It may be a painful experience to let go of systems that you have worked with and also familiar with, but an LMS change in some demanding learning situations can make it work for you.
Consider AR and VR: Augmented reality and virtual reality have emerged as technologies that are driving rapid innovation in the mobile world. Hailed as the next big thing in mobile and computer interaction, they truly bring in a world of possibilities that previously existed as science fiction flicks. The move to such technologies is going to be slower and needs investment in hardware systems as well. But, dynamic organizations must keep an eye on such trends to be able to adopt them in their infancy. The whole idea of having learners experience, say a lathe machine with their hands and understand its parts than a diagram on a tablet is promising. We, at e-Zest, have also done some stuff to empower e-Learning in these directions.
These five steps help you to make your SCORM, more powerful, relevant and far-reaching. With these and a good technology partner and a solid learning plan, SCORM indeed becomes a thing of the present and a keeper for the future.