What is a SCORM?
The term ‘SCORM’ is short for Shareable Content Object Reference Model.
They are objects containing coding that allow for communication with a learning management system (LMS) that can capture how well a student is doing, provide an idea of how well the student is understanding the content they are working with and help provide evidence of engagement.
SCORMs can contain a mixture of multimedia, text, images and graphics, activities all in one and can be uploaded into a number of different LMSes. So developing SCORMs work really well if your organisation might be considering a change of LMS.
We at Pop Education use both Rise and Storyline (both Articulate products) to create our SCORMs. The decision on which program we use to develop our SCORMs for your project can have a dramatic impact on budget.
In order to understand the differences between Rise and Storyline, let’s look at some examples.
Rise is a rapid development tool that holds a lot of automation.
Pros:
- Can be made really quickly.
- Really smooth animations and graphic design.
- Easy to navigate and use from both a student-facing end and a developer end.
- Using Rise can allow for more time spent on the design aspect of the build and really nail the connection between assessment, content and activities.
Cons:
- Can all look the same.
- No originality compared to other Rise builds from other companies.
- Limited by the customisation that can be embedded.
Storyline is a more powerful Articulate program that allows for more customisation around interactivity, branding and style.
Pros:
- Complete customisation – almost limitless!
- Higher control over WCAG elements (accessibility).
- Ability to structure in a number of ways (linear or non-linear).
Cons:
- More expensive as this takes longer to develop.
- A template needs to be developed initially, which takes time and resources.
- Need a certain level of understanding around coding, use of triggers and such to be able to develop within.