I have several SCORM modules up and running in 1.7. There was some initial problems, but after a resubmit it works very well.
I also had some issues with special characters (like Norwegian æøå) that was in the XML files since then name of the course was in local names. You should only use standard characters in the name, description etc. The content can of course contain other characters. I did however get a XML file error when this problem occured.
What version of SCORM are you using ? I belive 1.2 is the one supported, 2004 (1.3) will not work. As far as I know are there very few LMS' that support SCORM 2004.
Thomas
You are incorrect that there are a very few LMSs that support SCORM 2004 as there have been 29 LMSs that have been officially tested and certified to date. The certifications can be viewed at www.adlnet.gov with additional information on the adlCommunity site.
There have been some changes by both IEEE and IMS on standards and specifications, so yesterday a new version of SCORM 2004, Release 3, was posted. Ambiquities have been addressed and all are encouraged to move to this version.
Please feel free to post questions on adlCommunity.net as well. There may be other SCORM experts that could be engaged with the Moodle community.
Currently in the community we are interviewing tools vendors (both commercial and open source) on their support for SCORM content and will be posting them as podcasts. We are also seeking user comments and ratings on the various tools.
From the press release: SCORM® 2004 3rd Edition was released yesterday -- October 20th. Since the 2nd Edition IEEE has approved the XML Binding for Learning Object Metadata and IMS has approved the IMS Content Packaging Specification. These advancements along with comments and suggestions received from the ADL Community during the two Public Draft review periods have culminated in a more stable and robust set of standards, specifications, and guidelines within the SCORM 2004 3rd Edition. There is also a newly improved public test suite.
It corrects issues, resolves ambiguities dealing with interoperability and incorporates changes based on accredited standards. As the new baseline standard for SCORM, ADL strongly recommends that the ADL Community migrate to the SCORM 2004 3rd Edition. The ADL Community is encouraged to test their products in accordance with the SCORM 2004 3rd Edition by utilizing the SCORM 2004 3rd Edition Conformance Test Suite. This will assist organizations in measuring impacts to their current systems, plan for changes and begin to make updates.
And, I was going on the assumption that possibly EXE could be used as a standard testing program. If a SCORM created in EXE doesn't work, then it doesn't work.
> And, I was going on the assumption that possibly EXE could be > used as a standard testing program. If a SCORM created in EXE > doesn't work, then it doesn't work.
Sometimes there is something you in your use of EXE that is specific, and you haven't noticed (not that it would be your fault, but we are always after what was the aspect of the SCORM object that triggered the problem). It is much easier if you say "tried seveal EXE-generated SCORM objects, none worked, here is one sample" so we are covered in that case
I have to say that I empathise completely with Chardelle. I have not been able to get SCORM working properly in either versions 1.5.4 or any of the 1.6 varieties. If you look through the SCORM forum, you will see that I have posted my problems on numerous occasions and received very little response or help with regard to my Qarbon Viewlet packages. My conclusion, therefore, must be that the developers don't actually know what the problem is and they are not willing to admit this. No one has even had the courtesy to come back and simply say that they haven't got a clue. Even if the problem lies with Qarbon I have no way of knowing that unless one of the programmers here tells me what the problem is so that I can then provide feedback to Qarbon.
I have been requested to upload a zip file to the forum but have been unable to do so as even the smallest package I can produce with Qarbon is just over 100KB ... Once again, no solution to this particular annoyance has ever been offered by the developers.
I fully appreciate the fact that everyone who contributes to Moodle is a volunteer and that they are giving of their time to contribute to this module. However, it must be realised that, in order for the module to be included in the Moodle core, it should work correctly with all SCORM compliant software and users who are having problems should receive decent support, or it might as well not be made available at all. And here's why:
Unlike many of the other posters on this thread, I am simply too busy fulfilling my other job functions in our company to be able to devote a large chunks of time to this problem and I know I'm not alone in this, as Chardelle's post shows. I am also NOT a programmer or scripter which many of the volunteer programmers and scripters who are working on this module seem neither to appreciate nor understand. The majority of us simply do not have time, as much as we would like to, to read up on the SCORM CAM/RTE/Sequencing and Navigation. Obviously, if we did, we would be able to provide our own solutions.
The lack of support that I have received with regard to this module has resulted in a very large and technically insurmountable problem for me.
I have, of necessity, to use the Qarbon Viewlet builder to build simulations for the computer skills course. As I am not able to use the SCORM module I have to upload them as Flash resources. When I run Final Assessments I have to recover the marks from the students manually. As you can imagine not all of the students complete the assessment at the same time so one is forced to keep a beady eye on twenty to thirty students and physically go from computer to computer to record the mark. One also has to post large warnings to the students not to close the Qarbon window because if they do, the marks will be lost and they have to complete the assessment once again ...
Fortunately I am in a situation where, as aggravating as it is, we are able to use this method. But we shouldn't have to. What would I be expected to do if I were trying to run our courses remotely via the Web, which is what Moodle was supposedly designed for in the first place?
This means that in order to support various different types of SCORM content, the SCORM module would have to be adjusted to suit each of these.
I am sure that if you have the money then you can pay someone to ensure that the SCORM module runs with your Qabon produced SCORMS. I am sure that it will not be that expensive (or a lot less expensive than creating an online SCORM player/manager from scratch). If you have the funds I think that someone will be able to furnish you with a quote.
If there is widespread demand for Qabon SCORM compliance then one of the volunteers that you mention may help out.
But in general, I think that you have also been a bit too opptimistic regarding the volonteerism at Moodle. There is a lot of volunteerism but also there is some business. Moodle is open source software that is funded in large part by programming work funded by people like yourselves, who seek an extension in the functionality.
Is Qabon really good? Is it free?
The SCORM standards are very rigorous. There are free conformance tests from ADL that let you see exactly how a SCORM course works with a LMS and how a LMS responds to a SCORM course.
It can be very frustrating when you have a course that will not work with a LMS. YHowever, you can find the source of the problem (is it the LMS or is it the course) by running the course and the LMS through the ADL SCORM conformance tests.
I'm sorry to hear you've not been able to get Qarbon Viewlet packages working properly in the Scorm module.
It seems that the Scorm specification is open to different interpretations, so Scorm developers need as many sample packages as possible for testing.
If you have chance, please consider adding a bug report to the tracker, together with a sample package. The maximum file upload size is 512 KB.
Thanks Helen.
I tried several times, this evening, to create an issue in the bug tracker but when I click Create, it goes so far and no further and comes to a dead halt. I have no idea why as I am on a high speed connection and the zip file I'm trying to upload is also only 174KB, so I'm a little puzzled.
I'll try again tomorrow. I'll also be contacting the programmer that Eduardo Hernandez has suggested to me and will let you know what the outcome of that is as well.
Fiona,
you write:
it must be realised that, in order for the module to be included in the Moodle core, it should work correctly with all SCORM compliant software and users who are having problems should receive decent support, or it might as well not be made available at all.
SCORM is a complex spec, and as Timothy and Helen mention, there is room for ambiguity and interpretation. That means that sometimes 2 tools that implement the standard in good faith don't interoperate well together. Perfect interoperability is not a given -- even if we were able to write a "perfect" implementation. We often end up adding bits and pieces to support "different interpretations" of things.
We need to see some sample objects to understand what is happening. Helen mentions you can post them in the tracker -- please do. And it may well be a problem with Qarbon. You don't mention reporting it to the Qarbon developers, so I don't know, but in a case like this, you should report it against both programs.
Actually, a bit of googling shows that you've reported it on the qarbon website but I don't see any indication that they've done much to help debug it either: http://www.qarbon.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=149&sid=8433a9a04c252500796305f2306550f4
In our company, which is a Moodle Partner, we run Moodle 1.5.4 for our own training and now I took a look at some of our courses and I see some Viewlet Builder packages, and they are working OK!. I asked our programmers for more info and they told me we have Viewlet Builder 4.5.5. If you want you can contact one of our programmers by sending an e-mail to ruth@go2learn.cl. She will be happy to help you.
I understand your feeling toward SCORM, as I have faced similar situations some time ago, specially when I was learning about SCORM. Now I spent 90% of my time working with SCORM, and I use it in all my courses. A week ago I finished a course for undergraduate students in the University where I work, and we had SCORM modules working OK. Modules were created with Articulate Quizmaker, Macromedia Captivate, and some of them were created directly in Flash by me. This is a Moodle 1.6.
In the past, I have faced problems with tools and platform. Now I recall, when I was unable to track packages using WebCT Vista with Captivate simulations, and the problem was not in Vista but in the Macromedia product... and Macromedia had to modify some files included with the product and its instructions. See this Tech Note Support from Macromedia. (now Adobe)
Now I also recall a weakness in the SCORM support offered by Techsmith Camtasia. I posted a message in its forum; my post was made by year 2004, and from the last post it seems the problem still exists!. See my post.
So as you can see, and as several other Moodlers have said, the SCORM can lead -sometimes- to several interpretations...
Cheers,
Eduardo
Thank you so much for this Eduardo - I have no doubt that Ruth will be able to provide me with a fix for Qarbon ViewletBuilder.
I can't tell you what a relief it is to me to find out that someone, somewhere has actually got Qarbon ViewletBuilder to work with Moodle.
Unfortunately, I'm in a position where I don't have access to a team of programmers - internal or external. I currently work for a small, but rapidly growing South African training company. Come the end of November, we will have trained over 500 students for our country's Department of Labour Skills Initiative.
Here in South Africa few IT people, with the exception of those involved in our extremely small elearning sector, are even aware of the concept of SCORM. I'm sure the number of true SCORM experts we have in this country could probably be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Thanks again for your help.
Martin, I don't think that there is something Chardelle is doing specific in her eXe environment or package. I'm having the same problem with both my eXe and Reload packages. I've reported this as MDL-7684.
I've tested a scorm package from a scorm consulting service (Rustici Software) and their scorm package has a nice debug function in it that shows some problems in the way 1.7 handles Scorm packages. You can pick up this package at http://www.scorm.com/resources/cookbook.aspx . Download the Cooking Up a Scorm sample course.
I believe Reberto will knock this wall down. Without a stable Scorm module a lot of us are just stuck.
James
BTW: Are you intererested?
In my situation the scorm 1.2 packages I create in both eXe and Reload are also not being seen in 1.7 with the following symptions:
After creating six scrom 1.2 packages in eXe-019r and two in Reload 2.0.2 and then uploading, the Moodle 1.7 version couldn't find the imsmanifast.xml file 90% of the time. In other words, I tried to access the created scorm files 10 times and I was only able to get Moodle 1.7 to run / connect properly once. The testing took me over two hours to complete. I've done seven test in 1.6 and all worked fine. The two versions of Moodle I run are on the same box. So it does look like there is a problem with the scorm module or / and 1.7. I'll try to report this as well as I can so it could be corrected.
==== Update====
Now with 1.7 when it connects with the imsmamifest.xml it will continue to run correctly. However, this may be after to 20th time trying to connect.
James
I think what might also be useful to try to track this down is to know a little more about all the Moodle installations that SCORM does not appear to be working on. I just tried an eXe package in a Moodle 1.7 and it worked fine (except for some wonky tracking ... but that's probably an eXe bug). We are running on a Linux box with the usual configurations. Are other users who are having problems also running Moodle on Linux or Windows boxes.
Brent.
eXe developer
http://exelearning.org
Hi Brent, maybe you didn't see my eariler message. Please take a look at this http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=59807
I think you are correct. We need to gather more information on the Moodle installs having problems with Scorm 1.2. created under which Scorm editor/ creator. My environment is simple:
Moodle 1.7 on: Apache 1.3.31, PHP 4.3.11, OpenSSL 0.9.66,
MySQL API Version 4.0.16
What did I miss? Like I said in an earilier message Moodle 1.7 most of the time can't find the imsmamifest.xml file so the error reports this. I think the problem I had with one eXe created package is a small bug with how it created the Quiz section. It couldn't tablulate the score for a three question quiz. I dont' know about Chardelle's or Martin Geisenhain's environment. At this point I feel eXe is the best for most people as it is simplier to use.
Brent, I can send you the file I'm having a problem with. In this file I also have Chinese in it.
James
Hello Brent, I think I'm closer to finding the problem with eXe Scorm 1.2 created packages used with Moodle 1.7. However, I can't conclude at this time if the problem is coming from Moodle or eXe. It was suggested to me by Martin to update to the latest 1.7+ version. I updated to the 1.7+ Dec 1st version. I ran tests only with the eXe 0.19 revision 2321 created packages.
I've found that packages created with both a quiz and a enbedded MP3 file will load but when you try to get a score from the quiz one or both errors shows:
1. "LMSGetValue (cmi.core.lesson_mode) failed. not intialized."
2. The error "not initialized" occurrs up to 10 time after pressing the "OK" button to see your quiz score then followed by the error above.
Now, when the same eXe created package in tested in Moodle 1.6, the package loads and runs fine 7 out of 10 times. I get the "not initialized" error the other 3 times. OK, other simplier pacakages created in the eXe version above run fine. ALL packages created in this eXe version pass the ADL Scorm 1.2 error tests.
I will continue to push on. I will also send you two eXe files.
James
I just went to the Moodle Features course--in FireFox, neither SCORM there works--the Reload doesn't load (the problem I am having) and the EXE gives error messages.
Brent, if you have an EXE package that works, maybe you could update the one in the Features course. It would be nice to see it work somewhere!
The good news is that I uninstalled Scorm from 1.7, copied over the latest stable 1.6 Scorm mod and installed it and it seems to work fine.
So, I tried copying over the files one at a time to try to isolate the problem and ended up having similar problems as James. Sometimes it would load, sometimes it would freeze the browser, sometimes it wouldn't load etc. I'm wondering if it there isn't some sort of weird caching problem since at one point when I uninstalled the mod, then reinstalled, then added a new Scorm, it loaded a package that I had tested before--even though this package had been deleted from the course files and wasn't even chosen!!!!!!
Hi Chardelle,
I don"t have any problems with SCORM in 1.7 coming from eXe
Only the results in a SCORM test shows a red cross and reported test failed with positive results
Did you refresh or removed your offline files in your browser.
This was one off my problems.
If you want to try out a working eXe scorm I will translate one from Dutch and show in on my website for download.
Brent, like I said above, the Moodle Features course exe doesn't work in FF. Didn't try IE, but I did test my other packages in both FF and IE (did not test an ExE package with the latest 1.7 though).
Ok, so perhaps we're gettting a little closer to narrowing this down a bit. I have tried a variety of packages created by eXe on a Moodle 1.7 running on a Linux box and they are working fine for me using Firefox and I've also tested on Internet Explorer 6.0209 and that has worked ok as well. So perhaps this is actually a problem with Moodle installs of 1.7 on Windows boxes. Can anyone else who has been having problems with SCORM in 1.7 confirm or deny this? Are the problems coming from people who have their Moodle installations running on Windows machines rather that Linux (I'm not talking about the machine you view your Moodle on, but rather the server that you're Moodle is hosted on.)
brent.
http://exelearning.org
ps. thanks for the praise for eXe ... we're working hard on it these days, expect an eXe 1.0 early next year. Thanks to the Moodle community for all your support.
Hi Brent,
I just tested an exe scorm package on a local moodle 1.7 system on windows with IE and FF. Both worked fine. You can try this package from http://dialoge.net/dok/exe-test.zip 1.3 MB
Chardelle is right the exe package in the features problem makes a problem. There are error messages. I saw this error message some time before with elder exe packages creating SCORMs.
Brent can you have a look there.
Ralf
I've tried both yours and Brent's new exe packages on my local install. Sometimes a sco will hang and just not load into the browser--I haven't been able to figure out how, but if I keep trying it will eventually load. It does seem to work find online though.
Brent, the only thing I see is that if the student logs out without using the Exit link, then the quiz page shows an X instead of a green check, but the score is there. If the student logs out with the exit link it shows the quiz with a green check.
Okay, now to try my own exe. I haven't looked lately Brent, but it would be nice if the questions could be branched (i.e. different answers could be linked to different pages) for scenario based interactions--any possibility of this?
Thanks guys
Here is the message I receive:
Warning: main(D:\WEB\Intranet\pdd\TestLMS/mod/scorm/datamodels/lib.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in D:\WEB\Intranet\pdd\TestLMS\mod\scorm\player.php on line 74
Fatal error: main(): Failed opening required 'D:\WEB\Intranet\pdd\TestLMS/mod/scorm/datamodels/lib.php' (include_path='.;c:\php4\pear') in D:\WEB\Intranet\pdd\TestLMS\mod\scorm\player.php on line 74
I have created an ADL scorm 1.2 package with Reload 2.5.2 version but when I upload it in Moodle 1.7 I could not seem the organization of my package. I don´t know if the problem is that I´m doing the scorm package in a wrong way or the problem is with moodle,how can I know if the scorm is done well???
I upload my little scorm package.Sorry if is not write very well but is the better I can do.Thank you.
GAZTETXE %20FORMULARIOA.html
Replace into manifest "%20" by "_" and rename you file to GAZTETXE_FORMULARIOA.html
new corrected probie.zip is joined
It fully work on Moodle 1.7 and on Formagri/Ceres
Regards
Chardelle,
Are your lessons made up of a single SCO or are they made up of multiple SCOs?
I am developing Multi-SCO courses using ToolBook 2004 and have successfully been able to upload them to Moodle 1.7. ToolBook, by default, only produces single SCO lessons. These can be combined into multiple SCO courses by creating a higher level IMSManifest.xml file that combines information from the individual SCOs.
The attached image shows a course structure composed of 15 SCOs, 5 SCOs each in three modules.
V/R
Les
That is very clever, Les, to rearrange the SCORM into scos. ExE will create a SCORM with multiples scos, however, others like Macromedia and Articulate only create one SCO with multiple pages--meaning that you do not get the tracking for the individual pages.
hello!
I am new to Moodle and just know how to upload scorm course to moodle few minuse before.
I am working in developing scorm/Aicc courses for some enterprises in China and always find strang problems to upload and run scorm/Aicc courses in client's LMS.
So I want to find a good RTE to test those courses and to find how the scorm/aicc are working.
When I upload scorm course, I find to ways to upload:
1. only upload imsmanifest.xml package and use ftp to upload other files to the folders where the course are saved .
2. upload the course package
The first method are very useful. but I don't know weather it is supported in Moodle.
As I said, I am new to Moodle. I wish I may find what I want in Moodle.
GoodLuck.
Hi, James.
Today , I have a couse with size 25M to upload, but the MOODLE tell me the max size is 16M. so I package the files only whose name appeared in imsmanifest.xml into a zip-flie which size is less than 3M. and other files, was copied and pasted to the folder that the zip has been unpackaged.
It works.
The folder always can been fund under the directer "C:\moodle\moodledata\.....", if you install your moodle at C:.
Hello Fang, I'm a little confused now. Is it that you want to upload a file that is 25Meg in size but the site upload limit is set for a max size of 16Meg? Hmmm, are you the Admin of this site? If so you can change the file size limit just so that you can upload this file. Sometimes, I just use a regular FTP program to transfer very large SCORM files to the correct directory for the need section and then call the SCORM file normally from the resource settings.
James
HI, Ralf,
What will happen if I must have to upload a course with 100M size?
I think it must be very very difficult. So I think it should have some other method to settle such problem such as packaging the course to several zip-files and upload on turn.
Now, I am meeting a very strang and hard-to-deal thing. My workmates have developed a course by Flash. a main swf file organizes many other swf files into a course and has a menu for topics. We want to add Scorm to this course ,and one topic is one SCO. After uploading to LMS, two menu appeare, one is autoly made by LMS accoring to the manifest, and the other is brought by the course itself. How do we tell the LMS that sco has been changed when we jump from the current topic to another topic by the second menu? How do we send to LMS the infomation about the new topic?
When I want to upload the course to MOODLE 1.7, it tell me "The course Id is unvalible".
What can i do?
thanks
Fang Lee
"How do we tell the LMS that sco has been changed when we jump from the current topic to another topic by the second menu? How do we send to LMS the infomation about the new topic?"
You don't. Only the LMS can change the status of its table of content/activity menu, or the SCO the LMS believes that it is running. What you are trying to do is not supported by SCORM. You cannot replace the LMS provided table of content or activity menu with your own. If you have navigation inside a SCO that uses "sub-SCOs" (what I call a "super-SCO"), the LMS will still only see and track one SCO.
In SCORM 2004 there is a way to ask the LMS to navigate to another activity which then causes another SCO to be launched. But the LMS still owns the navigation structure.
Hi, Claude Ostyn.
Your words like a big big thunder sounding on my head. This problem has made me headachy for half a month , many important things have been left aside, and my client roaring to my directer superior and me day after day. The scorm is too hard to marster and freeze to use.
I am glard to here that the SCORM 2004 has been improved, but it will be a long way and a long time to use aboardly in China.
Yes, as you said, in SCORM 1.2, only LMS can launch the sco and know which sco is running. what the sco can do is to tell LMS, "I am beginning "or "finished".
what a pity.
So what I can do now is to hide the navigation inside the course and tell students ,"please click the menu of LMS if you want to jump between topics."