If you’re not familiar with SCORM in some depth, this post may well be gibberish to you.  That’s okay; I’m not entirely certain that it’s not written in gibberish (grin).  If you aren’t familiar with SCORM, I thought this SCORM overview at Toolbook.com was somewhat useful, and I’m digging through a number of other resources that appear useful, at first glance at least: ADLNet.gov’s explanation of SCORM (ADLNET is the home of SCORM), Aaron Silvers blog SCORM category, and Ostyn Consulting’s Understanding SCORM page.  Also, I’ve bookmarked a number of applications and resources relevant to SCORM.

I’m working with SCORM in some depth for the first time; “in some depth” is the key phrase in that statement.  I’ve been researching, reading and looking for help in a variety of spaces - twitterverse, conference proceedings/notes, general web tutorials, product forums etc.  This post will describe my current issue in more detail with the hope that someone will be able to help.  Plus, I’m hoping that my questions in this post and any additional questions in subsequent posts may prove helpful to others that may travel the same gauntlet I’m currently enduring.   ;-)

I have two SCO’s (shareable content objects) in folders/zips published by two tools I’m using currently: Soft Chalk and Adobe Captivate 3.  Both SCO’s work correctly when viewing with Reload SCORM Player 1.2.  Both SCO’s work correctly when loading to the LMS I’m using (Avatar, a professional development management system).  What I need to be able to do is package the two SCO’s into a single SCORM package to be uploaded to the LMS.  I’ve tried a number of tools to accomplish this; the one with which I’ve had the most success is the Reload SCORM Editor.  The Reload SCORM Editor has a good tutorial to get started.  With that help, I’ve been able to create a basic package that includes the SoftChalk and Captivate SCO’s.

First problem. Despite the fact that it works in the Reload SCORM Player, the Captivate SCO does not work properly when added to the package.  I’ve tried adding the entire folder for the simulation to the main organization in the manifest; that folder includes all of the files generaged by Captivate output - the manifest and other xml files, the SWF files output and the “SCORM Support” folder.  I’ve also tried adding just the primary HTML file within the main organization of the manifest with the folder being added to the resource section.  Nothing seems to work when adding the Captivate generated SCO to a new package developed within Reload SCORM editor.

Second problem. This issue is one I’m anticipating rather than have experienced it directly and am currently researching it.  For this project, I have four series of content sections followed by a simulation based assessment.  Ideally, I’d like to package the four sets together in a single SCORM package.  However, I encountered a comment in a discussion forum suggesting that SCORM 1.2 does not support navigation between SCO’s within a package in a manner that supports reporting to the LMS.  So, if I have four simulation SCO’s, the package will only report the score from the first one rather than aggregating the scores for the user across all assessments.  I need someone to confirm or deny that statement.

SCORM 1.2 does not allow for ’sequencing’, which is jumping between separate SCOs without returning to the LMS. SCORM 1.3/2004 allows for that but, of course, the LMS has to support that functionality as well…which isn’t an easy task.

Without sequencing support, the SCO has just one ID which everything is tracked-back to in the LMS. And in either version of SCORM, there can only be one lesson_status and one score_raw value - so each lesson can only have one such value.

So if you put your SCOs together into one lesson and one manifest, unless the manifest lists each SCO separately with their unique IDs (I think, I’m not clear on how sequencing actually works), each time a quiz score/status is sent back to the LMS it’s being recorded for that one overall SCO ID.

Far better to just keep your SCOs as separate lessons, upload them into the LMS, and let the LMS manage the organization and launching of them, especially as SCORM 1.2 so each SCO’s score can be recorded separately.

I appreciate any help (via comments), and I intend to post any solutions or future progress/frustration in this space.

This evening, I was bouncing through my Google Reader checking for a few feeds I haven’t caught up on in a while , and specifically, I wanted to move the GeekDad blog from Wired further up my list of feeds and catch up a little bit. It’s one I typically read for personal enjoyment, but tonight I noticed something that had my mind jumping with educational possibilities - at home with my kids or in formal learning environments.

Initially, I stumbled across an interesting post about Legos. One pointed to a post at Gizmodo with a video tour through LEGO’s “Secret Vault” that contains almost every LEGO set ever released - unopened and unused. It was an interesting trip down memory lane ;-)

Then I came across GeekDad’s post about the LEGO Digital Designer. That jump will tell you more, but in short, the Digital Designer (a free download as far as I can tell) makes it possible to design your own LEGO bricks and/or use the collection of over 700 bricks to design and build to your heart’s content. But, that’s not really the cool part. Once you have finished your build, the software will generate a parts list to create a custom kit to purchase - thus allowing you to then receive your custom set and build with real LEGO’s the same thing you built with the digital designer.

I can imagine really entertaining, authentic, creative, problem solving possibilities all the way up through undergraduate classrooms (a great, fun introduction to architecture?) Definitely worth a look.

I have NO idea what the origin of the name may be, but Xpanity.com offers an interesting new browser add-on. It’s currently in Beta and issuing delayed invites to those who submit their email address. Once I receive my invite, am able to install and experiment with it, I’ll add more details to this blog post.

What is it?
The Xpanity Suite currently contains two applications: LiveChat and SharedBoard. In short, I think it’s “birds-of-a-feather-sessions meet Web2.0.” According to the website . . .

Xpanity LiveChat, “allows you to see the other browsers currently on the same web page as you are viewing. It provides you with the opportunity to interact with them on all levels. You can do all this anonymously. There is no need to register or provide any of your private information.”

Xpanity SharedBoard, “for each web page on the Internet . . . provides a Shared board for permanent comments that can be viewed by all Xpanity users.”

How does it work?
More on this once I’m able to install and use the application. Generally, clicking on an Xpanity button on your toolbar activates the Xpanity browser extension which enables participation in LiveChat with other users or on the persistent SharedBoard

What’s cool about it?
With Xpanity installed, every website seems to have an interactive component. It’s no longer incumbent upon a website to offer a chat tool; users with Xpanity visiting the same website can chat with one another regardless of the sites capabilities or available tools.

Of course, it’s dependent upon a broad volume of users actually adopting the technology, but assuming that requirement is met, Xpanity dramatically increases my ability to network and communicate with others of similar interests. What used to be invisible - other users accessing the same website at the same time as I am - now becomes visible and interactive.

I’m wondering if this may not be an influential Web2.0 application; consider the characteristics of it. It provides a contextualized browsing and micro-blogging experience. Rather than posting a link to Twitter or sharing it via Facebook to engage a social network regarding a specific site, Xpanity constructs a social network around a specific page or site.

How can it be used in the classroom?
Just off the top of my head, without having yet been able to install or use the application, I can imagine several applications.

Shared browsing. If not familiar with it, shared browsing is a tool which enables a group of users to view the actual browser on a facilitator’s desktop - ostensibly as the topic of a discussion or part of a training session. Although not as cohesive a solution, Xpanity may offer a substitute for shared browsing tools seen in other collaboration tools that support group discussion. As long as a user has Xpanity installed and knows which site to visit at a given time, it serves the same function.

Contextualized discussions. Rather than visiting a website and documenting thoughts in a course discussion board, learners can post their thoughts on a particular website to the Xpanity SharedBoard for the URL. Those comments are persistent which means there’s a lasting record of discussions by which participation can be measured, and the learners and the class as a whole engage the larger web-browsing community regarding that site. That leverages the community and encourages participation by others - much like public blogs and wikis do.

I originally stumbled across Xpanity at Jane’s e-Learning Pick of the Day

Taking a step back, I wanted to share the tools I use to enhance my browsing experience.

I start with Firefox. It’s all about the extensions, add-ons, and plug-ins. IE will never see the light of day on my machine again.

The image above highlights alot of these tools; I’m going to list them in order of preference and personal importance.

delicious Bookmarks fully integrates my delicious bookmarks with Firefox. If not familiar with it, this add-on is different from the browser buttons that delicious provides. Essentially, the Firefox bookmark tool is replaced entirely by delicious; when I click “Bookmarks” in Firefox, a sidebar comes up with my delicious bookmarks - cached and updated direclty from my delicious account.

Zotero Research Manager. An indispensable tool for anyone doing research of any sort - from grade school to graduate student.

Better Gmail combines a number of smaller extensions to enhance Gmail including: new skins, showing disk usage as a progress bar, attachment icons, built-in TinyURL support, adding a Google Reader “Feeds” link to the sidebar (very important for me!), and a number of others. Now includes support for Google’s domain applications.

Twitbin. A tool I should have found much earlier; an extension that adds a sidebar window within the browser. The sidebar displays the most recent tweets from friends and allows you to post an update. With this tool, I finally see the functionality and usefulness of Twitter. I wish I could post tweets for a specific group though.

Twitterbar. The small green plus sign in the address bar shown in the image above is the twitterbar; it posts the current URL as a “currently browsing . . .” update to twitter account.

Favicon Picker enables the toolbar of small icons; it’s the normal links toolbar with the text removed. Plus, rather than the standard default icon, I can add a favicon to identify the shortuct. Using Favicon from Pics, a free online tool, I can create my own favicons for this toolbar.

Add to VodPod. Not an extension per se; it’s a shortcut on my links toolbar. See the previous VodPod post for details. The shortcut allows quick capture of online video to my various Pods.

Better GReader doesn’t have a ton of features, but it does have “Smart Subscribe” which automatically detects an RSS feed on a page and displays a link in the upper right corner of the browser content window which allows quick subscriptions to feeds; if I’m already subscribed to the feed on the page, a checkmark appears over the link.

Facebook Toolbar adds a toolbar to better integrate Facebook usage into the browser. It provides quick links to all areas of Facebook, a share link, and a search bar.

coComment tracks comments submitted to other websites; can be tracked as a separate blog and inserted into existing blog as a widget.

Greasemonkey enables a variety of javascript based enhancements for Firefox. The one I use most frequently is GPE; it adds a preview link to each item in Google Reader. Clicking on the link opens a frame which displays the original site for the item without having to open a new tab.

There’s a few others I have installed and enabled but have not, as of yet, used extensively: Firebug, Firefox Universal Uploader, GButts, Google Gears, and UnPlug.

There’s a number of extensions I’ve experimented with but disabled simply because I don’t use them frequently enough: AddThis, ChatZilla, Clipmarks (I use Zotero), Cooliris Previews, original deli.icio.us, Diigo Toolbar, DOM Inspector, FireFTP, Google Notebook, Googlepedia, Me.dium, Notefish, Sage, ScribeFire, StumbleUpon, Web Developer, and Wizz RSS News Reader.