Usability - The Real Problem with SCORM

 

As an instructional designer with a background in 1980s era web development, I am at least passably familiar with Javascript and HTML. XML is very much like HTML but less orderly (in my opinion), so it is not like a complete novice to scripting.

 

But the daunting inscrutability that confronts non-programmers like me who try to unravel and comprehend SCORM manifest files and wrappers is overwhelming. There is nothing easy, or user-friendly, about SCORM.

 

With the "big boys" like Department of Defense, and Department of Labor working several years to develop the components that make SCORM work, who were they thinking was going to have to use this?

 

Now that SCORM 2004 is relatively stable and widely accepted, when will the ADL realize that its next effort needs to be directed at making SCORM easier to use and understand by the mere mortals who build, and put up, online learning courses.

 

Especially in the depths of the recession of 2009, employers have no cash to hire expensive programmers - or even less expensive ones in India. Instead, they task relatively "tool oriented" employees such as myself with making unitelligable code work smoothly while getting their courses up and running quickly.

 

The stress involved in trying to do this is overwhelming. When faced with this situation, I immediately enrolled in all of the free ADL courses offered that are supposed to teach SCORM http://www.adlnet.org/Technologies/scorm/SCORMSDocuments/SCORM%20Learning%20Opportunities(offline).aspx but unfortunately, although I came out of this set of courses understanding a lot more about what SCORM was, I am still woefully inadequate as a person fluent in SCORM and fully able to make my courses work on an LMS.

 

Even if the ADL added comments with explanations to each section in the Manifest and other files it would go a long way toward identifying what piece performed what task, and make more people able to use the code.

Hopefully, somebody from ADL will read this post and take pity on the poor instructional designer. After all, it is we who end up getting this task dumped on us, and not the ADL.

10/31/09 All rights reserved