AICC Position Paper for SCORM 2.0

During today's meetings we discussed the AICC Position Paper on SCORM 2.0 (click the attachments tab or download link for full paper). Interested parties should visit the page and add their comments to the LETSI wiki before the October 15-17, 2008 LETSI SCORM 2.0 Workshop (sold out). A paper background and summary follows below.

As original contributors to SCORM and as representatives of a community of practice with a great volume of long-lived legacy content, the AICC has submitted this paper expressing our high level requirements for the existing model and for the evolution of SCORM going forward.

The AICC Position Paper addresses 7 major considerations for SCORM evolution:

1. Maintenance of a data model consistent with the requirements of all communities of practice, or a reliable methodology for profiling to suit the specific needs of any COP.
2. Creation of a web services based communication protocol.
3. Modification and simplification of the sequencing model.
4. Enhanced functionality for capturing assessment data.
5. Enhanced functionality for mobile computing.
6. Introduction of portfolio or portable records functionality.
7. Introduction of functionality for simulation interoperability.

ADL-AICC-LETSI Workshop February 1, 2008

The AICC will host a half-day ADL-AICC-LETSI Workshop on Content Aggregation for Core SCORM on Friday, February 1, 2008 in conjunction with the AICC meeting in San Jose, California. A wiki page providing some candidate issues for discussion is available on the LETSI wiki at: http://www.letsi.org/letsi/display/TRWG/Content+Aggregation+Workshop (site requires a no cost registration).

Interested parties are requested to submit a one page position statement in advance of the meeting. Those unable to attend in person are also welcome to submit a position statement. Please email position statements to trichards@eduworks.com and ann@aicc.org. A small meeting fee applies for non-AICC members attending the meeting and also covers participation in the general AICC meeting earlier in the week. Logistical information on the AICC meeting is available at: http://www.aicc.org/pages/aicc4.htm.

Please submit position papers and confirm your attendance plans no later than January 18, 2008 by sending email to trichards@eduworks.com and ann@aicc.org.

AICC and ADL Announce Plans for Collaboration

The ADL initiative and the AICC announced their plans to collaborate on several near-term and longer term projects. This collaboration was launched at a joint meeting during the Boeing-hosted AICC conference the week of September 24th 2007. A press release with complete details is now available from the AICC at http://www.aicc.org/pages/press-release-42.htm and the ADL at http://www.adlnet.gov/News/articles/index.aspx?ID=450.

The purpose of the collaboration is to assist the aerospace and defense learning community by providing guidelines which promote the economic and effective implementation of technology-supported learning, education, and training. Benefits for the learning community will be achieved by promoting interoperability standards that software vendors can use across multiple industries (not limited to aerospace & defense).

Both organizations have committed to collaborating with other organizations involved with various learning communities. The collaborative activities will be coordinated with LETSI – an international federation promoting Learning Education and Training Systems Interoperability.

ADL-AICC Workshop on Standards Convergence

Representatives of the organizations responsible for the dominant LMS standards specifications will meet to address critical considerations for convergence and collaboration. General implementers and vendors would likely both benefit from a common approach that leverages the expertise and resources of both ADL and the AICC.

During upcoming AICC meetings, the ADL and AICC will meet on Thursday, September 27, 2007 from 1:30pm to 4:30pm at the Boeing Training and Support Systems facility in St. Louis, Missouri to discuss possible collaboration and convergence on a future release of the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM).

Motivating the workshop are the origins of ADL SCORM in the AICC CMI specification, the gradual technical divergence of CMI and SCORM, and the anticipated benefits for both organizations, their constituents and the tremendous number of LMS adopters across the globe.

The workshop occurs in the context of ADL’s interest in progressing SCORM as an ISO/IEC standard. Both ADL and AICC are participating in the formation of a new international collaboration for Learning, Education and Training Systems interoperability (working name: LETSI). In 2008, LETSI will assume responsibility for future maintenance and evolution of the SCORM specification.

The workshop will address aspects of a possible SCORM collaboration, including: implementer requirements, technical coverage, conformance testing, funding and resource requirements, and economic benefits. Workshop participation is open, subject to normal AICC meeting participation guidelines and reasonable meeting host requirements for site access.