eLearning Solutions

Any learning that utilizes a network (LAN, WAN or Internet) for delivery, interaction, or facilitation. This would include distributed learning , distance learning (other than pure correspondence ), CBT delivered over a network, and WBT . Can be synchronous , asynchronous , instructor-led or computer-based or a combination. eLearning uses digital technology and the power of the Internet to enhance the learning experience. eLearning can be delivered and supported completely using electronic media, but it can be the core provision blending with face-to-face and other components in the learning mix. Interactive multimedia enables involvement in the learning experience, checking understanding and practising skills. Networks enable communication with experts, mentors and peers providing learning support, collaboration and knowledge transfer. WebSolutions4Me provides a comprehensive range of eLearning services, from planning to design and development.eLearning provides a cost-effective solution for a diverse range of education and development needs. It offers both the freedom of selecting the time, pace and place of study. SCORM SCORM assumes the existence of a suite of services called by some a "Learning Management System" and by others a "Learning Content Management System", and formerly called a "Computer Managed Instruction" system. In the SCORM world there is a set of services that launches learning content, keeps track of learner progress, figures out in what order (sequence) learning objects are to be delivered, and reports student mastery through a learning experience. Most web content consists of simple hyperlinks from one page to another. In the SCORM world, the LMS is "smart" and knows what is to be delivered to learner, when he/she has mastered a skill or competency, and can branch to the right content when needed (e.g., for remediation). Regular web content and servers don't know how to do this. Important Thing #1: SCORM is needed to standardize how to launch and track directed learning experiences, and to define the intended behavior and logic of complex learning experiences so content can be reused, moved, searched for, and recontexualized. Simple hyper-linked web sites (like this one) don't need SCORM because the user (you) isn’t being tracked and assessed for skill/competency mastery. Important Thing #2: SCORM enables complex directed learning experiences that go far beyond what can be done with simple hyperlinked web content. Important Thing #3: SCORM has three parts: 1. Overview - about the model, vision and future 2. Content Aggregation Model - how to put learning content together so it can be moved and reused. 3. Run Time Environment: How content is launched and the learner's progress is tracked and reported back. Run Time Environment - API During the evolution of the SCORM suite of specifications, a standardized way was needed for content to send information back and forth between the learner (content) and the LMS. ADL worked with AICC to develop a web-friendly approach using JavaScript. An Application Program Interface was defined that provides a standard way of communicating with an LMS, regardless of what tools are used to develop the content. The Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) aims to foster creation of reusable learning content as "instructional objects" within a common technical framework for computer and Web-based learning. SCORM describes that technical framework by providing a harmonized set of guidelines, specification and standards. Borrowing from work of other specification and standards bodies, ADL developed a model for creating and deploying e-Learning. SCORM helps define the technical foundations of a Web-based learning environment. At its simplest, it is a model that reference a set of interrelated technical specifications and guidelines designed to meet high-level requirements for learning content and systems. SCORM describes a "Content Aggregation Model (CAM)" and "Run-Time Environment (RTE)" for learning objects to support adaptive presentation of content based on criteria such as learner objectives, preferences and performance. SCORM targets the Web as a primary medium for delivering instruction. It does so under the assumption that anything that can be delivered by the Web can be easily used in other instructional settings that make fewer demands on accessibility and network communications. This strategy eliminates much of the development work once needed to adapt to the latest technology platform because the Web itself is becoming a universal delivery medium. By building upon existing Web standards and infrastructures, SCORM frees developers to focus on effective learning strategies. The development of SCORM continues, even as the main medium it targets, the Web, continues to evolve and change. SCORM currently provides an Application Programming Interface (API) for communicating information about a learner’s interaction with content objects, a defined data model for representing this information, a content packaging specification that enables interoperability of learning content, a standard set of meta-data elements that can be used to describing learning content and a set of standard sequencing rules which can be applied to the organization of the learning content. While the technical standards used by the Web turn out to work equally well locally, regionally and globally, when it comes to the standardization of e-learning itself, the task of SCORM, is continuing to evolve. First released in January 2000, the SCORM continues to update and expand the scope of the specifications through cooperation with industry, government and academic participants. SCORM Today SCORM is a collection of specifications and standards that can be viewed as separate "books" gathered together into a growing library. Nearly all of the specifications and guidelines are taken from other organizations. These technical "books" are presently grouped under three main topics: "Content Aggregation Model (CAM)," "Run-Time Environment (RTE)" and "Sequencing and Navigation (SN) (introduced in SCORM 2004)." Additional specifications are anticipated in future SCORM releases. While the various SCORM books, focusing as they do on specific aspects of SCORM, are intended to stand alone, there are areas of overlap or mutual coverage. For instance, while the RTE book focuses primarily on communication between content and LMSs, it frequently refers to the types of content objects conducting that communication: Sharable Content Objects (SCOs). Their definition and the complete treatment of SCOs are found in the CAM book. Similarly, the Sequencing and Navigation book covers the details of SCORM sequencing and navigation processes to include detailed coverage of how an LMS evaluates navigation requests and related activities. The run-time navigation behavior maintains the possibility of reusing learning resources within multiple and different aggregation contexts. Thus by keeping the rules and navigation separate from and outside of content objects, the content may be reused in new and different ways to support many different instructional strategies.