Learning material intended to be delivered over the web is normally called e-learning content. E-learning content can be created in a multitude of ways using technologies like HTML, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Shockwave, PDF etcetera.
E-Learning content is normally served by a Learning Management System, which launches the content and tracks progress information such as what parts of the content that has been accessed, scoring on tests etcetera. In order for the LMS to provide the content in a predictable manner and to handle tracking information, the content needs to be created according to accepted standards. Several such standards issued by different standards bodies exist in the marketplace today.
ADL is a program initiated in 1998 by the US Department of Defense which gathers contributors from the E-Learning industry, international academia and the US Government. The primary standard to come out of ADL is the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM).
In addition emerging work is being done in related fields such as Learning Repositories, a work closely monitored by Lecando AB.
The SCORM specification has emerged as the ubiquitous e-learning format. It is supported by all major Learning Management Systems as well as a vast majority of e-learning content producers. LCMS supports the most widespread version of SCORM, 1.2.
SCORM is composed of three parts.
Declares the different parts of learning content and how they are packaged.
Specifies the API available for content
Declares rules and objectives and how they are applied to learning resources. Simple Sequencing is a part of SCORM 2004 and is not currently supported by the LCMS.