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At the moment we have an LRS and the Tincan .net library. We want to create an LMS based in .Net, Window forms to be specific, utilizing TinCan API. Course content are in the form of Scorm packages. This is a very silly question I know, and the answer must be plain obvious, but I just don't get it. How you 'play' or 'show' or 'launch' the Scorm zip packages, when implementing in TinCan API in Desktop environment? And under what conditions do we require to convert scorm packages to TinCan ones?

If someone could give relevant links(although i have visited every damn one of them) it would be helpful. Thanks

PS- Don't flag this question down please.

silVer
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  • Can you give some more details on the reasons for these technical requirements - maybe there's a better approach to achieve the same business aims. Specifically, why do you have to use SCORM and why & how are you planning to use Tin Can? – Andrew Downes Feb 22 '16 at 11:31
  • @Andrew Tracking learner activites, generating reports, course completion data etc. were the reasons to go with Scorm. As for tincan, well it's simply better and takes less time to build an lms with tincan. offline access is also the factor. – silVer Feb 22 '16 at 12:30
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    You're asking several questions here, and they don't completely align with the title of the post. You're not just asking how SCORM packages can be played in .Net, you're asking how they can be imported into Tin Can. If you're worried about being downvoted, don't be so broad -- ask more targeted/specific questions. Rule of thumb: if a person can't provide a simple response with a short code sample, your question is probably too complex and should be broken down into smaller questions, just as you'd break big chunks of code into smaller modules/classes. – pipwerks Feb 22 '16 at 16:55
  • On that basis, you should ditch SCORM and just use Tin Can. You can do all that stuff with Tin Can and implementing one interoperability spec is going to be a lot less work than running the data through two with translation in between. – Andrew Downes Feb 23 '16 at 13:31

3 Answers3

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Technically speaking SCORM is not TinCan or vice versa. SCORM communicates to a JavaScript Runtime API your LMS would need to provide. This content typically runs in a IFRAME/Frame, new window, tab or popup. Without that runtime API the SCOs won't locate what to communicate with.

TinCan communicates with a endpoint. Statements are generated by the content or application and posted. Similar to ActivityStreams which were created around 2006 by social media, but retrofitted to work with e-learning.

All that said though you can convert old SCORM communication into a TinCan statement but unless the TinCan Library you are using supports that, you'd have to build that out or locate a project that claims to do that.

Mark
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I didn't follow your question properly as I haven't use TinCan. But from my understanding, you can't do it directly as SCORM is a standard for web-based applications and web-based learning contents. Still you can try it out with WebBrowser control.

For any queries you can visit this link http://support.scorm.com/home .

SamGhatak
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  • No problems, but could you please confirm that Scorm packages in desktop application can only be played via browse control, even if all resources are store locally. Thanks. – silVer Feb 22 '16 at 10:36
  • I never used such scenarios, but communication of engine and scorm-package is done through javascript. So if you can catch the javascript calls sent by the package and call your desktop-app codes, this should be possible. I found this [link](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3694028/invoke-c-sharp-code-from-javascript-in-a-document-in-a-webbrowser) which might be useful. – SamGhatak Feb 22 '16 at 10:56
  • Usually we add a js file in the page launched by the engine and catch SCORM calls there. So if we add such codes mentioned in the [link](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3694028/invoke-c-sharp-code-from-javascript-in-a-document-in-a-webbrowser) in the js file, this should be possible. Though I never used such solutions, but conceptually, this should work – SamGhatak Feb 22 '16 at 10:59
  • I checked the link it will be useful thanks. So urmmm...should i conclude the only way to play scorm packages even in desktop apps is via browser control? Won't they work with adobe flash player? – silVer Feb 22 '16 at 12:24
  • Sorry man, I have absolutely no experience in flash. Might be a nice alternative, gonna do some research on it :) – SamGhatak Feb 22 '16 at 12:29
  • No problems, I am totally new to LMSs in general and there are hundreds of confusing things on the internet, that's why i am looking for pointers. Either way, thanks. – silVer Feb 22 '16 at 12:33
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You're asking multiple questions, each of which should probably be their own StackOverflow post.

  1. Do we have to convert SCORM packages to Tin Can if we want to launch SCORM courses via a desktop app?

  2. How do you import/handle SCORM packages in Tin Can?

  3. Assuming the SCORM course has been converted to Tin Can, how do you launch Tin Can courses in a desktop environment?

The answer to question #1 is no. SCORM is designed to run in a browser environment and requires JavaScript, but this can be provided on the desktop in a number of ways. I'd check .Net threads for solutions specific to .Net

Question #2 is not easy to answer unless you use a 3rd-party solution like Rustici Software's SCORM Driver. Even then, you will need to figure out how to ingest and parse the SCORM manifests. If the SCORM package is a single-SCO course with a simple manifest, you will only need to worry about converting SCORM run-time (JavaScript) calls from SCORM to Tin Can. If the SCORM package is a multi-SCO course, or makes use of features in the manifest such as global objects or sequencing rules, you will have a much more difficult time sorting it all out. This is true whether you use Tin Can or not. This is a good starting point (grab a cup of coffee first). https://github.com/adlnet/xAPI-SCORM-Profile/blob/master/xapi-scorm-profile.md

For question #3: There are many tutorials for Tin Can online -- unlike SCORM, Tin Can is not specific to a browser, and doesn't require JavaScript. You can use any system that supports REST calls.

pipwerks
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