Presentation on cmi5, the next generation of SCORM. cmi5 is the "use case" for xAPI in the LMS world. From mLearnCon 2015.

1. What is cmi5?
(And why should you care?)

2. Who am I?
• Art Werkenthin
President & CEO of RISC, Inc.
– Over 25 years experience in LMS Industry
– Early adopter of xAPI (.90)
– First LMS to be xAPI 1.0 compliant
• Member: AICC cmi5 Committee
• Contact:
– www.risc-inc.com
– @RISC_INC
– @AWerkenthin

3. Agenda
• History of LMS to content communication
• What’s wrong with SCORM?
• Does xAPI replace SCORM?
• Benefits of xAPI as a base on which to
build.
• What is cmi5?
• Goals & Benefits of cmi5

4. History: LMS to Content
• AICC (1993)
CMI Guidelines for interoperability
• SCORM
Sharable Content Object Reference Model
– 2001, 2004
– Initially based on AICC
• xAPI (2013)

5. SCORM
• LMS to training content communication
• Designed for the desktop
• Uses a common packaging, communication
and launching mechanism

6. What’s wrong with SCORM?
• Content must reside in same domain as LMS
– Cannot put content on CDN to improve
performance
– Inefficient (Bandwidth anyone?)
• SCORM is complicated
• SCORM content MUST run in a browser
– No mobile “apps” (3rd party offline players)
– No “off line” (yet…but it is more than 10 years
old)
• Easily Hacked - Old technology
• …and on and on…

7. Doesn’t xAPI fix all that?
Scheduling
Assessment
Competencies
Learning
Records
Sequencing
User
Management
Requirements
Tracking
Certification
Curricula
Definition
Delivery Search
Course
Management
Compliance Preferences
Reports
What is xAPI…really?

8. xAPI Benefits as a Platform
• Learning can be recorded wherever it
occurs
• Learning content does not have to reside in
a browser
• Non-browser learning
– Mobile apps
– Social Networking
– Gaming & Simulations

9. xAPI Benefits (cont.)
• Learning content can be distributed (CDN)
• Uses modern, common technology
– (REST, JSON)
• Much simpler than SCORM
• Very flexible
– Define your own verbs
– Define your own extensions
– …that’s good and bad

10. xAPI is not the new SCORM
• xAPI defines communication layer and
storage.
• LMS is not mentioned…no LMS to content
communication (80 vs. 20)
• SCORM features are not included
– Sequencing
– Bookmarking
– Completion criteria
• You COULD use extensions, but there is no
interoperability.

11. xAPI is not the new SCORM
“By itself, xAPI was never designed to
replace what SCORM does.... With ADL now
taking the reins on this spec effort and
planning DoD's strategic transition towards
xAPI and cmi5, the time is now right to learn
about what this does and the advantages cmi5
offers.”
Aaron Silvers

12. What is cmi5
• Next generation Content To LMS
interoperability specification
• Built on top of xAPI

13. cmi5 Goals
• Interoperability
• Extensibility
• Mobile Support

14. Sample “Rule”: The 9 cmi5 Verbs
• Launched (LMS)
• Initialized (AU*)
• Completed (AU)
• Passed (AU)
• Failed (AU)
• Abandoned (LMS)
• Waived (LMS)
• Terminated (AU)
• Satisfied (LMS)
AU may make whatever additional valid
xAPI statements it wants.
*Assignable Unit

15. cmi5 Provides:
• Course Structure
– Similar to the content package of SCORM
– Supports 1 or more Assignable Units (AU)
– Designed for interoperability across systems
• Launch Mechanisms
– “Any Window”
– “Own Window”
• Content Entitlement
– AU developer defined
– “Other”

16. cmi5 Provides (cont.):
• Session Tracking
– State
– Extensible
• Completion Criteria
– AU defines “Move On” criteria
• Passed?
• Completed?
• Completed and Passed?
– Mastery Score
• AU-specific launch parameters

17. Benefits of cmi5
• Content defined data stored in LRS
– Pictures, video, audio recordings, documents
• Data sharing across content using LRS
• Content-defined launch mechanism
– “Can I get rid of those SCORM windows /
frames for you?”
• Distributed content
• Mobile device support
What’s in it for me?

18. Content Defined Data
• Use Case:
You build a content module that wants to record the exact
steps a user took to perform a procedure, with video.
• Without cmi5:
You need to customize your LMS to store the data.
• With cmi5:
All the data can be recorded in the LRS and fetched for
reporting.

19. Data Sharing
• Use Case:
You have a multi-AU course. You need data entered by
the student in AU #1 displayed or used in AU #3.
• Without cmi5:
You must either customize the LMS to make this data
available, or record it in a custom system.
• With cmi5:
Your content can record the data in the LRS in AU #1, and
fetch it in AU #3.

20. Launch Method
SCORM, or “Own Window” “Any Window”

21. Distributed Content
• Use Case:
You have a giant e-learning module with video, voice,
animations, etc. You need to deliver to students all over
the world.
• Without cmi5
With SCORM, your content is loaded to your LMS server
in Houston and your students have a slow, agonizing user
experience.
• With cmi5
Your content is distributed globally through a content-
distribution network and your students are happy.

22. Mobile Support
• cmi5 gives you the mobile capabilities of
xAPI that SCORM does not have.
• cmi5 uses modern technology like REST
and JSON

23. cmi5 Status
• “Sandstone” release
• Final release scheduled for Fall 2015

24. Final Note
• Part of this presentation was shamelessly
plagiarized from “cmi5 AND xAPI”
by Bill McDonald (Boeing Flight Services)
and Kris Rockwell (Hybrid Learning
Systems).
http://aicc.org/docs/meetings/13mar2013/c
mi5.pdf

25. References
• cmi5 Specification
https://github.com/AICC
• cmi5 Overview
http://risc-inc.com/blog/the-next-generation-
scorm-cmi-5/
• ADL
http://www.adlnet.gov/adl-and-aicc-collaborate-
on-the-experience-api/
• xAPI Specification
https://github.com/adlnet/xAPI-Spec

26. What is cmi5?
Thanks for attending
Art Werkenthin
artw@risc-inc.com
http://risc-inc.com
@RISC_INC
@AWerkenthin