Glossary

A

Attestation

A learner's explicit confirmation that they understand a specific rule or change. Useful alongside assessments for policy changes.

B

Blast radius

Everything downstream of a source passage that a change could affect: lessons, items, scenarios, locales, job aids, tutor answers.

C

CASE

Competencies and Academic Standards Exchange, a 1EdTech standard for exchanging competency frameworks so objectives can reference shared definitions.

cmi5

A profile of xAPI that defines how an LMS launches content and which statements the content must send. A modern path from SCORM that uses xAPI underneath.

D

Distractor

A wrong answer option in a multiple-choice question. Good distractors reflect real mistakes, such as an outdated rule.

E

Effective date

The date a policy or procedure change takes effect, and the date updated training should be live.

Evidence graph

A map linking each instructional claim to the source passage that supports it, and to every lesson, question and answer that uses it. On Coursecast's roadmap.

F

Fidelity mode

How strictly a passage must follow its source: locked (verbatim), transformed (rewritten for teaching) or enriched (examples added).

G

Grounding

Keeping AI-generated content tied to specific source material rather than the model's general knowledge.

H

Hallucination

When an AI model states something plausible that isn't supported by its source or by fact. Review notes and expert review reduce the risk; no tool eliminates it.

K

Knowledge check

A short assessment inside or after a lesson that checks understanding, ideally by asking learners to apply the rule.

L

Learning BOM

A bill of materials for a course: the sources, versions and approvals it contains. On Coursecast's roadmap.

Learning IR

Coursecast's planned intermediate representation of a course: typed objectives, claims, lessons, items, scenarios and media with provenance, compiled to delivery formats.

Learning objective

A statement of what a learner can do after training, ideally observable and specific.

LearningOps

Running training as an ongoing operation (build, change, release, observe) rather than a series of one-off projects.

LMS

Learning management system: software that delivers courses, enrolls learners and tracks completion.

LRS

Learning Record Store: a database that receives and stores xAPI statements.

LTI

Learning Tools Interoperability, a 1EdTech standard that lets an LMS securely launch an external tool.

LXP

Learning experience platform: a learner-facing platform focused on discovery and recommendations, often alongside an LMS.

M

Materiality

Whether a source change alters meaning (an obligation, number, step or role) or only wording.

MCP

Model Context Protocol, an open protocol for connecting AI assistants to tools and data sources. It's a connection protocol, not a monitoring or compliance system.

Microlearning

Short, focused lessons (often three to six minutes) on a single idea.

Q

QTI

Question and Test Interoperability, a 1EdTech format for exchanging assessment items and tests between systems.

R

Readiness

Whether people are current on the version of training that matters now and can apply it: a stronger signal than completion.

Readiness SLO

A target for how quickly affected people become current after a change, tracked like a service level.

S

SCORM 1.2

The most widely supported version of SCORM: packaging plus a runtime API reporting status and score to an LMS.

SCORM 2004

A later SCORM version that separates completion from success and adds sequencing and navigation rules.

Semantic diff

A comparison that highlights changes in meaning, not just in characters.

SME

Subject-matter expert: the person who knows the material and should approve training before it's used.

Source of truth

The authoritative document a rule comes from, such as the current policy, not a copy in a slide deck.

Speaker notes

Notes attached to slides. Coursecast reads them alongside each slide when drafting from a .pptx deck.

T

Three-way merge

Combining an original draft, a human-edited version and a fresh source-driven draft so facts update without losing human edits.

Training drift

The gap between what a course teaches and what its sources currently say.

Training drift audit

A review that checks what existing courses teach against what their current sources say, ranked by risk.

Training PR

A proposed, reviewable set of training edits triggered by a source change, with diffs, checks and approvers. On Coursecast's roadmap.

V

VTT / SRT

Common caption and transcript file formats exported by meeting and video tools. Coursecast reads both.

W

WCAG

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the W3C standard for making web content accessible.

X

xAPI

The Experience API: records learning as actor-verb-object statements sent to an LRS, including activity outside an LMS.

Z

Zero data retention (ZDR)

An arrangement where an AI provider doesn't store inputs or outputs beyond processing. Coursecast does not currently claim ZDR; see our Privacy Policy for how data is handled.