E-learning standards are often lumped together, but they solve different problems. Knowing which is which helps you ask vendors the right questions.
SCORM: packaging and LMS tracking
SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) defines how a course is packaged as a zip with a manifest, and how it talks to an LMS at runtime through a JavaScript API: launch, completion, score, bookmarking. The two versions in wide use are SCORM 1.2, simple and almost universally supported, and SCORM 2004, which separates completion from pass/fail and adds sequencing rules. SCORM content must run inside an LMS session.
xAPI: learning records anywhere
xAPI (the Experience API, once called Tin Can) records learning as statements, "actor, verb, object" such as "Sam completed Lesson 3", sent to a Learning Record Store (LRS). It can record activity outside an LMS: simulations, apps, on-the-job checklists. It doesn't define packaging or launch by itself.
cmi5: xAPI with rules for launch
cmi5 is a profile of xAPI that adds what SCORM had and xAPI lacked: rules for how an LMS launches content and which statements content must send. Think of it as a modern successor path from SCORM that uses xAPI underneath.
QTI: assessment items
QTI (Question and Test Interoperability, from 1EdTech) is a format for questions and tests, so items can move between authoring tools, item banks and assessment engines. It's about the questions, not course tracking.
Two more you'll hear about
- LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability) lets an LMS launch an external tool securely.
- CASE (Competencies and Academic Standards Exchange) exchanges competency frameworks so objectives can reference shared definitions.
What to ask a vendor
"Do you support SCORM?" isn't enough. Ask which version, what is tracked (completion, success, score, bookmarking), whether they've tested with your LMS, and whether questions export as QTI. No vendor can promise identical behaviour across every LMS, because LMSs implement standards differently.
Where Coursecast stands
Today Coursecast exports Word, Markdown, narration scripts and JSON. SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, xAPI, cmi5 and QTI outputs are on the roadmap, compiled from one course model. We'll publish exactly what each package supports when it ships.