Title: Creating SCORM Content (for Moodle)
Course: How to Use Multimedia in Courses > Section: Presentation (PPT/ODP)

Tools for Authoring

Here is a list of tools to create SCORM packages, both open source and commercial. Moodle is a modular authoring tool for courses but at this time does not create SCORM packages.

 Free OpenSource

 eXe OPEN SOURCE SCORM Development Package

The eXe project is developing a freely available Open Source authoring application to assist teachers and academics in the publishing of web content without the need to become proficient in HTML or XML markup. Resources authored in eXe can be exported in IMS Content Package, SCORM 1.2, or IMS Common Cartridge formats or as simple self-contained web pages.

http://exelearning.org/

 ScenariChain Opale / OpaleSup

Website and community : http://scenari-platform.org/projects/scenari/en/pres/co/

 Xerte OPEN SOURCE SCORM Development Package

The Xerte Project provides a full suite of open source tools for elearning developers and content authors producing interactive learning materials.

Standalone tool: Xerte http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/xerte/

Online tool: Toolkits http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/xerte/toolkits.htm

 Freeware not OpenSource

 Content Shaper Authoring Tool

Content Shaper - free authoring tool oriented at assembly, updates and maintenance of learning content across it's lifecycle.

Content Sharer utilizes a separation of content and presentation idiom, so it's suitable for adaptive learning, different delivery formats, content re-purposing.

http://www.c-shaper.com/

 Courselab

CourseLab is a free program but is not open source. Feb 2009 current version is 2.4. Received an eLearnings Best of 2007 award.

CourseLab version 2.4 has a few bugs. First is with audio. Sometimes (for some reason not known to CourseLab) the audio will restart, creating an echo effect. You will need to un-check the "autostart" mark of the Video object (vidoe object is used to insert audio too)and then define an action on some event that fits the case (for example on the slide's afterdisplay event) choose METHOD (yourvideoobject, PLAY. this will play the audio after the slide is displayed.

Another issue is with FireFox browsers displaying graphics with CourseLab. It is stated in user's manual that some objects utilize Explorer-specific features and author should avoid using them, if he wants to use the course in multi-browser environment. These are: Gradient Box and all AutoShapes. AutoShapes are VML-objects and VML (Vector Markup Language) is not supported by FireFox. SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics - another vector format) could be the good alternative, but there are still problems with displaying inline SVG-objects in both Gecko-family and IE. (from CourseLab Support)

If these FireFox/Image display problems are not an issue then be sure to install the latest browser plug-ins. If you present content to non-IE users, do not use this authoring package.

There are some problems with Moodle configuration see http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=96338#p425335

CourseLab home page

 iSpring Free

iSpring PowerPoint add-in

iSpring Free is freeware for creating SCORM-compliant e-learning courses that can be integrated with Moodle CMS. Being a very handy e-learning authoring tool, iSpring Free works as a PowerPoint add-in, accurately converting PowerPoint presentations into Flash courses.

Along with supporting virtually all PowerPoint animations and transitions, iSpring Free preserves PowerPoint’s most advanced effects like trigger animations and hyperlinks. Additionally iSpring Free provides an opportunity to enrich the course with Flash objects and YouTube videos.

iSpring Free with its ease of use, conversion accuracy and established SCORM 2004 r3 compliance appears to be a great choice considering that it can be used free of charge for all commercial and non-commercial use.

iSpring Free publish window

iSpring Free is compatible with PowerPoint 2003/2007/2010 (32/64-bit) and comes in both 32 and 64-bit versions. The freeware can be downloaded on iSpring website.

See how easily iSpring Free produced courses are uploaded to Moodle.

 MOS Solo

SCORM 2004 authoring tool. Entirely free.

http://www.mindonsite.com/en/produits/mos-solo/

 MyUdutu

Free software for creating elearning courses with flash interactivity. Website here: http://www.udutu.com/ and an explanatory video here: http://www.udutu.com/my_udutu_video.html It is free to sign up and make the courses - there are many customisable templates enabling users to import images/video/audio/etc and incorporate them into scored questions of varying formats. The finished course can be exported as SCORM 2004 or SCORM 1.2 compliant -again for free and then hosted on a Moodle or other site. (The courses can also be hosted on the udutu site, either for free but with a watermark or for a fee) Quite intuitive to use and offering many features, it is however dependent on good connection to the site as it is created online. Also doesn't seem to like working in Opera.

 Reload

Reusable eLearning Object Authoring and Delivery - NB it is rather technical and may only be suitable for those with an understanding of HTML and the underlying SCORM specification.

One problem with Reload is that it sometimes places the imsmanifest file 2 directories deep in the published SCORM package. For the solution to this issue, see http://docs.moodle.org/en/SCORM_FAQ#Manifest_not_found_error

http://www.reload.ac.uk/

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