Comments on: SCORM LMS Headaches

By: TEduca » 10 Things to Consider Before Choosing an LMS

TEduca » 10 Things to Consider Before Choosing an LMS — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:57:38 +0000

[...] Java definitely has its place, but LMS environments is not one of them. Â See post and comments here for more info. [...]

By: Stephen Brown

Stephen Brown — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:15:07 +0000

Just to clarify, SCORM does _not_ require Java. However, some LMS systems and courseware developers choose to implement SCORM using client-side Java.

Java is very dependent on the version and vendor, which causes support headaches as only one version/vendor can be set in the client’s browser. If there are multiple courses and LMS vendors requiring different versions, as Andrew encountered, some will not function until the vendor provides an update supporting that flavor of Java.

Even when you manage to find a version that works for the LMS and/or courseware, the end client may not be able change their Java version, as it may be dictated by a company IT department or required by another installed product.

Inevitably, if the course or LMS requires client-side Java, it is not going to work everywhere and will greatly increase your end-client support calls, unless you have full control of all client installations. On installations where the LMS/course does function, any subsequent updates of the LMS/course, or Java version could break it all over again.

By: 10 Things to Consider Before Choosing an LMS | Dave Mozealous

10 Things to Consider Before Choosing an LMS | Dave Mozealous — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:54:04 +0000

[...] Java definitely has its place, but LMS environments is not one of them. Â See post and comments here for more info. [...]

By: Dave Mozealous

Dave Mozealous — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:26:47 +0000

Funny, stumbled across this as I was checking out your site Andrew. We have also worked with Tim Martin and Mike before from SCORM.COM to do our SCORM impementation and I think you both cover the issues pretty well. Many LMSs out there rely on Java, and unfortunately the ubiquity of Java isn’t all that high (like only 53% of all desktops have it), and many Learning Management Systems haven’t done a great job of Java detection, or version detection to let you know if there is going to be an issue.

Anyway, good post, and great comments.

By: Brother Andrew

Brother Andrew — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:13:45 +0000

I’m sure that it is our LMS that’s to blame. The latest service pack that we installed called for a newer version of java. (the LMS vendor failed to mention that)

By: Tim Martin

Tim Martin — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:38:51 +0000

Just thought I'd chime in on the subject since we're working with this all the time. SCORM, itself, is not really to blame here. Many LMSs, TestTrack included, do not require Java in any way. Try it out, if you upload your content there, you can have Java completely disabled. If you try your content there, and succeed, I think you can point to your LMS in particular as the challenge. It's dependence on Java is likely the problem, and there are many LMSs that do. While Java has its place, we have found that the compatibility problems it brings to the SCORM world outweigh the benefit of using Java applets.