The Old Roads We Still Travel: Why SCORM Remains the Industry Standard

Despite innovation, the learning world still leans on SCORM. Here's why the future hasn't fully arrived.

Originally posted on Substack.

In almost all learning departments, we’re still using a relic from the early 2000s. It’s been running the show for nearly two decades. SCORM, the Sharable Content Object Reference Model, is by far the industry standard for delivering and tracking eLearning courses. We have newer technologies, xAPI and cmi5, however, SCORM remains the industry standard.

When you slow down and start to think about why SCORM is still the reigning champ of eLearning, it seems odd. SCORM can only tell us about basic learner activities: completed a course, passed a quiz, how long they were in the course, etc. Unlike its newer counterparts, it doesn’t take into account informal learning or real-world behavior.

So why are we still handcuffed to SCORM?

SCORM Is the Safe Default

The simplest explanation is also the most powerful: SCORM works everywhere. Almost all LMS platforms are made to accept SCORM packages, and almost all authoring tools are made to export SCORM packages with a few simple clicks.

With all the things that LxD professionals have to juggle, it’s comfortable to go back to what works. We know that SCORM will launch, track, and report those basic learning details in whatever system our organization chooses to use. We don’t have to take time to build a whole new foundation and troubleshoot what issues that may arise. There’s no need to pitch new ways to leadership and try to get everyone on board with change.

It’s almost a self-fulfilling prophecy. Vendors design for SCORM because customers expect SCORM. Customers expect SCORM because vendors support SCORM.

xAPI’s Promise Meets Practical Friction

The Experience API, xAPI, was designed to go beyond SCORM and capture richer data that shows real learning. But this new data needs a new home. The Learning Record Store (LRS) is a database that is built for receiving xAPI statements.

Many LMSs do actually offer xAPI support, and some may integrate an LRS, but actually implementing it means investing time, technical effort, and money. It also requires us as LxD professionals to take time to define what learning experiences to track, design intentional xAPI statements, and build meaningful analytic frameworks.

In our industry, only 35% of companies prioritize measurement as a strategic initiative. So this is asking for a lot from a group of professionals who are already spread thin.

Good Enough Is Often Good Enough

For most organizations, the basic SCORM data is sufficient. They want to know that their employees took the compliance training because it’s required.

If leadership isn’t focused on real learning or taking learning further, then the urgency isn’t there to abandon SCORM. While it may be flawed, it still works, right?

Familiar Tools and Familiar Skills

There’s also a skills gap at play for LxD professionals. Most of us have been training to build SCORM packages, and we know how to troubleshoot SCORM errors. We know how to structure SCORM courses.

If we choose to look towards the future and switch to xAPI properly, that means we need to relearn how we do things. Understanding JSON, designing meaningful verbs and activities, validating statements, and interpreting data across systems. It starts to sound more like software development than learning design.

Most of us entered this profession because we wanted to create beautiful learning experiences. Starting to understand and engineer APIs can feel daunting.

Standardization Versus Innovation

SCORM’s stability is an asset in organizations where compliance and regulatory reporting matter. Even though it is limiting, industries like finance, healthcare, and government are notoriously risk-averse, and they value systems that produce consistent (legally defensible) records.xAPI's flexibility to track any experience of learning introduces variability. Until xAPI profiles have more universal standards, organizations may worry that xAPI from one vendor may not communicate with another xAPI from a second vendor.

The Path Forward: Coexistence, Not Replacement

We probably won’t be saying goodbye to SCORM anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean xAPI can’t coexist with SCORM. Many modern authoring tools do export both SCORM and xAPI, which can send statements to an LRS behind the scenes.

Some LxD teams are looking towards the future and starting to incorporate xAPI tracking to certain aspects of their learning, where richer data can directly improve outcomes. SCORM continues to be used for compliance needs.

The answer isn’t choosing between the old path and the new. It’s about making the map bigger to let us travel further and more freely.

But for now, when you open that next LMS dashboard, don't be surprised to see a familiar face staring back. SCORM may be outdated. But it is still, stubbornly, the language we speak.