Upload external SCORM assets to Aptem

Overview

When using Aptem, you can use two types of SCORM assets:

1. Content built directly in the system (e.g. text, form, video, flexible assets).
2. Content built outside the system using zipped packages.

This article is intended to support the second format – content built outside the system and then uploaded in an appropriate format. To build content directly in Aptem, see: Create SCORM assets in Aptem.

Note: If you are new to SCORM, see: Understanding SCORM.

Preparing SCORM assets

What version of SCORM does Aptem support?

Currently Aptem supports SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 (all versions).

SCORM 1.2 works perfectly for smaller/basic pieces of e-learning, however for those larger more complex pieces of content, preference would be to use SCORM 2004 4th edition. Also note that some software packages can present different options when exporting, so users should review content within the system to ensure this operates and reports as expected.

Avoid special characters in the SCORM identifiers

When exporting to SCORM, often software will give the asset a title… now whilst you can title the eLearning piece what you like, it is encouraged not to use special characters (e.g. %, &, £, $, @, etc.) in this identifier (the title linking the SCORM asset to the LMS) as it can sometimes (rarely) cause issues with LMS and SCORM integration.

Zipping the content

When exporting SCORM content from various authoring tools, it will export to a normal folder. However, in order for this to work in Aptem, this folder should be zipped (you can use various zipping tools to do this, or most software packages offer this at the point of the export process).

When zipping the SCORM content, please ensure the source content is immediately available in the first folder and not hidden behind further sub-folders. For illustration, consider these examples. If you have the source content under sub-folders, this needs to be resolved.

This is an issue if you are using Mac zip, and is something you will need to resolve before uploading into Aptem. See: FAQ: Why is my SCORM 2004 (v1.2) package appearing blank after uploading it to Aptem?.

Testing SCORM assets

Whilst you can view content in Aptem, it is a good practice to test the content prior to uploading into the system. You can use third party apps like SCORM Cloud to upload your SCORM (zip) file and test it.

Uploading SCORM assets

The SCORM Assets functionality allows you to create/manage your content in Aptem in an effective way. Follow these steps to proceed:

1. Sign into your administrator account.
2. Locate the tile called ‘SCORM Assets’.
   
3. The Assets screen provides you with a list of your existing assets to be used in the SCORM Player. You can search for items by the filter or the tags option. The list below shows you the assets that have been created/uploaded
   
4. To upload an asset, click 'Upload'.

   This option allows you to upload an asset that has been created externally e.g. Captivate or Articulate or any other eLearning SCORM creation system.

   

5. You will be presented with a pop-up, as seen below:

   

   1. Asset name: Give the asset an appropriate name, ideally the same name as your SCORM file, so you can easily track back and forth across different modules/versions.
   2. Upload asset: Select this button to navigate to the item – the item must be in the form of a zip file. No other file types are supported. Note that this does not save the asset in the system. Also, sometimes red text can appear after clicking upload, do not panic, and click anywhere else in that pop up and the text will disappear.
   3. Tag: Link to an appropriate tag, if relevant, or create a new one – this is not mandatory.
   4. Check boxes:
      
      • Generate evidence: Select to generate automated evidence in the system e.g. assessment results. 
        • Select this if there are questions/quizzes built into the SCORM paper, assuming the SCORM asset has been created in such a way that it writes to the metadata.
        • Note that the SCORM asset should include trigger/notification report to LMS to correctly generate the expected evidence here.
        • Also note that this will print anything that has been put into the metadata, so if you have not put the questions into the metadata and only put the answers as evidence, the report will only generate answers.
      • Show in resource centre: Select to make this asset visible in the tenant’s resource centre
      • Show as featured: Select to make this asset a featured resource in the resource centre
   5. Save: This will save your SCORM asset to the system, and this will be available to use within for example a learning plan.

What next?

After you create your SCORM assets, you can attach them to a learning plan. See: Attach SCORM Assets to a learning plan.