How EXACTLY can Scorm content be 'played' in a .Net desktop application?

Question

At the moment we have an LRS and the Tincan .net library. We want to create an LMS based in .Net, Window forms to be specific, utilizing TinCan API. Course content are in the form of Scorm packages. This is a very silly question I know, and the answer must be plain obvious, but I just don't get it. How you 'play' or 'show' or 'launch' the Scorm zip packages, when implementing in TinCan API in Desktop environment? And under what conditions do we require to convert scorm packages to TinCan ones?

If someone could give relevant links(although i have visited every damn one of them) it would be helpful. Thanks

PS- Don't flag this question down please.

Answer 1

I didn't follow your question properly as I haven't use TinCan. But from my understanding, you can't do it directly as SCORM is a standard for web-based applications and web-based learning contents. Still you can try it out with WebBrowser control.

For any queries you can visit this link http://support.scorm.com/home .

Answer 2

Technically speaking SCORM is not TinCan or vice versa. SCORM communicates to a JavaScript Runtime API your LMS would need to provide. This content typically runs in a IFRAME/Frame, new window, tab or popup. Without that runtime API the SCOs won't locate what to communicate with.

TinCan communicates with a endpoint. Statements are generated by the content or application and posted. Similar to ActivityStreams which were created around 2006 by social media, but retrofitted to work with e-learning.

All that said though you can convert old SCORM communication into a TinCan statement but unless the TinCan Library you are using supports that, you'd have to build that out or locate a project that claims to do that.

Answer 3

You're asking multiple questions, each of which should probably be their own StackOverflow post.

1. Do we have to convert SCORM packages to Tin Can if we want to launch SCORM courses via a desktop app?

2. How do you import/handle SCORM packages in Tin Can?

3. Assuming the SCORM course has been converted to Tin Can, how do you launch Tin Can courses in a desktop environment?

The answer to question #1 is no. SCORM is designed to run in a browser environment and requires JavaScript, but this can be provided on the desktop in a number of ways. I'd check .Net threads for solutions specific to .Net

Question #2 is not easy to answer unless you use a 3rd-party solution like Rustici Software's SCORM Driver. Even then, you will need to figure out how to ingest and parse the SCORM manifests. If the SCORM package is a single-SCO course with a simple manifest, you will only need to worry about converting SCORM run-time (JavaScript) calls from SCORM to Tin Can. If the SCORM package is a multi-SCO course, or makes use of features in the manifest such as global objects or sequencing rules, you will have a much more difficult time sorting it all out. This is true whether you use Tin Can or not. This is a good starting point (grab a cup of coffee first). https://github.com/adlnet/xAPI-SCORM-Profile/blob/master/xapi-scorm-profile.md

For question #3: There are many tutorials for Tin Can online -- unlike SCORM, Tin Can is not specific to a browser, and doesn't require JavaScript. You can use any system that supports REST calls.