cmi5 CATAPULT!

Facilitating cmi5 adoption through the availability of an open-source player and conformance testing tool.

The Challenge

The cmi5 specification provides a more flexible, adaptable, and powerful alternative to the current Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM®) data standard for e-learning courses, and cmi5 natively incorporates xAPI capabilities. However, software and guidance were needed to encourage the broader use of cmi5-based content.

The Solution

A freely available, open-source cmi5 content player and conformance test suite, with templates for courseware creation, and best-practice documentation as adopters migrate their solutions to the cmi5 specification.

About the Project

The cmi5 Advanced Testing Application and Player Underpinning Learning Technologies (CATAPULT) project was designed to increase adoption of the cmi5 specification, and ease DoD’s transition to the xAPI specification through cmi5. This was accomplished, in part, by making tools available to test content and software systems that implement cmi5.

Facilitating adoption of cmi5 is critical because this specification plays an important role in the transition from SCORM-based, LMS-centric courseware to an interoperable learning ecosystem that delivers diverse learning opportunities across a range of federated platforms. The cmi5 specification replicates SCORM functionality, with the intention of replacing SCORM as the de-facto format for online courses and traditional computer-based training. However, unlike SCORM, cmi5 can support robust analytics by natively integrating xAPI.

Key outputs of this project include a cmi5 player and test suite software, templates for courseware creation, and best-practice documentation. The player and test suite were developed and tested in sandbox environments hosted by the ADL Initiative, on stakeholder-hosted installations, and with standalone desktop versions.

See the cmi5 specification section to get started on using these tools.

Resources

cmi5 Player and Test Suite User Documentation – Explains how the cmi5 Player and conformance test suite work, including a high-level overview and tutorials. (Note, this player is not hardened sufficiently for immediate operational use. It’s intended as a reference implementation or initial software building block.)
- cmi5 Player User Documentation
- cmi5 Test Suite User Documentation
Player, Test Suite, and Template Code – For those who are familiar with GitHub, finding and installing the code will be a simple task. It is recommended to read the README at each of the locations for the detailed instructions.
- cmi5 Player Source Code on GitHub
- Conformance Test Suite Source Code on GitHub
- Course Examples Source Code on GitHub
cmi5 Working Group Page – For those interested in meeting information, meeting minutes, code examples, or a list of cmi5 adopters visit https://aicc.github.io/CMI-5_Spec_Current/