Yes - these are some key issues about the wider integration context for learning tools. I talked about this more generally in my EDUCAUSE presentation in October 2006, and I've just found out the podcast is now online - see:
http://connect.educause.edu/blog/carie417/educause2006_podcast_challenges_and_solutions_from_lams/19566
and the slides are at
http://www.educause.edu/upload/presentations/E06/SESS102/EDUCAUSE.2006.LAMS.ppt
There has also been some recent discussion in the LAMS Community of tools integration, see
http://www.lamscommunity.org/dotlrn/clubs/technicalcommunity/forums/message-view?message%5fid=396813
Regarding your questions, if you want to run a SCORM object (alone), then I'd suggest you do this direct from your LMS, and make sure your vendor provides the appropriate functionality to launch and track this.
My main current interest in SCORM for LAMS is having a SCORM object in the middle of a (typically) more collaborative sequence - eg, if you had some SCORM courseware about information literacy, and you wanted to do this as a collaborative class activity (rather than just as a link on a library page as general support material), then you might have some initial Q&As/votes/etc to explore students' current understanding of and ideas about information literacy, you might then run the SCORM object, and then follow it by some group work using forums/chat (perhaps different groups explore different aspects of information literacy, including trying different search strategies and sharing their results with the group), then maybe a whole class forum for wider discussion of the outcomes from the groups, then perhaps a quiz or essay for assessment (if relevant).
So taking this example, when it comes to "tracking" integration with an LMS, there are a few possibilities:
(1) When a student *clicks* on the URL to enter the LAMS sequence, the LMS might be able to keep a record of this action. This won't tell you anything about what they did in the sequence, but you'll know they started it.
(2) If the LMS can receive tracking information back from LAMS, it potentially could receive a copy of the SCORM RTE tracking for the SCORM task within the LAMS sequence, and populate the gradebook with this data. This would depend on whether the LMS can receive this kind of information from an outside tool into its gradebook. I haven't seen this integration done yet.
(3) A follow-on from this is the LMS gradebook could receive other tracking/results data from LAMS, eg, sequence completion information, maybe even completion of each activity, and maybe scores for those tools that produce scores in LAMS (eg, quiz). Ideally, if the LMS gradebook could receive whatever information LAMS could send it, then LAMS could send back a rich record of task and sequence completion, and SCORM tracking and quiz scores, and have it all stored in the LMS gradebook. There is some current discussion of these ideas in the LAMS-Blackboard community, which is working with about 5 Blackboard institutions on Blackboard7 to LAMS V2 integration. I love to see some or all of the gradebook integrations suggested above included in this work if there is interest in doing this. For details, see
http://www.lamscommunity.org/dotlrn/clubs/technicalcommunity/lamsblackboard/forums/forum-view?forum_id=393695
(4) Another dimension of tracking is the actual student activities within the LAMS tools, eg, list of answers to the Q&A, text record of the chat, etc. LAMS V2 can export a full record of student activities (at individual and whole of course levels) via the "portfolio export" function. If the LMS could receive this export package (perhaps into a portfolio area rather than a gradebook area?), then you could keep a full record of everything that happened in LAMS back in the LMS.
(5) A different dimension again is the "tools integration" idea for LAMS. LAMS V2 provides an interface for how external tools can be run inside a sequence (this could include the "standard" tools inside the LMS). So in theory, if LMS tools can run within LAMS, this may provide a different way of keeping tracking data in the LMS, particularly where other gradebook integration options are not possible. For example, imagine a LMS where there was no way to send results data from an external tool to the gradebook, but you did have the LMS quiz tool integrated with LAMS - then you could run a LAMS sequence using LAMS tools, but use the LMS quiz tool as the last activity, and so the quiz results would go automatically to the LMS gradebook, despite the fact that the gradebook wasn't integrated with the rest of LAMS. The same concept would apply to an LMS that had a SCORM player (with tracking integrated into its gradebook), and the SCORM player was integrated as a LAMS tool. NB: While this approach might work for gradebook records, it usually won't work for portfolio export so that *students* have a record of their activities (as the integrated LMS tool probably won't have a portfolio export feature like the LAMS tools).
Apologies for the long and complex answers, but I hope this provides some different angles on this issue.
The deeper issue here is that LAMS introduces new fundamental concepts to e-learning (such as sequencing of collaborative activities and student portfolio export), and most other e-learning systems don't see the point (or the demand) for these features. But for me, they seem essential to a rich online learning experience.
Posted by James Dalziel
