Gathering SCORM could transform eLearning

I'm just getting a handle on NIMAS & DAISY and now we have a new acronym - SCORM: Sharable Content Object Reference Model:

An emerging set of standards for ensuring the interoperability, accessibility, and reusability of digital instructional materials will have an enormous impact on eLearning. The standards' creators say they will open the door for educators to share, contribute, and reuse digital learning objects at will, regardless of the content management platform schools might use.

Not to be confused with SCMODS, this XML based standard appears to be the cross-platform access solution many of us have been hoping to see emerge from the chaos that is the Learning Management System industry. Without a doubt, SCORM is real and it's out there - so no smirking at FAQ's such as "How long does it take to make my LMS SCORM Conformant?" and no giggling at White Paper titles such as "How to Efficiently Gather Metadata and Content and Write Your Xml too" [o.k. - Sean can giggle at that one], and by all means, dig out your reading glasses and magnifiers for the handy SCORM Resource Poster [.pdf download].

SCORM is an outgrowth of the Department of Defense education and training efforts as a response to their need for across the board conformity as regards a range of "ilities" - you read that right "ilities" such as interoperability, affordability, durability, reusability and accessibility. It's not something we generally think about in higher education, but if the combined educational efforts of all the military branches were combined and referred to as a College, they would possibly outnumber the combined enrollments of all 114 campuses in the California system. And if that doesn't get your APIWrapper to sit up and take notice, nothing will.