In the ever-evolving landscape of eLearning, the ability to create engaging and interactive digital content has become essential. Whether you are an instructor, instructional designer, or a business professional looking to train your team, the importance of delivering content that is both effective and easily integrated into various learning management systems (LMS) cannot be overstated. This is where SCORM, which stands for Sharable Content Object Reference Model, plays a pivotal role. In this comprehensive blog, we will explore some of the most popular authoring tools that can help you create SCORM-compliant content.
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Table Of Content
- What is a SCROM Package?
- Why Is SCORM Important in eLearning?
- What Are the 7 Popular eLearning Authoring Tools Used to Create a SCORM Package?
What is a SCROM Package?
A SCORM package (Sharable Content Object Reference Model package) is a standardized file used to deliver and track eLearning content in a Learning Management System (LMS). It ensures that online training courses work seamlessly across different LMS platforms, regardless of the tool used to create them.
At its core, a SCORM package is a ZIP file that contains:
- The eLearning course content (HTML pages, media, scripts)
- A manifest file (imsmanifest.xml) that tells the LMS how the course is structured
- Rules for how learner progress, scores, and completion data are tracked and reported
Because SCORM follows global eLearning standards, any SCORM-compliant LMS can launch, play, and track a SCORM package consistently.
What Does a SCORM Package Do?
A SCORM package enables an LMS to answer key training questions such as:
- Has the learner started the course?
- Have they completed it?
- How much progress have they made?
- What score did they achieve?
- How long did they spend in the course?
This makes SCORM essential for corporate training, compliance programs, onboarding, and certification-based learning.
What’s Inside a SCORM Package?
A typical SCORM package includes:
- Course content: Text, visuals, videos, interactions, and assessments
- imsmanifest.xml: The instruction file that defines course structure and navigation
- Tracking logic: Code that communicates learner data (completion, scores, time) to the LMS
All these components are bundled into a single ZIP file for easy upload into an LMS.
Why Is SCORM Important in eLearning?
SCORM is important in eLearning because it provides a standardized way to deliver, launch, and track online courses across different Learning Management Systems. It ensures that eLearning content works consistently, reports learner activity accurately, and remains usable even as platforms or tools change.
In fact, PwC’s Academy delivers its eLearning modules in SCORM format so they can be uploaded to any LMS and reliably track learner progress and performance across corporate environments.
- Ensures cross-LMS compatibility: SCORM allows courses created in any SCORM-compliant authoring tool to run smoothly on any SCORM-compliant LMS.
- Enables reliable tracking and reporting: It captures learner progress, completion status, assessment scores, and time spent, helping organizations measure training outcomes.
- Protects long-term content investment: SCORM reduces dependency on a single LMS vendor, making it easier to migrate content without rebuilding courses.
- Supports scalable training delivery: Organizations can roll out the same training program to large, geographically distributed audiences with minimal effort.
- Ideal for compliance and mandatory training: Its standardized tracking ensures audit-ready records for regulatory and compliance requirements.
- Improves course maintenance and updates: SCORM packages simplify version control and content updates by allowing easy re-upload into the LMS.
- Delivers a consistent learner experience: Learners experience the course as intended, regardless of the LMS platform or device used.
What Are the 7 Popular eLearning Authoring Tools Used to Create a SCORM Package?
How Do SCORM Tools Track Learner Activity?
- Lesson and course-level completion status
- Interaction-level responses (quiz answers, choices made)
- Attempt count and retry history
- Mastery score tracking and thresholds
- Session start and exit data
- Suspend data storage for progress retention
- Launch and exit status (completed, suspended, failed)
- LMS communication via SCORM data model elements
- Consistent reporting across LMS platforms
The seven popular eLearning authoring tools used to create a SCORM package are Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, Articulate Rise, Lectora, iSpring Suite, Elucidat, and dominKnow tools that allow teams to create interactive eLearning courses and publish them as SCORM-compliant files for use in any LMS.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these tools:
1. Articulate Storyline
Articulate Storyline is a highly popular and versatile eLearning authoring tool. It's known for its user-friendly interface and robust features, making it a top choice for instructional designers and eLearning developers. Storyline allows you to create interactive eLearning content easily as it supports the integration of various multimedia elements, including videos, audio, and animations. You can add triggers, variables, and conditions to create complex interactions. Storyline supports SCORM and Tin Can API (xAPI), making it easy to publish content that can be seamlessly integrated with LMS platforms.
2. Articulate Rise
Articulate Rise is a cloud-based eLearning authoring tool built for speed, simplicity, and scalability. It enables L&D teams to create professional-looking courses quickly using a block-based design approach, without the need for advanced technical skills. Rise automatically produces fully responsive content that adapts seamlessly to desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. It offers a range of pre-built interactive components—such as labeled graphics, timelines, flashcards, and knowledge checks—that help present information in a clean, structured, and engaging way. Articulate Rise supports SCORM and Tin Can API (xAPI), allowing easy publishing and integration with learning management systems for tracking learner progress.
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3. Adobe Captivate
Adobe Captivate is another well-established eLearning authoring tool that's known for its robust capabilities, especially in creating responsive and interactive content. Captivate is excellent at creating content that adapts to various screen sizes and orientations as well as enables you to publish content for desktops, mobile devices, and the web. It provides a wide range of interactive elements, including simulations, drag-and-drop activities, and branching scenarios. You can easily create software simulations and demonstrations. It supports both SCORM and xAPI, ensuring compatibility with most LMS platforms.
4. iSpring Suite
iSpring Suite is known for its simplicity and integration with Microsoft PowerPoint, making it an excellent choice for those familiar with PowerPoint. iSpring Suite includes a powerful quiz maker with various question types. It offers a library of characters and interaction templates to enhance your content. It provides SCORM and xAPI support for seamless integration with LMS platforms. Content published with iSpring is HTML5-based, ensuring compatibility across devices.
Rapid eLearning Authoring Tools
Explore the What and the Why of Popular Rapid eLearning Development Tools, and GenAI Tools
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- GenAI Tools to Create Content, Graphics, Audio, and Video
5. Lectora Inspire
Lectora is a robust eLearning authoring tool with a strong focus on customization and flexibility in course design. Lectora offers responsive design capabilities for creating content that adapts to different devices. You can also create complex branching scenarios and decision-making simulations. Lectora provides an array of interactivity options, including games and quizzes. It integrates with various content libraries and supports multimedia elements. Additionally, For advanced users, Lectora allows scripting for custom interactions.
6. Elucidat
Elucidat is a cloud-based authoring tool known for its collaborative features and ease of use. Multiple team members can collaborate on content creation in real-time. With a strong focus on responsive design, Elucidat ensures that your eLearning content looks and performs flawlessly across a spectrum of devices. Its library of pre-built templates and themes accelerates course development, while detailed analytics provide valuable insights into learner engagement. Elucidat's commitment to industry standards, including SCORM and xAPI support, guarantees that your courses integrate smoothly with any LMS.
7. dominKnow
DominKnow is a web-based authoring tool suitable for creating responsive and adaptable eLearning content. Claro allows you to create content that adapts to different screen sizes.
It offers collaboration features, enabling teams to work together on course development. Claro includes an extensive library of templates, images, and interactive elements. It's compatible with SCORM and xAPI standards for seamless LMS integration. With Claro, you can also create advanced interactivity, such as branching scenarios and simulations.
Finding The Right Path Forward
Choosing the right eLearning authoring tool is critical when your goal is to create reliable, SCORM-compliant learning experiences. As we’ve seen, each of the popular tools used to build SCORM packages brings something different to the table—whether it’s advanced interactivity, rapid course creation, responsive design, or scalability for global teams. The best choice ultimately depends on your learning goals, timelines, technical requirements, and the level of interactivity you want to achieve.
If you’re still weighing your options, our eBook can help simplify the decision-making process. It explains the different categories of eLearning authoring tools, outlines key considerations for selecting the right rapid authoring tool, and provides insights into widely used tools—along with GenAI tools for creating content, graphics, audio, and video.
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