Then i see the clients having all kinds of tweaks like having a global lms specific star rating sco that you have to include in the manifest but obviously is useless in others. Then we can talk about how each lms chooses to interpret the sequencing rules-that’s a lot of fun.

In the end i think it comes down to finances-companies like Chrysler opt to build their own LMS and use scorm as guidance but in the end don’t have any interest in sticking to it if it gets in the way of something they want. So you end up with content kingdoms at each company. For the content vendors working across these companies it’s absolute hell.

And in the big picture i see little courseware crossing companies-if they pay for custom they want to own it. If they buy shrink wrap they want to customize it to the point that it’s custom anyways.

as a guy that has to make somewhat cookie-cutter-ish (templatized) courses, using a CMS to manage media fragments that get reused in each course sounds great. but many of my instructional design peers, who generally work as contractors on projects for a number of different companies, don’t care as much about reusability; their focus is making that great knock-out one-of-a-kind course that really hones in on their instructional design concerns. custom graphics, custom interface, custom videos, none of which are meant to be used in other courses or for other clients.

so where can we draw a line dividing the ranks between those whose main focus is reusable parts and the ability to import those parts into a multitude of courses and courseware systems, and those who’s sole care is making a “WOW” course that makes their client happy (while hopefully using quality instructional design principles), all the other stuff be damned?

personally, i’m more inclined to say i want to make my course portable, with solid web standards and SCORM conformance. if i can reuse some of the content, great, but it’s low on the totem pole for me. i didn’t use to feel this way, but with the quick pace of shifts in technology, including file formats, i don’t want to spend my time worrying about whether the graphic elements i’m creating today are going to be compatible with courses that don’t exist yet. knowing my course will work as-is on any SCORM-conformant LMS is a pretty good feat in itself.

what if a future course uses a color background on all of the pages, and my graphic has a drop shadow on a white background? i could spend a bunch of time trying to make transparent alpha PNGs that may or may not work with the future course, or i can just focus on my current needs. it’s a tough call. i guess my rule of thumb is: if i can do it quickly with minimal effort and it works with my current course, great. if not, screw it.