Integrating next generation SCORM with social networking platform in higher education: a case study using tin can API and ELGG

Abstract

Human-to-Human communication has changed in the last few years. Social networking sites have been used by university students and teachers in their daily communication. Additionally, these tools provide institutions and organizations with an interactive mean to build community skills. In particular, open source social networks have a lot of features that allow people to build social relations and supply institutions with enhanced learning capabilities. Some researchers claim that introducing social networks improves students academic performance and increases institutional revenues. In Lebanon, 80% of higher educational institutions have adopted learning management systems, like Moodle, to provide both students and teachers with online interactive learning opportunities. Moodle is limited to some basic features (user collaboration, group discussions, file sharing…). These features might be complemented through the integration of a powerful social networking tool like Elgg. On the other hand, Elgg is not Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) compliant, so its lack of course management might be made for with the integration with Moodle. This paper discusses the benefits of integrating the next generation of SCORM with Elgg and attempts to describe the integration process and technical procedures involved. It is organized as follows: 1) A literature review to properly express the terms and concepts, 2) an exhibition of the requirements for the Next Generation SCORM, 3) a description of Elgg that shows that it does not have those requirements, 4) highlight the necessity why Elgg should meet these requirements, 5) propose a solution to integrate Tin Can API with Elgg, 6) a conclusion with the future works.