SCORM & Tin Can Summary

 

               SCORM and Tin Can are both tools used to collect data on e-learning participation and display the data so users can monitor progress and completion of assignments.  SCORM is universally and traditionally used throughout online learning communities.  While it has been essential in the context of e-learning to assess users and report the results of those assessments to professors and learning coordinators, it provides a somewhat limited amount of information – what I would consider black-and-white data.  By reporting how many correct responses a user supplied, SCORM provides valuable – but limited – information.

 

               Tin Can, as described by the Brightwave Group, seeks to revolutionize the data professors and learning coordinators receive in their assessment of learning.  While SCORM users examine the right or wrong responses to modules and assessments, Tin Can offers additional data to signify the relationship of the learners and their interaction and reception of the e-learning content.  Tin Can emphasizes self-evaluation and participation as a part of assessing how thoroughly the learners interact with the content.  Rather than only allowing professors and learning coordinators to only view individual assessment results, this allows them to consider the whole student and their progress in a course.  Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the program focuses on the value of informal and collaborative learning – essential methods that e-learning programs often leave by the wayside.  While independence and self-motivation play a huge role in successful e-learning, informal and collaborative learning opportunities presented through message boards and group meeting spaces have the potential to play an even more significant role in enabling students to more effectively and actively learn in an online environment.