What is difference between tincan and Scorm?

Question

What is difference between tincan and Scorm ?

I have requirement in which, we need to support CMS contents using third part content server.

So which one is good Tincan or SCORM ?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of these 2 ?

Answer 1

From a conceptual view:

The main Goal of SCORM and TINCAN is the same, to track Learner Activities, but TINCAN does it in a more general way, SCORM is more restrictive about what you can track, completion and success in SCORM 2004, plus the interaction information, with TINCAN you can track more general activities using the new approach of Statements you can track things like:

“Bob completed ‘Truck Driving Training Level 1’” or “Sally experienced ‘Solo Hang Gliding’”

Also, what you can track is extensible in TINCAN (you can define new verbs, subjects, etc)

From a Technical view:

The SCORM API is defined for Javascript, so, the SCO (courses) must be able to call Javascript functions, TINCAN API is defined as restful webservices, so, it is prepared for a "less connected" environment. In SCORM the Idea is that the courses are web content (html, flash, or other, but viewed in a browser), in TINCAN the courses could be anything, web content, or mobile apps, or desktop apps, etc. In SCORM the idea is that the courses are hosted in the LMS, in TINCAN they can be anywhere.

I took the sample statements from: http://tincanapi.com/developers/tech-overview

Answer 2

The biggest and game changing different is not what and how it tracked but how it operated.

In short, SCORM is a executable (zipped) package that uploaded to your server and it ran on browser, talk to your server by JavaScript.

Meanwhile, Tincan allows the same/greater level of communication in modern and secure cross-site JSON communication. Furthermore, it does not even have to be a HTML/webapp but possible, native app on any platforms.

What Tincan can do and SCORM not

1. No courseware wrote by someone else in JavaScript running on your site-origin. But you can still host yourself if you really want to.
2. Long duration tracking, e.g. check-in to take classroom attendance.
3. Learn in mobile app, track on cloud
4. unlock to possibility for non-learning usage. e.g. medical tracking, with same protocol and everything still make sense on the API level.

Answer 3

There's a page on tincanapi.com that looks at the differences: http://tincanapi.com/corm-vs-the-tin-can-api/.

Take a look.