In Multi-SCO mode, set in the SCORM run-time properties, each page is packaged into a separate SCO, as opposed to the whole course being maintained in a single SCO.
Why should Multi-SCO be generally avoided?
Choosing to publish as Multi-SCO presents the following limitations in the course, because of the very nature of how this feature works in LMSs:
- Many navigation elements will not work as expected:
- Because an SCO cannot directly link to another SCO in SCORM,
- navigation buttons to other pages will not be able to function;
- menus will not work properly; and
- branching will not be achievable.
- Because each document will become a single SCO independent of the others,
- breadcrumbs will not show the entire hierarchy; and
- the progress bar element will not work properly.
- In summary, most of the Basic Elements > Navigation items will not be of any use.
- Because an SCO cannot directly link to another SCO in SCORM,
- The course “wrapper” will be stripped out, resulting in slower performance:
- Pre-caching of media before a page is reached will not take place since each SCO is autonomous and has no knowledge of other SCOs.
- Master Layers will need to be reloaded from scratch with each navigation (in single SCO mode Master Layers are not reloaded once they are rendered).
- Chapter pages will not be displayed (the chapters will be shown in the course structure, but only as containers of pages, they will not display their own content page).
- Assessments will need to be placed in their own chapters, which are then transformed into a single SCO. Test Results pages will not work otherwise.
- Courses that are designed to operate as Multi-SCO will not be able to run independently (without an LMS). Multi-SCO courses will typically not have any menus or navigation (since the LMS is responsible for navigation in Multi-SCO mode), so when attempting to run such courses offline or outside of an LMS the learner has no way to progress through them.
When creating Multi-SCO courses, what precautions should be taken?
- Avoid any of the navigation elements mentioned above.
- Avoid having content in chapter pages, always set Skip Page in the chapter properties to Skip.
- Place any assessment and its Test Results page inside their own separate chapter. Note that any chapter that contains a test will be created as one SCO, so other pages in this (sub-)chapter should generally be avoided.