How edtech company Wittario added SCORM support with SCORM Proxy, without writing code
Wittario is an edtech company with its own learning platform, used as a course provider inside its customers' learning management systems (LMSs). Wittario had already built an LTI 1.3 integration, but not every LMS supports LTI, and some tenders required SCORM support. With Linqur SCORM Proxy, Wittario added SCORM without writing any SCORM code: its LTI tool goes out as SCORM packages, and Linqur maintains the SCORM side. That also opened the door to tenders that require SCORM.
At a glance
LTI got Wittario into many LMSs. Tenders that required SCORM support were out of reach.
Wittario's learning platform runs in the app and on the web, and many activities are physical: learners go out to GPS locations and do distance activities. For some customers Wittario is the LMS, with members, reporting, assignments and email notifications. Bigger companies usually run their own LMS and use Wittario as a course provider, next to their other content providers. Wittario calls it "learning that moves people": an activity-based platform that makes onboarding, training and company culture more engaging. See how that works on wittario.com.
For those bigger customers, Wittario's courses have to run inside someone else's LMS. Wittario built an LTI 1.3 integration for that. But not every LMS supports LTI, and some tenders listed SCORM support as a must-have. Without it, Wittario didn't qualify.
"Not all LMSs have LTI support. We missed out on some tenders where SCORM support was a must-have, so we didn't qualify for those," says Eirik Fauske, CTO of Wittario.
What they had: their own LTI 1.3 integration
Chosen for deep linking, authentication and security, and results that go server to server instead of through the app. It works well, but only in LMSs that support LTI.
Set aside: building SCORM or xAPI themselves
Considered before LTI. At the time many activities only ran in the app, not in the browser, which ruled it out. Building it now would also mean maintaining it for every platform.
Set aside: Rustici Software
Wittario met with Rustici before building LTI. Compared with Linqur's price model, Rustici's was less attractive. Data processing within the EU, which Wittario's customers require, also counted in Linqur's favor.
Four requirements for SCORM support
SCORM without building it
SCORM compatibility, without implementing and maintaining SCORM themselves.
On top of the LTI integration
It had to work with the LTI 1.3 integration they already had.
Processing within the EU
Their customers require it.
Room to scale
An API to create and download SCORM Proxy packages from their own platform later on.
One demo call on their existing LTI tool, and it worked
Linqur distributes e-learning content to other platforms through SCORM and LTI. Wittario connects its LTI 1.3 tool to Linqur once. Linqur then generates a SCORM Proxy package per course, and Wittario sends that package to its client. The client imports it into its own LMS, while the course keeps running from Wittario through LTI.
Wittario moved into testing quickly after the demo call. Some of the scaling features it would need later were already in place. For the rest, Linqur offered to build them together.
See how SCORM Proxy worksWe chose Linqur because of the expertise you showed from the first call. The price model was very attractive and it was almost plug and play. We had this demo call, you showed me and it just worked.
What SCORM Proxy has changed so far
The first SCORM Proxy rollout, at a client on Workday, is not live yet. These are the capabilities Wittario has today.
SCORM Proxy: qualified for tenders that require SCORM
Wittario can now hand a SCORM package to any LMS that accepts one. The package launches Wittario's activities through the LTI 1.3 integration it already maintains, so nothing changes in how Wittario builds or hosts its content. Result: SCORM is no longer a reason to drop out of a tender, and Wittario didn't have to build its own SCORM implementation.
No SCORM maintenance: platform quirks are Linqur's problem
Every LMS needs its own SCORM adjustments. At the Workday client the package first wouldn't load, and nobody could test inside the client's environment. The cause only surfaced when another Linqur customer hit a similar problem. Linqur fixed it, and the fix now applies to every customer. Credit to Wittario for sticking with it. Result: the Workday client has received four SCORM Proxy packages, one course in four languages. Wittario still maintains only its LTI integration.
EU processing: the requirement met without extra work
Wittario's customers want their learners' data processed within the EU. Linqur hosts and processes data in the EU, so that requirement is met without extra agreements or paperwork for data leaving the EU. Eirik calls that a big cost they now avoid. Result: Wittario's customers keep EU processing when their courses run through SCORM Proxy.
Getting it right together, before the big rollout
Wittario and Linqur treat the Workday rollout as a joint project. Before the course goes company-wide, they run a test with Wittario's contact at the client to see every result arrive in Workday. Linqur is involved throughout that test and acts on the feedback as it comes in.
At Wittario's request, Linqur lowered the sync interval from 60 to 10 seconds, so results reach the LMS faster. Together they also looked at the one weak spot in the chain: a learner who closes the course very quickly, whose completion can then arrive late. Showing a short "your results are being uploaded" screen in LTI sessions is one of the ideas. For now Wittario creates packages by hand in Linqur, which is fine at the current volume.
The SCORM Cloud things are not part of our expertise. Having you there to deal with that, and on our end just maintaining the LTI integration, was a really good thing for us to add to our capabilities.
Self-service packages and one package for every language
Once volume grows, Wittario plans to use the Linqur API to create and download SCORM Proxy packages from its own platform, so customers can serve themselves. Wittario is also building a new activity model that translates from a master language. Until that is stable, Linqur’s multilingual support for SCORM Proxy, now in development, lets one package hold several languages, with a language choice at launch.
If a client ever needs LTI 1.1, Linqur can convert Wittario’s LTI 1.3 tool with the LTI Converter. No client has asked for it yet.
Other organizations that distribute their content with Linqur
You built LTI. The tender asks for SCORM.
For edtech companies and content providers with their own LTI integration: SCORM Proxy turns your LTI tool into SCORM packages for LMSs without LTI, and you keep maintaining one integration. Start like Wittario did, with a 30-minute demo call on the LTI tool you already have.