Overview
On occasion, you may need to replace a SCORM package in a Moodle activity and there are some important considerations to keep in mind when doing so.
There are a few ways to update a SCORM package in Moodle:
Delete the existing SCORM package in the activity and upload a new SCORM package
Hide the existing SCORM package and create a new SCORM activity for the new SCORM package
Retire/archive the course with the old SCORM package and create a new course with the new SCORM package
Let's review some important considerations and then examine the pros and cons of each approach below.
Potential Impact to End Users
Before beginning these processes, it is important to determine how many users will be impacted by this change, how they will be impacted, and if you need to temporarily prevent access to the course in question.
You must consider how the change will impact users who:
Have not completed the SCORM package yet
Are currently in progress
Have completed the activity already
It is important to remember that you may have users in progress and uploading. For your users in progress, it is important to remember that uploading a new package will generally cause the user to lose their “bookmark". Losing a bookmark in a long SCORM activity can be a frustrating experience for end users, so we do not recommend switching out SCORM packages frequently. If you do need to make a change, it may be beneficial to give a deadline to your learners, and then make the change after that deadline has passed.
Special Note about Replacing Articulate Rise SCORM Packages
If you use Articulate Rise, you may need to use the setting Reset Learner Progress when you export the SCORM package. If you do not use this setting, you may cause learners who were in progress on the original SCORM package to have a white screen when accessing the SCORM package again in the future. Please see the Note about Reset Learner Progress on the Articulate community.
Housekeeping
If you have changed the SCORM package’s activity completion requirements, please note that it is better to follow the procedure of hiding the existing SCORM package and creating a new SCORM activity. Unlocking the activity completion settings in Moodle will result in Moodle clearing the previous activity completion reports, and can cause confusion later.
Before you unlock activity completion settings on existing activities, it is important to download the activity completion report in case you need to reconstruct the data. Reconstructing activity completion data can be a time-consuming process depending on how many users completed the other SCORM activity.
Method 1: Delete and Reupload Package
To delete an existing SCORM package and upload a new SCORM package in the same activity, you will:
Turn edit mode on
Hide the activity to prevent access during the change
Click on the SCORM activity
Click on the SCORM activity settings
Click on the SCORM package file
Click Download to save a copy for your records
Click Delete
When prompted, click Yes to approve deleting the file
Drag and drop your new SCORM package file into the file picker
Save the activity (Save and return to course)
Test the new SCORM package to ensure it functions as expected
Change visibility from hide to show
Method 2: Hide the Old and Create New Activity
To hide an existing SCORM activity and create a new SCORM activity, you need to determine if you will need to update course completion settings to account for the new SCORM activity, and if you will need to update the activity completion for users who have already completed the SCORM activity.
If you have an activity at the end of the course that all users must do regardless of whether they did the original SCORM activity or the new SCORM activity, this culminating activity can be the ideal activity to use for course completion settings.
If you unlock course completion, please keep in mind that completion dates will be changed. It is recommended that you download the course completion report (More > Reports > Course Completion) before unlocking the course completion settings.
If you do need to update activity completion for your new SCORM activity in order to merge activity completion, you can do so manually by checking off activity completion in the new activity, or you may consider using the plugin https://github.com/frumbert/moodle-tool_uploadactivitycompletions to upload a CSV of the activity completions. Please note that the date in reports will be the date you override activity completion for each user.
Once you have determined the answers to the situations described above, you will simply hide the existing SCORM activity from students, and create a new SCORM activity with the appearance, activity completion, and restrict access settings you desire, and update any other settings as desired. While performing these tasks, you may want to hide the course from learners.
Method 3: Retire the Old and Create New Course
To retire a course with an existing SCORM activity and create a new course with a new SCORM activity, you will:
Create a new course that is hidden from learners
Create a new SCORM activity with appearance, activity completion, and restrict access settings you desire
Follow the Testing SCORMs Prior to Launch recommendations
Hide the original course from users
Please keep in mind that any data you monitor may need to include both your original course and your new course if you need to combine data sets.