Comprehensive SCORM-Compliant LMS

Project overview

A user-friendly LMS platform designed to create, distribute and resell professional development courses, including those compliant with industry-leading SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 e-Learning standards.

Client: an American institute providing mortgage education and licensing to Mortgage Loan Originators and other professionals.

Industry

Education, Professional Services

Delivery Model

SLA-driven task backlog delivery (TM-based)

Domain

EdTech, Business Intelligence, Content management, DAM/MAM, eCommerce, FinTech, Real-Time Communication

Effort and Duration

8 months, 40 man-months

Technologies

PHP, Front-End, Symfony, JavaScript, AngularJS, HTML5, Bootstrap, PostgreSQL, nginx, PayPal API, AWS

Business context

The client — an American institution specializing in Mortgage Loan Origination education — approached Oxagile with an ambitious vision of a custom EdTech solution that would help achieve a whole set of business objectives in one go. The future platform needed to:

Reinforce the client’s market position as a premier provider of MLO training, keeping them ahead of the competition in the domain
Expand the client’s e-Learning offering to other fields via integration with third-party content providers
Serve as a white-label solution for distribution based on flexible subscription models

With these goals in place, the project presented a number of challenges. To ensure smooth ingestion and playback of third-party content, the system needed to adhere to the widely accepted SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 standards. The client could not risk SCORM integration problems hindering user experience and hurting the reputation of the business.

Oxagile would need to work out the complex business logic that is the hallmark of e-Learning platforms, as well as provide top-caliber UX expertise to deliver a product that would combine a wide range of capabilities with a highly usable, intuitive UI.

Last but not least, the solution had to be developed under a tight deadline as the customer needed to have a fully working, production-quality system by the end of the year — to meet the annual accreditation needs of Mortgage Loan Origination professionals.

Project start

Oxagile’s team leveraged its multi-year e-Learning experience to propose the optimal architecture for the future LMS, while taking into account the broad scope of SCORM requirements.

Oxagile’s EdTech experts joined forces with a seasoned Scrum Master to help create, refine, and prioritize the product backlog, and set up a flexible, predictable development process that could accommodate changes in requirements down the road.

Delivered solution

The delivered product provides all the necessary means for setting up a virtual university that supports a complete distance learning cycle — from course search and selection, to applicant enrollment, to step by step course completion, to certification, accreditation, and licensing.

The platform also acts as a sophisticated tool for creating and distributing professional development courses in any field. The successfully implemented support for the SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 standards makes the system compatible with a wealth of e-Learning programs, which provides an important monetization source for the client.

Advanced Course Builder

The centerpiece of the solution is a powerful course builder which allows compiling a course on the basis of 12 different lesson types. These include SCORM-compliant modules, case studies, presentations, reading assignments, surveys, external resources, class discussions, webinars, video tasks, quizzes, and more.

An essential part of the course builder is the quiz module that allows instructors to author complex quizzes. Quizzes can be built based on the provided question bank, as well as by creating custom questions. In addition, the quiz builder comes with an ability to adjust completion requirements (e.g. by the number of points, the percentage of correct answers, and more), set the permitted number of tries, include hints, and customize learner feedback.

Key Features and Highlights

Enrollment options. Learners can enroll in courses and course bundles, while being able to pick the instructor, timetable and delivery method that works best for them.
Flexible course delivery. Multiple delivery methods to choose from, including blended, instructor-led, self-study, webinar, and more.
Versatile search facility. Users can find the appropriate courses using simple, advanced, or smart search.
Course player. The solution lets learners play both SCORM-compatible and other courses created with the course builder.
Video functionality. Video lessons come with resumable playback and YouTube embedding functionality, while fully supporting both desktop and mobile devices such as iPads.
Easy progress tracking. Instructor dashboard allows tracking the students’ progress and offering guidance if needed.
Seamless communication. The product comes equipped with several communication features, including personal messaging, forum, and chat.
Handy notifications. Instructors can send out customizable notifications for specific dates and events.
E-commerce module. Learners can buy courses via PayPal or internal credits.
Full-blown support system. The functionality includes creating tickets, setting their priority, tracking their status, and redirecting tickets within the system.
Powerful certificate builder. The system provides a library of fully customizable, dynamic templates, complete with e-signature support. The generated certificates can be exported in PDF format.
Detailed reports. The solution generates reports to cover a great variety of metrics, including users, purchases, tickets, courses, and more.

Smart Search

Another notable feature is the smart search module — a full-fledged course recommendation engine that suggests courses on the basis of profile data, previous learning history, and other parameters.

For example, an MLO professional wishing to get pre-certified in the state of New York needs only to enter the desired certification level and state into the correspondent search fields. The system will analyze the whole span of state-specific certification requirements, take into account the learner’s current qualifications and credits, and finally display the right courses they need to take for a valid license.

Powerful Subscription Functionality

The system offers five subscription types (Basic, Plus, Premium, Enterprise, and Admin). Each tenant gets a unique domain to establish a self-contained virtual university where they can create and distribute courses. White-label functionality allows customizing themes, colors, and logos.

The number of courses and learners available to a tenant depends on the subscription type, with premium subscriptions offering multi-level tenant capabilities. The offerings within each course can be bundled or arranged in a specific sequence to create custom learning paths.

Another feature that dovetails with the subscription model is the internal credits system. Large-scale businesses in particular can benefit from this functionality as it makes it easy to reward and motivate employees within corporate training programs.

Project results

After just 8 months of development, the customer received a state-of-the-art LMS that strengthens their position as a top-quality e-Learning provider.

Effortless integration of SCORM-compliant content and the ability to create such content make the platform a universal professional education tool, while its white-label functionality and diverse subscription options open up new revenue channels.

Oxagile’s team demonstrated its ability to meet tight deadlines and respond to changing business requirements without sacrificing product quality.

Currently the system is being prepared for release and is already generating interest from potential third-party content providers.