After nearly two years of implementation and significant community feedback, the ADL Initiative is pleased to announce an upcoming update to SCORM - SCORM 2004 4th Edition. SCORM 2004 4th Edition and the supporting SCORM 2004 4th Edition Conformance Test Suite will incorporate numerous fixes and additional LMS Conformance Testing. These changes continue to make SCORM 2004 more stable and robust, while increasing interoperability of the run-time learner experience.

SCORM 2004 4th Edition is expected to be released late 2008. A detailed set of Knowledge Base Articles detailing the changes to SCORM 2004 4th Edition and its associated products will be published over the next few weeks. Further, a beta release of the SCORM 2004 4th Edition Conformance Test Suite and Sample Run-Time Environment will be released in the fall for community review and feedback. The ADL encourages users to review the Knowledge Base Articles and provide feedback through Ask the Experts if there are any additional questions or comments.

Certification for SCORM 2004 4th Edition will become available approximately 60 days after the final release of SCORM 2004 4th Edition. At that time, certification for SCORM 2004 3rd Edition will no longer be available. ADL will subsidize SCORM 2004 4th Edition certification for LMSs that are SCORM 2004 3rd Edition certified when SCORM 2004 4th Edition certification becomes available.

In support of a persistent SCORM 2004 plug-and-play Testbed hosted at the Alexandria ADL Co-Lab Hub, LMS vendors that have United States Federal Government or Department of Defense clients will be required to provide a copy, or access to a copy, of their (certified) SCORM 2004 4th Edition LMS to ADL. Further details regarding the ADL Co-Lab Hub Testbed and SCORM 2004 4th Edition certification requirements will be provided closer to the release of SCORM 2004 4th Edition.

Check back to ADLNet.gov often for additional information regarding the development and release of SCORM 2004 4th Edition.