Formerly known as IMS Global Learning Consortium. The organization that created and maintains LTI, Common Cartridge, QTI, and Caliper Analytics. Rebranded to 1EdTech in 2022 to better reflect its broader mission in education technology interoperability.

Used in: LTI, QTI, Caliper

In xAPI, anything that can be interacted with — a course module, a quiz, a simulation, a real-world task. Each Activity has a unique IRI identifier and an optional Activity Definition containing metadata like name, description, and type.

Used in: xAPI, cmi5

In xAPI, any application or system that generates learning experience statements and sends them to a Learning Record Store. Examples include eLearning courses, mobile apps, simulations, and even instructor-led classroom systems.

Used in: xAPI, cmi5

The "who" in an xAPI statement. Represents the learner or agent performing the learning activity. Can be an individual (Agent) identified by email, account, or OpenID, or a Group of agents.

Used in: xAPI, cmi5

The Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative, established by the U.S. Department of Defense in 1997. ADL created and maintained SCORM, funded the development of xAPI, and operated the ADL Co-Lab in Orlando, FL. ADL has been the single most influential organization in eLearning standards history.

Used in: SCORM, xAPI

In cmi5, the smallest unit of trackable content — analogous to a SCORM SCO. An AU is a piece of learning content that can be launched by the LMS and reports its own completion and success status via xAPI statements.

Used in: cmi5

An LTI Advantage service that provides full gradebook integration between a tool and a platform. Tools can create line items, submit scores, and read results — replacing the limited Basic Outcomes Service from LTI 1.1.

Used in: LTI 1.3 / LTI Advantage

In cmi5, a grouping element in the course structure (cmi5.xml) that organizes Assignable Units hierarchically. Blocks can contain other Blocks or AUs, similar to how SCORM organizations contain items.

Used in: cmi5

An IMS/1EdTech specification for describing, collecting, and exchanging learning activity data. Caliper defines a structured event model (similar to xAPI statements) focused on learning analytics within the education ecosystem.

Used in: IMS/1EdTech

The course structure file used in cmi5 packages. Defines the hierarchy of Blocks and Assignable Units, along with launch URLs, moveOn criteria, and mastery scores. Serves the same role as imsmanifest.xml in SCORM.

Used in: cmi5

An IMS/1EdTech specification for packaging and exchanging digital learning content between platforms. Unlike SCORM which focuses on runtime communication, Common Cartridge focuses on content portability — bundling assessments, web links, discussion topics, and learning objects.

Used in: IMS/1EdTech

A self-declared claim that a product follows a specification's requirements. Unlike "conformant," compliant is not verified by an official test suite. Many products claim SCORM compliance without having passed ADL's Conformance Test Suite.

Used in: General

The data model originally created by AICC for tracking learner interactions with computer-based training. CMI defines fields like lesson_status, score, and suspend_data. The name lives on in cmi5, which pays homage to this foundational data model.

Used in: AICC, SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, cmi5

A set of automated tests provided by a standards body (such as ADL for SCORM) to verify whether an LMS or content package correctly implements a specification. Passing the CTS is required for official conformance certification.

Used in: SCORM, cmi5

A product that has been officially tested against a specification's Conformance Test Suite and passed. Conformance is a formal designation — unlike "compliant," which is a self-declared claim. Only 9 people have ever been certified as SCORM conformance test auditors.

Used in: SCORM, cmi5

One of the three "books" in the SCORM specification. CAM defines how learning content is packaged — including the imsmanifest.xml file, content organizations, and resource references. It was derived from IMS Content Packaging.

Used in: SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004

A ZIP file containing learning content along with a manifest file (imsmanifest.xml for SCORM, cmi5.xml for cmi5) that describes the structure and resources. Content packages are how eLearning courses are distributed between authoring tools and LMS platforms.

Used in: SCORM, cmi5, IMS Content Packaging

The AICC's text-based format for defining how a course is organized. CSF files describe the hierarchy of lessons, modules, and assignable units. Replaced by XML-based manifests in SCORM.

Used in: AICC

An LTI Advantage service that allows tools to present a content selection interface within the LMS. Instructors can browse and select specific resources from a tool (e.g., a particular textbook chapter or assignment) and place them directly into their course.

Used in: LTI 1.3 / LTI Advantage

HTTP-based AICC Communication Protocol. The server-side communication method created by AICC that allowed training content to exchange data with an LMS over HTTP. Unlike SCORM's JavaScript API, HACP supported cross-domain communication from the start.

Used in: AICC

A specification by IMS Global (now 1EdTech) that defines rules for ordering and controlling learning activities. SCORM 2004 adopted IMS Simple Sequencing as its sequencing engine — and its enormous complexity became one of SCORM 2004's biggest adoption barriers.

Used in: SCORM 2004

The XML manifest file at the root of every SCORM content package. It defines the course's organization (hierarchy of items), resources (HTML files, media), metadata, and in SCORM 2004, sequencing rules. The LMS reads this file to understand how to present the course.

Used in: SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004

A compact, URL-safe token format used in LTI 1.3 for securely transmitting claims between the platform and tool. JWTs are digitally signed using public/private key pairs, replacing LTI 1.1's OAuth 1.0a signatures.

Used in: LTI 1.3

Software that delivers, tracks, and manages learning content. In the context of eLearning standards, the LMS launches SCORM/cmi5 content, stores tracking data, and in LTI acts as the "platform" that connects to external tools.

Used in: All standards

A data store specifically designed to receive, store, and return xAPI statements. An LRS can be standalone or embedded within an LMS. It is the xAPI equivalent of SCORM's runtime tracking — but can exist independently and receive data from any Activity Provider.

Used in: xAPI, cmi5

A standard by 1EdTech (formerly IMS Global) that defines how an LMS launches and communicates with external tools. LTI solves a different problem than SCORM — instead of packaging content, it standardizes how platforms and tools connect securely.

Used in: LTI

The Learning-Education-Training Systems Interoperability organization, founded in 2008 to address SCORM's limitations. LETSI produced over 100 white papers documenting requirements for a next-generation standard, which directly informed the development of xAPI.

Used in: Historical

The collective name for LTI 1.3's three advanced services: Deep Linking, Assignment and Grade Services (AGS), and Names and Role Provisioning Services (NRPS). Together they provide a complete integration framework between platforms and tools.

Used in: LTI 1.3

In cmi5, a threshold score defined in the course structure (cmi5.xml) that determines whether a learner has "mastered" an Assignable Unit. If the AU reports a score at or above the MasteryScore, the LMS records a "passed" statement.

Used in: cmi5

A cmi5 property that defines what criteria must be met before the LMS considers an Assignable Unit "satisfied" and allows the learner to move on. Options include Passed, Completed, CompletedAndPassed, CompletedOrPassed, MoveOn, and NotApplicable.

Used in: cmi5

An LTI Advantage service that allows tools to retrieve the roster of a course — including learner names, emails, and roles — directly from the platform. This eliminates the need for manual CSV imports or separate provisioning integrations.

Used in: LTI 1.3 / LTI Advantage

The "what" in an xAPI statement. Represents the thing the Actor interacted with — typically an Activity (identified by an IRI) but can also be another Agent or even another Statement.

Used in: xAPI, cmi5

An identity layer on top of OAuth 2.0 used in LTI 1.3 for the launch flow. When a platform launches a tool, it initiates an OIDC third-party login flow, allowing the tool to verify the user's identity and receive launch claims in a signed JWT.

Used in: LTI 1.3

Question and Test Interoperability — an IMS/1EdTech specification for representing assessment items (questions) and tests in a standardized XML format. QTI enables assessment content to be exchanged between authoring systems, item banks, and delivery platforms.

Used in: IMS/1EdTech

One of the three "books" in the SCORM specification. RTE defines the JavaScript API that content uses to communicate with the LMS — including functions like Initialize(), GetValue(), SetValue(), and Terminate() — and the CMI data model fields available.

Used in: SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004

A cloud-based service created by Rustici Software that provides SCORM, xAPI, cmi5, and AICC content hosting, testing, and delivery. SCORM Cloud became the de facto testing environment for eLearning developers and played a key role in the Tin Can/xAPI project.

Used in: Tooling

One of the three "books" in the SCORM 2004 specification, based on IMS Simple Sequencing. SN defines rules for controlling the order of learning activities — prerequisites, branching, rollup, and navigation controls. Its complexity was the primary barrier to SCORM 2004 adoption.

Used in: SCORM 2004

The fundamental unit of trackable content in SCORM. A SCO is an HTML page (or set of pages) that communicates with the LMS via the JavaScript runtime API. SCOs should be self-contained and reusable — they should not depend on other SCOs.

Used in: SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004

The fundamental unit of data in xAPI. A Statement records a learning experience in Actor-Verb-Object format: "Jane completed Module 3" or "John scored 85% on the quiz." Statements are sent to an LRS and can include result data, context, and timestamps.

Used in: xAPI, cmi5

A field in the SCORM data model that allows content to save arbitrary state data (like bookmarks, partial answers, or progress markers) that persists between sessions. Limited to 4,096 characters in SCORM 1.2 and expanded to 64,000 characters in SCORM 2004.

Used in: SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004

The original code name for xAPI, from ADL's "Project Tin Can" research contract with Rustici Software. The name referred to a "tin can telephone" — the idea of simple, direct communication. The specification was officially renamed to Experience API (xAPI) upon its 1.0 release in April 2013.

Used in: xAPI (historical)

The "did" in an xAPI statement. Represents the action performed by the Actor. Verbs are identified by IRIs (e.g., http://adlnet.gov/expapi/verbs/completed). cmi5 defines six required verbs: launched, initialized, completed, passed, failed, and terminated.

Used in: xAPI, cmi5

A set of rules and vocabulary definitions that constrain how xAPI is used for a specific use case. cmi5 is the most well-known xAPI Profile — it defines specific verbs, statement patterns, and behaviors required for LMS-launched content.

Used in: xAPI, cmi5