Creating SCORM-compliant e-learning content using Blender

3D visualization can make any e-learning content more captivating and descriptive. We're not talking about static imagery or video rendered in Cycles, because efficient e-learning course must be immersive and interactive.

We're talking about real-time 3D graphics which is more like a game. Check out the Robot demo made which were produced entirely in Blender:

The virtual robot is capable of assembly, welding, drilling and packaging things. You can see how it operates, configure it to your liking and manipulate it by hand or a VR controller! Put it in any SCORM-compliant learning management system (LMS) and you get a perfect course!

Tools Required

The list is not that big:

• Blender 3.80+
• Verge3D 3.9+ (download here)
• SCORM-compliant LMS (if not sure, try SCORM Cloud or Moodle)

Creating 3D content

Yes, you can do everything right in Blender! Modelling, materials, lighting, animation, morphing, you name it. The only thing, make sure your content looks fine in EEVEE, because in the next step you'll need to convert your content to web-based 3D visualization and that one is real-time by it's nature.

Exporting to Web

In the essence, any SCORM package is just a web-based application. So we need to convert our 3D visualization made in Blender to interactive web-based content. For that you'll need to use Verge3D. If you're still not familiar with this tool, check out the following course for beginners:

So, with Verge3D you export your Blender scene to glTF asset and that asset can be easily rendered on any device equipped with a web browser (including phones and tablets).

Converting Web App to SCORM package

So we got our web app. Now it's time to use the SCORM packager which comes with Verge3D:

See here for more info.

Uploading SCORM package to LMS

If you worked with SCORM before, this step should be familiar to you. If not, we'd recommend using SCORM Cloud as this LMS requires zero efforts to get your e-learning course up and running:

Here we go, we just made an online course with Blender!

BTW, the Blender models of the Industrial Robot demo are available for free. Moreover, they come with Verge3D distribution you downloaded on the previous step (check out the application/industrial_robot directory).

Adding interactivity and managing learner's progress

For that, Verge3D comes with the nice tool called Puzzles. With puzzles you can add interactivity to your SCORM course without a single line of code:

This basic example makes your app to report status to LMS. This way LMS will show Success and Complete status once the learner's done with the application.

For more info on using Puzzles check out the same video course we talked above.