E-learning glossary: SCORM, xAPI, LTI, cmi5 & more

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Online learning

The broad category of learning delivered over the internet, from self-paced courses to live virtual classes and cohort programs.

Online proctoring

Supervising an online exam — live, record-and-review, or automated — to confirm integrity, with real privacy and fairness trade-offs.

Open Badge

A portable, verifiable digital credential standard from 1EdTech that packs achievement data into a sharable badge.

Overlay

A UI panel or layer rendered on top of the video frame to display supplementary content, controls, or interaction elements without interrupting playback.

Plagiarism / similarity detection

Software that compares submitted text against reference corpora — web content, prior submissions, and academic databases — to flag passages with high textual similarity.

Project scoping & estimation

The process of defining what a learning video project will build, how long it will take, and what it will cost — the prerequisite to any serious build vs buy decision.

RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)

A pattern that fetches relevant passages from a knowledge base and injects them into the LLM prompt before generating a response, reducing hallucination.

Recommendation engine

A system that selects the next learning activity for each learner based on mastery estimates, engagement signals, and content similarity.

Record-and-review proctoring

An exam mode where the session is recorded in full and a human reviewer examines it afterward, rather than watching live.

Reference architecture

A proven, reusable blueprint for a system that names its components, their responsibilities, and the interfaces between them, enabling informed build vs buy decisions.

Re-watch

Viewing a segment of a video more than once, a signal that the learner found it important, confusing, or worth revisiting.

Rubric

A scoring guide that lists the criteria for an assignment and the performance levels for each criterion, making grading consistent and transparent.

SCORM

The Sharable Content Object Reference Model — a standard for packaging a course so any compliant LMS can launch and track it.

SCO (Sharable Content Object)

The launchable unit inside a SCORM package — a self-contained piece of content with its own communication thread to the LMS.

Screen reader

Software that reads the UI and content aloud, enabling blind and low-vision users to navigate a learning platform entirely without sight.

Screen sharing

Sharing a screen, window, or slides as a separate high-detail video track so an instructor can demonstrate or present.

Self-paced learning

A mode of learning where each learner moves through content on their own schedule, with no required live sessions or cohort deadlines.

Session recording

Capturing a live class to reusable video, then trimming, chaptering, and transcoding it into the on-demand catalog.

SFU (Selective Forwarding Unit)

A media server that forwards each participant's video to the others, the usual way to scale a live class past a one-to-one call.

Signaling

The application-defined channel that exchanges SDP offers, answers, and ICE candidates between WebRTC peers before media can flow — not part of the WebRTC spec itself.

Simulcast

A WebRTC technique where a sender encodes and uploads the same camera feed at multiple quality levels simultaneously so the SFU can forward the right resolution to each receiver.

Single sign-on (SSO)

Authentication that lets a learner access multiple systems with one login — in e-learning typically implemented via LTI, SAML, or OAuth 2.0.

Spaced repetition

A learning technique that schedules review of material at increasing intervals, exploiting the spacing effect to maximise long-term retention.

Subtitles

A translated text track displayed on video for viewers who do not understand the original language — distinct from captions, which serve the same-language accessibility function.

SVC (Scalable Video Coding)

A video encoding approach that produces a single layered stream where the SFU can drop enhancement layers to reduce bitrate for receivers with limited bandwidth.

Synchronous learning

Learning where instructor and learners are present at the same time, online or in person, enabling real-time interaction.

Text-to-speech (TTS)

AI that converts written text into spoken audio, used to give AI avatars a voice and to produce narrated course video without recording a person.

Tin Can API

The original project name for what became xAPI; the two refer to the same standard, with xAPI the correct current name.

TMS (Training Management System)

A platform focused on scheduling, compliance tracking, and reporting for instructor-led and blended corporate training programs.

Transcoding

Converting a source video file into multiple formats, codecs, and bitrate renditions suitable for adaptive streaming and device compatibility.

Transcript

A full text version of a video's spoken audio, timestamped at word or sentence level, used for search, accessibility, and learner annotation.

TURN server

A relay server that forwards WebRTC media when a direct peer-to-peer path is blocked by NAT or firewalls, ensuring connectivity in restrictive corporate networks.

Verifiable credential

A tamper-evident digital credential following the W3C standard, which a learner can present and a third party can verify cryptographically.

Video player SDK

A software development kit that provides the APIs and UI components needed to build a custom interactive video player, including cue-point handling, overlay rendering, and xAPI reporting.

Virtual classroom

A live online learning space with instructor and learner roles, hand-raising, breakouts, a shared board, and class recording.

Watch-time

The total or average time learners spend watching a video, and where they drop off — a core signal of content quality.

WCAG

The W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines; the Level AA target governs captions, audio description, and keyboard access for learning video.

Webinar

A live online presentation or event, typically one-to-many, where a host presents to an audience that may ask questions but does not share video.

WebRTC

The browser-native technology for real-time audio and video with sub-second latency — the default for live virtual classrooms.