/00 Field notes
Practical writing for working IDs.
SCORM hosting, xAPI, portfolio examples, freelancing economics, and the occasional rant about Articulate Review. Written by working instructional designers, edited by an ex-LMS-engineer who has feelings about cmi.completion_status.
How to actually host a SCORM file. Without an LMS.
If you've ever tried to send a SCORM 1.2 zip to a client and watched them email back asking "what app opens this," this one's for you. A walkthrough of the four real options, ranked by how much your client will hate each, with screenshots and the SCORM-API gotchas no one warns you about.
The four real ways, ranked.
- 1Purpose-built ID hostRecommended
- 2SCORM CloudSolid
- 3Self-host a playerIf technical
- 4A Loom recordingDon't
A practical xAPI hosting primer for non-engineers.
Primer· 18 min read
xAPI hosting, explained without jargon.
What an LRS actually does, why your Captivate course "doesn't work" when you self-host, and the cheapest path to a working xAPI pipeline for a freelance ID.
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SCORM launch patterns: what we learned about drop-off.
Primer· 13 min read
What SCORM launch patterns teach us about drop-off.
SCORM launch analysis shows common drop-off patterns: an early cliff, a long flat middle, and another decision point near the end. Here's how to design around it.
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Mixed media, one URL.
Tutorial· 9 min read
xAPI, SCORM, and video in one instructional design portfolio.
Put hosted SCORM, video, PDFs, and your xAPI story on one page reviewers actually read.
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xAPI vs SCORM.
Primer· 10 min read
xAPI vs SCORM: what freelancers actually need to know.
Two standards, two questions — and the one your client is really asking underneath.
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/16 The newsletter
One careful email every Tuesday.
Tuesday-morning notes for working IDs: new post, one tool I'm using this week, one portfolio worth stealing from. No threads, no upsells, no "are you taking advantage of AI yet?"
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