There are still many instructional designers, elearning content creators out there who think that SCORM packages are still one of the best for elearning modules. For years, organizations have spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars every year on authoring tools to create SCORM packages. But no one has questioned the existence of SCORM packages? Do you really need them in 2026?
The short answer – For many Moodle™ sites, the answer is NO. In fact, you may already have everything you need.
The Hidden Cost of Traditional Authoring Tools
Popular authoring tools like:
- Articulate Storyline
- Adobe Captivate
- iSpring Suite
are powerful, but they also come with significant costs. Beyond the license fee, you also have to consider:
- Annual subscription costs
- Staff training
- Software updates
- Windows-only requirements (for some tools)
- Republishing SCORM packages for every change
- Managing exported SCORM packages
After working with Moodle™ LMS for the last 17 years, I noticed that republishing SCORM packages for every smallest change has been a pain in the neck. In addition to this, you need to manage the heavy SCORM packages on your server separately which means everytime there is a change, you need to update it across your servers.
But what if I told that you can create highly interactive learning experiences right within your LMS using H5P. I know you might be saying that H5P is already there in Moodle™ LMS so how can it change the requirement of a traditional authoring tool. And thats the exact point, you should be using H5P right inside Moodle™ as it offers several advantages. With H5P you can build:
- Interactive Videos
- Course Presentations
- Quizzes
- Drag-and-Drop activities
- Flashcards
- Branching Scenarios
- Image Hotspots
- Timelines
- Accordions
- Interactive Books
- Memory Games
- Find the Words
- Fill-in-the-Blanks
- Dialog Cards
- Virtual Tours (through extensions)
- And many more content types
Most instructors can start building content after a short introduction because the editor is web-based and designed to be approachable. And if you know how to create any activity in Moodle course, you can easily create interactive content using H5P without the need to learn another software and juggle with packages.
The Biggest Problem with SCORM Packages
SCORM has been an eLearning standard for many years, but it wasn’t designed for today’s collaborative and rapidly changing learning environments. A typical workflow looks like this:
- Open Storyline or similar tool.
- Edit the source project.
- Publish a new SCORM package.
- Upload it to Moodle™.
- Replace the old package.
- Test everything again.
Even a small typo can require repeating the entire process.
Updating the same package with H5P can be done in minutes without the need of republishing, reuploading and replacing the activity in your course.
When H5P Makes the Most Sense
H5P is an excellent choice if you:
- Use Moodle™ as your primary LMS
- Regularly update course content
- Want to reduce software licensing costs
- Need instructors to edit content themselves
- Build interactive learning without programming
- Prefer browser-based authoring
- Want a simpler maintenance workflow
For years, many organizations assumed that creating engaging eLearning required expensive desktop authoring software. But today, that’s no longer true.
H5P has matured into a powerful platform for creating interactive learning experiences directly within Moodle™. For a large percentage of Moodle-based training, it offers an excellent balance of capability, ease of use, and long-term maintainability.
Dedicated authoring tools still have an important place for highly specialized projects. But before renewing another costly software subscription, ask yourself:
Are you paying for features you actually use, or are you paying because “that’s how we’ve always done it”?
For many Moodle™ users, H5P is more than enough – and choosing it can save time, reduce maintenance effort, and lower costs without compromising learner engagement.
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