Supporting AICC Access

If you have an existing Learning Management System and wish to have content that has been loaded into this LMS launched from that system, the HTTP AICC/CMI Protocol (HACP) can be used to support this. Users will not login to this LMS but will log on to the calling system and, if they choose content that reside in this LMS , will be redirected here to launch that content. Information about learning activity usage is stored in the LMS and also passed back to the calling system.

The calling system must support the AICC HACP protocol and the client must be prepared to allow the Firmwater LMS server to communicate directly with it. In some cases, this may require that your client open a firewall port or that a VPN connection be established between the Firmwater LMS data center and your client’s data center.

It is highly recommended that the client set up for AICC access have no manually created student users in the LMS . Users are automatically created when they are redirected to the LMS and will use the usernames provided in the AICC protocol.

Caution: If the client set up for AICC access has users defined in the LMS , the chance exists that there will be identical usernames in both systems. The LMS will assume that the user from the calling system is the same as the one in the LMS , which can lead to inconsistent and unexpected results. For example, if the LMS has a username "jsmith" and the calling system has a username "jsmith" as well, once the "jsmith" user in the calling system accesses the LMS , they will be treated as the "jsmith" user in the LMS . This will give them access to the LMS user's account, including their learning activities.

Ensure that any administrative users created for use by the client only have reporting privileges to ensure the integrity of the environment.

Note:  AICC protocol implementations vary. Thorough testing is important to ensure that status and score information is returned back to the calling LMS as needed.

1. Each learning activity to be accessed from another system must have a unique external identifier. The calling system relies on this identifier to locate the appropriate learning activity. Check and, if necessary, set or change the External IDs for each learning activity to be launched through AICC Access.

Note: The organization identifier in the SCORM package imsmanifest.xml file (About Manifest Files and Resource Files) must be unique in the LMS.

2. Set up the new client, enabling AICC Access for them. Do not create users for this client.

3. Grant the necessary content to the client.

4. Click Content (tab), then Activities (menu).

5. Select the learning activities you want available for AICC Access and choose, from the Select Operation menu (at the bottom of the screen) Generate AICC Package, then click Go.

6. You see a new screen.

   

7. Choose the CMI version of the calling system.

8. Choose what level of the learning activities you want launched:

   • "1" = learning activity level

   • "2" = top level of items or folders within the learning activity

   • "3" = second level of items or folders within the learning activity.

9. Choose whether the calling LMS opens content in a new browser screen or the same browser screen.

10. Enter the URL to which users should be directed when content from the LMS exits.

11. Choose how scores from this LMS are to be returned to the calling system (external LMS).

12. Choose how the calling system passes launch parameters.

13. Click Generate Package and save the resulting zip file to an appropriate storage place.

14. Load the zip file into the calling system.

15. Test that the calling system can access the Firmwater LMS data center.