Inter-SCO navigation

1. A method of navigating a course, the method comprising:

launching the course, the course provided in accordance with a sharable content object reference model (SCORM) standard and having a plurality of portions including a first portion and a second portion that are implemented as sharable content objects (SCOs);

displaying the first portion of the course;

determining when the first portion of the course is exited;

upon exiting of the first portion of the course, determining whether the first portion of the course is exited at a beginning of the first portion;

if the first portion of the course is exited at the beginning of the first portion, determining whether the first portion is a starting portion of the course in accordance with a course structure format information of the course;

if it is determined that the first portion is not the starting portion of the course, launching a previous portion of the course;

if the first portion of the course is exited at an end of the first portion, determining whether the first portion is a last portion of the course; and

if it is determined that the first portion is not the last portion of the course, launching a next portion of the course.

2. The method of claim 1 further including an act selected from a group comprising updating a launch data field corresponding to the first portion, updating a lesson location field corresponding to the first portion, and updating a navigation direction cookie corresponding to the first portion.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein if updating a launch data field is performed, the launch data field stores an indicator selected from a group comprising first, last, and last visited.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the course structure format information of the course is implemented as a manifest.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the course structure format information is provided in accordance with a course structure format (CSF) of the SCORM standard.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the course structure format information is provided in accordance with a manifest of the SCORM standard.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the course structure format information is stored in a database.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the launching of the course has an entry state selected from a group comprising ab initio, resume, browse, and review.

9. The method of claim 1 further including providing an ID of the next portion of the course to be launched.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein a learning management system (LMS) launches the course.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the course is provided through an item selected from a group comprising a nonvolatile storage device and a communication link.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein if the course if provided through the communication link, then the communication link is established through a connection selected from a group comprising Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, WAN, leased line, analog modem, OC 3 , DSL, cellular, TDM, ATM, satellite, cable modem, USB, and FireWire.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the course is displayed in a browser.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the browser is selected from a group comprising Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.

15. The method of claim 1 further including a navigation act selected from a group comprising navigating from a last page of the first portion to a first page of the second portion, navigating from a first page of the first portion to a last page of the second portion, and navigating from a first page of the first portion to a first page of the second portion.

16. An article of manufacture comprising:

a machine readable storage medium that provides instructions that, if executed by a machine, will cause the machine to perform operations including:

launching a course, the course provided in accordance with a sharable content object reference model (SCORM) standard and having a plurality of portions including a first portion and a second portion that are implemented as sharable content objects (SCOs);

displaying the first portion of the course;

determining when the first portion of the course is exited;

upon exiting of the first portion of the course, determining whether the first portion of the course is exited at a beginning of the first portion;

if the first portion of the course is exited at the beginning of the first portion, determining whether the first portion is a starting portion of the course in accordance with a course structure format information of the course;

if it is determined that the first portion is not the starting portion of the course, launching a previous portion of the course;

if the first portion of the course is exited at an end of the first portion, determining whether the first portion is a last portion of the course; and

if it is determined that the first portion is not the last portion of the course, launching a next portion of the course.

17. The article of claim 16 wherein the operations further include an act selected from a group comprising updating a launch data field corresponding to the first portion, updating a lesson location field corresponding to the first portion, and updating a navigation direction cookie corresponding to the first portion.

18. The article of claim 16 wherein the course structure format information of the course is implemented as a manifest.

19. The article of claim 16 wherein the operations further include providing an ID of the next portion of the course to be launched.

20. The article of claim 16 wherein a learning management system (LMS) launches the course.

21. The article of claim 16 wherein the course is displayed in a browser.

22. The article of claim 21 wherein the browser is selected from a group comprising Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.

23. The article of claim 16 wherein the operations further include a navigation act selected from a group comprising navigating from a last page of the first portion to a first page of the second portion, navigating from a first page of the first portion to a last page of the second portion, and navigating from a first page of the first portion to a first page of the second portion.

24. An apparatus for navigating a course, the apparatus comprising:

first launching means for launching the course, the course provided in accordance with a sharable content object reference model (SCORM) standard and having a plurality of portions including a first portion and a second portion that are implemented as sharable content objects (SCOs);

means for displaying the first portion of the course;

first determining means to determine when the first portion of the course is exited;

upon exiting of the first portion of the course, second determining means to determine whether the first portion of the course is exited at a beginning of the first portion;

if the first portion of the course is exited at the beginning of the first portion, third determining means to determine whether the first portion is a starting portion of the course;

if it is determined that the first portion is not the starting portion of the course, second launching means to launch a previous portion of the course;

if the first portion of the course is exited at an end of the first portion, fourth determining means to determine whether the first portion is a last portion of the course; and

if it is determined that the first portion is not the last portion of the course, third launching means to launch a next portion of the course.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 further including means for navigation selected from a group comprising first navigation means for navigating from a last page of the first portion to a first page of the second portion, second navigation means for navigating from a first page of the first portion to a last page of the second portion, and third navigation means for navigating from a first page of the first portion to a first page of the second portion.

26. An apparatus for navigating a course, the apparatus compnsing:

a learning management system (LMS), the LMS launching the course, the course provided in accordance with a sharable content object reference model (SCORM) standard and having a plurality of portions including a first portion and a second portion that are implemented as sharable content objects (SCOs); and

an navigation module coupled to the LMS, the navigation module performing tasks including:

upon exiting of the first portion of the course, determining whether the first portion of the course is exited at a beginning of the first portion;

if the first portion of the course is exited at the beginning of the first portion, determining whether the first portion is a starting portion of the course in accordance with a course structure format information of the course;

if it is determined that the first portion is not the starting portion of the course, launching a previous portion of the course;

if the first portion of the course is exited at an end of the first portion, determining whether the first portion is a last portion of the course; and

if it is determined that the first portion is not the last portion of the course, launching a next portion of the course.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein the course structure format information of the course is implemented as a manifest.

28. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein the course structure format information is stored in a database.

29. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein the course is provided through an item selected from a group comprising a nonvolatile storage device and a communication link.

30. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein if the course if provided through the communication link, then the communication link is established through a connection selected from a group comprising Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, WAN, leased line, analog modem, OC 3 , DSL, cellular, TDM, ATM, satellite, cable modem, USB, and FireWire.

31. The apparatus of claim 26 further including a browser to display the course.

32. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein the browser is selected from a group comprising Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.