Common Cartridge (CC) is a set of open standards developed by the 1EdTech member community that enable interoperability between content and systems. Common Cartridge basically solves two problems. The first is to provide a standard way to represent digital course materials for use in online learning systems so that such content can be developed in one format and used across a wide variety of learning systems (e.g. course management systems, learning management systems, virtual learning environments, or instructional management systems). The second is to enable new publishing models for online course materials and digital books that are modular, web-distributed, interactive, and customizable.
The basic steps to getting started with CC are as follows:
Watch a 5 minute video on the basics of CC here: CC Overview
Read and understand the CC specification documents here: https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/common-cartridge
Join 1EdTech as a member https://www.1edtech.org/about/membership
Begin implementing by using the Reference Implementation code library (github repository available to 1EdTech members)
While some specification documents are freely available for adoption, 1EdTech membership offers the ability to become certified, access to early spec drafts, testing/adoption resources, inclusion in the TrustEd App product directory, and other benefits. You can see all of the membership details and benefits here: https://www.1edtech.org/about/membership
Certification testing after implementing is critical to ensuring integrations will work with other tools or platforms. While conformance certification provides a "seal" for passing prescribed tests it is much more than that. It is a commitment by a supplier to the 1EdTech community for ongoing support for achieving "plug and play" integration. Certification implies ongoing community commitment to resolve problems, revise implementations and retest as needed. For that reason, only 1EdTech Contributing Members, Affiliate Members and Learning Tools and Content Alliance members are eligible to apply for conformance certification.
If you need any other details or have more questions, please let us know.
Best,
1EdTech