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SMETE.ORGand the

National SMETE Digital Library

Brandon MuramatsuProject Director, SMETE.ORG

mura@smete.org

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Outline

• SMETE.ORG• NSDL Core Integration 2001-2003• Brief description of Utah State’s

Instructional Architect project

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SMETE.ORG Prototype

• Develop a Prototype National SMETE Digital Library (1998-2001)– Test interoperability of federated searches &

shared services with partners– Expand requirements analysis to include K–12 in

addition to higher education– Develop criteria and standards to assess the

impact of digital learning resources across disciplines

– Implement community feedback systems, evaluate services

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SMETE.ORG Vision

• SMETE.ORG is an e-learning partnership that:– Offers a comprehensive collection of SMET

education content and services to learners educators and academic policy-makers

– Serves as the integrative organization and distribution mechanism for pedagogical material through a tightly coupled federation of digital libraries

– Promotes educational reform through participatory communities of learners

A Digital Learning Community

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SMETE.ORG Alliance

SMETE Collections

AAAS (BEN) BioQUEST DLESE

Eisenhower National Clearinghouse

Math Forum

Mathematics Association of America (MathDL)

NEEDSUniversity of California System

Industry

Cisco Eduprise (iLumina Collection)

John Wiley & Sons Sun Microsystems

WebCT Texas Instruments

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SMETE.ORG Alliance (cont.)

Community Building Services

Coalition for Networked Information

ILT Interactive University

National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering

Project Kaleidoscope SRI

Research

Utah State University

University of Maryland–Baltimore County

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Other Collaborators

• AccessExcellence• Columbia University• MERIT & Michigan Teacher Network• MERLOT• University of Missouri-Columbia

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Key Features of the National SMETE Digital Library at www.smete.org

• Users can…– Search for learning resources– Catalog (add) learning resources

• Based upon emerging international IEEE standards

– Evaluate the quality of learning resources• Using “user” reviews• Using “expert” reviews

– Form a community• Through partner collections and activities• Building upon PKAL workshops and seminars• Research on adapters of others’ learning resources

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SMETE.ORG Systems Development

• Expanding services and features– Based upon NEEDS platform– Developing core system based upon IEEE/IMS

Learning Object Metadata Standards– Adding user comments and user feedback mechanisms– Implementing discussion systems– Implementing customized user

profiles

• Expanding Core Collection– Especially Engineering

and Physical Sciences

Core Collection* Engineering 58%Chemistry 21%Physics 14%Math 5%Other 2%

Current Technical Base:PHP and MS SQL ServerFuture, Summer 2001:Oracle8i, Java servlets

*Significant additional Math and Science content is available from SMETE.ORG Alliance partners

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SMETE.ORG Activities

• On-going needs assessment and other evaluation projects

• Working with SMETE.ORG Alliance members to support interoperability

• Looking for connections between projects and possible participants

• Working with NSDL Workgroups and Core Integration Systems projects

– Developing recommendations that cut across all NSDL projects

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Federated Search

• Common database of records– Pointers to either external or internal content– Could be cataloged in a single location– Could be “contributed” or “harvested” (OAI model)

• Separate databases with a search gateway– Could search from any location to any location

• Progress:– Simple http post mechanism for learning resources, more

complex mechanism under consideration– Z39.50 (developed) and Open Archive Initiative (under

development)

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User Services

• Recommender Systems under development– Instructional Architect at Utah State for building

new instructional materials from contents of SMETE.ORG and its collections

– User-to-User and User-to-Learning Resource• Automated learning object recommendation

system• Automated people matching system based on

similar learning and educational goals• Requires User Profiles

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User Services (cont.)

• Common/shared user profiles under discussion– SMETE.ORG is developing a white paper on

what we need for our “digital learning community”

– Our focus is not on digital rights management• We plan to work with partners (e.g., Columbia

University) who have the expertise in this area

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SMETE.ORG Technology Research

• Entry Vocabulary– Recommendation of context-appropriate search

terms

• Knowledge Management– Integrated subject taxonomies based on

existing community-developed subject taxonomies

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NSDL—Core Integration* 2001-2003

• General Areas of Responsibility

Community and EducationEvaluation

“Tight Federation”

“LooseIntegration”

Management &Coordination

SMETE.ORG Alliance

Cornell-Site for ScienceDLESE

*Developed at NSDL Coordinating Commitee Meeting, Santa Barbara, CA, January 2001

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NSDL—Core Integration Status

• Well…things are still under discussion• Things we know…

– $5M over two years is available from NSF

– Proposal due June 6, 2001

– Deployment of NSDL by Fall 2002

• Things we believe…– Next proposal will be “collaborative”

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The SMETE.ORG Alliance…

• Believes the NSDL should…– Cover science, mathematics, engineering and

technology not just “Science”• And we should emphasize the interdisciplinary and

interconnectedness of learning materials

– Focus on teaching and learning not only research and “primary source materials”

– Focus on the social aspects as much, if not more than the technical aspects of building the NSDL

– Be tightly federated/integrated to allow users the best possible experience

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The Instructional Architect

David Wileywiley@cc.usu.edu

Mimi Recker

Utah State University

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The Instructional Architect

• Builds Upon Core Services provided at SMETE.ORG – Current services end after locating a resource

– Novice users often need more support to make instructional use of resources

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Tool Set

• Search (provided by SMETE.ORG)• Inspection / Selection• Object Recommender• Combination Tool / Instr. Design Wizards• Reflection / Rating Tool• Person Recommender

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Tools currently in development

• Search (provided by SMETE.ORG)• Inspection / Selection• Object Recommender• Combination Tool / Instr. Design Wizards• Reflection / Rating Tool• Person Recommender

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Contacting SMETE.ORG

www.smete.org

Alice Agogino, Principal Investigator

agogino@smete.org

Brandon Muramatsu, Project Director

mura@smete.org