Standards for E-Learning Innovation?

Overview

• A bit of History

• The nature of standards: layered technologies, de facto and de jure standards

• Recent developments in e-learning technologies and practices (Web 2.0, “participatory,” new technologies)

• Wikieducator; Marginalia

• How these fit (or don’t fit) with de jure standards (e.g. RSS xml vs. metadata)

• Conclusions: there are two worlds; they need to be (and can be) bridged

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A bit about me & about history:

• Involved in e-learning standardization from 2001

• Member of the Canadian Delegation to ISO IEC JTC1 SC36 since 2002

Director of the CanCore Initiative since 2003:

• “Provides detailed guidance for the interpretation and implementation of each data element in the LOM [IEEE-Learning Object Metadata] standard” (Wikipedia)

• “Learning Object” coined in 1994; Learning Object Metadata developed (by the IMS Consortium) since 1997

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Definitions (1 of 2)

Standards: "documented agreements containing technical specifications or other precise criteria to be used consistently as:

• rules, guidelines, or definitions of characteristics,

• to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose“ (Bryden, 2003)

• “Fit for purpose:” interoperability, portability & reusability

de facto: specification with a dominant position, by tradition, enforcement, or market dominance (e.g. PDF)

de jure: specification approved by an accredited standards organization, through equitable due process

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Definitions (2 of 2)

Web 2.0 (a.k.a. “participatory” or “read-write Web”): “a new generation” of software design patterns and business models developed specifically for the Internet (O’Reilly, 2005). Associated with social activities and specific technologies:

• XML: a way of structuring text and other data for sharing & processing

• RSS: an application of XML for Web feeds or content syndication; broadcasting changes to a Webpage

• AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript & XML): techniques for rich, interactive Web pages (server access from a single page)

Significance of Web 2.0: 5 of the top 10 most visited sites are Web 2.0: YouTube, MySpace, Wikipedia, Facebook, Blogger.

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Definitions: Significance

• Open content: All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; photos, diagrams available under CC; also: Flickr, Internet Archive, etc.

• Layers ofopenness:

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MediaWiki

php (software layer)

HTTP

AJAX / RSS

DOM / XML

HTTP

Web Services

TELNET FTP HTTP DNS

TCP UDP

IP

Physical Infrastructure

E.g. Web 2.0 - Marginalia

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Definitions: Significance

• Open, standards-based technologies and architectures are widely used many of the top Websites

• “Digital ‘bits’ of …content… easy to find and interoperable …are posited by proponents as a way to address the need for rapid and flexible learning and to provide that learning anywhere, anytime.” “New tools for authoring …are foreseen that would make learning design more accessible, more flexible, and more efficient by building good learning design transparently into the authoring environment.”

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Definitions: Significance

• Open, standards-based technologies and architectures are widely used many of the top Websites

• “Digital ‘bits’ of …content… easy to find and interoperable …are posited by proponents as a way to address the need for rapid and flexible learning and to provide that learning anywhere, anytime.” “New tools for authoring …are foreseen that would make learning design more accessible, more flexible, and more efficient by building good learning design transparently into the authoring environment.”

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Elusive Vision: Challenges Impeding the Learning Object Economyby L.F. Johnson, Ph.D. New Media Consortium, June 2003

Wikipedia (& Web 2.0 Sites)

• Easy to Find: searchable, disambiguated, hierarchically ordered by subject, interlinked

• Interoperable: can be used in different Web browsers, different platforms; media is similarly interoperable

• Content Authoring: simplified markup language used to author wiki pages

• Multimedia Authoring:• Ogg Vorbis• Ogg Theora

• Standards-based (XHTML; RSS)• Portable (?)

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Proportion of Visitors per Month (n=222 million)

The Standards behind the TechnologiesRSS (e.g. of record) L.O.Metadata

<?xml version="1.0" enc="ISO-8859-1" ?> <rss version="0.91"> <channel> <title>CanCore</title>

<link>http://www.cancore.ca/cancre.rss <description>CanCore Metadata Initiative

News</description> <language>en-ca</language> <item> <title>CanCore Guidelines for Accessibility

Elements :: Les lignes directrices CanCore pour les &eacute;l&eacute;ments d'accessibilit&eacute; …</title> <link>http://www.cancore.ca/</link>

<description> Comme nous vous l'avions annonc&eacute; </item>

</channel>

<lom xsi:schemaLocation="http://ims.org/v1.xsd"><general><title><langstring xml:lang="en">Human

Resources</langstring></title><catalogentry><catalog>URI</catalog><entry><langstring xml:lang="en">http://www.algonquincollege.com/distance/certfs.html</langstring></entry></catalogentry><catalogentry><catalog>POOL</catalog><entry><langstring xml:lang="en">

000SamplePoolRefernece#</langstring></entry></catalogentry><description><langstring xml:lang="en">This course deals with personnel functions, including

concepts, principles and practices; techniques of </langstring>

</description></general>

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LOM: Creators; Technical /Educational<lifecycle><version><langstring>MGT2310</langstring></version><contribute><role><source><langstring xml:lang="x-none">LOMv1.0</langstring></source><value><langstring xml:lang="x-none">Publisher</langstring></value></role></contribute><metadatascheme>CanCore 1.0</metadatascheme><metadatascheme>LOM:1.0</metadatascheme><language>en</language></metametadata><technical><format>text/htm</format><location type="URI">

<technical><format>text/htm</format><location type="URI">http://www.algonquincollege.com/dist</location><otherplatformrequirements><langstring xml:lang="en">Group Work is required for

computer conferencing</langstring></otherplatformrequirements></technical><educational><intendedenduserrole><source><langstring

xml:lang="x-none">LOMv1.0</langstring></source><value><langstring xml:lang="x-none">Learner</langstring></value></intendedenduserrole><context><source><langstring xml:lang="x-none">LOMv1.0</langstring></source><value><langstring xml:lang="x-none">University

Undergraduate</langstring></value></context><typicalagerange><langstring xml:lang="en">18-99</langstring></typicalagerange><language>en</language></educational>

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Copyright Subject Classification<rights><cost><source><langstring xml:lang="x-

none">LOMv1.0</langstring></source><value><langstring xml:lang="x-none">yes</langstring></value></cost><copyrightandotherrestrictions><source><langstring xml:lang="x-

none">LOMv1.0</langstring></source><value><langstring

xml:lang="x-none">yes</langstring></value></copyrightandotherrestrictions><description><langstring xml:lang="en">Registration $332.85 Can. Contact Carole Smith,

csmith@algonquinc.on.ca</langstring></description></rights>

<classification><purpose><source><langstring xml:lang="x-none">LOMv1.0</langstring></source><value><langstring xml:lang="x-none">Discipline</langstring></value></purpose><taxonpath><source><langstring xml:lang="en">Eric</langstring></source><taxon><entry><langstring xml:lang="en">Human

Resources</langstring></entry><taxon><entry><langstring xml:lang="en">Management</langstring></entry></taxon></taxon></taxonpath></classification>

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Recent positions on de jure Standards Approaches

“’Industrialist’ Learning Objects”

• IMS Learning Resource Metadata, LOM (often… lacking educational categories) and others

• Some developers urging using simple metadata standards (such as those used in typical RSS-based services);

“Open Educational Resources”

• recommendations, shared content categories (e.g. on Weblogs) and keywords (e.g. in social bookmarking), RSS summary metadata and others

• others suggested taking the route towards “formalised” metadata

04/21/23 14Geser, OLCOS Roadmap 2012

Intro to content packaging

• imsmanifest.xml combined with content in a zip file

• content itself is included in a zip file if it is HTML or other media that can run on its own

• “exchange content among systems that wish to import, export, aggregate, and disaggregate packages of content.”

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Content Packaging, LMS’s and Wiki-contentsA connection between the two worlds

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Conclusions

• Two different worlds: • de facto: open content, open source development, emphasis on

communication and collaboration• de jure: includes proprietary approaches to content &

development; emphasis on equity and process in standards development; until now, emphasis on content

• The two are & can be connected (as shown by the e.g. of Content Packaging)

• Exploration of further possibilities for connection• Mutual interrelation; not mutual isolation.

- for more: learningspaces.org/n

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ReferencesBryden, A. (2003) Open and Global Standards for Achieving an Inclusive Information

Society. Retrieved January 13, 2005 from http://www.iso.org/iso/en/commcentre/presentations/secgen/2003/ajb2003SISTspeech.pdf

CanCore. (2006). http://www.cancore.ca

Geser, G. (2007). Open Educational Practices and Resources: OLCOS Roadmap 2012. Salzburg Research, EduMedia Group. Accessed January 23 2009, from: http://www.olcos.org/cms/upload/docs/olcos_roadmap.pdf

Marginalia. (2009) http://www.geof.net/code/annotation/

Johnson L.F. (2003). Elusive Vision: Challenges Impeding the Learning Object Economy

New Media Consortium, June 2003 . http://download.macromedia.com/pub/solutions/downloads/elearning/elusive_vision.pdf

Web 2.0. (2009). Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Web_2.0&oldid=276628466

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