1 SMETE.ORG and the National SMETE Digital Library Brandon Muramatsu Project Director, SMETE.ORG

2 Outline SMETE.ORG NSDL Core Integration Brief description of Utah State’s Instructional Architect project

3 SMETE.ORG Prototype Develop a Prototype National SMETE Digital Library ( ) –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

4 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

5 SMETE.ORG Alliance SMETE Collections AAAS (BEN)BioQUESTDLESE Eisenhower National Clearinghouse Math Forum Mathematics Association of America (MathDL) NEEDSUniversity of California System Industry CiscoEduprise (iLumina Collection) John Wiley & Sons Sun Microsystems WebCTTexas Instruments

6 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

7 Other Collaborators AccessExcellence Columbia University MERIT & Michigan Teacher Network MERLOT University of Missouri-Columbia

8 Key Features of the National SMETE Digital Library at 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

9 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* Engineering58% Chemistry21% Physics14% Math5% Other2% Current Technical Base: PHP and MS SQL Server Future, Summer 2001: Oracle8i, Java servlets *Significant additional Math and Science content is available from SMETE.ORG Alliance partners

10 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

11 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)

12 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

13 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

14 SMETE.ORG Technology Research Entry Vocabulary –Recommendation of context-appropriate search terms Knowledge Management –Integrated subject taxonomies based on existing community-developed subject taxonomies

15 NSDL—Core Integration* General Areas of Responsibility Community and Education Evaluation “Tight Federation” “Loose Integration” Management & Coordination SMETE.ORG Alliance Cornell-Site for Science DLESE *Developed at NSDL Coordinating Commitee Meeting, Santa Barbara, CA, January 2001

16 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”

17 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

18 The Instructional Architect David Wiley Mimi Recker Utah State University

19 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

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

21 Tools currently in development Search (provided by SMETE.ORG) Inspection / Selection Object Recommender Combination Tool / Instr. Design Wizards Reflection / Rating Tool Person Recommender

22 Contacting SMETE.ORG Alice Agogino, Principal Investigator Brandon Muramatsu, Project Director