Standardisation Issues in eLearning by Diptendu Dutta AUNWESHA Presented at IEEE Computer Chapter 19 th October, 2001

Outline About eLearning - what is it, its advantages and drivers How eLearning Works Why is standardisation required Who are the main players Application Architecture - IEEE LTSA Content - ADL SCORM Metadata - IEEE LOM

What is eLearning? eLearning is the creation, enabling, delivery and/or facilitation of learning by leveraging various Internet, Intranet and Web technologies. “The next big killer application for the internet is going to be education. Education over the internet is going to be so big it is going to make look like a rounding error.” John Chambers, CEO, CISCO Systems "Triggered by the Internet, continuing adult education may well become our greatest growth industry." Peter Drucker (Forbes 5/15/2000)

The Benefits of eLearning LowHighRelative Cost HighVariedRetention Measurements AutomaticDifficultResults Measurements ConsistentVariedQuality 24/7LimitedAccess ClassroomeLearning

What Drives eLearning? e-Learning Demand Rapid obsolescence of knowledge and training Need for just-in-time training delivery Search for cost-effective ways to meet learning needs of globally distributed workforce Skills gap and demographic changes drive need for new learning models Demand for flexible access to lifelong learning Supply Internet access becoming standard at work and home Advances in digital technologies enable creation of interactive, media rich content Increasing bandwidth and better delivery platforms make e- learning more attractive Growing selection of high-quality e-Learning products and services Emerging technology standards facilitating compatibility and Usability of e-learning products

How eLearning Works

Why is Standardisation Required The legacy of proprietary CBT systems that were retrofitted to work over the web was holding back standardisation The lack of standards was severely preventing the widespread adoption of this mode of learning Standards are critical for the success of the eLearning industry since they –Permit Mixing and matching content from multiple sources –Avoid being trapped by a vendors proprietary learning technology

The major players in standardisation IMS Global LearningConsortium Aviation Industry CBT Committee (AICC) IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee (IEEE LTSC) Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative (ADL)

Application Architecture - IEEE LTSA LTSA - Learning Technology Reference Architecture LTSA Components –Processes - learner entity, coach, evaluation, delivery –Stores - learner records, learning resources –Flows - learning preferences, behaviour, assessment information, performance information, query, catalog info, learning content, interaction context

LTSA Diagram

Content - ADL SCORM SCORM - Sharable Content Object Reference Model Built upon the work of IMS, AICC, IEEE to create one unified content model 3 main components –A course structure format with XML binding –A meta-data format for courses and content with XML binding –An API for the run-time environment

The SCORM CSF

SCO

Meta Data - IEEE LOM Learning content that is tagged with self-describing meta-data can be systematically searched and retrieved for use and reuse The IEEE LOM (Learning Object Metadata) consists of 9 categories –General –Lifecycle –Technical –Educational –Rights –Relational –Annotation –Classification –Meta-metadata IMS provides an XML binding for the above metadata specification and more recently has also come up with an RDF binding

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