The IMS Project Technology for supporting learning Sandy Britain, UK IMS Centre
Outline n Part 1: Background and Rationale n Part 2: Description
The IMS Project n Created to address challenges in on-line learning n Partnership of universities and companies (e.g. California State University, UNC, U. Michigan, Miami-Dade, Microsoft, Sun, IBM, Apple, KPMG, International Thomson Publishing, NIST, DOD)
Goal of IMS “Building the Internet Architecture for Learning” n freely available technical specifications n freely available prototypes and migration tools
IMS Standards Metadata Data Exchange Object LM Server PermissionsCommerce Back-end Systems Profile
Back office Collaboration Tools Authoring Tools Learning Resources Off Campus Student CD On campus Student Teacher IMS Mgmt System & Content IMS Environment
What open technical standards can do n Jumpstart “content” and educational environments for the Internet (and Intranet) n Make it easier for developers to create and distribute content u don’t have to support proprietary servers u people can find it easily n Enable “any time, any where” learning
Project Outputs n Specifications for: u Metadata: U. North Carolina u Content interoperability: IBM u Profiles: Farance Inc. u Learning Management: Blackboard Inc. u Back Office: PeopleSoft Inc. u Ecommerce: George Mason U. n Examples & prototypes
Scope of the IMS Specification Student Profiles Content Meta-data Management Interfaces to External Services
IMS Meta-data Specification n IMS Metadata Search/Query Demonstration u n IMS/NIST Metadata Repository u dictionary of terms for describing content u supports group specialization u can be queried/browsed with modified authoring tools
IMS Content Specification Supports technical interoperability of: n assessment n sequencing n reporting data n bookmarking n notification n meta-data
Management Specification n Manages u Content u Courses u Collaboration n Interfaces u Database, Security, Access control, HTTP/CGI, tracking, session management, DCOM/Corba message bridging ….
IMS Profile Specification n Educational records “Wallet” n Mobile n Contains u Personal information u Performance information u Portfolio u Preferences
External Services Specification n Specifies technical interface to campus IT infrastructure u student records u billing/commerce u library
What kind of a project is IMS? n Not your usual standards committee u action oriented, creating prototypes, putting them into real situations n Not selling anything but working very hard to give it away u goal is widespread adoption of the technical specification n Looking to transform the learning technology marketplace u specifications designed for evolution and change
Timings n Release 1.0 at Easter n Main aspects of u Metadata u Content u Profiles u Back Office n Subsequent 6 monthly releases
UK IMS Centre n Bangor and OU n Funded by JTAP n 2 year project n Represent UK View n Disseminate results
Current Actions n University User Groups u Face to face and online discussions n Identify UK requirements n Advisory board meetings n Technical board meetings n Maintain information flow u Website, events
Contact information n n Paul Lefrere (OU) n Oleg Liber (Bangor) n Bill Olivier (Bangor) n Lisa Rowlands (Bangor