IMS overview CAUSE 98 Mark Resmer Executive Director Steve Griffin Director of Technical Development
What is IMS? An initiative of EDUCAUSE that is driving innovation in the distributed learning marketplace. A coalition of 34 members and over 140 affiliated developers A global collection of technology standards for education and training
What does IMS address? The intersection of: Learning resources: all forms of content Learning activities: supported by course delivery and communication tools Enterprise systems: the provider’s infrastructure: where learning happens
Why do we need IMS? Enable independence of content and learning servers Increase the quantity and availability of reusable distributed learning resources and services “Future-proof” critical decisions about the technical infrastructure for learning Promote the development of integrated enterprise- grade systems for distributed learning
Technical contracting by Blackboard LLC Who is IMS? University/research: BVU, CIC (“Big Ten”), CSU, CRI, GMU, Miami Dade, Michigan, UC, UNC, VA Tech US Government: DoD, DoL, NIST International: DETYA Australia, JISC UK, NCB Singapore Technology vendors: Apple, Asymetrix, AT&T, Empower, IBM, Macromedia, Microsoft, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Sun, Publishers: ITP, Simon and Schuster Consulting firms: Collegis, KPMG Profiles/assessment: ETS, Farance Inc.
What does the IMS organization do? Collects requirements from all sectors Develops specifications for interoperability of systems and content Facilitates development of prototypes Actively promotes adoption of the specification Provides developer support
What products will be IMS-enabled? Learning Servers Digital Library Software Authoring Tools Student Information Systems Financial Systems Courses applets, simulations, pages, modules, assessments, etc. Resources
Products Formal standard process Requirements New IMS org. Specifications etc. When will IMS happen?
V.1 Specification Scope Internet Author Title Discipline etc. Content Run Mary’s Browser Track Teacher’s Authoring Tool Find Content School’s Learning Server(s) Get Campus Data System Mary got an “A” Version 2
Specification Development Process IMS Staff Technical Board Work Teams Review and feedback cycle Dev. Network Public Input Public Specs Interoperability Trials
Timeline IM CommunityDN CommunityPublic Scopes Base Docs Draft SpecsFinal Specs Collaboration Sequencing Backoffice Reporting Query Packaging Meta-data Questions/Tests Student Profiles API Jan Apr Mar June May Aug
MS Office IMS Meta-data Add-in Demonstration
Executive Director –Mark Resmer Technical Development –Steve Griffin Market Development –Denis Newman Developers’ Network –Frank Tansey Contact Information