Joint Information Systems Committee XCRI Briefing 24 November 2008, Becta, Diplomas, Aston University 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 1 eXchanging Course Related Information: the emerging XCRI standard Alan Paull Presentation One

Joint Information Systems Committee 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 2 xcri | genesis E-Admin … not sexy... It cared enough to spin off a project to tackle a shared problem … And the project was called eXchanging Course-Related Information The lack of a standard for course information. But JISC-CETIS Enterprise Special Interest Group cares…

Joint Information Systems Committee 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 3 xcri | timeline Q1 2005JISC fund XCRI “Reference Model” project devised by Ent SIG + UCAS Q2 2005Existing standards reviewed (Norway’s closest but not quite there for UK) Q3 2005UK prospectus websites reviewed (161) + case studies + site visits Q4 2005R1.0 XCRI schema developed through prototyping & critique Q1 2006Schema tested with Plymouth-UCAS, Oxford, Reid Kerr, L’pool LMX Q3 2006Existing deployments reviewed & optimised XCRI CAP 1.0 released Q4 2006JISC fund XCRI CAP 1.0 trials, demo aggregator & xcri.org support Q1 2007XCRI ‘invited’ to brief DfES and Becta Q2 2007CAP pilot with London > XCRI ‘preferred approach’ in LSC vision Q3 2007Bolton, OU, Oxford, MMU & Staffs CAP feeds read by demo aggregator Q4 2007CEN WS-LT & vendor meetings for European MLO harmonization begin Q1 2008JISC funds CAP 1.1 trials + talks open with Becta about regional Q3 2008Further work on European standardisation XCRI HE & FE | XCRI | XCRI EU harmonization

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri: Course Advertising Profile (xcri-cap) | schema 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 4 Provider identifier*, title*, subject*, description*, relation*, url, image, address Course identifier*, title*, subject*, description*, relation*, url, image, qualification*, credit* Presentation identifier*, title*, subject*, description*, relation*, url, image, start, end, duration, studyMode, attendanceMode, attendancePattern, languageOfInstruction, languageOfAssessment, placesAvailable, cost, enquireTo, applyFrom, applyUntil, applyTo, entryProfile*, entryRequirements*, venue* Plugin description refinement vocab Plugin studyMode refinement vocab Plugin …? refinement vocab Customization

Joint Information Systems Committee 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 5 xcri | rationale National agenda of ‘informed choice’ about learning opportunities but –Feeling that education lags behind other sectors in making its ‘products’ easy to discover and compare. Standards exist for exchanging information about people, groups and membership but –no standard way to exchange information about courses. Institutions developing ways to populate their prospectus from definitive data but –resorting to primitive data entry to populate aggregator sites, regional portals, area prospectuses… Genuine interest from the community in a standard for exchanging course information that facilitates joined-up thinking.

Joint Information Systems Committee Preparing for XCRI-CAP –for the internal delivery units in a learning provider, value is generated by XCRI-CAP in the form of internal efficiency gains as a result of the business process improvements. Providing XCRI-CAP –value is generated in the form of strategic capability as the provider better understands the nature of its course offerings when combined into a single XCRI catalog, leading to opportunities for improved quality assurance, standardisation and consolidation of duplicate offerings. Aggregating XCRI-CAP –value is generated for the provider in the form of cost savings on data input from the use of XCRI by aggregators. For the aggregator, value comes from the availability of additional providers in the market, and from shifting some responsibility for QA of basic data from its central process to the provider. Going further –value is generated for the provider in the form of new business opportunities and revenue-sharing partnerships that result from opening up data networks using XCRI. For the aggregator, the availability of the provider data via XCRI enables new added-value business models that build upon the provider's offerings. xcri | benefits 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 6

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri | example: Partnership in the East Midlands (I) 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 7

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri | example: Partnership in the East Midlands (II) 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 8 Progression Pathways database Area Prospectus Learning Provider(s) Holding tables XCRI mapping + export XCRI filtering + Import XCRI mapping + export Pull Export of basic course data from APs Leap Ahead / Aimhigher Progression Pathways XCRI Project Kirstie Coolin August 2008 LP = Learning Providers AP = Area Prospectuses PP = Progression Pathways Database

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri | support –Specifications and guidance - Creative Commons license –Aggregator – “does my data look good in this?” –Calls for mini projects –Developer forum How to implement XCRI –“XCRI Readiness” –Implementation models –Scenarios of practice –common problems and solutions 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 9

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri | context of the implementation models 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 10

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri | Readiness Characteristics I Key to scale: 0 = Least favourable circumstance 4 = Perfect! 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 11

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri | Readiness Characteristics II 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 12

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri | Implementation Models 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 13 Simple Single Stream Model Multiple Source Aggregation Model Integrated Content Management Model Outsourcing Model Feedback Model Courses update push model from Data Collecting Organisation’s perspective Courses update push model from Data Collecting Organisation’s perspective

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri | implementation top tips 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 14 ProblemSolutions We don’t know how many courses we offer; our courses data sets are extremely variable. Review and model processes you use; you may find the XIM template useful. Consider creating a single catalogue that will aggregate all your courses data. We have a great many de- centralised sources with no links between them. Carry out preliminary work in each source, so that you can aggregate them; introduce common course identifiers; consider changing to compatible data structures. Our quality of authoring is poor.XCRI implementation may provide opportunity to change how your authors work. Consider providing a new data entry system that will feed your XCRI outputs. Improvements in data quality can be presented as a ‘quick win’ for an XCRI implementation. Our data analysis is poor, so it is very difficult for us to map to XCRI successfully. For initial XCRI implementation, create new data store with data structures that reflect the XCRI model and import data into the new store. Reduces dependencies between XCRI and other components of the system. Then a full integration of the new system with the old one, or an entire replacement system, can be planned. The institution is re-organising the department, its courses, everything! Use small scale projects for incremental gains. Or put off XCRI implementation till re-organisation complete. Plan for delays. Consider using XCRI as a common means of exporting courses data for import into a new merged system. Refer to the XCRI mini project reports.

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri | lessons XCRI… –went for low hanging fruit: course advertising = inherently public data –sought out & engaged key experts & practitioners –discovered huge inefficiencies arising from embedded work-arounds –promoted & celebrated its “shared response to a shared problem” –evolved by keeping it real – real data, real people, real processes –is increasingly seeking out policy makers, senior managers & vendors to support sector process re-engineering We are “learning to network and networking to learn” And now… –we’re joining up the pilot work, gaining the authority of a formal standard and entering the mainstream! 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 15

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri | summary Committed to joined-up thinking Partnering with key agencies: Becta, UCAS, LSC, DCSF/DIUS ISB … Keeping it simple and testing thoroughly with real data Building capacity: funding mini projects Going beyond technical support to organisational readiness: XIM Keen for more institution, agency and vendor engagement Aware of role in delivering 14-19, Leitch, Burgess, Bologna, Burgess,... Go to to discover more. 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 16

Joint Information Systems Committee XCRI Briefing 24 November 2008, Becta, Diplomas, Aston University 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 17 eXchanging Course Related Information: the emerging XCRI standard Alan Paull

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri | Simple Single Stream Model 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 18

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri | Multiple Source Aggregation Model 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 19

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri | Integrated Content Management Model 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 20

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri | Outsourcing Model 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 21

Joint Information Systems Committee xcri | Feedback Model 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 22

Joint Information Systems Committee Courses update push model from Data Collecting Organisation’s perspective 24/11/2008 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 23