Jon Mason IEEE, LTSC Seattle, June 2002 Digital Rights Management & the Australian Education Sector
Context Requirements - higher education - K-12 Issues
Largely publicly funded History in distance education; early adoption of technology National, collaborative framework (K-12, VET, HE) EdNA …1996 -> (maximizing the benefits of Internet) AICTEC … 2001-> - Decentralized approach (political interoperability) - Principle of aggregating value - Australian content - developing & managing learning objects - Providing integrated online services Context – Australian Education
Schools Online Curriculum Content Initiative (SOCCI) Initial discussion papers & planning in early 2000 Phase 1 build underway – LO Exchange, DRM integral Collaboration of all schooling systems with Commonwealth Government AUD$68 million Context – SOCCI
Develop pool of nationally-funded curriculum content Develop this content within a framework that supports distributed access Systems (state jurisdictions) exchanging learning objects Re-usable, customisable learning content In longer term, use the framework & content to stimulate further contributions to the pool of material, meeting agreed standards SOCCI - Aims
Initially branding LO’s with one rights statement - objects free to schools - maybe more than one standard referenced - plug-in to LMS to view SOCCI-endorsed objects Enforcement Trading SOCCI – Workplan
Collaboration of five Australian universities – Macquarie, Newcastle, New England, Southern Queensland, and Tasmania. Establish a test-bed for the development of collaborative online learning and information services Develop scalable standards-based model for institutional interoperability enabling seamless sharing of online learning and scholarly information Contribute more fully to the work of the IMS Strengthen links with industry Context – COLIS
Education community needs (& wants) to articulate its own needs - doesn’t want just a legal or technical solution ‘Open’ environment - e-content not just about passive consumption - learning object re-purposing - multiple levels of exchange Educational institutions as ‘trusted’ environments Open scholarship/research movement DRM vs ‘Fair Use’ IP is more about recognition, not protection DRM implementations need to be ‘easy’ to be viable Australian universities supportive of open & free standards Issues – Cultural
Technical: DRM an end-to-end solution Most of DRM takes place at usage Integration with other systems: LCMS, LMS, library systems,… Multiple jurisdictions Strategic: Alignment with international standards & related initiatives Alignment with ‘open’ systems Closer alignment of education, industry & research Issues – Technical & Strategic
Education Network Australia (EdNA) Federation (SOCCI) Collaborative Online Learning & Information Services (COLIS) Australian ICT in Education Committee (AICTEC) Further Information