Alan Paull, Information Management Consultant, APS Ltd More information: And thanks to Professor Mark Stubbs at MMU for some of the slides. 27 March 2009, Leeds, UK XCRI - Save time and money promoting your college and university courses Linking London Lifelong Learning Network

The whys, hows and whats of XCRI Current position across UK education organisations National and European drivers The business case: benefits How to get started

Many prospective students do not get adequate advice or information to help them choose a course of study Browne, Oct 2010 The consultation proposes that providers of higher education should review their approach to publishing information for prospective students. It suggests that a standardised set of key facts for each course should be published on institutions web-sites. This information would be called the Key Information Set (KIS) HEFCE, Dec 2010 In our 2008 report, we suggested that universities should publish a standard set of information setting out what students can expect from their academic programme – we are pleased to see that the coalition government will be taking this forward National Student Forum, Annual Report 2010

The Benefits of eXchanging Course Related Information Training Access Points ECCTIS UCAS Course Search National Learning Directory Next Steps Course Directory Aimhigher Ortelius Ploteus Lifelong Learning Networks Area Prospectuses Pickup unistats learndirect EducationUK

2005 JISC fund XCRI Reference Model project. Team review international standards, e-prospectus websites (161+) & site visits; R1.0 XCRI schema XCRI tools prototyped: XCRI>PDF brochures & ReST Xpath search. Existing deployment reviewed & optimised XCRI CAP 1.0 released. JISC fund XCRI CAP 1.0 trials, demo aggregator & xcri.org support 2007 DfES and Becta briefed. XCRI adopted as preferred approach by LSC. Bolton, OU, Oxford, MMU & Staffs CAP feeds read by demo aggregator. CEN WS-LT & vendor meetings for European MLO harmonization begin JISC funds CAP 1.1 pilots. XCRI champion elected to DIUS/DCSF ISB. GMSA, Edge Hill, W Cheshire, Kent XCRI feeds. CEN WS-LT Agreement on MLO => European Norm; E Mid, Huddersfield, Teesside, Worcester start XCRI projects DCSFs Action Plan for Prospectus recommends adoption in sector by ISB approves XCRI-CAP 1.1 as national eProspectus standard. E Mids Pilot; non-JISC-funded work continues Recommendations to DCSF. Devt of XCRI-CAP 1.2. Mini-projects: Bolton, Cardiff (UWIC), Hull, Huddersfield, Newcastle, Nottingham. MLO European Norm expected to be ratified. XCRI Benefits Realisation project (August 2010).

… the UK standard for describing course marketing information … a way of describing information about learning opportunities … about eXchanging Course Related Information.

structure definitions names specification providersproviders advertise coursescourses courses are presented for enrolment any number of times through presentationspresentations presentations instantiate coursescourses A presentation is a particular instance of the course offered at a particular time and place and is the entity to which learners apply. Alternative names for this type of structure include course offering and course instance.

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* * = multiples permitted

Learning Providers system Information in XCRI-CAP format Course information system(s) Collect once use many times

Learning Provider UCASLLN Web Prospectus Provider re-keys & pushes for each aggregator Course Directory Learning Provider UCASLLN Web Prospectus XML Aggregators Poll & Harvest from Providers Provider publishes XCRI prospectus as well as web prospectus Course Directory

Informed choice Standards Interoperability Learners primitive data entry Learning provider community Department for Children, Schools and Families Information Standards Board JISC XCRI-enabled services Jobs Careers Qualifications

Reid Kerr C Bolton Uni UCAS Oxford Uni Middlesex Uni WYLLN (Huddersfield) MMU E Mids, incl Leap Ahead LLN, SSC LLN, Uni of Nottingham Liverpool CCLiP MOVE LLN (Herts) Adam Smith C Plymouth Uni Open University GMSA HW LLN (Uni of Worcester) Edge Hill Uni West Cheshire C Higher York LLN Staffordshire Uni Uni of Kent Hull Uni Cardiff, UWIC Newcastle Uni Bristol, UWE

From XCRI Knowledge Base ( "XCRI has had a significant impact on systems effectiveness and has saved us time and money in the production and distribution of our course marketing information." Fiona Carey, Assistant Director, Communications, Student Services, The Open University …XCRI and CAP has led us in many fruitful directions, including geospatial mapping, mobile portals, and re-examining internal data. Most important, however, was the stimulation and exemplar it continues to offer in the use of open and linked data. Sebastian Rahtz, Information and Support Group Manager, Oxford University Computing Services

Learning Providers internal efficiency gains through process improvements cost savings on data input strategic capability through better understanding of its offerings quality assurance, standardisation, and consolidation of duplicate offerings Course Collecting Organisations availability of more providers better quality – more frequent update, better coverage, greater accuracy, better integrated supply chain new value-added services The Benefits of eXchanging Course Related Information

XCRI Knowledge Base XCRI Self-assessment Framework XCRI Technical XCRI Wiki XCRI Forum

Alan Paull, Information Management Consultant, APS Ltd More information: 27 March 2009, Leeds, UK XCRI: eXchanging Course Related Information CAP: Course Advertising Profile

University of Gloucestershire –