Colin Knight, Dragan Gašević, and Griff Richards Laboratory for Ontological Research School of Interactive Arts and Technology, Simon Fraser University Surrey Canada {cjk2, dgasevic, Ontologies to integrate learning design and learning content Presentation for the UNFOLD/PROLEARN Workshop, September 22-23, 2005

Outline Contexts Reusing learning content Repurposing learning designs Using ontologies LOCO and LOCO-Cite ontologies overview Use cases and examples Future work

Contexts Learning Design offers tremendous potential for content repurposing Reusable learning content (typically Learning Objects with SCORM or LOM metadata) that fits in a given learning design may be difficult to locate Course authors could benefit from advice on how to repurpose existing static content using collaborative or task-based methods

Reusing learning content Requirements for effective reuse of learning content in a learning design: –control over granularity –remove metadata that is irrelevant in the new context (example: objectives) –each time a learning object is reused, keep a record of how it was used to facilitate future recommendation

Reusing learning content Solutions: –to address issues of granularity, we used the ALOCoM ontology for content repurposing (a ProLearn effort) –Store context-related metadata separately –To facilitate record keeping of how learning content is used in learning designs, we used LOCO-Cite as a bridging ontology

ALOCoM Ontology represented graphically

Repurposing learning designs A learning design may be highly context-related and cannot be reused in different situations The learning design will likely contain underlying patterns that can be repurposed It is necessary to establish what part of the learning design constitutes the generative pattern and what part is context-dependent (content, objectives, and prerequisites) and needs to be replaced When a learning design is successfully repurposed, keeping a record of what parts were changed will help identify the underlying generative pattern

Learning object context Remove the 1 to 1 mapping between learning designs and learning objects Keep information related to the context of use separate from the object being reused Learning ObjectsLearning Designs Learning Object Context

LOCO and LOCO-Cite ontologies LOCO structure based on IMS-LD Level A LOCO-Cite is the bridging ontology between LOCO and ALOCoM and is associated with highly context-dependent information such as competencies

Graphical representation of LOCO-ontology

An example learning object for content disaggregation

Disaggregated content

Disaggregated content integrated into a learning design

Use cases Selecting a learning design and learning content based on competencies Locating quality learning content and learning designs for a given instructional situation (and not have to create it every time)

Goals Extend features of a LD editor to: –Import/export LOCO ontology compliant learning designs –Enable searching of learning object and learning design repositories during the authoring phase Create LOCO and LOCO-Cite compatible repositories of learning designs

Conclusion Is the payoff from reusability worth the effort? Can ontologies deliver practical benefits for LD users? Future work is needed to enhance the ontology, including addition of IMS-LD Level B and C compliance