1. Specs & Standards Update: December 2003
IMS; IEEE; Odds & ends
CETIS EC SIG 9th Meeting
Manchester Computing, Manchester University
12 December 2003
Sarah Currier
CETIS EC SIG Coordinator

2. IMS Update December 2003: IMS
IMS Content Packaging update
IMS InterActive Content SIG update
Group A: Spec harmonisation
Group B: API/Runtime improvement
IMS Shared State Persistence (Simulations)
Odds and ends

3. IMS Update December 2003: IMS Content Packaging
Three main issues with IMS Content Packaging specification:
Bug fixing of current version 1.1.3
Standardisation by IEEE?
Next version: “Alternative Resources”; “isVisible”

4. IMS Update December 2003: 1. CP Maintenance
Not changing or adding things to specification.
CETIS’s Wilbert Kraan is coordinating bug-fix, or “definitive version” of v1.1.3; likely to become v1.1.4.
Will incorporate fixing problems identified by implementers to date, including those reported by the CETIS Code Bash events, and by ADL.
Wilbert will post full list of bugs on CETIS website.
If any implementers here have any further issues they wish to be looked at, please contact Wilbert Kraan: or post to EC SIG list.

5. IMS Update December 2003: 2. CP Standardisation
IEEE LTSC has been investigating standardising a specification for content packaging/transportation.
Looked at METS and MPEG21 as well as IMS CP.
Main push is to standardise IMS CP but there are problems: versioning of specification across IMS and IEEE is one; also, IMS have a different approach to making specs available.
If these can be resolved- new bug-free version will be “the one”.

6. IMS Update December 2003: 3. New features for IMS CP
On the backburner for now:
“isVisible” is a problem which has been around for a while- still needs resolving.
“Alternative/Variant Resources” (e.g. for accessibility) was considered a new feature so not included in maintenance version of spec- but still on the agenda.

7. IMS Update December 2003: Second generation developments
InterActive Content (v2.0 IMS QTI)
Simulations (see earlier presentation by Steve Jeyes, 8th EC SIG meeting)
ePortfolios (covered by CETIS LIPSIG)
Resource List Interoperability (covered by CETIS Metadata SIG)

8. IMS Update December 2003: InterActive Content SIG
“Big Bucket” SIG; split off to form:
Simulation SIG & Mobile Learning SIG.
Group A: Spec harmonisation and integration for LD, QTI, SS and CP.
Group B: Improve runtime model and API functionality.

9. IMS Update December 2003: InterActive Content SIG
Group A Charter approved, work under way:
Located in a Working Group for QTI v.2.0
5 Key objectives:
New version of QTI <item> spec to address previously deferred issues (current focus)
Best practice for putting QTI into Content Packages
Binding for QTI outcomes in the CMI datamodel
Binding for QTI outcomes to Learning Design properties
Binding for QTI outcomes to Simple Sequencing objectives

10. IMS Update December 2003: InterActive Content SIG
Group A Charter for IMS QTI v2.0
Out of Scope:
QTI v.1 “Selection and Ordering” and “Outcomes Processing” – therefore support for adaptive testing
Assessment security issues

11. IMS Update December 2003: InterActive Content SIG
Group A Charter for IMS QTI v2.0
CETIS Assessment SIG is current focus of CETIS involvement as QTI v2.0 is dealt with.
Their next meeting is in the Netherlands, still spaces.
Will include discussion on EML/IMS Learning Design & IMS QTI.
EC SIG will get involved in remaining developments as appropriate.

12. IMS Update December 2003: InterActive Content SIG
Group B Charter: Improve runtime model and API functionality
CETIS EC SIG to take part in call for requirements, current solutions, use cases from community.
This work has been postponed by IMS- watch this space.

13. IMS Update December 2003: ePortfolio & RLI
Current work within IMS on ePortfolios and Resource List Interoperability both investigating use of IMS CP as a packaging/transport mechanism.
See CETIS LIPSIG and CETIS Metadata SIG respectively.

14. IEEE LTSC Update December 2003: CP & CMI Datamodel/API
See previous slide on standardisation of CP
SCORM JavaScript API formally approved as standard
Working on standardising CMI/SCORM datamodel & its XML binding
See Wilbert’s report on the CETIS site
Or go straight to IEEE LTSC WG11 CMI pages:

15. ADL held first “DesignFest”: http://itinstitute.usu.edu/designfest.cfm
SCORM Update December 2003
Report on the future directions for SCORM by Carnegie Mellon:
ADL held first “DesignFest”:
ADL Academic Co-Lab held Learning Repository Summit (Allison Littlejohn attended):
Next IMS Meeting co-located in Switzerland with 1st International PlugFest, Feb :

16. Valkenburg Group Update December 2003
See OUNL “Learning Networks” site for information on IMS LD; EML; EduBox & Valkenburg Group:
Meeting in January to work on proposed book on IMS Learning Design.

17. Word to the Wise, December 2003
NB: The information given in these slides is up-to-the-minute, on-the-fly reportage; it is subject to change at any time so please contact the CETIS EC SIG or join the SIG mailing list to stay up-to-date!