Implementing E-learning Specifications with Conformance Testing: Profiling for IMS Learning Design

Submitted for publication. Please contact authors for reference.Improving interoperability between e-learning systems and content has been one of the driving forces behind the adoption of e-learning specifications over recent years. A vital step towards achieving this goal is the widespread adoption of conformant implementations of e-learning specifications. A conformant implementation is one which fully complies with the conformance requirements of the specification. However, conformance testing is time consuming and expensive. The process of localising specifications to create so-called “Application Profiles” to meet individual community needs further complicates conformance testing efforts. To solve this problem, we developed the conformance testing approach presented in this article. This approach simplifies the development of Application Profiles, and the process of conformance testing against them. Using this approach, test suites can be generated to test software applications against both e-learning specifications and their derived Application Profiles. A case study based around the IMS Learning Design specification demonstrates this process

Open Source and Open Standards

Publication reference: Koper, R. (2008). Open Source and Open Standards. In J. M. Spector, M. Merrill, J. van Merriënboer & M. P. Driscol (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (3rd ed., pp. 355-368). New York: Routledge.The objective of this chapter is to create an understanding of the importance of open source software and open standards (OSS/OS) for e-learning research. Open source is a fundamental new way to develop software, and open standards are needed to make software components work together. It is argued that OSS and OS can improve the convergence of knowledge in the e-learning field, improve the general quality and interoperability of e-learning applications, and improve collaboration between researchers and users. All of these are beneficial and necessary requirements for e-learning research. After a general introduction into basic OSS and OS concepts, the following questions will be answered: a) How does OSS/OS facilitate the technological activities of the researchers in terms of methodology, collaboration and dissemination of results? b) How does OSS/OS facilitate the development of technological knowledge in the field? c) How does OSS/OS facilitate the development of technological artifacts in the field? The development and use of the open standard “IMS Learning Design” (a formal design language for online courses), and the open source applications that are developed to run and present IMS Learning Design courses will be used as an example to demonstrate the use of OSS/OS in e-learning research. In the concluding section we provide some practical information for researchers how to get involved in OSS and OS and how to use it in e-learning research

Actes des Sixièmes journées nationales du Groupement De Recherche CNRS du Génie de la Programmation et du Logiciel

National audienceCe document contient les actes des Sixièmes journées nationales du Groupement De Recherche CNRS du Génie de la Programmation et du Logiciel (GDR GPL) s'étant déroulées au CNAM à Paris du 11 au 13 juin 2014. Les contributions présentées dans ce document ont été sélectionnées par les différents groupes de travail du GDR. Il s'agit de résumés, de nouvelles versions, de posters et de démonstrations qui correspondent à des travaux qui ont déjà été validés par les comités de programmes d'autres conférences et revues et dont les droits appartiennent exclusivement à leurs auteurs

ID5.2 Roadmap for KRSM RTD

Roadmap for KRSM RTD activities.The work on this publication has been sponsored by the TENCompetence Integrated Project that is funded by the European Commission's 6th Framework Programme, priority IST/Technology Enhanced Learning. Contract 027087 [http://www.tencompetence.org

Reusing Online Resources: A Sustainable Approach to eLearning

JIME Special Issue on Reusing Online Resources Commentary and Debate on: Reusing Online Resources: A Sustainable Approach to eLearning Edited by Allison Littlejohn, Kogan Page, London. ISBN: 0749439491 [www.reusing.info] Welcome to the Journal of Interactive Media in Education, and this Special Issue of JIME, which is 'reusing' the Reusing Online Resources book as the point of departure for online discussion. [Enter Special Issue]. It is interesting to consider how much activity has grown since JIME's Special Issue on <a href="http://jime.open.ac.uk/98.html#eoe">Educational Authoring Tools and the Educational Object Economy in 1998. There is clearly a broader consensus on standards emerging, but what progress has there been on the fundamental ideas and infrastructure? This book and special issue are therefore a timely milestone to reflect. You will find expert contributions, grounded in technical and pedagogical experience, critiquing and refining the assumptions behind the idea of reusable learning resources. The issue is organised as follows: the book's opening chapter by the editor, introducing seven key issues for reusable resources; invited introductions to the book's four sections - 'theory, design, resource and strategy perspectives' - by leading educational technologists; an invited commentary on each chapter written for this Special Issue to open critical discussion... ...which can continue in the discussion area for each chapter, where authors, commentators and the wider community are invited to post their own views on the book and commentaries. Click on the Comment Bubble by each chapter heading to view all comments on it, or add your own.We hope that you find this a valuable companion to the book, and welcome your participation in advancing the debate in this field, one which is seeing much activity, but also provoking strong reactions. Allison Littlejohn & Simon Buckingham Shum Special Issue Editors Notes: Reprinted with permission from: 'Reusing Online Resources: A Sustainable Approach to eLearning', (Ed.) Allison Littlejohn. Kogan Page, London. ISBN 0749439491

Contexts and Contributions: Building the Distributed Library

This report updates and expands on A Survey of Digital Library Aggregation Services, originally commissioned by the DLF as an internal report in summer 2003, and released to the public later that year. It highlights major developments affecting the ecosystem of scholarly communications and digital libraries since the last survey and provides an analysis of OAI implementation demographics, based on a comparative review of repository registries and cross-archive search services. Secondly, it reviews the state-of-practice for a cohort of digital library aggregation services, grouping them in the context of the problem space to which they most closely adhere. Based in part on responses collected in fall 2005 from an online survey distributed to the original core services, the report investigates the purpose, function and challenges of next-generation aggregation services. On a case-by-case basis, the advances in each service are of interest in isolation from each other, but the report also attempts to situate these services in a larger context and to understand how they fit into a multi-dimensional and interdependent ecosystem supporting the worldwide community of scholars. Finally, the report summarizes the contributions of these services thus far and identifies obstacles requiring further attention to realize the goal of an open, distributed digital library system