Question and test interoperability – organization, reuse and

One of the modern trends in nowadays e-learning technologies and system development is toward creation of standards-based distributed computing applications. The presented paper examines ways of creation, organization, packaging, storage management and usage of e-learning courseware, regarding these modern elearning standards and technologies. It puts a special accent towards development and management of assessment contents. After a short overview and comparison of the standards and ways of their application, the article classifies LMS and platforms regarding their interoperability facilities, namely exchange of shareable and packaged learning contents, especially for testing. Here, we analyze as well important characters of system interoperability and propose a detailed classification and notation. Finally, as a case study, we describe our framework based on the recent IMS standards and developed within the ARCADE (Architecture for Reusable Courseware Authoring and DElivery) e-learning platform, and show directions for improving its interoperability abilities with other standard-based LMS. Special attention is put onto creation of an authoring tool for creating packaged and sharable assessments contents

Managing complexity of e-learning administration in ARCADE

ARCADE (Architecture for Reusable Courseware Authoring and DElivery) is a Webbased e-learning platform specially targeted to the needs of distant education in universities and schools. This paper presents ARCADE in two aspects: as a system for distance learning and as a virtual university. The authors put accent on the way of organization of the education process as a whole while showing the power of the ARCADE platform. Moreover, there is discussed in details the administration of courses and students groups within a university curriculum

Learning Content and Interoperability

In the era of Internet and new information and communication technologies one of the most important things is appropriate use of technologies in order to achieve desired results. In present paper, they are compared two case studies – on one hand there they are presented research results about interoperability in two open-source learning environments developed in Sofia University, Bulgaria and, on other hand, there are given results from “South West Wales Interoperability Project”, sponsored by Project Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). JISC is funded by all the UK post-16 and higher education funding councils. They are reported results of comparisons between the studies, and, as well, some points related to interoperability are marked

Spiders in caves: the CAWEB project

World experts of different disciplines, from molecular biology to macroecology, recognize the value of cave ecosystems as ideal ecological and evolutionary laboratories. Among other subterranean taxa, spiders stand out as intriguing model organisms for their ecological role of top-predators, their unique adaptations to the hypogean medium and their sensitivity to anthropogenic disturbance. Here, we provide a general overview of the spider families recorded in hypogean habitats in Europe–20 families including nearly 500 species, most of them with restricted distributions. We also review the different adaptations of hypogean spiders to subterranean life and summarize the information gathered so far about their origin, population structure, ecology and conservation status. Taxonomic knowledge on subterranean spiders in Europe appears to be well, but not exhaustively documented. The origin of the European assemblages is mostly explained by past climate dynamics, although other factors are likely to be involved. Most of the macroecological issues related to spiders in European caves are based on qualitative assessments or have been quantified only at a sub-regional scale. In order to shed light on cave spiders’ biogeography and the macroecological patterns driving the diversity of European subterranean spiders we created the CAWEB network, a spontaneous collaboration between subterranean arachnologists from 30 different European countries. We here present the team and provide some preliminary results, which highlight Southern Europe as an important hot-spot for the European subterranean spider diversity

4. AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF BULGARIA: FAUNA, VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION, ZOOGEOGRAPHY, AND CONSERVATION

Abstract. The geographical position, mild climate, mountainous landscape, and habitat heterogeneity determine Bulgaria's rich diversity of herpetofauna. Currently, 17 species of amphibians (20 subspecies) and 36 species of reptiles (45 subspecies) are known from Bulgaria. Due to its transitional position, Bulgaria lies at the southern or northern distribution limits of many species of amphibians and reptiles. Vertical distribution is presented for all species found in Bulgaria. The richest in terms of diversity and abundance are the areas below 400 m, where nearly 95 % of taxa occur. The geographical ranges of almost all amphibians and reptiles in Bulgaria are well-known, although on a local scale the information is often limited. Zoogeographical analysis demonstrates that amphibian species belong to nine chorotypes, of which the Eastern Mediterranean and the European chorotypes are represented with three species each. Out of the ten chorotypes recognized for the reptiles, 51.4 % of the species belong to the Eastern Mediterranean (25.7 %) and Turanian-Mediterranean (25.7 %) chorotypes. Only two subspecies are Bulgarian endemics (Salamandra salamandra beschkovi and Mediodactylus kotschyi rumelicus). Due to the high diversity and mosaic distribution of habitats in Bulgaria, the herpetofauna has a rather continuous occurrence and high relative abundance. Although 80 % of the Bulgarian herpetofauna is legally protected by the Biodiversity Protection Act (2002) and other conventions, some species are threatened through collection for trade or habitat changes due to construction. Several sites in the southern part of Bulgaria are very rich in herpetofauna (nine to ten species of amphibians and 19 to 21 species of reptiles)

Cheiridiidae H. J. Hansen (Arachnida; Pseudoscorpiones), a new family for the fauna of Bulgaria

Volume: 11Start Page: 61End Page: 6

Question and test interoperability - organization, reuse and management of assessments' contents

One of the modern trends in nowadays e-learning technologies and system development is toward creation of standards-based distributed computing applications. The presented paper examines ways of creation, organization, packaging, storage management and usage of e-learning courseware, regarding these modern elearning standards and technologies. It puts a special accent towards development and management of assessment contents. After a short overview and comparison of the standards and ways of their application, the article classifies LMS and platforms regarding their interoperability facilities, namely exchange of shareable and packaged learning contents, especially for testing. Here, we analyze as well important characters of system interoperability and propose a detailed classification and notation. Finally, as a case study, we describe our framework based on the recent IMS standards and developed within the ARCADE (Architecture for Reusable Courseware Authoring and DElivery) e-learning platform, and show directions for improving its interoperability abilities with other standard-based LMS. Special attention is put onto creation of an authoring tool for creating packaged and sharable assessments contents. (http://www.iadat.org/iadate2004/abstract_web/IADAT-e2004_84.pdf

Question and test interoperability - organization, reuse and management of assessments' contents

One of the modern trends in nowadays e-learning technologies and system development is toward creation of standards-based distributed computing applications. The presented paper examines ways of creation, organization, packaging, storage management and usage of e-learning courseware, regarding these modern elearning standards and technologies. It puts a special accent towards development and management of assessment contents. After a short overview and comparison of the standards and ways of their application, the article classifies LMS and platforms regarding their interoperability facilities, namely exchange of shareable and packaged learning contents, especially for testing. Here, we analyze as well important characters of system interoperability and propose a detailed classification and notation. Finally, as a case study, we describe our framework based on the recent IMS standards and developed within the ARCADE (Architecture for Reusable Courseware Authoring and DElivery) e-learning platform, and show directions for improving its interoperability abilities with other standard-based LMS. Special attention is put onto creation of an authoring tool for creating packaged and sharable assessments contents. (http://www.iadat.org/iadate2004/abstract_web/IADAT-e2004_84.pdf

Learning Content and Interoperability

In the era of Internet and new information and communication technologies one of the most important things is appropriate use of technologies in order to achieve desired results. In present paper, they are compared two case studies - on one hand there they are presented research results about interoperability in two open-source learning environments developed in Sofia University, Bulgaria and, on other hand, there are given results from "South West Wales Interoperability Project", sponsored by Project Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). JISC is funded by all the UK post-16 and higher education funding councils. They are reported results of comparisons between the studies, and, as well, some points related to interoperability are marked