Design and Implementation Strategies for IMS Learning Design

SIKS Dissertation Series No. 2008-27The IMS Learning Design (LD) specification, which has been released in February 2003, is a generic and flexible language for describing the learning practice and underlying learning designs using a formal notation which is computer-interpretable. It is based on a pedagogical meta-model (Koper & Manderveld, 2004) and supports the use of a wide range of pedagogies. It supports adaptation of individual learning routes and orchestrates interactions between users in various learning and support roles. A formalized learning design can be applied repeatedly in similar situations with different persons and contexts. Yet because IMS Learning Design is a fairly complex and elaborate specification, it can be difficult to grasp; furthermore, designing and implementing a runtime environment for the specification is far from straightforward. That IMS Learning Design makes use of other specifications and e-learning services adds further to this complexity for both its users and the software developers. For this new specification to succeed, therefore, a reference runtime implementation was needed. To this end, this thesis addresses two research and development issues. First, it investigates research into and development of a reusable reference runtime environment for IMS Learning Design. The resulting runtime, called CopperCore, provides a reference both for users of the specification and for software developers. The latter can reuse the design principles presented in this thesis for their own implementations, or reuse the CopperCore product through the interfaces provided. Second, this thesis addresses the integration of other specifications and e-learning services during runtime. It presents an architecture and implementation (CopperCore Service Integration) which provides an extensible lightweight solution to the problem. Both developments have been tested through real-world use in projects carried out by the IMS Learning Design community. The results have generally been positive, and have led us to conclude that we successfully addressed both the research and development issues. However, the results also indicate that the LD tooling lacks maturity, particularly in the authoring area. Through close integration of CopperCore with a product called the Personal Competence Manager, we demonstrate that a complementary approach to authoring in IMS Learning Design solves some of these issues

Towards a new generation of Learning Management Systems

Vogten, H., & Koper, R. (2014) Towards a new generation of Learning Management Systems. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Computer Supported Education, Barcelona, Spain.In this paper we argue that a centrally governed Learning Management System (LMS) still has ample legitimacy in an information society that is ever more adopting cloud computing services in daily life. We argued that control over services and produced data is essential from the perspective of an educational institute for reasons of accountability, quality control, legislation, privacy and reliability. However, the current generation learning management systems are primarily geared to provide ‘additional’ online learning. In ‘real’ online learning teachers and students almost never need to meet face-to-face. All instruction, tests, communication and collaboration is organised using internet and mobile technologies. We propose a paradigm shift for the next generation LMS, discarding the course as key concept in favour of the social learning network concept. We argue that a generic social collaborative portal platform is a good foundation for the development of this next generation LMS. We support our arguments by presenting a real world case and we conclude that we can reuse 80% of the standard code

IMS Learning Design UML Models

In order to model the DTD binding in UML we have used a method suggested by Rational in one of their white papers on this issue [1]. This method maps the constructs typically found in a standard manner to UML classes. This way it is possible to automatically derive a DTD or schema from the UML that compliant with the original. For this purpose some stereotypes have been defined that should be applied to every class in the diagrams. The following table give an overview

Educational Modelling Language

This chapter is about an open learning technology specification called Educational Modelling Language (EML, 2000). EML has been designed within the Development-programma of the Open University of the Netherlands as a means to support re-use and interoperability. This language and conceptual ideas behind it have evolved and have gained world-wide acceptance in the shape of the IMS-Learning Design. The chapter elaborates on the requirements for the creation this language and provides several examples of use, accompanied by the representation of these examples in the run-time system Edubox. Published as: Hermans, H., Manderveld, J., & Vogten, H. (2004). Educational Modelling Language. In W. Jochems, J. van Merrienboer, & R. Koper, Integrated e-Learning (pp. 80-99). London: RoutledgeFalmer

E-portfolios in Support of Informal Learning

Nowadays, informal learning is very much part of everyone’s life, even when individuals are not aware that they engage in informal learning. Therefore it is vital that individuals and organisations become aware of the value of informal learning. Not only that, but individuals need to take control of their informal learning and make it known to others. In this article we illustrate how e-portfolios, as a store of learning activities and resulting products can support reflection on the learning process by allowing learners to monitor their learning behaviour. Findings indicate that ease of use is crucial. User interface design should accommodate the needs of the learner to promote uptake of the tool. The e-portfolio has to be an integral part of the learner’s working and learning processes, and assist the learner by tracking and presenting his learning activities for easy inclusion into the e-portfolio.Part of this work has been carried out in the context of the Trailer project with the support of the Lifelong Learning Program of the European Commission. Project Reference: 519141-LLP-1-2011-1-ES-KA3-KA3MP. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein

Flexible provisioning for adult learners

In adult education there is a continuous, growing demand for learning opportunities that fit the specific characteristics and preferences of particular learner groups or individual learners. This requires educational institutions to rethink their business and educational models, and develop more flexible online course solutions using ICT. An important downside of this trend is an increasingly complex logistic process that is very difficult to manage, in particular with respect to the provisioning process: which teaching and learning services and facilities should be made available, to whom, when, and how. Rather than implementing provisioning rules directly in the software applications that make up the online delivery environment, we propose a model for an educational provisioning system (EPS) that allows for highly flexible provisioning and reduces the workload drastically. This system is responsible for both expressing and processing provisioning rules that meet the demands of new (online) course models. It supports the use of so-called course access levels that enable to address and provision various learning target groups separately by means of a single course. For reasons of efficiency we suggest an architecture in which the EPS is loosely coupled to the applications in the teaching and learning environment. A first EPS implementation at the Open University of the Netherlands is presented and discussed

Towards a learning path specification

Janssen, J., Berlanga, A., Vogten, H., & Koper, R. (2008). Towards a learning path specification. International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Lifelong Learning, 18(1), 77–97.Flexible lifelong learning requires comparability and exchangeability of courses, programmes and other types of learning actions both in a national and international context. This paper argues that in order to achieve comparability and exchangeability a uniform and meaningful way to describe learning paths towards attainment of learning outcomes is needed. The paper identifies the requirements for a learning path specification drawing on a study of literature in the field of curriculum design and lifelong learning, and lessons learned from recent initiatives which aimed to enhance comparability and exchangeability of learning actions. Two existing specifications designed to describe learning programmes, XCRI and IMS-LD, are investigated to see whether they can fulfil the identified requirements. The fact that IMS-LD has a generic way to define completion of learning paths and its constituent parts as well as an expression language to describe all kinds of conditions make IMS-LD a more likely candidate. A learning path model is presented identifying the main elements of a learning path specification and mapping them onto IMS-LD.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