Model-driven description and validation of composite learning content

Authoring of learning content for courseware systems is a complex activity requiring the combination of a range of design and validation techniques. We introduce the CAVIAr courseware models allowing for learning content description and validation. Model-based representation and analysis of different concerns such as the subject domain, learning context, resources and instructional design used are key contributors to this integrated solution. Personalised learning is particularly difficult to design as dynamic configurations cannot easily be predicted and tested. A tool-supported technique based on CAVIAr can alleviate this complexity through the validation of a set of pedagogical and non-pedagogical requirements. Courseware validation checks intra- and inter-content relationships and the compliance with requirements and educational theories

Automatic validation of learning object compositions

Course construction using reusable learning objects is becoming ever more popular due to its’ efficiency. The course creator who uses this methodology may face problems due to the fact that he or she is not as intimately involved in the creation of every element of the course. In this paper we discuss one such problem faced by course creator known as “the competency gap”. Here, we define the competency gap, explain how it can be identified and suggest ways of correcting the problem

An information architecture for validating courseware

Courseware validation should locate Learning Objects inconsistent with the courseware instructional design being used. In order for validation to take place it is necessary to identify the implicit and explicit information needed for validation. In this paper, we identify this information and formally define an information architecture to model courseware validation information explicitly. This promotes tool-support for courseware validation and its interoperability with the courseware specifications

Model-driven transformation and validation of adaptive educational hypermedia using CAVIAr

Authoring of Adaptive Educational Hypermedia is a complex activity requiring the combination of a range of design and validation techniques.We demonstrate how Adaptive Educational Hypermedia can be transformed into CAVIAr courseware validation models allowing for its validation. The model-based representation and analysis of different concerns and model-based mappings and transformations are key contributors to this integrated solution. We illustrate the benefits of Model Driven Engineering methodologies that allow for interoperability between CAVIAr and a well known Adaptive Educational Hypermedia framework. By allowing for the validation of Adaptive Educational Hypermedia, the course creator limits the risk of pedagogical problems in migrating to Adaptive Educational Hypermedia from static courseware

An information architecture for courseware validation

A lack of pedagogy in courseware can lead to learner rejec- tion. It is therefore vital that pedagogy is a central concern of courseware construction. Courseware validation allows the course creator to specify pedagogical rules and principles which courseware must conform to. In this paper we investigate the information needed for courseware valida- tion and propose an information architecture to be used as a basis for validation

Integration of a course management system with interactive educational multimedia

With the recent emergence of open source course management systems, learning support infrastructures have received increased attention. More and more organisations adopt these systems to provide their educational services. Often, existing, locally developed learning support software – ranging from delivery support to multimedia content – have to be integrated into these new systems. We will report here on approaches to integrate educational multimedia into a (open source) course management system. We will use our own courseware environment – IDLE, the Interactive Database Learning Environment – and its integration into Moodle – an open source course management systems – to illustrate our experience

Migrating existing multimedia courseware to Moodle

Open source course management systems offer increased flexibility for instructors and instructional designers. Communities can influence the development of these systems and on an individual basis, the possibility to modify the system software exists. Migrating existing courseware to these systems can therefore be beneficial, sometimes even required. We report here about our experience in migrating an existing courseware system consisting of multimedia content and interactive, integrated infrastructure functionality to an open source course management system called Moodle. We will assess the difficulties that we have encountered during this process and, discuss the importance of standards in this context, and we aim to provide other instructors or instructional designers with guidelines and assessment support for other migration projects

The generation of e-learning exercise problems from subject ontologies

The teaching/ learning of cognitive skills, such as problem-solving, is an important goal in most forms of education. In well-structured subject areas certain exercise problem types may be precisely described by means of machine-processable knowledge structures or ontologies. These ontologies can readily be used to generate individual problem examples for the student, where each problem consists of a question and its solution. An example is given from the subject domain of computer databases