Interoperability and reusability in practice

The Dutch Consortium Digital University

4th of March 2002, Manchester

Frank Benneker, Pierre GorissenConsortium Digital University the Netherlands

Dutch Digital University• A major government funded HE initiative

• Cooperation of 10 institutions of HE

• Started April 2001

• First drafts of work processes and tools2nd quarter 2002

• First content online September 2002

Aims

• Set up educational content repository (economy of scales)

• Joint innovation (cost sharing)

• Delivery to HE students through partner institutions

Challenge: reusability

Create Learning Objects that will be • stored in a repository

• reused across instructional scenarios

• reused across courses, curricula

• easily customised if needed

• easily retrievable, searchable

Challenge: interoperabilityMake sure that the Learning Object

• may be developed with a variety of authoring tools

• may be used across delivery platforms(runtime systems, players)

Schematic scenario

DigitalRepository

DigitalRepository

Interface

Authoringtools

Run-time

LOMMeta-data

Run-time

Current solutions to reuse• Build repositories of (un-)structured

elements• Add meta-data based on LOM

Examples:• Ariadne• Merlot• SeSDL• Universal Knowledge Broker

Current solutions to reuse No problem if/when common file

formats are used, because

• editors do exist already(e.g. MS Word)

• players (browsers) render formats natively or through plug ins

Problems• DU partners have their own wishes

regarding layout/design of content

• DU partners have their own educational systems/scenarios

• the learning objects often carry no educational significance (learning objectives or prerequisites) so how to use them?

• the instructional scenario is often implicit, hard to discover and hard to extract

DU solution to reuseUse XML and an Educational Modeling

Language (EML) , so:

• Separate layout from content

• Distinguish (reusable) learning objects from reusable information objects

• Let the learning objects carry instructional information (learning objectives, prerequisites, scenario)

New Challenges DU

• No EML authoring tools except generic (XML) editors

• Current runtime environments can’t interpret & handle EMLs

• SCORM & IMS not mature yet

• No DU-taxonomies for Meta data yet

• Setup Educational Service Provider (learning to work together)

Even more challenges

• Organise copy & use rights, through licences?

• Develop a business model

• Create incentives for authors, their departments, subject fields

• Workflow of content production

• Set up training / Help desk groups

• Quality assurance, review process

DU road ahead …• Create DU educational content in:

– Law– Business & Finance– Arts– Education

• E-Learning projects

• Bring experts from partners together

• Cooperate with others

More information• Digital University (in Dutch):

http://www.digiuni.nl/

• More on EML (Dutch and English):http://eml.ou.nl/

• Other information:W.F.M.Benneker@uva.nl (Frank)P.Gorissen@fontys.nl (Pierre)

Thank you for your attention ...