Tag: interoperability

ECL – eduSource Communications Layer connector software

http://www.edusplash.net/technical/ecl/index.html and
http://edusource.licef.teluq.uquebec.ca/ese/en/index.jsp

I’m sure there’s some good reason for working on software for a few years, releasing it into the public domain, and then not telling anyone about it, right? In any case, with amazingly little fanfare the impressive ECL connector software is available for download. Billed as one of the first implementations of the IMS DRI specification, it will allow repositories to share search results, gather records, alter each other to new materials and submit new materials in other repositories. You’ll likely see the ECL show up in some format or another in a number of future initiatives as a way to interconnect repositories and other stores of learning materials, and we hope to have it implemented in the repository we deploy here in B.C. by September. – SWL

Practical Interoperability from the Reload folks

http://www.reload.ac.uk/interop.html

Recognizing that saying one complies with a standard and implementing a system that does so (especially when some of the standards seem to change nightly) are two different things, the good folks at Reload have built this page that reports on various real world users’ attempts to import content packages built with Reload into a number of “VLEs” or course management systems, including WebCT and a few of the open source options. One hopes that some of the ‘hiccups’ described here are simply a sign of the relative immaturity of the systems and standards that will dissipate with time (right?….) – SWL

Joint IMS/CNI Whitepaper on interoperation between different types of ‘repositories’

http://www.imsglobal.org/
DLims_white_paper_publicdraft_1.pdf

I can only assume that the only reason someone didn’t point this paper out to me during my recent thrashing about concerning the difference between ‘institutional’ repositories and ‘learning object’ repositories is that, like me, they had never seen it before (or maybe you’re all just sadists and like to watch me flail about in public!)

Well in any case, hallelujah! This draft paper by Neil McLean and Clifford Lynch from June 28, 2003 is in my mind a model of clarity on the reasons for why these beasts are different (for one, the ‘transient’ versus ‘archival’ nature of their contents) but also why and how they need to interoperate.

Which is where I’ve landed on this topic – we need distinct types of repository software because they fill distinct end-user needs. But by implementing both common open protocols and using structured markup languages that can be mapped, we keep open the possibility of interoperating if and when this make sense. And I stress that last ‘if’ – the next piece in the puzzle I am waiting to see are convincing use cases, or even better yet convincing demonstrations, of search interfaces across catalogues of heterogeneous materials (e.g. records for books, ‘eprints’ and learning objects all at once) that don’t just confuse the matter entirely. – SWL

A Short Course on Structured Course Development, Learning Objects, and E-Learning Standards

http://careo.prn.bc.ca/losc/losccourse.html

From Gerry Paille and his team (a partnership of BC School District #60, Open School BC and the Open Learning Agency/BC Open Univeristy to develop a ‘CANCORE-compliant’ resource network that will house materials from some of their older resource collections) comes this useful 3 module course on “using a structured language such as Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) or eXtensible Markup Language (XML) as a basis for producing a learning design and describing course content, activities, and assignments.”

Gerry has also gone to the effort of packaging the course as an IMS 1.1.3 Content Package. Gerry notes on the project blog that the course has yet to receive a ‘technical review’ but is still quite worthwhile. One neat feature of how they implemented this is the ‘Module Resources’ links in each of the modules, which seem to be keyword searches to the backend CAREO database to provide related supplementary resources for each module. – SWL

Atutor 1.3 released – now with IMS content packaging

href=”http://sourceforge.net/forum/
forum.php?forum_id=328649

New releases of existing CMS don’t usually warrant a posting, but this one’s maybe an exception – the folks at the University of Toronto’s Adaptive Technology Resource Centre have been working hard to develop a full featured suite of accessible online learning and communication tools. Their latest effort is to include IMS compliant content packaging utilities for creating interoperable learning objects into the existing Atutor LMS. The software is PHP and MySQL-based. Where the software really excels, as might be expected, is in being immensely re-skinnable/reconfigurable to adapt to almost any device or user need. It is worth taking a look at if only for that reason, as an object lesson in adaptable, accessible design. – SWL

WebCT Powerlinks to open source portfolios, HorizonLive synchronous tools

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/
google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&
newsId=20031106005458&newsLang=en
and also
http://www.horizonlive.com/aboutus/news/
press_release_view.php?id=35

Two recent press releases from WebCT that help to illustrate the strategy the major CMS players are adopting to extend their products. In WebCT’s case the strategy is called “Powerlinks,” which I take to be roughly analogous to Blackboard’s “BuildingBlocks” initiative…
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Wanted – Course Revision Without Pain

http://ts.mivu.org/default.asp?
show=article&id=1034

The latest (hopefully not last) issue of The Technology Source has this great article by Jo Paoletti on the issue of course revisions within a CMS environment. She’s absolutely right when she says that “course maintenance and revision [have not been] on the horizon. It is time to put the latter on the agenda…”
Continue reading “Wanted – Course Revision Without Pain”

Proceedings of the OLN Institute –

http://careo.elearning.ubc.ca/weblogs/
michelle/archives/000194.html

Via Michelle Lamberson comes mention of an important collection of papers on learning objects that came out of the recent OLN Institute at Ohio State called “Building and Assessing Shareable Content.” The proceedings for the conference, a book titled “Learning Objects: Contexts and Connections” (Catherine M. Gynn and Stephen R. Acker, Editors) are now available online.

Continue reading “Proceedings of the OLN Institute –”