Interoperability Specifications for Australian and New Zealand EducationSome Practical Experiences

Nigel Ward

The Le@rning Federation

Overview

Background The Le@rning Federation

Content Procurement and Distribution

Interoperability SpecificationsImportance of Agreed Specifications

TLF Specifications

Reflections

The Le@rning Federation Initiative$AUS 68.2 million over 5 years …

develop high-quality multimedia curriculum content, suitable for Australian and New Zealand schools

support distributed access to this contentin the longer term, use the distribution

framework and the content to stimulate further contributions to the pool of material

Content Development Context Curriculum Focused

Multimedia to improve learner experience

Can be re-used, re-contextualised Learning Object Model

Educationally sound, engaging and usableUser-centred Design

Universal Design for Learning

Interoperable

Content Development and Distribution

Tier 0 Tier 4Tier 3Tier 2Tier 1

eX S&T CEOCEO

SchoolsCEOStds

ISAISA

SchoolsISAStds

GSSchools

GSStds

SOAP InterfaceLO RepositoryAdministration

Learning ToolsetCurriculum Organiser

SOAP InterfaceLO RepositoryAdministration

Learning Toolset

SOAP InterfaceLO RepositoryAdministration

Learning Toolset Learning Toolset

Distribution Tiers

Distribution Model 1

BELTS BELTS BELTS BELTS

LCMS / LMS LCMS / LMS LCMS / LMS LMS

TLF

VendorSystem

OR OR OR OR

Importance of Agreed SpecificationsTLF Specifications define …• Quality of content• Operating environment for content• How to meet legislative

requirements• Interoperability along the

distribution chain• Local requirements

TLF Specifications and Realities

Educational Soundness– Universal design for learning– User-centred design

Also requireCurriculum champion

Testing / Quality Assurance

TLF Specifications and RealitiesAccessibility

– W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines– IMS Accessibility Guidelines

Developing multimedia accessibility guidelines

One size fits all?clarify universal design principles

TLF Specifications and RealitiesDigital Rights Specification

– Explain legislative requirements– Explain bigger picture

Can digital rights be enforced in distributed model?

Digital copyright actCaching?

Digital rights expression languageODRL vs XrML

TLF Specifications and RealitiesTechnical Specification for Content

Development– Standards based “operating environment”

for content– XHTML, CSS1, CSS2, ECMAScript

Revision 3, Flash MX, Shockwave, JVM1.3+, mp3, QuickTime, MPEG-2

Limited browser support

File size and Bandwidth

TLF Specifications and RealitiesMetadata Application Profile

IEEE Learning Object Metadata, EdNA, Dublin Core

Plus … local requirementsSchools thesaurusLearning outcomesPedagogy

Subset supports local requirementsRest is interoperable

TLF Specifications and RealitiesLearning Object Repository Access and

Exchange (LORAX)– Web Service between layers in the

distribution chain– Uses IMS Content Packaging for learning

objects

Replace with IMS Digital Repositories specification?

IMS Content Packaging very “flexible”

Reflections

Specifications critical to TLF success

Application Profiles– Balance interoperability with local

requirements– Tie down flexible “standards”

New approach for multimedia developers and education infrastructure– Guidelines essential– Testing essential

Overview

Background The Le@rning Federation

Content Procurement and Distribution

Interoperability SpecificationsImportance of Agreed Specifications

TLF Specifications

Reflections