Educational Modelling Language (EML): Adding instructional design to existinglearning technology specifications

Rob Koper (rob.koper@ou.nl)Educational Technology Expertise CenterOpen Universiteit Nederland

More information: eml.ou.nl Workshop ‘Standardisation and eLearning’ , April 11th, 2002, Frankfurt.

Content

• Introduction• Vision behind learning technology

specifications & standards• What is missing: integrative framework• How does this work in practice

Introduction

OUNL

Open University of the Netherlands

• Two missions: 1. provide open distance education and 2. innovate higher education

- R&D into learning technology specifications- Why?

Recognition that this is a key issue for successful implementation of eLearning

Learning Technology Specifications are documents1. Models

- domain models (concept definitions and scope)- architectural models- information models- behavioral models

2. Good practices- designed use cases- examples from practice

3. Bindings- XML schema’s- API definitions

4. Implementation guidelines- implementation handbook- FAQ’s

How LT standards are developed?

standards

‘consortium’ specs

R&D specs

Vision behind learning technology specifications &

standards

Basic idea’s

• Re-use/share digital content in education• Use digital content independent of

software/hardware (interoperability)

Re-use in education

• Production of e-learning resources is expensive and difficult

• Better to collaborate, share than duplicate work

• However, course exchange has not been successful in practice

• Idea is now to exchange lower level elements called ‘learning objects’.

• First step was to describe the learning objects with ‘metadata’.

How it works

Learning Object

Metadata (LOM)

Content

Behavior

video, picture, text book, article, test item, question,…

uri

Re-use (digital, shared repositories)

Learning Object

Learning Object Metadata (LOM)

Content (optional)

Method (optional)

refers to

Learning Object

Learning Object Metadata (LOM)

Content (optional)

Method (optional)

refers to

Learning Object

Learning Object Metadata (LOM)

Content (optional)

Method (optional)

refers to

Learning Object

Learning Object Metadata (LOM)

Content (optional)

Method (optional)

refers to

Learning Object

Learning Object Metadata (LOM)

Content (optional)

Method (optional)

refers to

Learning Object

Learning Object Metadata (LOM)

Content (optional)

Method (optional)

refers to

Learning Object

Learning Object Metadata (LOM)

Content (optional)

Method (optional)

refers to

Learning Object

Learning Object Metadata (LOM)

Content (optional)

Method (optional)

refers to

Learning Object

Learning Object Metadata (LOM)

Content (optional)

Method (optional)

refers to

Learning Object

Learning Object Metadata (LOM)

Content (optional)

Method (optional)

refers to

Learning Object

Learning Object Metadata (LOM)

Content (optional)

Method (optional)

refers to

Learning Object

Learning Object Metadata (LOM)

Content (optional)

Method (optional)

refers to

searchgetedit

add

teacher

Interoperability

VLE 1 VLE 2

Problem of ‘USE’

• How does this work in practice?• Learning objects are lower level building blocks (bricks),

not end products for learners, but half fabricates for teachers.

• When searching a large repository of small objects how does a teacher aggregates the objects to a course of a specific pedagogical format (e.g. a distance learning course, based on problem solving principles)?

• Naïve view to see a sequence of learning objects as a ‘course’.

• When I created a course in a VLE, I want to be able to transport it to another VLE (not only to exchange underlying learning objects).

IMS Content Packages & SCORM

Aggregation of Learning Objects

manifest

‘course’ x

package metadata- item1

-item11 -item12 -item13+item2+item3

- book -chapt1 -chapt2 -chapt3+problem+case

organization

Con

ten

t Pack

ag

e

physical files

resource def.

Problems of ‘USE’

• Package interoperability doesn’t work in practice, (e.g. VLE’s don’t know what to do with two or more ‘organizations’)

• You can package a course, but also anything else (no validation mechanism).

• A course is more than a organized collection of resources (services, objectives, roles, activities, …)

• => need for a semantic framework (EML)

Educational Modelling Language

• Integrative framework to model ‘units of learning’• Open specification available at: http://eml.ou.nl from

December 2000 (result of R&D effort)• EML has been put into practice at a variety of places,

it is now in transition from an R&D spec to a joint specification.

• IMS is building a new specification (‘Learning Design’) based on EML

• Learning Design extends Content Packaging and SCORM with a semantic framework

How it works

manifest

unit of learning x

UOL metadata

Learning Design

organization

Un

it o

f Le

arn

ing

physical files

resource def.

service def.

Learning Design

• Is a semantic organization of learning objects (resources) and services

• The semantic organization is derived from an analysis of pedagogical models and is able to support these models, e.g.:- competency based learning- problem based learning- action learning, collaborative learning- but also: more classical models (teacher led)

(see http://eml.ou.nl for an article about this issue)

information

model for

“units of learning

”

Binding in XML schema (EML)

Document instance <unit-of-learning> <metadata> <title>Competence: write report</title> </metadata> <roles> <learner id=Student>

<property Learning Style/> </learner>

<staff id=Tutor/> </roles> <method> <play> <role Student/><activity-ref Introduction/

<role Tutor/><activity-ref Introduction Module/> <continue><when-completed/></continue> <role Student/><activity-ref Test/></play> </method>

</unit-of-learning>

Where are we now?

• EML model makes it possible to assemble e-learning courses, by organizing learning objects and services in a pedagogical valid way

• It integrates other specifications like: CP, QTI, Cdef, Simple Sequencing, and is able to translate back to e.g. SCORM

• The other way around: courses can be disassembled to learning objects for re-use purposes at a lower level

• Exporting/importing courses in EML to different EML compliant VLE’s isn’t a problem

Where are we now?

• IMS Learning Design is planned for end of this year

• We also started some work in the context of CEN/ISSS WSLT

• Like the LOM this is a European contribution into the international standards field

• Learning design/EML promises to allow for more powerful e-learning applications and re-use and interoperability at the course levels