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E-Learning Fundamentals

Prepared for

January 2004

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Purpose of Meeting

• Provide a basic understanding of – e-learning, – its principles and – possible approaches

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Agenda

• Introduction– FeeNix e-Learning background– ‘Qualified’ to talk about e-learning

and standards

• E-Learning background and definitions

– What is e-learning?• Definition• Physical and conceptual

components• Demo of a LMS and some content

• Quality Considerations– Maximising Impact and uptake– Typical Implementations

• Case studies • lessons learned

• Standards AICC and SCORM– History

• Why the standards are necessary– Certification and compliance

• Who is– Definitions and differences

• Pros,Cons and Gotchas• Mandatory and Optional data

elements– Things you need to know…

• LMS supplier• Content Supplier

– References

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What is E-Learning

–Physical and conceptual components–Demo of a LMS and some content

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A definition of e-learning

• “Any learning, training or education that is facilitated by the use of well-know and proven computer technologies, specifically networks based on Internet technology.”– the learning content is stored on a web server– accessed via a browser and the TCP-IP

network protocol

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Types of e-Learning

• ‘Blended’ learning is a combination of:– Face to Face - Classroom or sales calls– Materials - Books / videos / CDs / brochures– E-learning – On-line via Internet or Intranet

• Synchronous (Using collaboration tools)– Interactive on-line chat– Electronic whiteboards– Presentation delivery– Virtual Symposiums

• Asynchronous (Web-based version of CBT (CD-ROM)– E-learning, e-detailing– Most of the work done on e-learning standards is concerned

with asynchronous e-learning

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The Sector Split

• Corporate market– LMS – Learning Management Systems– Just in time learning

• Academic market– VLE – Virtual Learning Environment– Tutor contact time is important – collaboration tools– Qualifications are important– Links to funding councils

• LSC – Learning and Skills council

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Physical E-Learning Components

• Courseware / Content– Sequential Lessons– Assessments (pre, post, embedded)

• LMS / ‘wrapper’– a suite of functionalities designed to deliver, track, report on and manage

learning content, student progress and student interactions.

• LCMS– Content creation, storage and organisation

• Collaboration Tools– Contact between learners and tutors

• Development/Authoring Tools– Specialised tools for producing e-learning content

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Content ProvidersOff the shelf

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Courseware 2

• Bespoke– External– 1 hour of content could

cost £20k depending on the interactivity and richness of the media

• Video• Audio• Games

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Courseware 3

• Creating bespoke content internally– Content creation team:

• SME (subject matter expert)

• Instructional Designer

• Graphics designer

• Programmer

– Authoring Tools• Macromedia: Flash, Authorware,

Coursebuilder (dreamweaver); Toolbook II

• Lectora publisher, Trainer soft

• MM Breeze, Robopresenter, Impatica

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Highly generalised LMS

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LMS’s

• LMS focused

• HR Focused

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Conceptual E-learning Components

• The Learning Object (LO)– Smallest chunk of content to

stand alone as a meaningful unit– Size is determined by the

authors• E.g. differences between Netg

and Knowledgepool

– In standards terms –smallest trackable unit

• E.g. one ‘assessment’ per LO– Re-useable is key

• smaller and focused• 20 minute maximum

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Demo of LMS plus content

Students and Local administrators

WBT ManagerDatabase

WBT ManagerWeb Module

Database Server

Web Server

ODBC

ODBC

Training Manager

HTTP

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General Demo

• Log-on• Home page• Launch a lesson• Complete some learning• View the reports

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E-Learning Standards

HistoryWhy the standards are necessary

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Where when and who?

• Early 1980’s Aviation industry was the first to adopt CBT on a large scale – Sophisticated aircraft– Keeping personnel up-to-date– Safety– Records

• Why CBT?– Media –rich, interactive v printed manual– Additional assessment and data tracking– 24/7 availability– Just in time access to most up to date info

• Boeing, Airbus, McDonnell-Douglas ….– Proprietary hardware and software– High cost, records on multiple computers

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History continued

• 1988 Aviation Industry CBT Committee (AICC) was formed– International group – manufacturers, trainers (military, commercial and civilian)

government and regulatory, e-learning vendors and courseware developers– Hardware was ‘sorted’ first– 1993 – guideline for computer managed instruction interoperability– 1998 – web-based version

• 1991 – Gulf War– After war – US congress studies concluded that reserve forces needed improved

access to education and training– Funds went to National Guard for prototype e-learning classrooms and networks

• 1997 – Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative (ADL)– US Department of Defence Expanded this work and founded ADL– Publishing first specification of SCORM in 1999

• Other standards bodies were IMS and IEEE

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Why Do We Need Standards?

• “..must be a common way – to start content, – for content to communicate with an LMS and – predefined data elements that are exchanged between an LMS

and content during its execution.” SCORM overview

• So that:– Mix and match content from multiple sources

• in-house• off-the-shelf

– Re-use content– Avoid proprietary systems– Future-proof e-learning investment

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Definitions

Which StandardsWho is certified/compliant

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Which Standards?

• AICC CMI Specification (AGR 010)– www.aicc.org– The Aviation Industry CBT Committee (AICC) has

developed a specification that allows courseware from multiple vendors to communicate with a single LMS. The AICC specification has been widely adopted outside the airline industry.

• ADL SCORM– www.adlnet.org– More recently the Advanced Distributed Learning

initiative (ADL) has developed the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) specification to open e-learning standards to a wider audience. Much of SCORM is based on AICC but some components have been implemented differently.

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E-Learning Standards Evolution

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Standards Certification

• AICC CMI Specification – Certification– self-test– Designed to the guidelines

• ADL SCORM – certification– self-test

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Products that can be AICC-Certified

• LMS• LMS - Application Service Provider (ASP)• Assignable Unit (Lesson/LO)• WBT Courses - Collection of Learning Objects

within an AICC/LMS course structure• Courseware generation and assessment tools• Authoring Systems/Tools

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Who is AICC Certified?Who is AICC Certified?(14)(14)

• WBT Manager*• TopClass • Docent• Saba3• Pathlore LMS• THINQ

• ConXerto Achieve (Hk)• DIDA GROUP S.p.A

(Italian)• Getronics S.p.A. • Miraenet Co., Ltd.

(Korean)• Samsung SDS • Mediopia • Plateau 4 LMS (US)• Maritz Learning (US)

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Non-LMS AICC products

• Courseware– Skillsoft Corporation /Smartforce– SmartForce– Coastal Training Technology Corporation– ElementK

• Courseware Generation/Assessment Systems– Question Mark - Perception– CentraOne

• Authoring Tools– None

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Who is SCORM Certified

• WebMentor Avilar Technologies, Inc. • Knowledge Centre Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. • Semvra ACORDE Media, S.A. • Kontext Advanced Learning Lab, Ltd. • NetCampus21 Alex IT • Desire2Learn SCORM Component Desire2Learn Inc. • WebAula Corporate Zargon Computacao Ltda. aka Zargon & Poliedro e-Le • NEP (Next Education Platform) K1system co. Ltd. • Aspen Learning Management Server Click2learn • ANGEL CyberLearning Labs, Inc. • Crossroads Portable LMS and Packager ManTech Advanced Development

Group, Inc• SpeedLearn Miraenet Co. Ltd • KnowledgeWorkstechniques.org • Atlas ProBooz Allen Hamilton Inc. • In.Form@DIDAGROUP SPA 

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Who is SCORM Certified

• Learn eXact GIUNTI Interactive Labs • e-Learning Management System Shinewave International

Inc. • TopClass WBT Systems • Pathlore LMS Pathlore Corporation • LearningTrackThe Learning Touch, LLC • WebCT Vista WebCT • Saba Learning Enterprise Saba Software • L5 DigitalThink • ACADEMUS Alternativa Virtual SL • CLIX IMC AG • Docent Enterprise Docent, Inc. • Blackboard Learning System Blackboard, Inc. 

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Content ProvidersIntegrated with WBT Manager

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Differences

Pros Cons and Gotchas

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What AICC and SCORM Do: Enable Interoperability

• How LMS launches learning object (or asset – SCORM only)

• How data is communicated between LMS and learning object

Learning Object

LMS

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What AICC and SCORM Do: Enable Interoperability

LMS A

Define a common format for packaging content to enable interchange between LMSs and LCMSs

LMS B

LCMS A LCMS B

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Curricular Taxonomies

• SCORM– Content Aggregation

• A group of learning resources

– Sharable content object • SCORM’s LO

– Asset• E.g. Media – video, graphics

sound

• AICC– Course– Instructional Block– Assignable Unit (AU) -

Lesson• AICC’s LO

•Set of named hierarchical learning levels

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AICC/SCORM in ShortWhat’s the difference?

•AICC – CMI Specification •Two communication methods

•HACP (HTTP-based AICC CMI Protocol)•JavaScript API (application programming interface)

•Has had certification testing for LMS/content/tools since 1999•Doesn’t specify meta-data to describe LOs or course structures

•SCORM 1.2•JavaScript API only•Certification has only been available since 2003•Meta-data specification for LOs (optional)•Meta-data specification for content packaging

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SCORM

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Descriptive Wrapper

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API & HACP

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Pros Cons & Gotchas

Characteristics API HACPStandards compliance AICC, SCORM AICC

Certification available Yes, only just Yes

Track Record Shorter Longer

Robustness Good Better

Potential for growth More Less

Likelihood of significant changes to spec. More Less

Implementation base (LMS and courseware) Narrower Broader

Easy to use for courseware development Yes No

Potential problems with firewalls and browsers Yes No

Works with content on any server NO Yes

Fully compatible with HTML and JavaScript lesson Yes No

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Firewall and security problems

• A significant number of LMS vendors implement the API as a Java applet that runs on the student browser. Java applets tend to be seen as a security risk and many firewalls block them entirely, some IT departments configure the browsers to disable support for Java.

• HACP does not have this problem.

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Works with any content server?

• The “gotcha” for the API is the result of a built in security feature with Internet Explorer (IE). If:– your learning content is not in the same domain as your LMS

• some content providers suggest that the content stay on their own severs and your organisation’s LMS is just pointed to it

– the content uses API – the student is using an IE browser

• then no communication will take place.• Options:

– use HACP instead of API– Use Netscape – SCORM development committees have published a document

detailing some technical ‘work-arounds’ in Oct 2003

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Fully compatible with HTML plus JavaScript content?

• The HACP “gotcha” is that two way communication is not possible with content created with HTML plus JavaScript because although JavaScript (the programming language built into most Web Browsers) can readily send data to the LMS in the required HACP format, it cannot receive the HACP messages that the LMS returns, so for example ‘booking marking’ it not possible.

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Standards Data Model

CoreOptional

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Core Data Model

• Student ID• Student name• Lesson location• Credit• Lesson Mode

• Lesson status• Path• Score• Time

The following data is sent to a lesson when it is launched. Similar The following data is sent to a lesson when it is launched. Similar data is returned to the LMS when the lesson completes.data is returned to the LMS when the lesson completes.

Note: SCORM has a slightly reduced data model overallNote: SCORM has a slightly reduced data model overall

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Example 1: Student ID

• Definition: An identifier for the student that is unique within the LMS system.

• Direction of travel: LMS to lesson only– AICC HACP name: Student_ID– AICC API name: cmi.core.student_id– SCORM API name: cmi.core.student_id

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Example 2: Lesson Location

• Definition: A mechanism for lessons to report the point at which the student exited, primarily to serve as a bookmark.

• Direction of travel: Lesson to LMS; LMS to lesson– AICC HACP name: Lesson_Location– AICC API name: cmi.core.lesson_location– SCORM API name: cmi.core.lesson_location

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Optional Data Model Elements - Grouped

• Core– Mandatory plus lesson mode (browsing .reviewing)

• Comments– Brief free-form test comments: LMS can send comments from admin + LO can send

comments from the learner• Evaluation

– Used for evaluation the effectiveness of the LO – not included in the SCORM data set

• Objectives– Records scores and status info for identified learning objectives

• Student data– E.g. mastery score, time limit, action if time limit exceeded.– AICC also tracks info about multiple attempts

• Student demographics– Background info about the learner– Not included in the SCORM data set

• Student preferences– For presentation of LO, appearance, sound, language etc.

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Example 1: Attempt Number

• Definition: This AICC-only element indicates the number of times a student has previously entered the lesson. The LMS initializes this value to "0" the first time the student enters the lesson and increments it on each subsequent entry. The lesson determines how, if at all, this value is used.

• Direction of travel: Lesson to LMS; LMS to lesson– AICC HACP name: Attempt_Number– AICC API name: cmi.student_data.attempt_number– SCORM API name: not supported

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Example 2: Objective Status

• Definition: The student's current status in the objective. Objectives Status may be set to one of six defined values: Not Attempted, Browsed, Incomplete, Completed, Passed, or Failed.

• Direction of travel: LMS to lesson; lesson to LMS– AICC HACP name: Objectives_Status.n– AICC API name: cmi.objectives.n.status– SCORM API name: cmi.objectives.n.status

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Demo of optional elements

• Tracking and Reports– Objectives– Interactive– Prerequisites– Completion requirements

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Future - SCORM 1.3

• The introduction of simple sequencing. – LMSs will sequence learning activities at the time of delivery, based

upon • learner’s results • progress to date• behaviours specified externally to the learning content.

– Different sequencing behaviour can be applied to the same piece of content when it is used in different contexts.

• first step to truly individualized and adaptive learning delivery, • gives Instructional Designers the same level of sequencing control that was

typical in CBT (Computer Based Training).• All data elements will be mandatory for implementation by

LMSs. – This will simplify the selection of LMSs for purchasers and the

development of content that is intended to run in a variety of LMSs.

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Things you need to know….

LMSContent

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LMS

• To what version is the LMS certified?– N.B certification only available to SCORM 1.2– Legacy support for SCORM 1.1?

• What data elements will be tracked by the LMS?– AICC

• Core• Optional

– Scorm• Core• Optional

• What is the cost of customisation of front end and reporting

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Content Vendors

• What version of SCORM is the content compliant with?

• What data elements are being tracked currently• When is the data being sent?

– Exit– What if? Network connection is lost, computer crash, learner

forgets to exit and a time-out occurs.– How critical is the data e.g. score sent immediately, time not so

critical– Bookmarking? – How many database hits can you afford? – Server capacity

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Up to Date Information

• AICC CMI Subcommittee (Hyde, J., chair) CMI Guidelines for Interoperability– Available at http://www.aicc.org

• Dodds,P., Ed., Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM): The SCORM Run-Time Environment, version 1.2– Available at http://www.adlnet.org

• Website to the book– http://www.elearning-standards.com

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E-Learning Standards Book

E-Learning Standards A Guide to Purchasing, Developing

and Deploying E-Learning Standards

By

Carol Fallon and Sharon Brown

St. Lucie PressPublished November 15th 2002

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Have we covered everything?

– E-learning background and definitions– Quality considerations

• Best Practise • Case studies • Lessons learned

– Standards AICC and SCORM– References