JISC

This project aims for interconnection between Microcompass Systems’ QLS and Granada Learnwise VLE.

Executive Summary

Success

Within the scope of the project, the project must be seen as a success in finding agreement across different cultures (business and education) and demonstrable practical outcomes that proved the concept. As would be expected, as many questions have arisen, and are arising from the work, as have been answered within the specific project and other projects within the call. This must be seen positively and as direct benefit to the project’s partners, the wider FE community and the services it purchases.

Agreeing the rules

In theory, and practice, the process of achieving interoperability is not difficult, though agreeing the specifications and mechanisms, and interpreting them, has been a significant and frustrating area of the work undertaken. This has been true for the vendors who have had to, as a result of lack of initial and on-going clarity of interpretation of specifications, and agreed and consistent vocabularies, try to make decisions and provide clear direction across the vendor groups (MIS & VLE). Clearly there would have been little sense in individual projects deciding their own interpretations.

Supporting Business and Learner processes

Beyond the questions of interpretation a significant issue became apparent and this related to the business and learning processes and procedures that existed within the college and how these would need to develop and integrate with the process of interoperation. These range from the administrative process (and burden) of mapping specific “learning packages” to specific qualification aims and decisions relating the potential for a change in status of a student (i.e. what happens to the student’s virtual existence should they transfer from one qualification aim to another, could/should this be initiated by the student, their tutor, what controls are there, etc …?) As the processes that are implemented within a given college are likely to differ, to a greater or lesser extent, a key requirement of any interoperation must be to provide the organisation with a sufficiently flexible software tool to enable them to implement their local requirements, and meet and develop their learners’ and business needs.

Security

A range of security related issue have arisen from the work, theses relate to logical security of the college network to those of authentication, validation and data protection. Learnwise and QLS servers resided on logically separate areas of the colleges network and necessitated changes in the way that that the servers and hence students could access those resources via Learnwise.

The college environment and interoperability

If colleges are to embrace and take interoperability forward they will need to:

• Have the awareness of senior managers raised and develop a strategy that encompasses achieving the goals of interoperability
• Consider the organisational/functional structures they have in place to manage and develop interoperation as a means of moving towards an “e” organisation

Commercial advantage and partner relationships

Such projects can only succeed if they are based on mutual trust, openness and take sharing further than “on a need to know basis”. Vendors clearly, and rightly, hope to see future business opportunities as a return for their project investment, which has undoubtedly been over and above the support provided through the project. This needs to also be considered with other pressures that partners have to face and the consequences of such on project management.
In working with existing clients and competitors (as all partners also do in certain of the other projects) the need to have an appropriate partner relationship is key to all partners and this will shape the individual partner’s views of their project(s) and the benefits derived.

Project planning

The project, as with other projects, was slow starting as it became clear that insufficient preparatory work had been undertaken nationally in terms of agreeing specifications and their interpretation that could be used by the sector. Had this had been done the real work of the individual projects could have started without these issues which were always in the background.

 

Report available electronically only. Read the final report below.