JISC

Building on the experiences and outputs of the Interoperability Pilots programme in English further education (FE) colleges, this project (SWaNI) aimed to establish interoperability between Managed Learning Environment (MLE) systems using application profiles based on specifications developed by the IMS Global Learning Consortium, with extensions appropriate to the FE sectors in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Executive Summary

The JISC Interoperability Pilots II Programme (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – SWaNI) was announced in April 2002. Building on the experiences and outputs of the Interoperability Pilots programme in English further education (FE) colleges, SWaNI aimed to establish interoperability between MLE systems using application profiles based on specifications developed by the IMS Global Learning Consortium, with extensions appropriate to the FE sectors in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The expected outcomes of the programme were:  

• Further proof that vendors can achieve interoperability between core component systems found in MLEs by designing and building each component system to agreed specifications 
• Test and evaluate the application of these systems to learning situations found in Colleges in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland 
• The outcomes and lessons learnt from these studies can be used by the JISC community to inform further MLE related work 
• The outcomes and lessons learnt from these studies can be used to encourage vendor commitment to developing standards compliant systems

A consultation exercise was carried out prior to the publication of the programme call, which indicated that the programme should concentrate on the following areas of interoperability, using IMS or other appropriate standards and specifications:  

• Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) systems and Student Record Systems within a college 
• VLE systems and content repositories 
• VLE systems and Library/Learning Resources/Catalogue Systems 
• VLE systems and college Student Record systems and other stakeholder systems needed to create and access lifelong learning logs

A Steering Group was established to oversee the development and management of the programme, and a dedicated programme manager was appointed.

The total budget for the programme was £560,000. Projects ran from September 2002 until July 2003 and the maximum budget for each project was £40,000.

Seven projects were funded, three in Scotland and four in Wales:

Report available electronically only. Read the final report below.