JISC

The project is collaboration between the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University (UK) and the Educational Technology Expertise Center at the Open University of the Netherlands (OUNL). The rationale behind the project is to develop (a) A proof of concept and (b) Extensible and reusable tools and player, which we feel are important for exploring the potential of IMS Learning Design as a method for describing course models. We were already working on the principles of this activity when the call came out so we were well placed to make the application in the area of Activity Management. The OUNL agreed to develop CopperCore in tandem with the UKOU player and wizard development so that we can both meet JISC project objectives and also develop a practical and extensible system based on standard compliant Open Source principles. We are able to take advantage of existing work to leverage development and operate to the tight timescales needed for the call so that by the end of the project will be possible to demonstrate a complete IMS level A/B and C compliant service based LD player.

Aims and Objectives

The overall aims of the project are to:

• develop a player and related tools and libraries that would be used in conjunction with CopperCore to allow playable presentations based on existent and newly created OU course materials. This will allow us to evaluate whether Learning Design works as a methodology which can be used in practise to support online course presentations
• develop tools and libraries that would allow existing environments to be mapped into a Learning Design structure. This would include a method for describing services which we want to use within a Learning Design play (such as computer mediated conferencing)

The specific objectives are to:

• Upgrade CopperCore Learning Design engine to be SOAP complian
• Upgrade CopperCore to be IMS LD level B/C compliant.
• Produce a service based player system (GoldLeaf) linked to the CopperCore engine.
• Create ancillary services for the player to control rendering and environment information.
• Enrich understanding of learning design in the context of course production and evaluate Learning Design as a method of supporting online course development.
• Create a Wizard (SilverMagic) and guidelines for authoring (time permitting).

Project Methodology

The proposal focuses around the IMS Learning Design specification. We hope to evaluate Learning Design as a potential method of supporting all types of online course interactivity. To do this we will be using some existing course material developed for the H806 (Learning the Connected Economy) Master Level course from the Open university, we will also hope to develop new presentations based around the types of interactivity and services that we would expect to find in typical OU courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level. We hope to be able to gauge the effectiveness of the environments by comparing them to existing course presentations. For the purposes of the bid we expect to develop two or three proof of concept courses presentations showing different types of interactivity. The project will be based around the established principles of Open Source standards compliant tools development.

Deliverables

This project will deliver:

• A short reflective report at the end of the project
• Release through Sourceforge of new version of CopperCore under GNU GPL
• Release of player and environment components through Sourceforge
• A demonstration of the system in action using the LD Wizard
• Documentation to allow reuse and understanding using e.g. UML 

The results of our evaluations will be fed back to IMS to influence future development of the Learning Design specification. The project will yield a set of tools which should assist other institutions in developing their courses using Learning Design. Ultimately the project should tell us if Learning Design can work as a model for describing pedagogies in online learning.

Project Partners
Open University (UK)
Open University of the Netherlands (OUNL)