Canadian Core Learning Resource Metadata Application Profile

1. Canadian Core Learning Resource Metadata Application Profile Norm Friesen norm.friesen@ualberta.ca www.cancore.org www.cancore.org

2. Overview • What is Metadata • Rationale for CanCore’s development • CanCore’s place in standards evolution • Understanding of Learning Objects • Repositories, Alliances and Support • Future of CanCore www.cancore.org

3. What is Metadata? • Data about data • A way of structuring and sharing descriptions www.cancore.org

4. A new vision for Educational Applications "stand-alone applications are incompatible with typical production, distribution, and usage patterns for educational software." J. Roschelle, et.al. www.cancore.org

5. Content Pedagogical purpose; to augment learning about: Paris 1839 Urban environments Architecture Daguerre Photography Daguerreotypes Educational Object: Example Granularity: an object can be a course, unit, lesson, image, Web page, exercise, image, multimedia clip; but it must have a specified pedagogical purpose www.cancore.org

6. Approaches to Learning Objects • Context provided by technical specifications: • SCO’s (SCORM) • RLO’s (Cisco) • Context provided by pedagogical practice: • CAREO • MERLOT www.cancore.org

7. CanCore and Repositories • CAREO and Alexandria Repositorieshttp://careo.netera.ca • Alberta Learning Portalhttp://www.edusplash.net/ • POOL/Splashhttp://www.edusplash.net/ • MERLOT http://www.merlot.org www.cancore.org

8. Rationale Repository projects in Canada and elsewhere • Realize economy of scale by coordinating the implementation and interpretation of metadata for learning objects (and other e-learning specifications) • Canada: population of California in the country with the 2nd largest land mass: used to working together www.cancore.org

9. Rationale: Simplicity • IMS: leading educational metadata specification • IMS Metadata Model too complicated for effective implementation: “Many vendors [have] expressed little or no interest in developing products that [are] required to support a set of meta-data with over 80 elements” Best Practices and Implementation Guide, IMS, 2000 www.cancore.org

10. Rationale: Simplicity, con’t • Solution: core set of IMS elements most important for exchangeable resource descriptions • Mid-way between structuralist (IMS) and minimalist (Dublin Core) approaches to metadata www.cancore.org

11. Rationale: Specificity • Effective implementation requires a consistent interpretation of each element’s purpose and use • Best accomplished through • Close consultation with development community • guidelines document www.cancore.org

12. Rationale: Examples • IMS Element 5.4 Semantic Density: “subjective measure of the learning object's usefulness as compared to its size or duration” • omitted in CanCore • IMS Element 1.2 Title“Learning Object's name.” • Word order, subtitles, multilingual titles, series/episode titles • IMS Classification Element Group “Description of a characteristic of the resource by entries in classifications.” • CanCore seeking coordinated definition of classification uses, purposes, and vocabularies: e.g. for object granularity, accessibility www.cancore.org

13. Rationale: Semantics • E-learning specifications community is largely concerned with syntax and technical interoperation • Effective metadata requires semantic specification and consensus • Incorporate best practice from library and heritage communities • No other body is doing this across e-learning projects www.cancore.org

14. CanCore: Element Groups & Numbers • Relation (2) • Annotation (omitted) • Classification (7 x 2): • Discipline (i.e. subject) • PedagogicType (i.e. granularity) • General (7) • LifeCycle (4) • Metametadata (6) • Technical (7) • Educational (5) • Rights (3) www.cancore.org

15. Rationale: Overview Complexity decreases IMS Metadata Information Model: appx. 80 elements, little interpre-tation Implementation CanCore - CAREO Specificity and Interoperability increases www.cancore.org

16. CanCore as an “Application Profile” • Data elements drawn from one or more specifications optimized for particular implementations • Emphasis on tighter constraints on definitions and acceptable values, and on re-use of specification work • Rachel Heery, UK • Makx Dekkers, EU, Dublin Core • Jane Hunter, Australia www.cancore.org

17. Approaches to Learning Objects • Context provided by technical specifications: • SCO’s (SCORM) • RLO’s (Cisco) • Context provided by pedagogical practice: • CAREO • MERLOT www.cancore.org

18. Content Pedagogical purpose; to augment learning about: Paris 1839 Urban environments Architecture Daguerre Photography Daguerreotypes Educational Object: Example Granularity: an object can be a course, unit, lesson, image, Web page, exercise, image, multimedia clip; but it must have a specified pedagogical purpose www.cancore.org

19. Smaller: Easier: reusability and adapability More difficult: discovery and metadata creation Larger: Easier: discovery and metadata creation More difficult: reusability and adaptibility Learning Objects: Granularity www.cancore.org

20. CanCore and ADL-SCORM • Different definitions of “educational objects” • Many specifications referenced and combined vs. just metadata • Public education vs. training emphases www.cancore.org

21. CanCore and Repositories • CAREO and Alexandria Repositorieshttp://careo.netera.ca • Alberta Learning Portalhttp://www.edusplash.net/ • POOL/Splashhttp://www.edusplash.net/ • MERLOT http://www.merlot.org www.cancore.org

22. Support • Industry Canada (via the Netera Alliance) • CAREO (Campus Alberta Repository of Learning Objects) • Alberta Learning • TeleCampus.edu • Electronic Text Centre at UNB www.cancore.org

23. CanCore’s Future • Completion and Promotion of CanCore guidelines document • Hope to provide similar (implementation) assistance to implementers in other specifications work (e.g. metadata harvesting) • Looking internationally for collaboration opportunities • Looking to establish a permanent office, possibly in Canada’s National Research Council www.cancore.org

24. Find out more about CanCore at: www.cancore.org www.cancore.org