160 likes | 231 Views
Learning Design, generic service descriptions and universal acid Martin Weller. Outline. Context Service oriented architecture SLeD project Integration issues Discussion. Context. Reuse of content Reuse of pedagogy Reuse of tools Open source VLEs Service Oriented Architecture
E N D
Learning Design, generic service descriptions and universal acid Martin Weller
Outline • Context • Service oriented architecture • SLeD project • Integration issues • Discussion UNFOLD September 2005
Context • Reuse of content • Reuse of pedagogy • Reuse of tools • Open source VLEs • Service Oriented Architecture • Web services UNFOLD September 2005
Reuse of LDs If… Provide savings More convenient Quality Therefore… Need range of tools But… Need to remain neutral to specific tools So Service oriented approach is ideal UNFOLD September 2005
SOA needs • Generic service descriptions • Methodology for describing services • Tools that use these UNFOLD September 2005
Universal acid? Dennet’s analogy for evolutionary theory Generic services will ‘eat’ through any architecture Simple algorithms produce complex behaviour UNFOLD September 2005
Or generic services are… • Nice in theory, but… • Impractical • Inefficient • More work than they are worth • Offer less functionality • Better to build tools from scratch UNFOLD September 2005
SLeD • Upgrading of CopperCore to integrate QTI calls in LD packages • Development of a technical methodology for integrating service calls in LD • Demonstration of this methodology with an interface to an ePortfolio tool UNFOLD September 2005
Proposed architecture UNFOLD September 2005
Approach • Broker – interprets request by player • Player – handles display, coordination and user interfaces • Translators – generic service descriptions not enough, need application specific code • QTI file as resource in LD • Player identifies type ‘QTI’, so sends to QTI engine to generate HTML UNFOLD September 2005
Process UNFOLD September 2005
Outcomes • Successfully modified architecture • Integrated calls to QTI (APIS) • Devised approach • Mock implementation for eportfolio UNFOLD September 2005
Integration Issues • Eportfolio is different from QTI • QTI determines how questions are seen • Eportfolio only says how they are stored – NOT how it gets into an application • Option 1 – minimal integration (LD has been completed) • Option 2 – rich integration (develop a description) UNFOLD September 2005
Other Issues • No OS eportfolio tools have WS interface yet • Complexity of developing description for every service UNFOLD September 2005
Discussion • It worked • But… • Is generic sometimes a goal in itself? • Didn’t explore loss of richness • Is it worth the effort? UNFOLD September 2005
If you want more.. http://sled.open.ac.uk/ http://www.coppercore.org/ http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=programme_elearning UNFOLD September 2005