With the potential to revolutionise learning as we know it, the power of e-learning is often constrained by the disparate technical and usage requirements of local educational systems. Researchers now hope to overcome these disparities with technology that adapts to existing applications.
The IST-funded TELCERT project has developed software tools and other resources to help authors, suppliers and standards organisations improve the interoperability of e-learning systems and materials. With the ultimate goal of extending the social and economic benefits of e-learning across Europe, TELCERT has gathered a range of partners that include e-learning providers, research organisations and industry from France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.
"Education has for centuries relied on the classroom method, but studies indicate this can no longer keep pace with today's high demand for education, and with rapidly expanding amounts of knowledge," says project coordinator David Rose of The Open Group, based in Reading, UK.
Rose adds, "Technology-enhanced learning can potentially bring about a revolution in learning, making high-quality, cost-effective education available to more people. In some cases, like distance learning programs, good people can get valuable qualifications largely through online study. For some, that is education that is otherwise not available."
The need for interoperability
For the full potential of e-learning to be realised however, the content, services and systems from different suppliers all need to work together. "Some of the research that inspired TELCERT showed that up to twenty five percent of the cost of acquiring new e-learning content goes on testing, and on reworking materials that don’t work together as they should," says Rose.
Standards bodies such as the IMS Global Learning Consortium have made progress in developing specifications to facilitate interoperability. However, different learning communities – countries, districts and educational sectors – modify these standards to accommodate their own needs. "So it is common for a major educational publisher, of a maths lesson or biology test let's say, to have to produce the same product in six to seven versions."
That makes the whole engineering process more time-consuming, raising costs for everyone. It makes it especially difficult for the newer and smaller companies to produce a varied product range. "The governments and public authorities that fund much of education want to level the playing field for all suppliers, so that their materials are more plug-and-play," says Rose. "Smaller firms can then compete more effectively, and the big suppliers benefit as well. The evidence is that more innovation and greater interoperability help everyone.”
SchemaProf, for example, is a powerful XML-based tool that allows users to create application profiles defining local cultural and pedagogical needs within an e-learning product. An English specification can be changed to a French one for instance. A plug-in, the Schema Transformation Tool, turns SchemaProf application profiles into localised schemas, avoiding the need to create custom specifications.
The Content Reengineering Tool (developed from the widely used RELOAD editor) helps publishers adapt content to a particular user profile. "It helps make sure that the content matches the profile from the start, like a quality tool," says Rose.
Finally, the TELCERT Test System verifies that content conforms to the profiled specification and provides information for product certification programmes. The system can be reconfigured automatically from any XML-based profile information.
The project also researched the complex challenges of interoperability testing for web services, widely seen as the future for e-learning delivery. "We have been able to develop the understanding and approach for these service-oriented architectures," says Rose. "We've found a way to do conformance testing of web-based e-learning services using the automatically configurable test system."
One potential use is to support the design and testing of interoperable electronic CV services, which allow students and job candidates to compile electronic records of their professional and academic achievements. "Let's say an employer wants to recruit an engineer from Romania. For that candidate's CV to be readable across borders and by different recruiters and employers, the information has to be interoperable," says Rose.
"Feedback from the communities has been excellent," says Rose." They can do things they couldn't before." He adds that delivery of certified content and trials of electronic CV services could begin as early as 2007.
