1. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 Intro to ASPECT Adopting Standards and Specifications for Educational Content Frans Van Assche EUN Senior Advisor

2. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 2 A project co-funded by the European Union, through the eContentplus programme http://ec.europa.eu/econtenplus

3. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 3 Implementations of Standards and Specs exist already today

4. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 4

5. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 5 The LRE Network Ministries of education –Austria –Estonia –Finland –Flanders (Belgium) –France –Hungary –Iceland –Israel –Ireland –Italy –Lithuania –Norway –Poland –Portugal –Region of Catalonia –Slovenia –Spain –Sweden Publishers –FWU –Cambridge-Hitachi –Cambridge University Press –Skolavefurinn –Contento –Promethean –Young Digital Planet –Siveco –Dunlem e-Learning Others –The European Schoolnet –ARIADNE Foundation –KULeuven –OERcommons –Cité des Sciences –Open University (UK)

6. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 6 Why raising awareness of standards and specifications is not enough?

7. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 7

8. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 8

9. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 9 We are convinced that, if properly structured and managed, new best practice networks (BPN) frameworks can help redress the disconnect between standards organisations and the educational community by: focussing on implementing standards as well as raising awareness, and supporting emerging standards and specifications that map to and are influenced by best practice related to the use of ICT in schools. The ASPECT project

10. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 10 Key interoperability questions What is the use of Educational Content if it is too hard to integrate it in my own technical environment or I cant use it in my LMS? if it is too hard to adapt it (although Im allowed to). What travels well? if it is too hard to get it if I dont know whether and how I could use it if I have no means to evaluate it if I cant find it if I cant share it and expose it even if I want to

11. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 11 Crux of ASPECT Interoperability Issues Standards Interoperability of Standards And BEST PRACTICE

12. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 12 Create Discovery Search Soc. Recommend. Agent based Integrate Evaluate Choose Get Reference or LO Adapt & Reuse Disaggregate Aggregate Modify the content Modify the sequence Use/PlayIntegrate Local Delete Retract Expose Describe Resolution

13. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 13 Best Practices Content Discovery Content Use Dissemination, creating impact Evaluation Quality Assurance Implementation of best practices School Pilots Metadata: IEEE LOM, Dublin Core Query Language: CQL, PLQL, LRE=QL Vocabulary: XVD, VDEX, ZTHES, SKOS Protocol: SQI, SPI, SRU/SRW, OAI=PMH Registry: CORDRA, ADL Registry Format: IMS Content Packaging SCORM, IMS Common Cartridge, IMS QTI Identifier: Handle System, DOI Digital Rights Management: Creative Commons, IMS Common Cartridge, LRE DRM WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP2

14. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 14 Best Practice on Different Levels of Interoperability TechnicalSemantic Political

15. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 15 Standards & Specifications IEEE LOM, Dublin Core IEEE LOM and DC are well adopted. DC is for content in general while LOM is designed for educational content. The major need is to be able to transform metadata instances from one format into another. While solutions for mapping the default specifications exist, good solutions are lacking for specific application profiles of IEEE LOM and DC. The ASPECT partners will make all their content available through the LOM. This is part of WP5.

16. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 16 Standards & Specifications XVD, VDEX, ZTHES, SKOS, CEF ZThes has a wide adoption and the latest version has improved features for internationalisation. VDEX has a wide adoption as well. XVD is the most advanced specification supporting mappings between vocabularies and alternative structures but it has very little adoption at this stage. SKOS has currently the best approach to the mapping of vocabularies. Hence transformers between the formats should be offered to the wider audience of vocabulary developers. However, this is not sufficient. All too often it is the case that Application Profile developers invent vocabularies again and again. Apart from being inefficient, it harms the semantic interoperability of different application profiles. Given this situation, adoption can be best supported by providing a registry for vocabularies and mappings between vocabularies that allows for uploading and downloading in different formats. The ASPECT project will evaluate all specifications and adopt one or more as an input and/or output format of the European Vocabulary Bank (part of the ASPECT service centre). In addition the ASPECT will investigate to what extent mappings between these different specifications are possible. This work will be performed as part of WP2. Results will feed into WP5.

17. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 17 Standards & Specifications SQI, SPI, SRU/SRW, OAI-PMH, SWORD SRU/SRW are well adopted in the library world. SQI has a good adoption in the European Learning Technology world and many MoEs have adopted it for exchanging LOM instances in the LRE. SQI has been developed in order to support more advanced features such as asynchronous communication and different query languages in federated LOR networks. It is our conclusion that SQI could be profiled to support SRU/SRW such that both specifications could be used in a federated search scenario. OAI-PMH is well adopted also in the European LT world. As it is dealing with a different scenario (harvesting), it can co-exist with the other specifications. SPI is at the specification stage. It is work planned under CEN/ISSS contract. The ASPECT project will evaluate all specifications and adopt one or more as for exchanging metadata and content. As a minimum all content providers will adopt SQI and/or OAI-PMH. In addition it will be investigated to what extend these specifications can be made interoperable through for example profiling or a run-time gateway. Finally ASPECT will co-operate with CEN/ISSS in order to test the new SPI specification. This work will be performed as part of WP2. Results will feed into WP5.

18. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 18 Standards & Specifications CQL, PLQL, LRE-QL These are all abstract query languages that operate on a conceptual model instead of, for instance, relational tables. They have been developed by different parties involved in federating LO repositories and are used to interrogate metadata following the IEEE LOM. In the end it would be better to have a single well thought through query language. ASPECT will thus first investigate this route and, if this is not possible, try to establish translation mechanisms. LRE-QL is already an application profile of PLQL. This work will be performed as part of WP2. Results will feed into WP5.

19. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 19 Standards & Specifications SCORM, IMS Common Cartridge, IMS Content packaging SCORM is in Europe well adopted in the military world in a NATO context, and to a large extent by commercial publishers, especially for training purposes. However, the adoption in the school sector is limited. Cited barriers include the limited pedagogical models (primarily instructional design) SCORM supports, as well as the steep learning curve demanded if one would like to repurpose a SCO, a situation that occurs much more frequently in the school sector. IMS Common Cartridge is a specification under development. Content Packaging, Question/Test Interoperability (QTI) and Metadata, with the IMS Tools Interoperability Protocol. Partners in the consortium being part of IMS, will release the first player in Q2 2008. As such, it is at the beginning of the adoption life cycle and adoption support measures will therefore be in terms of awareness raising, and demonstrators. The ASPECT project will not address the barriers to SCORM, as it will involve a long- term effort within the LT research and pedagogical communities. The ASPECT project will however help content providers to use SCORM as well as Common Cartridge to content. As part of establishing best practice, it will be investigated what barriers exist for content providers in using these two specifications. This work will be performed as part of WP5 with the help of WP3.

20. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 20 Standards & Specifications IMS-QTI IMS-QTI is reasonably well adopted and works well for what it is supposed to do. While the consortium recognizes that the educational world needs more advanced specifications to fully support assessment, this is not retained as an objective The ASPECT project will help content providers to use IMS-QTI as part of the new IMS Common Cartridge specification. This work will be performed as part of WP5 with the help of WP3.

21. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 21 Standards & Specifications CORDRA CORDRA is a model that is not really adopted in Europe. One of the barriers is the confusion between the general model and its specific implementation and deployment within the US DoD in the ADL-Registry. Nevertheless it is an important specification. Specific elements, such as the Handle System for identifiers, is of particular interest. Hence, ASPECT will analyse and compare the technological options offered and set-up a demonstrator implementation to be used by content and metadata providers. This work will be performed as part of WP3.

22. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 22 Standards & Specifications Creative Commons Creative Commons is by now well adopted. There are however some problems that hamper its adoption. First, as content providers are creating variants, interoperability of those variants becomes a problem. In addition there is a usability problem. EUNs two and a half year experience with the implementation is that, although Creative Commons is very simple, end-users such as teachers and learners make regular mistakes (about 30%) when uploading material. Therefore, the ASPECT project will investigate these usability issues in order to improve the adoption and practice of Creative Commons. This work will be performed as part of WP5 with the help of WP2 & WP3.

23. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 23 Standards & Specifications ISO/IEC 19796-x This quality standard, based on European pre-work in the CEN/ISSS workshop learning technologies will be adapted to the projects needs. By nature, the process-oriented standard ISO/IEC 19796-1 is adaptable to different organizational contexts. The other parts of the standards series will also be used: ISO/IEC 19796-3 (reference methods and metrics) will be used to derive quality measures, ISO/IEC 19796-4 (good practice guide) will be input for the guidelines Therefore, the ASPECT project will implement those standards and provide feedback on the further development of those standards. This work will be performed as part of WP5 with the help of WP7

24. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 24 Expected results

25. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 25 Facilitate the adoption of learning technology standards and specifications with a specific focus on the school sector

26. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 26 Take into account teachers views as well as those of technical experts during the pre-standardisation process

27. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 27 Assess standards and specifications through their implementation on a critical mass of educational content

28. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 28 Make recommendations on the combination of a number of standards to ensure more transparent interoperability

29. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 29 More specifically

30. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 30 ASPECT will be actively working with more than 200 leading European experts, professional and policy makers in Ministries of education...

31. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 31...as well as with pre- standardisation and standardisation bodies

32. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 32 Impact at least one IMS Specification

33. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 33 ASPECT is also committed to produce at least Two CEN Workshop AgreementTwo ENs created by TC353 Information and Communication Technologies for learning education and training

34. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 34 One of the main outcomes will be the creation of the ASPECT Service Centre

35. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 35 LOR registry Vocabulary bank for education Application profile registry Automatic translation service for metadata Compliance testing Transformer service: turn metadata & vocabularies into another format Access to known interoperability issues Learning Technology Observatory ASPECT Service Centre

36. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 36

37. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 37 Information For Learning Object eXchange (ILOX)

38. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 38 FRBR Is an Example of Materialization

39. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 39

40. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 40 Learning Object Copies

41. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 41 Issue When I discover a learning resource (work or expression) I should be able to request a copy (item) in a given format (manifestation)

42. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 42 Manifestation Names & Preview (will require best practice) Thumbnail of Metadata in Experience (as rendered in my user interface – remote play) Package in

43. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 43 Indicators

44. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 44 Indicators

45. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 45 Indicators

46. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 46 Indicators

47. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 47 How can you benefit from ASPECT?

48. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 48 Join the ASPECT community

49. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 49 Access ASPECT resources

50. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 50 Access ASPECT resources

51. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 51 Join us at one of the 20 ASPECT events

52. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 52 EUN Events Developer Workshop on the ASPECT approach to Federated Search and Harvesting, March 10- 11, 2009 Leuven, Belgium http://www.cs.kuleuven.be/~hmdb/SqiOaiAspect/ ASPECT Workshop at IMS Learning Impact 2009, Barcelona, 14-15 May 2009. Further details will be posted on the ASPECT web site shortly

53. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 53 Apply to the ASPECT Awards!

54. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 54 22 Partners from 15 Countries 9 Ministries of Education9 Ministries of Education 4 Commercial content developers and leading technology providers4 Commercial content developers and leading technology providers 2 European associations2 European associations Experts from international standardisation bodies and consortia active in eLearning: CEN/ISSS, IMS, IEEE, ISO, ADL...Experts from international standardisation bodies and consortia active in eLearning: CEN/ISSS, IMS, IEEE, ISO, ADL...

55. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 55 Ministries of Education Denmark – UNI-CDenmark – UNI-C Belgium (Flemish community) - EduCBelgium (Flemish community) - EduC France – CNDPFrance – CNDP Germany – FWUGermany – FWU Hungary – EDUCATIOHungary – EDUCATIO Italy – INDIREItaly – INDIRE Lithuania – ITCLithuania – ITC Portugal – DGIDCPortugal – DGIDC Slovenia – ULSlovenia – UL

56. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 56 Commercial Content & Technology providers Siveco Romania SASiveco Romania SA Cambridge University Press Ltd.Cambridge University Press Ltd. IcodeonIcodeon Young Digital Planet SAYoung Digital Planet SA European Associations European Schoolnet EIfEL

57. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 57 Time & Budget ASPECT is a Best Practice Network supported by the European Commission's eContentplus Programme Start 1 September 2008 End 28 February 2011 4.625 M. budget 4.625 M. budget 3.7 M. funding 3.7 M. funding

58. Frans Van Assche European Schoolnet Oegstgeest 26 February 2009 58 Contact and Information ASPECT: http://aspect-project.org/ http://aspect-project.org/ LRE: http://lre.eun.org/ LRE: http://lre.eun.org/ LRE: http://lreforschools.eun.org LRE: http://lreforschools.eun.orghttp://lreforschool European Schoolnet: http://www.eun.org/ European Schoolnet: http://www.eun.org/http://www.eun.org/ eContentPlus: http://ec.europa.eu/econtentplus eContentPlus: http://ec.europa.eu/econtentplus