CSCL and Standards for Learning Technologies Ola Berge Netværket IKT og Læring, e-Learning Lab at Aalborg University,

Outline Learning technology “standards” –Learning objects –SCORM –IMS Learning Design Reuse of digital learning resources Current status of CSCL research and standards Why standards will become important for CSCL research

Motivation for standardization Improve cost efficiency in learning resource development Improve quality of learning experiences Obtained by reuse of learning resources

Learning objects Learning objects facilitate reuse Modular units, assembled to create larger constructs (e.g. lessons) Two components: –Metadata & content

LO example

URI Heap Sort Visualization en The applet reveals the inner workings of the Heap Sort sorting algorithm at an abstract level. Heap sort Java loop structure [...]

SCORM Predominant approach to standardization by early adopters Originates in requirements from training in the US military and aviation industry Many LMS vendors claim conformance

SCORM The goal is to “provide access to the highest quality education and training, tailored to individual needs, delivered cost-effectively anytime and anywhere” (ADL, 2004) “aims to foster creation of reusable learning content as ‘instructional objects’ within a common technical framework for computer-based and Web-based learning” (ADL, 2004)

SCORM content organization

Concern with SCORM “SCORM is essentially about a single-learner, self-paced and self-directed. It has a limited pedagogical model unsuited for some environments.” (Kraan & Wilson, 2002)

IMS Learning Design Reuse of teaching strategies and educational goals Support pedagogical diversity and innovation A learning design describes, in a formal meta-language, the way “people in specific groups and roles engage in activities using an environment with appropriate resources and services” (Oliver & Tattersall, 2005, p. 21)

Learning design as a script Metaphor: Learning Design as a script for a theatrical play –Persons in roles –Performs activities within environments –Methods: Plays, acts, and role-parts

Concern with IMS LD IMS LD is a complex specification It requires a supporting framework of components and services Such support still under development

Reuse Generally understood to involve materials that are created once and used numerous times in various contexts, in the form of learning objects (Downes, 2004; Duval & Hodgins, 2004; Littlejohn, 2003a; Wiley, 2000) Forms of reuse: –Reuse as is –Repurposing (reuse in a different context) –Customization (reuse with adaptations made) (Doorten, Giesbers, Janssen, Daniels, & Koper, 2003)

Taxonomy of Reuse QuaternaryPedagogical approach TertiaryCourse design SecondaryCourse design components Primary Own material External material Repurposed external material Reification of practice

Standards and the Taxonomy How do the standards address the four levels of reuse? –Primary: SCORM – learning objects described with IEEE LOM metadata –Secondary: Not explicitly addressed. Can be part of an IMS LD learning unit –Tertiary: IMS LD, (SCORM) –Quaternary: None

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning CSCL is “concerned with meaning and the practices of meaning-making in the context of joint activity and the ways in which these practices are mediated through designed artifacts.” (Koschmann, 2002) Meaning-making as social practices of joint meaning-making (Stahl, 2002) Artifact mediation can be seen more generally than just transmission of personal opinions through a technological artifact. (Stahl, 2003)

CSCL and standards Modest, but growing interest in learning technology standards and specifications Little interest in SCORM More attention on IMS LD Collaboration scripts

Current focus of CSCL Experimental systems Sustainable deployment currently in the background But not for long?

An opportunity for CSCL Insights reified within CSCL systems Learning technology standards facilitate a looser binding Standards represent an opportunity for sustainable deployment of CSCL systems

A challenge Providing support for students’ learning processes by structuring activities Allowing sufficient flexibility for productive collaborative learning processes to develop

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