Commercial Distance Learning Software

SystemsTimothy K. Shih, Neil Yen

Outline

• E-learning Products• Guidelines for Choosing Tools • Demo of Authoring Systems• Demo of Learning Management Systems• Summary

E-Learning Products

• “Mainstream” e-learning products– Learning portals– Learning management Systems (LMSs)

• Portals provide gateway to learning resources, learning management systems provide the functionality

– Authoring Tools• Content aggregation tools• Manifest makers• Meta-data editors• Search engines

– Repositories

Authoring ToolsLMSs

Repositories

Store Content

Gather Content(push/pull using meta-data & federated searches)

Publish Content(provide meta-data to other repositories)

Repackage Content

Export Content Import Content

• Student Enrollment• Course Enrollment • Designate Instructors & Assign

Instructor Rights & Roles• Match Students with Instructors• Monitor/Track Student/Learner

Performance

• Sequence Content Presentation

• Create & Associate Meta-data

• Create Content• Package Content

LMS Functions (1/4)for students

• On-line curriculum– Allow users to browse courses, services, and references– On-line supervision of enrollment

• Registration– Register on-line, pay on-line– Credit transfer– Transcript database, diploma

• Installation– Trouble Shutting

• On-line tracking– Keep track of learning behavior, completion status

• On-line Assessment– Tests, hints, feedback, suggestions, etc– Identify knowledge or skill level

LMS Functions (2/4) for students

• On-line communication– Facilitate student-to-instructor communications– Facilitate student-to-student communication (chat

room, discussion board, instant message)• Collect assignments

– Essays, journals (result of discussion)– Project, homework

• Provide access to external resources– Digital libraries and repositories– Relevant links

LMS Functions (3/4) for administrators/instructors

• Content Management– Timely update and retrieval– Register a new course– Remove an old course

• Service Management– Selling books, suggest new courses, etc

• Knowledge Management System– Integrated with LMS

• Administration– Student administration– Instructor administration

LMS Functions (4/4) for university

• Evaluation of Courses– Student evaluation– Instructor peer evaluation– Expert evaluation

• Reports– Report of learning performance (student and the

entire class)– Report of instruction/course performance– Report of curriculum

• Satisfaction of students– Skill improved– Career planning

Functions of Authoring Platforms

• Create, preview, and store content– Package content– Repackage content

• Personalized content– Presentation sequence– Adaptive contents

• Search for references– Gather content using meta-data & federated searches– Import content– Export content– Create associated meta-data

• Publish contents– Publish as a course– Publish as a sharable and reusable course– Copyright Management

Guidelines for Choosing Tools • A typical LMS focuses on content delivery and general student

administration• A typical authoring tool focuses on fast creation of learning objects• General Considerations

– Budget– Learning curve– Size of user group– Extensibility– Reputation of vendor, technical support, upgrade, etc

• Selecting Authoring Tools– Can be used with existing tools (e.g., Powerpoint)– Multimedia support– User friendly interface– Use of template

• Selecting LMSs– Web browser support– Operating system support– Free run-time support at client site– Scalability – Security and firewall

Demo of Authoring Systems

• Reusable E-Learning Object Authoring and Delivery (RELOAD)

• Hard SCORM Authoring Tool• Blackboard• Moodle• WebCT• QTI Open Source Tools

RELOAD

• Reusable E-Learning Object Authoring and Delivery– A Content Package and Metadata Editor

• Background– A project funded under the JISC Exchange for Learning

Program (X4L).

– Focus on the development of tools that are based on emerging learning technology interoperability specifications from IMS and ADL.

http://www.reload.ac.uk/

RELOAD (Cont.)

• Why RELOAD?– Avoid working directly with XML– speed up XML creation– reduce errors– aid conformance (and uptake)

RELOAD (Cont.)

• RELOAD Primary aims– Facilitate the creation, sharing and reuse of learning objects

and services

– Enhance the range of pedagogical approaches realizable through the use of lesson plans.

• RELOAD Tools available– IMS Content Packager– IMS Metadata Editor– ADL SCORM 1.2 Player– IMS Learning Design

RELOAD (Cont.)

• RELOAD Features:– Free and Open Source– Written in Java, Cross-Platform– A Reference Implementation– Being extended worldwide

• RELOAD Projects Contributions:– Core Tasks

• Collect Content• Create Working Directory• Prepare Placeholders• Import Content• Make Organizations• Preview• Rearrange• Add Metadata• Package and Zip

– Advanced Tasks• Manifests• Dependencies

RELOAD (Cont.)

• Hard SCORM Authoring Tool– For building SCORM-compliant courses

• According to the SCORM 2004 specification• Transparent in SCORM-compliant LMSs

– For constructing SCORM Compliant Multimedia Courses on Hard-Copy Books

– Written in C# with Microsoft .Net Framework

Hard SCORM Authoring Tool

http://www.mine.tku.edu.tw

• Main Components– Operations on Content Aggregation– Metadata Editor with automatic filling mechanism– Sequencing Editor and Sequencing Testing Mode– Hard SCORM Course Editor– Metadata Searching Engine

• Integrating With Other Advanced Tools – Video Presentation Editor– Video SCORM Authoring Tool– QTI-based Assessment Authoring System

Hard SCORM Authoring Tool

Blackboard

• Academic Suite– Blackboard Learning System– Blackboard Content System– Blackboard Community System– Blackboard Portfolio– Blackboard K-12 Starter Edition– Blackboard Backpack

http://www.blackboard.com

Moodle

• Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment

If you are an educator or business trainer, you have probably heard all the talk about......

21st Century Schools

Social Software and e-Learning

http://moodle.org/

Who is Using Moodle?

• K-12 Schools• Colleges • Universities• Governmental Agencies• Businesses• Trade Associations• Hospitals• Libraries• Employment Agencies

Summary

• Main components– Courseware Authoring Tools– Learning Management Systems– Learning Content Repositories

• The interoperability among the aforementioned 3 components should be integrated seamlessly

• The user experience should be taken into consideration while developing such distance learning software systems