Learning Materials, Tools and Markets

A Model for Successful Open Source Development in Higher Education

Monday, January 27, 2003
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. SESS03

Carl W. Jacobson, Director, MIS, University of Delaware

Open source e-portfolios? Portals? Learning management systems? Built for higher education, by higher education? With vendor support? How?

This presentation will examine the uPortal open source effort as an example of collaborative software development. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon foundation, uPortal was created by a dozen institutions in partnership with government and industry. uPortal is in production at more than 50 institutions worldwide, and four commercial vendors have adopted uPortal as part of their product offerings. Project funding, resource recruiting, community sourcing, project management, commercialization, and internationalization will be discussed.

Decentralized Collaborative Approach to Learning Object Development

Tuesday, January 28, 2003
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. SESS25

Brian Lamb, Manger, Emerging Technologies & Digital Content, The University of British Columbia

Jim Sibley, Manager-Centre for Instructional Support, The University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia (UBC) is moving rapidly on internal, national, and international fronts to realize the promise of learning objects. UBC is a large research institution with a decentralized approach to administration; individual faculties have traditionally managed their own educational technology implementations and projects. The potential benefits of a learning object approach, most notably reuse and flexibility, inspired a collaborative effort. Eight distinct campus units—including five faculties, Distance Education and Technology, UBC Libraries, and IT Services—submitted a joint project proposal to develop a learning object infrastructure.

The learning object project is a hybrid of decentralized and centralized organizational principles. Although working toward a common goal, each partner has a unique set of circumstances, needs, and resources. Larger faculties wishing to preserve their autonomy within the larger project require customized branding, interface and experience design, specialized metadata schemas, and secure departmental hosting of resources. Yet other imperatives suggest centralized solutions: some smaller faculties lack the resources to maintain their own repositories, and the demand for a central one-stop portal to search for objects is clear. The key to balancing these seemingly contradictory directions is to adapt the strategies of larger learning object projects to the campus level, such as adhering to shared standards and developing a robust set of interrepository communication protocols. UBC is an active participant in Canadian endeavors such as CANARIE, BELLE, and CanCore, and is contributing to an international Learning Resource Catalogue with its international partners in the Universitas 21 consortium. The ultimate goal is a diverse and robust learning object ecology that fosters resource exchange on campus, and among national and international colleagues.

Postconference Resource

Related article from NLII 2002-2003 Annual Reivew:
"If You Give a Student a Computer: Patrick McElroy Suggests a Win-Win Model for Managing Growing Demand for Digital Learning Content"

Sunday, January 26, 2003
8:30 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. SESS01N

Postconference Resource

Related article from NLII 2002-2003 Annual Review: "How (and Why) to Listen to Heavy Metal: Participating in Standards Development Lets Higher Education Control Its Destiny"

Sunday, January 26, 2003
8:00 a.m. - 8:15 a.m.SESS01G

Postconference Resource

Related article from NLII 2002-2003 Annual Review:
"The Digital Repository Comes of Age: NLII Members are Turning Learning Objects into Knowledge Agents"

Sunday, January 26, 2003
8:00 a.m. - 8:15 a.m.SESS01C

Postconference Resource

When Learning Object Theory Meets Practice: Functionality of Emerging Standards in the Real World

Tuesday, January 28, 2003
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. SESS29

Eva W. Bradshaw, College of Education and Human Ecology, CIO, The Ohio State University

Catherine M. Gynn, Chief Information Officer, The Ohio State University Newark Campus

Subramaniam Karthik, Graduate Research Assistant, The University of Arizona

According to Susan Metros et al., learning objects may "offer great value in terms of saving time and money in course development, increasing the reusability of content, enhancing students' learning environment, sharing knowledge within and across disciplines, and engaging faculty in a dynamic community of practice" (http://www.educause.edu/asp/doclib/abstract.asp?ID=NLI0202).

How well does this statement describe and capture the essence of learning objects in the real-world situations faced by faculty and their instructional designers? This presentation will discuss the use of open source initiatives and software for creating repositories of learning objects. Additionally, software methods and protocols used for understanding information behaviors and uses of learners (students) and faculty that are integrally embedded in instructional materials, such as citation and reference linking and uses of these links (what students and faculty do with such links), are briefly presented. Multiple examples of learning object uses, like DLIST being developed at the University of Arizona, will be cited to illustrate points made.

Postconference Resource