JISC

Start date: 10 May 2004

End date: 29 October 2004

Funding programme: e-Learning Frameworks and Tools programme

Project website: http://www.hull.ac.uk/esig/isis.html

JISC theme(s): e-Learning

There is an emerging consensus that the next generation of e-learning content will involve sequences of activities. Such sequences will enable flexible and interactive pathways such as formative assessment, exploratory learning, adaptation to different learning styles, remediation, and personalisation in general, to be developed.

Aims and Objectives

ISIS will draw together leading-edge work to provide tools and libraries to facilitate creation, integration and presentation of sequenced learning activities. To achieve this, applications and services are required to enable designers of content to easily produce sequenced learning activities using the IMS Simple Sequencing specification.   The activities will be surfaced for end-users through an institutional portal framework, providing a standards conformant presentation layer.

The project proposes to build libraries that enable the production and consumption of sequencing services.

The library for service consumers will be demonstrated using two tools:

• A visualization tool that graphically presents the sequencing rules associated with the resources in an IMS Content Package.
• A player tool that steps through the resources in an IMS Content Package according to sequencing rules.

The library for service providers will be demonstrated using:                   

• A sequencing engine that interprets the sequencing rules associated with the resources in an IMS Content Package

Integration with the portal framework will be demonstrated by consuming the player tool.

Project Methodology

At the core of ISIS is the production of a sequencing web service and the libraries required to integrate this service with a range of applications and frameworks. This allows the project to focus on the integration of tools for the teacher/designer and on applications to allow the end user, the learner, to access these sequences of packaged content via tools and a portal framework.

Implications/ Deliverables/ Stakeholders

The findings will be returned through the sequencing component of the ELF framework on the CETIS website. The project will play an integral part in programme related disseminations to the wider community.  ISIS will help in demonstrating the feasibility and sustainability of the ELF framework and provide an optional service for future learning frameworks.  In addition an outcome of the project will be to make available free of cost to FE/HE institutions a validated sequence engine and associated service and demonstration tools.