JISC

Start date: 1 April 2005

End date: 31 March 2006

Funding programme: e-Learning Frameworks and Tools programme

Project website: http://www.elframework.org/refmodels/ladie

JISC theme(s): e-Learning

The e-Learning Framework (ELF) is an initiative by the UK's JISC, Australia's Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST), and the Carnegie Mellon Learning Services Architecture Lab (LSAL), and others, to build a common approach to Service Oriented Architectures for education. The E-Learning Framework aims to make explicit the network functions of e-learning to offer greater interoperability between systems and software, and to create a common approach across the e-learning community. The ELF aims to support pedagogic innovation, offer more flexibility and a greater return on investment. Several ELF Reference Model projects are mapping specific areas of the e-learning domain to the ELF, for instance assessment, course validation and learning activities, and provide guidelines on the use and implementation of the ELF in these contexts.

The LADIE reference model supports Learning Activity Authoring (the design and construction of learning activities and the discovery, specification, sequencing and packaging of content) and Learning Activity Realisation (the construction of the environment in which learning activities are to take place and execution of the learning activities themselves). The LADIE project combines practical teaching and learning experience, pedagogy/didactics through the DialogPlus project in addition to the needs of existing technologies.

Aims and Objectives

Our main objective is to develop a learning activity reference model firmly based in practical experience of teaching and learning which permits flexibility and creativity for teachers and is not narrowly defined by available technology.

• It is a major objective of the project to record learning activity designs as a series of use cases. These will be developed through a number of events in conjunction with experienced Higher and Further Education teachers form a variety of subject disciplines and institutions
• It is the intention of this project to work towards precise specifications that can be supported by conformance tests
• To produce a reference model that unambiguously supports different groups, independently developing to the same model in the expectation that their services will be interoperable
• The reference model for this domain must support two distinct stages
  • Learning Activity Authoring which includes the design and construction of learning activities and the discovery, specification, sequencing and packaging of content
  • Learning Activity Realisation which includes construction of the environment in which learning activities are to take place and execution of the learning activities themselves.
• An overview of the reference model will be produced to provide a plain language introduction to enable readers to understand the purpose of the reference model and the expertise required to use it and to implement it.

The reference model will define how Learning Activity Realisation and Learning Activity Authoring can be attained through components or services. Each data model will be described in detail using the format scope, data model, behaviour and data representation.