Forum .LRN Q&A: Re: Re: Using .LRN and LAMS as an online framework for K-12 schools...

I think the way Michael (see his posting above) is suggesting to integrate LAMS and .LRN make good sense as you will be basically getting the most out of both systems, and therefore more out of the integration work.

I'm not so sure if I understand the integration suggestion you propose and how that fits with SCORM. If I can be of any help, please let me know.

In the next day or so, LAMS is announcing a major integrations with a few LMS, one of them a open source -but unfortunately, not .LRN now 😟. However, the documentation and scope of the open source LMS integration is also going to be available. I think once those integrations are on their way, building one for .LRN would be -in principle- not so complicated 😊

Ernie

We want LORS to recognize the learning units (IMS LD) and
call the appropiate parser (we where thinking about doing it
in the evaluation/gradebook package) and fill out the
evaluation tables with the learning activities.

Unfortunately, IMS LD is not quite simple as other IMS specs -where you can take the XML in the manifest and the content and run with it.

Although you would be able to parse IMS LD and identify activities, you could potentially find it difficult to map the activities to .LRN modules or LAMS activities, or Reload Player for that matter.

IMS LD interoperability is still a pending issue for the spec. There are numerous people currently working on ways to do this. For instance, if I understand it properly the Alfanet fellows (http://www.ii.uam.es/~rcarro/AHCW04/Santos.pdf) have created templates that would accommodate for activities that you can run on .LRN. LAMS has a new Tools Contract and Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) fellows (http://ulises.tel.uva.es/uploaded_files/wbe2005-Davinia_HdezLeo.pdf) are proposing extensions to IMS LD to accommodate for some of these limitations.

In the Alt-I-LAB IMS Conference (http://www.imsglobal.org/altilab) in Sheffield this month, there's going to be a Learning Design workshop so hopefully some of these issues are going to be put forward and (again, hopefully) addressed.

.LRN has a good start, as we have done a mapping of weird Blackboard and WebCT course packages into .LRN... so I imagine similar mappings would have to take place to truly make IMS LD interoperable. And by interoperability I mean, a learning design (or unit of learning, or learning sequence -yes, we have ambiguity on terms too 😉 created in elive LD suite can play in Alfanet/.LRN implementation or LAMS... that'll be really cool.

However, maybe it wouldn't be quite the same as the tools in each system might be slightly different and some pedagogical aspects of using one tool from a particular implementation, might not be able to map to a tool of another implementation... defeating the purpose of interoperability.

So, yes, Learning Design is rather complex, but I guess it's its own nature as we are not only dealing with content but with activities, groups, roles and people... so quite a few other things that are brought to the equation.

Ernie

I don't know whom did you mean with "If I get someone interested in doing an integration for .LRN, would you be willing to help out?", but as I told you, we *will* work on an integration with IMS-LD with for .LRN, and if we know that someone else is working on that, we would, or at least try to, work toghether somehow

(I'm still waiting for the people of aLFanet to show me the code and what they have already done, but we can't wait any more, we plan to have the specification ready for the end of the next week, and start coding after that)

Would it make sense to post your specifications in the form of an RFC before you begin coding?

Of course, no problem. We will post the specification in order to hopefully get some feed back and then start coding ;)

I'm really glad to hear that E-LANE is bringing learning design into .LRN. Kudos E-LANE.

If there's anything that I can be of help, please let me know. There has been some very interesting developments at Alt-I-lab and at the latest UNFOLD meeting in Portugal and hopefully a new work on IMS LD services will come out soon.

Regarding LAMS, given my involvement in that project, I'll support in with all I can the implementation with .LRN.

Thanks,

Ernie