Resources: standards and architectures

Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) is a collaborative effort to harness the power of information technologies to modernize structured learning. ADL, therefore, employs a structured, adaptive, collaborative effort between the public and private sectors to develop the standards, tools and learning content for the learning environment of the future.
 
The vision of the ADL Initiative is to provide access to the highest-quality learning and performance aiding that can be tailored to individual needs and delivered cost-effectively, anytime and anywhere.
 
For additional information on the ADL Initiative refer to the ADL FAQs section.

This site is the official home for documents, presentations and other resources related to the CanCore Learning Resource Metadata Initiative.
CanCore enhances the ability of educators, researchers and students in Canada and around the world to search and locate material from online collections of educational resources. CanCore is based on and fully compatible with the IEEE Learning Object Metadata standard and the IMS Learning Resource Meta-data specification.
The CanCore Initiative is currently funded by the e-Learning Marketplace Strategy Group of Industry Canada's e-Learning Directorate and supported by TeleUniversite and Athabasca University.

Author: Dave Winer
Posted: 6/14/1999; 7:58:47 PM
What is XML-RPC? It's a spec and a set of implementations that allow software running on disparate operating systems, running in different environments to make procedure calls over the Internet.

It's remote procedure calling using HTTP as the transport and XML as the encoding. XML-RPC is designed to be as simple as possible, while allowing complex data structures to be transmitted, processed and returned.

CORBA® BASICS
If you want to understand CORBA, this is the place to start!
You can either read straight down the page, or click on a question to go straight to a topic that interests you.

CORBA is the acronym for Common Object Request Broker Architecture, OMG's open, vendor-independent architecture and infrastructure that computer applications use to work together over networks. Using the standard protocol IIOP, a CORBA-based program from any vendor, on almost any computer, operating system, programming language, and network, can interoperate with a CORBA-based program from the same or another vendor, on almost any other computer, operating system, programming language, and network.

CORBA® BASICS
If you want to understand CORBA, this is the place to start!
You can either read straight down the page, or click on a question to go straight to a topic that interests you.

CORBA is the acronym for Common Object Request Broker Architecture, OMG's open, vendor-independent architecture and infrastructure that computer applications use to work together over networks. Using the standard protocol IIOP, a CORBA-based program from any vendor, on almost any computer, operating system, programming language, and network, can interoperate with a CORBA-based program from the same or another vendor, on almost any other computer, operating system, programming language, and network.

The hundreds of member companies of the Object Management Group produce and maintain a suite of specifications that support distributed, heterogeneous software development projects from analysis and design through coding, deployment, runtime, and maintenance. Here's an overview:

Innovative use of telematic tools to support a professional community of practice, Mike Malloch and Graham Attwell, Online EDUCA Berlin, 2001

REM was the project that got me started in web environments for education, along with Martin Owen (now at NESTA Futurelab) and Oleg Liber (now at CETIS).

REM takes a unique approach to tele-learning by creating a rich multimedia environment to support learning through collaboration, interaction and conversation. Implicit in REM’s view of education and training is a belief in constructivist principles of learning for students, teachers and professionals.

The REM project enables learners to collaborate closely by supporting the exchange of a wide variety of experiences and resources with advanced telematics.

Project Name:

REM

Research Area:

Tertiary-Level Education and Vocational Training

Main Results:

Multimedia Database of Learning Tools; Telematics Learning Environment; Collaborative Learning Tools

Timescale:

1.1.96 to 1.4.99

Budget:

ECU 1,695,032

Target Users:

Teachers in Training; Teachers in Service Courses and Nursery Staff

User Benefits:

Participation in collaborative learning across Europe on Erasmus/Comenius-like activities at lower cost and with greater ease

Technologies Involved:

Internet; World Wide Web; Computer Conference Systems; Object Oriented Databases; Modems; Local Area Networks, Videophones and CD-ROM

Innovative Aspects:

Widely-accessible, scalable and seamlessly-integrated learning environments

Keywords:

Collaborative Multimedia-based WWW Networks; Integrated Learning Environments

The IMS Global Learning Consortium develops and promotes the adoption of open technical specifications for interoperable learning technology. Several IMS specifications have become worldwide de facto standards for delivering learning products and services. IMS specifications and related publications are made available to the public from www.imsglobal.org.

Something proprietary is something exclusively owned by someone, often with connotations that it is exclusive and cannot be used by other parties without negotiations. It may specifically mean that something is covered by one or more patents, as in proprietary technology. It can also mean that the copyright is used in a way that restricts the users' freedoms.

Increasingly, proprietary architectures are seen as a disadvantage. Consumers prefer standardized and open architectures, which allow them to mix and match products from different manufacturers.

Standards subcategories and terms. Dictionary Definitions for Words in the Standards Category

It is worth noting that ARIADNE was also involved in the negotiation - with the IMS Project - of IEEE Learning Objects Metadata...

Project Name:

ARIADNE II

Research Area:

Innovative Tools and Applications

Main Results:

An international System of pedagogically-indexed knowledge pools which facilitate courseware authoring. A set of document-specific authoring tools

Timescale:

1.1.96 to 31.12.99

Budget:

ECU 5,000,000

Target Users:

Producers of Pedagogical Material; Faculty; Producers of Corporate Training Material; Corporate Trainers; Students; Open and Distance Learners; Researchers

User Benefits:

Access to structured online teaching materials; advanced courseware creation and editing; courseware sharing and re-use

Technologies Involved:

Conceptual analysis and breakdown of text; use of standard Internet-based telematics systems; use of novel bespoke authoring tools for simulations and other courseware

Innovative Aspects:

Combining more effective, organisation-supporting learning scenarios; new approach to collaboration for authors of pedagogical material

Keywords:

Knowledge Pool System, Courseware Authoring; Targeted Curricula: Open & Distance training

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

OpenDoc was a multi-platform software componentry framework standard for compound documents, inspired by the Xerox Star system and intended as an alternative to Microsoft's object linking and embedding (OLE).

Open standards are publicly available specifications for achieving a specific task. By allowing anyone to use the standard, they increase compatibility between various hardware and software components since anyone with the technical know-how and the necessary equipment to implement solutions can build something that works together with those of other vendors.

Many standards are proprietary rather than being open, and must be licensed from the organization that owns the copyright for the standard before obtaining a copy. Being an open standard also does not necessarily imply that no licenses to patent rights are needed to use the standard or that such licenses are available for free. For example, the standards published by the major internationally-recognized standards bodies such as the ITU, ISO, and IEC are ordinarily considered open, but may require patent licensing fees for implementation.