Best E-learning Standards
Standards are a very important topic for e-learning, as they are the key to merging and matching content from several sources, so it is possible to develop interchangeable contents as long as they are subject to the same standards, which contributes to reuse, assembly and disassembly easily and quickly.
Relying on approved standards reduces the cost, and therefore lms e-learning management systems and other systems such as LCMS content creation and authoring systems can work in harmony with each other.
Standards for e-learning management systems
Standards recognized in learning management systems do not amount to a standard approved by the International Standards Organization (ISO) and are still a Specification, Guideline or Criterions.
This is due to the fact that the field of e-learning and the learning management systems it includes, and educational content, are still in a phase of rapid growth that has led to successive changes in this field, while the standards are based on stability, which is a degree that e-learning has not yet reached. .
And this is despite the tireless efforts by organizations, committees, institutions, and standards development bodies in this regard, starting from the early stages since 1988, for example at the AICC Association, all the way to ADL SCORM, which began its work in 1997 AD. However, we have not yet reached what is called standards. E-learning is certified by the international standards organization ISO but is still a growing field.
Global standards applicable to learning management systems (LMS).
There are a number of non-governmental professional organizations and institutions that seek in their efforts to reach the standards in e-learning, and the most important of them are the following:
1- SCORM standard
The SCORM standard is a collection of several standards in a single package called the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM). It was developed starting in 1997 by the American Agency Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL), which works in training with funding from the US Department of Defense, for the purposes of reducing training costs and employing modern technology in it.
Objectives
SCORM standards seek to achieve a number of objectives, the most important of which are the following:
Accessibility
#. It is the ability to locate and access educational content from anywhere and at any time.
Adaptability
#. It is the ability to adapt to meet the educational needs of institutions and individuals.
Adaptability
#. It is the ability to increase effectiveness and productivity by reducing the time and cost involved in delivering education.
Durability
#. It is the ability to use content even if the technology used to deliver it changes, such as updating operating systems or learning management system (LMS).
Interoperability
#. It is the ability to communicate between different operating platforms and tools and to work together efficiently.
Reusability:
#. It is the ability to easily modify the content and use it multiple times using multiple tools and platforms.
Contents
The SCORM standard has three main elements:
@. Content Aggregation Model (CAM).
@. Run-Time Environment (RTE) for Learning Objects
@. The Sequencing and Navigation (SN)
2- IMS standard
IMS is an acronym for the Instructional Management System Global Consortium, and it is an American international association of university providers that define XML-based learning resource specifications, and these specifications describe the characteristics of courses, lessons, assessment, and educational packages for learning management systems for education .
Objectives
IMS standards focus on two main objectives:
1. Define specific guidelines that ensure interoperability between applications and services in e-learning.
2. Support the application of directives in international products and services.
the components
IMS standards consist of the following main elements:
Metadata information
@. It is the main element that is used to describe educational materials and objects.
Content Packaging
@. It is a description of building the assembly of the educational resources in the course or its parts.
Question & Test Interoperability
@. These are guidelines that describe participation in tests, assessments, and data, and allow for presentation of multiple types of questions, feedback, and results.
Learning Design
@. It is a specification that acts as a language leading to the modeling of learning units and supporting learning strategies.
@. Simple Sequencing:
@. It is a description of how LOs are organized and presented to the learner.
3- IEEE-LOM standards
They are standards issued by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The IEEE, together with the Learning Technology Standards Committee (LTSC), has developed standards for Learning Object Metadata (LOM) data that are so widely recognized that they have been adopted by SCORM and I.E. Mother. IMS.
Objectives:
The IEEE Database Standards for Learning Object Metadata (LOM) modules aim to:
@. Enable teachers or students to conduct research, evaluation, acquisition and use of LOs.
@. Enable sharing and exchange of LOs across any learning system-enabled technology.
@. Enabling the development of LOs into units that can be combined or decomposed in meaningful ways.
@. Enabling the Computer Agent, in an automatic and dynamic way, to prepare personal lessons for any learner.
@. Enabling, upon request, documentation and recognition of completion of learning objectives related to LOs.
@. Enable LOs that follow any type of distribution, whether for-profit or non-profit.
@. Enabling education, training, and governmental and private educational institutions to express content and performance standards in the form of content-independent standards.
@. Provide researchers with standards that support the collection, comparison and sharing of data related to the applicability and competence of LOs.
@. Defining standards that are simple but extendable to multiple areas and accepted by the judicial authorities and are characterized by ease and comprehensiveness in adoption and application.
@. Support the validation and security needed for the distribution and use of LOs.
the components
The standards consist of defining the Data Metadata specification, which consists of nine main elements, as follows:
- General
- Lifecycle
- Meta-Metadata
- Technical
- Education
- Rights
- Association
- Annotation
- Classification
