Supporting Collaborative Learning Activities with SCORM

1
Supporting Collaborative Learning Activities with
SCORM

• Albert Ip, Digital Learning Systems
• Ric Canale, University of Melbourne

2
SCORM Objective

• Content interoperability
• Across different LMS
• Sharable Content Objects - SCOs

3
Why SCORM?

• not for Higher Education
• Why not?
• Can the deficiencies be rectified?
• And remain consistent with ADL objectives?

4
Structured Collaborative Learning

• Online debate
• Online role-play
• Peer-reviewed group projects
• Customised discussion forums
• And more

5
Technical characteristics

• Asynchronous/synchronous/mostly
  quasi-asynchronous
• Role assignment and management
• Activity support, data sharing and storage

6
Typical LMS running SCORM
LMS
SCO 1
SCO 2
SCO 3

• Student views a series of SCOs delivered by the
  LMS

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SCORM and collaboration in parallel
Collaboration Tool
LMS
SCO 1
SCO 2
SCO 3

• SCOs delivered by the LMS and collaborative
  activities in parallel via the LMS.

8
Proposed model
Collaboration Server
LMS
SCO 1
SCO 2
SCO 3

• SCOs delivered by the LMS and some SCOs call
  collaboration services via the LMS.

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Possible EML model
LMS
SCO 1
SCO 2
SCO 3

• The Collaborative activity is modelled in EML and
  delivered by the LMS
• EML - instructor, learner, resource
• Collaborative learning?

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Implementation overview

• SCORM run-time communications
• Introduce new command - LMSPreinitialize()
• Extend data model to specify
• collaboration services
• instantiation data for collaborative activity
• These are 14 course related data elements and 11
  session related data elements

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Implementation Details

• Can be found in the paper
• Includes workflow implications
• Typical use scenarios
• Annotation tool
• Online debate as an example structured
  collaborative learning activity

12
The model as a general solution

• Apply to services other than those of a
  collaboration server
• Library services
• Newsfeed
• Content repositories
• New pedagogical support tools

13
Conclusion