WCKER @ UNFOLD

David White and Tjitske Kamphuis attended an IMS LD event run by UNFOLD ( http://www.unfold-project.net) in the Netherlands (Feb 05).

WCKER remit at UNFOLD:

• To learn more about the possibilities of extending the WCKER into the IMS LD arena using the LearningMapR process outlined by the Waterloo group.

During the event we managed to install both Coppercore and Reload and produce and run a variety of IMS LD level A learning designs. Download our simple sample here:

We also looked into the functional possibilities of level B and coded a small amount in XML.

Outcomes / opinions:

IMS LD is powerful and flexible. It is also open to interpretation and many aspects of ‘good practice’ are yet to emerge.

Semantics are a consistent problem, with the metaphor of the theatrical play being broken by the multi route / multi group aspects of the spec. A new paradigm may emerge via the production of GUI editing / playing tools but for the mean time we are left with a large field of possible semantic interpretations which only reduce through practice.

Coppercore is capable of running level B and C while Reload currently only produces level A. Much of the power of the spec is contained in the functionality available at level B but producing level B means digging into the XML.

One visual tool from Greece (name?) was demoed which worked at level B and C. To do this it had clustered activities into types (Quiz / Game / Lesson etc) thus bringing up the contention that to make a useable editor many assumptions have to be made.

Colin Tattersall of the OUN mused that smaller, specialist editors could possibly be made centred on pedagogic approaches i.e. ‘The problem based IMS LD editor’ etc. This may reduce the complexity of editing IMS LD but would lead to a potentially confusing array of small tools.

It seemed clear that the forms based approach of the current Reload editor was a reflection of the spec rather than a model of the methods used by tutors when planning pedagogically sound learning.

We are now diseminating what we have learnt within the TALL group. The information will inform our bid for the Call for Projects to Develop e-Learning Tools for Learners and Teachers (Round 2)