A New Standard in eLearning - IMS - CTG 2003
In 2003 when I went to the Closing the Gap conference I learned about a metadata standard
The Resource Centre for Academic Technology at the University of Toronto is helping to develop "accessibility specifications" for elearning objects.
Typically learners access educational content (learning objects) in a limited number (usually 1) of formats. Textbooks are difficult to get access to in any other format, transcripts of videos are often not available, etc. By separating content from presentation and control, learners with disabilities may be able to access content more readily.
Databases of learning objects have been created with metadata to describe the standards and age group the content is geared for. The content of these databases are searchable by grade level and standard but not for accessibility. Metadata to describe accessibility attributes of learning objects has not been in the forefront of the development of these databases.
The Resource Centre for Academic Technology at the University of Toronto has been by funded by Industry Canada to develop a prototype Metadata (barrierfree.ca/tile) set that has been submitted to the IMS Consortium. The IMS Consortium (imsproject.org) is a group that includes the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative on which the GEM Project (gem.syr.edu) is based.
Discussion after the short session was related to who was responsible to make content accessible. It was believed that:
- Those who create authoring tools need to make the tools that allow the creation of accessible content. (Microsoft, Macromedia, Adobe, etc)
- Those who author new content need to use the tools in a manner that makes their content accessible. (Teachers, education textbook companies, etc.)
- Those who manage, catalogue and deliver the content need to do so in a manner that makes the content accessible (system administrators for portals, CMS's and eLearning platforms such as Blackboard).
Scince the conference I have revisted the IMS site many times. Our own "Goal Manager" tool in Sakai may ne a primce candidate to provide a web service based on the IMS Competency Definitions.