Generic service integration in adaptive learning experiences using IMS learning design

Abstract

IMS Learning Design is a specification to capture the orchestration taking place in a learning scenario. This paper presents an extension called Generic Service Integration. This paradigm allows a bidirectional communication between the course engine in charge of the orchestration and conventional Web 2.0 tools. This communication allows the engine to configure external services so as to adjust their behav-iour, and also retrieve information about their activity and use it to influence the orchestration process. This extension impacts all the phases of the life cycle of a learning activity: authoring, deployment and enactment. The paper analyses this impact and proposes appropriate adjustments. A pilot test was conducted and the obtained results show that learning experiences that adapt their flow-based on third party tools while maintaining interoperability, reusability and self-containment requirements are feasible.

Technological support for the enactment of collaborative scripted learning activities across multiple spatial locations

“…That is, the learning script must contain a description of the case specific tools (i.e. Google Spreadsheets), with the required vocabulary as defined by GSI [42].…”

“…Apart from its sequencing capabilities, IMS LD also facilitates the reusability of learning courses. The GSI extension was proposed to improve IMS LD by allowing generic tools to be integrated in a conventional activity flow [27]. The work described in this document uses IMS LD reusability to comply with requirement Req2, and evaluates how GSI can overcome the IMS LD drawbacks when used in CSCBL scripts.…”

“…This is a pluggable architecture that allows automatic configuration and bidirectional information exchange between IMS LD and external web based tools such as Google Docs [27]. GSI achieves this integration by a mediation that translates IMS LD requests into queries understandable by various tool-specific APIs.…”

“…The GSI service adapter presented in [27] allows the integration of Google Forms and Spreadsheets in the context of a UoL: the questionnaire is presented to the students as a regular activity, and the data collected by the form and stored in the spreadsheet can be retrieved by the IMS LD player and used for orchestration purposes.…”

GLUE!: An architecture for the integration of external tools in Virtual Learning Environments

“…These approaches may reduce the development e ort by fostering a high code reuse among integrations, but at the cost of supporting only generic functional commonalities, due to the existing heterogeneity in VLE and tools contracts. For example, the GSI architecture [Fue11] was designed to foster a many-to-many integration with IMS LD compliant platforms and third-party services. Ad hoc integration approaches, however, typically foster a one-to-one integration, and so, they can achieve a richer communication between VLEs and tools.…”