1 INTRODUCTION
Learning design has emerged at the forefront of
research into the modeling of dynamic,
learnercentered eLearning experiences. The IMS Learning
Design (LD) Specification [
1
] provides a way to
represent complex multi-actor interactions in an
educational environment. This specification has been
widely integrated into a number of learning
management systems and authoring tools, and several
ontologies have been developed around the
specification [
2
],[
3
],[
4
]. The recently-completed IDLD [
5
]
project effort involved modeling the educational
processes of dozens of actual on-line and
face-toface courses being delivered at universities across
Canada according to the IMS LD specification.
Effective reuse of Learning Design models remains a
challenge because each model is gathered from a
diverse learning situation, meaning that some of
elements of the model become irrelevant when
applied to new situations. Since it is a time-consuming
task to model the educational process in a learning
The IMS-LD Information Model and XML binding
is the specification for Learning Design [
1
]. The
LOCO ontology [
2
] is a light-weight ontology in the
OWL language, based on the IMS-LD Information
Model. The ontology is able to represent complex
series and parallel interactions of actors. Each actor
is assigned one or many Roles, which are associated
with Activities according to the Role-part that each
actor engages in and in Environment (resources,
services) in which the activities take place.
To create the LOCO, some changes were made to
the Information Model [
1
] in order to conform to
established best-practice recommendations for
ontology design [
11
], and to resolve some ambiguities
and inconsistencies in the information model. These
changes are described in detail in [
2
]. To date the
LOCO only addresses IMS-LD Level A.
Treatment of context information stands as a barrier
to the reusability of Learning Design. Existing
solutions for the use of context and ontologies in
learning applications could be enhanced by incorporating
educational process modeling into the semantic
representation of the learning space. A method of using
context to effectively transfer these processes to new
settings would greatly benefit learners by enabling
pedagogical methods such as collaborative learning
to become more of reality in eLearninig. Also,
reusability would enhance the cost-effectiveness of
modeling learning designs. Future research will
involve determining suitable methods for using
context effectively to transfer learning designs to new
learning situations with minimal redesign effort.