Metadata Management in the
Celebrate European Learning
          Network


 David Massart and Frans Van Assche
         MMGPS, London
           Dec. 16, 2003


                         European Schoolnet
                Outline
• Learning Objects and eLearning
• Celebrate
• Brokerage + federated services
• Federated search




                              European Schoolnet
             eLearning

Learning that takes place through exchange
between a combination of learning
resources, tasks, and support-systems
(human or otherwise)
 The exchange is mediated through
information and communication
technologies (from BS 8426)

                            European Schoolnet
   Learning Objects (LOs)



"modular digital resources, uniquely
identified and meta-tagged, that can
be (re-)used to support learning."



                        European Schoolnet
LO-Based Services and Systems
• Learning Content Management (LCM)
• LO Repositories (LOR)
• Metadata repositories (MR)
• Learning Management (LM)

• eLearning Systems can offer any
  combination of these services

                               European Schoolnet
               CeLeBraTe
(Context eLearning with Broadband Technologies)

• 30 months / € 7 M. project
• Supported by the European Commission's
  IST Program
• Involves 500 schools across Europe
• 22 partners (European Ministries of
  Education, universities, leading educational
  publishers and technology suppliers)

                                 European Schoolnet
          Celebrate's Goals
Aim to create:
• New content (LOs)
• An innovative pedagogical approach -
  based on LOs
• A European learning network - to exchange
  LOs
• A new business model

                              European Schoolnet
   European Learning Network
• A network of eLearning Systems
• Capable of interoperability by searching and
  exchanging the LOs contained in their
  repositories

   ELN = Brokerage + Federated Services


                                European Schoolnet
       Federation of Services
• Ability to add new services
• Currently supports:
  – Metadata Search
  – LO Exchange
• Designed to be extensible
• Through a secure and controlled
  environment

                                European Schoolnet
                Brokerage
• Supports
  – the mediation of services
  – Rights, contract and collaboration management
• Safely integrates new (commercial) service
  providers
• Reports usage
• Tracks statistics

                                  European Schoolnet
        A Service Example:
        The Metadata Search

Consists of a client end-user (e.g. a teacher
or pupil using an ELN LMS or LCMS) in
querying all the metadata repositories
currently available on the ELN for references
to LOs matching his/her search criteria.


                                European Schoolnet
                  Metadata
• Metadata: IEEE LOM
• Application profile: customization of a
  standard to a particular community of
  implementers with common application
  requirements (see http://celebrate.eun.org/docs/)
• Binding document: machine-readable
  description of a specification

                                    European Schoolnet
          Query Language
• Based on comparisons:
  – LOM element
  – Operator
  – Value
• Can be combined to
  build arbitrarily-
  complex queries (And,
  Or, Not)
                          European Schoolnet
          ELN and ELN Client
• A network of systems capable of exchanging LOs
• Built around a Brokerage System (BS) that rules
  exchanges between systems
• Communication between ELN members is based on
  different protocols (JMS, web services, etc.)
• Systems avoid the hassle of dealing with the different
  networking protocols involved by using an “ELN Client”
• “ELN Client” hides the complexity of client-BS
  communication behind a simplified API
• “ELN Client” let members focus on message content
                                        European Schoolnet
ELN Client




             European Schoolnet
LOM Query




            European Schoolnet
Checked LOM Query




             European Schoolnet
LOM Query Result 1




              European Schoolnet
Checked LOM Query Result 1




                  European Schoolnet
LOM Query Result 2




              European Schoolnet
Checked LOM Query Result 2




                  European Schoolnet
LOM Query Result 3




              European Schoolnet
Checked LOM Query Result 3




                  European Schoolnet
               Conclusion
• 2nd versions of the ELN Client and
  Brokerage System have been released
• LMS/LCMS providers have started to join
  the ELN
• Preliminary results are encouraging
• The configuration of the ELN described
  here - 4 systems - to be tested intensively
• 500 schools across Europe
                                European Schoolnet
             Open Issues
• LO = Content + Pedagogy (let's reuse them
  separately)
• Add new services (e.g. communities)
• We need a business model
• Digital Rights Management



                              European Schoolnet