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E-learning has been growing rapidly while the methods and procedures are getting more complicated. The standards and specifications are made to maintain the content metadata, content packaging, content sequencing, and e-learning objects, also to build interoperability between different platforms (Ellis 2005; MASIE Center 2003).
The e-learning standards are known as specifications before being verified; different groups have come up with specifications that fit into different areas. When the specifications are being reviewed by the accredited organization such as IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee (LTSC); ISO/IEC JTC1/SC36 (Joint Technical Committee 1/Sub-Committee #36); CEN/ISSS/LT-WS Learning Technology Work Shop, the specifications are refer as de jure standard, meaning they exist when a critical mass chooses to use the specifications; while HTML is a de facto standard that based on common use by the web developers (Ellis 2005; MASIE Center 2003).
The Aviation Industry CBT (Computer-Based Training) Committee (AICC) is an international association of technology-based training professionals that creates and develops guidelines for aviation industry. AICC develops standards for interoperability of computer-based and computer-managed training products. The aim of AICC is to develop guidelines that promote the effective implementation of CBT media and enable interoperability. AICC’s computer-managed instruction (CMI) guidelines has the most impact in the e-learning field (AICC 2005).
The Instructional Management Systems (IMS) is a development group established by EduCom (now EduCause) in 1997; “IMS is now an independent, non-profit corporation owned by its participating members�? (Collier and Robson 2002). The consortium focuses on developing metadata specifications that address content packaging. The IMS metadata is available in XML and RDF/XML encodings. IMS, however, is also involved in the development of other application specifications. Some of the standards and specifications are made available on its website for free (IMS 2005).
IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee (LTSC)
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Learning Technology Standards Committee (LTSC) is authorized by the IEEE Standard Association to develop accredited open standards, recommended practices, and guides for learning technology (IEEE LTSC 2005). LTSC goes through all process including submitting draft documents and getting reviews from IEEE, and finally has approval from IEEE Standards Review Committee (IEEE LTSC 2005). The most widely accepted IEEE LTSC specification is the Learning Object Metadata (LOM) specification (Macromedia 2001)
The most widely adopted standard is the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) which was first developed by the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) to address efficiency development and delivery all over the U.S. Department of Defense (ADL 2005). This model is not a standard, but a de facto standard which is a reference that ensures interoperability, reusability, accessibility and manageability (MASIE Center 2003).
ADL defined new specifications by producing SCORM that built upon the standards and specifications of the AICC, IMS, W3C and IEEE LTSC (Kilby 2004). SCORM divides the e-learning world into functional components: Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Sharable Content Objects (SCOs) (Collier and Robson 2002).
The widespread adoption of SCORM has promoted large professional e-learning courseware industry for corporate training. For examples, DigitalThink, Netg, SkillSoft and etc (Dalziel 2003).
ADL. 2005. Advanced Distributed Learning – Home. http://www.adlnet.org/ (accessed October 4, 2005).
AICC. 2005. AICC – Aviation Industry CBT Committee. http://www.aicc.org/ (accessed October 4, 2005).
Collier, G. and R. Robson. 2002. e-Learning Interoperability Standards. USA: Sun Microsystems. http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/edu/whitepapers/pdf/eLearning_Interoperability_Standards_wp.pdf (accessed October 3, 2005).
Dalziel, J. 2003. Open Standards versus Open Source in E-learning. EDUCAUSE, November 4, 2003, 4-7. http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM0340.pdf (accessed October 4, 2005).
Ellis, R. 2005. E-Learning Standards Update. Learning Circuits. http://www.learningcircuits.org/2005/jul2005/ellis.htm (accessed October 4, 2005).
IEEE LTSC. 2005. IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee. http://ieeeltsc.org/ (accessed October 4, 2005).
IMS. 2005. Welcome to IMS Global Learning Consortium, Inc. http://imsglobal.org/ (accessed October 4, 2005).
Kilby, T. 2004. WBTIC Overview of Standards. http://www.wbtic.com/primer_standards.aspx (accessed October 4, 2005).
Macromedia. 2002. Getting Started with eLearning Standards. http://download.macromedia.com/pub/solutions/downloads/elearning/standards.pdf (accessed October 4, 2005).
MASIE Center. 2003. Making Sense of Learning Specifications & Standards: A Decision Maker’s Guide to their Adoption, 2nd edition. The MASIE Center. http://www.masie.com/standards/s3_2nd_edition.pdf (accessed October 10, 2005).
Rebecca Ngok 14:34, 26 Oct 2005 (EST)
