RE: [dita-learningspec] SCORM templates and DITA learning objects

the learning/lesson plan, or some refer to it as an instructional plan, can be inserted in the content package and not referenced in the sco itself. if there is a standard learning plan file in the cp, an instructor can review and learn about the content without having to go through every page of every sco in the cp. this would be a timesaver when searching and reviewing lessons. the instructor would still need to review the content if the lp suggested a good fit for the objectives at hand.

undergrad and graduate work in education/teaching certification will always emphasize the lesson plan process. the lesson plan justifies the material and sets timetables for course progress. as an example, sunday nights could be the most important planning night of the week for a teacher. it is important to know exactly where you need to be on friday when stepping into class monday morning. therefore,

its a rule of thumb and standard practice to develop instructional plans. dod programs require instructional plans as part of a delivered instructional media package.

the learning plan will help plan for reuse and repurpose of content across scos and other curriculum.

the learning plan will help plan for relationships in the scos. one could identify unique ids in learning plan objects and then assign it to the learning objective inside the content using the cmi.interactions for an assessment item. one would know that (for example) assessmnet item 17 assesses learners' knowledge of learning objectve 03.

the actual learning content does not indicate who the target audience is, what they know, etc. instructors need to know those things to effectively repurpose content for another audience. the lp could be the first document to review when searching for content in the adl registry (or any other registration and discovery application).

finally, the learning content models are not a guarantee that the curriculum will be any better or any worse than if the models are not used. we should be up front with that. xml does not guarantee quality. the only guarantee of quality instructional content is good planning analysis, good instructional design, and good assessment techniques, all of which is established in the learning plan.

From: john_hunt@us.ibm.com [mailto:john_hunt@us.ibm.com]
Sent: Tue 1/8/2008 1:25 PM
To: Wayne Gafford
Subject: RE: [dita-learningspec] SCORM templates and DITA learning objects

Hi wayne,

good point. The problem i have here, though, is that the learningPlan content itself doesn't get delivered in the SCORM, since it's not content that is intended for the learner.

can you identify the specific links between content in the learningPlan and specific items in these SCORM templates? perhaps there's a best practices guide for how to use a learningPlan topic to plan a learning object. However, keep in mind, nothing requires anyone to create a learningPlan topic for every learning object or for anything at all, for that matter.

feel free to add a new page with your version of things.

if you don't mind re-posting your reply back to the dita-learningspec list, then we can get this exchange into that for others to comment on, as well.

John

From:	"Wayne Gafford" <gaffordw@adlnet.org>
To:	<john_hunt@us.ibm.com>
Date:	01/08/2008 12:47 PM
Subject:	RE: [dita-learningspec] SCORM templates and DITA learning objects

john

i am reviewing the links and the learning plan topic is not incorporated or mentioned in any example or illustration. not sure why that is, but, it is in the learning plan that the learning objectives are first stated according to needs analysis and is the first place where the assessments are designed.

i think we need to promote all topic types as a related collection that forms a complete learning object made available for an instructor's use.

wayne

From: john_hunt@us.ibm.com [mailto:john_hunt@us.ibm.com]
Sent: Tue 1/8/2008 12:25 PM
To: dita-learningspec@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: [dita-learningspec] SCORM templates and DITA learning objects

Dear DITA learning sub-committee,

Based on our discussions, and particularly the input from Bill Blackmon about the IMS SCORM templates, I've started a wiki page that starts to map out the connection between these templates and the DITA learning objects map domain.

See - http://wiki.oasis-open.org/dita/LearningContent/map2manifest_templates and http://wiki.oasis-open.org/dita/LearningContent/map2manifest.

This is still in draft, but I wanted to bring it to your attention in advance of our Thursday meeting.

In particular, I highly recommend taking a look at the templates available here - http://www.jointadlcolab.org/downloads/research/2005/assessments/learner_assessment_bpguide_final.pdf.

There's more narrative about them here - http://141.225.40.64/lsal/expertise/projects/developersguide.

(both these links are at the top of the wiki page, as well)

My conclusion so far is that we have a very good and direct "starter kit" mapping from a DITA learning object to Template 4: Multiple SCO's with Assets. Then we need to discuss how far we can go in the way of supporting one or more of the Templates 5-10.

Again, thanks to Bill Blackmon for his valuable input to this discussion. (Bill is one of the leads who developed the SCORM templates, and has been attending the last several sub-committee meetings to provide inputs to our discussions on DITA - SCORM processing approaches.)

John
___________________________________
John Hunt
DITA Architect / Lotus Information Development Center
Chair, OASIS DITA learning and training content sub-committee
IBM Software Group/Lotus Software
phone: 617.245.8053
john_hunt@us.ibm.com

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