Orchestration of learning activities through the integration of third-party services in IMS learning design

Resum

The range of applicable pedagogical models has increased with the adoption of the Information and Communication Technologies in the educational field. The so called educational modelling languages enable the orchestration of learning activities on distance education scenarios. It is possible, for example, to apply strategies that emphasise the relevance of an active participation of the subject and the interaction among the different actors of the learning process. Computer-mediated orchestration of learning courses can be extended beyong distance education scenarios to face-to-face experiences. The IMS Learning Design specification is the de facto standard educational modelling language. The application of the specification in the support of collaborative learning models or in the creation of adaptive learning material is a frequent topic in current research. However, the model has several limitations that hinder the practical adoption of the IMS Learning Design framework. Among these limitations, the lack of integration with thirdparty tools is an obstacle for the creation and deployment of student-centred learning courses, where the active participation implies the use of Web based tools. Distance and blended learning models are especially affected by this limitation. Another factor that prevents full adoption of the framework is the lack of flexibility of the model: the existing players play a previously created script and leave no room for teachers’ reaction to unexpected events. This dissertation proposes a solution for the previous problems without limiting the intrinsic benefits of the specification, such as interoperability and expressiveness. The adopted research methodology consists of three phases: characterisation of the problem, design and implementation of the solution, and experimental validation of the proposed model. The complete description of the problem has required a revision of the state of the art regarding IMS Learning Design and the design and deployment of several cases of study. The analysis of these cases has been centred in the study of the factors that affect the authoring, deployment and enactment phases of scripted learning courses. The documentation and publication of these experiences is one of the contributions of this dissertation. An extension of the IMS Learning Design framework is proposed as a solution of the described problem. The extension, called Generic Service Integration is platform independent and allows the integration of third-party tools in courses described by IMS Learning Design. The integration is enabled by the automation of administrative tasks such as the instantiation of external tools, and by the information exchange among the platforms that take part in the course. Thus, it is possible to include learning activities whose enactment requires the use of Web based tools without losing the intrinsic characteristics of IMS Learning Design. The framework proposed by Generic Service Integration has been implemented as an extension of GRAIL, the IMS Learning Design player in the .LRN Learning Management System. Such extension has allowed the design and deployment of cases of study in which tool integration played an essential role in the sequence of activities. The analysis of these experiences demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed model. Such feasibility tackles two facts: first, the expresiveness of the combination of IMS LD and GSI; second, the replicability and scalability with a high number of participants. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------