JEM Repository for Learning ObjectsAntti AlamäkiOlga CaprottiMatti Pauna

University of Helsinki

Launched on January 2008

as an integrated

service from the JEM Portal

http://jem-thematic.net/lom

Purpose

Metadata

• Utilizing the current de facto standard: Learning Object Metadata (LOM) by IEEE

“attributes that are needed to adequately describe a learning object and can then be used for automatic processing of learning objects and for their classification”

• Specifically designed for educational materials• Modified to JEM’s needs (not all fields are used)

LOM Data Model

LOM metadata descriptions include more than 70 fields in nine categories describing, for example– structure and interactivity of the content– topic classification– school level and difficulty– author(s) information– file format, software environment, etc..JEM Repository supports a subset of these elements

Functionalities

1. Browse contents2. List view and sort (by classification, title,

date, or author)3. Add record and register content (as a url and

also attachment)4. Edit record5. Export LOM record to an XML file

http://jem-thematic.net/

Metadata form

• Fill in the fields for metadata elements• Instructions of the purpose of the information

are given in the form page• Screencast will be made available in the JEM

support pages demonstrating metadata editor

Select classification from taxonomy

Select classification from taxonomy

Classifying Contents

The classification describes the topics covered for example in a mathematics course as a tree

MathTax (also known as LivingTaxonomy) is used as a basis for the JEM classification

The LivingTaxonomy project is a community of educators, content publishers, and developers who aim at “creating global, open source, standards-based taxonomies for digital education”

Taxonomy (for Single Variable Calculus)

Easy to organize contents for fine-grained educational modules

Implementation

• Built as a module for Drupal (open source content management platform) by Antti Alamäki

• As in Drupal framework, the module is programmed in PHP, using MySQL database

• Will be made available to the Drupal community

The metadata fields can be modified (by administrator)

Future plans

• Reviews and rating• Search with metadata form• Metadata form template• Import from XML• Combine with Drupal OAI module for

metadata harvesting• Support ProLearn Query Language for

confederated search engines