Metadata for OBJECTS or metadata for LEARNING?
Tom Boyle
Learning Technology Research Institute (LTRI)
London Metropolitan University
Metadata Workshop Leuven Feb 7 2008
A user’s perspective on metadata
How (future) metadata might
contribute to improving the
effectiveness of learning
The ultimate concern from the users’ perspective
The human users –
Teachers,
Learners
Managers
Designers of learning events/resources
User’s perspective
What does metadata promise?
What does metadata deliver?
– Claims/aspirations made for first generation metadata
– Critique of present metadata especially on ‘learning’ dimension
– What might metadata do in the future?
– What should be represented and how?
Who needs to be involved?
A major problem in the past is that metadata
has been primarily about objects – not about learning
learning object metadata will always be limited
unless we have a more sophisticated understanding about learning
that can be and is captured in metadata
UK LOM Core - example
UK LOM Core - May 2004 (CETIS)
Educational metadata section
“This category describes the key educational or pedagogic
characteristics of this learning object.”
“ This is the pedagogical information essential to those
involved in achieving a quality learning experience. The
audience for this metadata includes teachers, managers,
authors and learners”
Interactivity Type
“Until the vocabulary for this element is used more widely by educators it will remain relatively obscure and therefore can
not be mandatory. Further work is required to develop an understanding of this element and its common usage”.
Learning Resource Type
“Use of the LOM…vocabulary is problematic”
Interactivity Level
“Until the vocabulary for this element is used more widely by educators it will remain relatively obscure and therefore
can not be mandatory.”
Semantic Density
“At the moment it is difficult to see how this element could be used effectively”
“Until the vocabulary in this element is used more widely by educators it will remain relatively obscure and therefore can not be mandatory. Work is required to develop an understanding of this element and its common usage.
Difficulty
“At the moment effective use of this element is problematic…”
UK LOM Core
“ This is the pedagogical information essential to
those involved in achieving a quality learning
experience. The audience for this metadata
includes teachers, managers, authors and learners”
Not very useful
The educational metadata is not very useful
and even if it was
It is not very accessible, e.g.
“Language
This is distinct from 1.3 General. Language. For example, in a metadata record describing an object designed to
support the teaching of French to English speakers, 1.3 General. Language would be 'fr' and 5.11 Educational. Language would be 'en-GB'. That is, it is a resource in French designed to be used by a student whose first
language is English.”
Usefulness and accessibility
We need metadata that is …
more educationally meaningful
and
more accessible to “users”
We also need authors who are more interested/concerned about how to make their resources reusable. They need to
be prepared to make the effort to make their resources accessible to others and not just to the person/group who
created it in the first place.
We need a dialogue that goes in both directions…
Example: demo from RLO-CETL repository
What might metadata do in the future?
The power of the meta-verse
Photosynth and Seadragon
Blaise Aguera y Arcas
Why is this possible?
Camera (machine, essentially a computer) produces metadata
People produce metadata
An underlying conceptual representation of the world than enables the linking of information to create emergent properties and entities
People produce metadata
Social tagging and folksonomies The long tail phenomenon CoPs
– but traditional repositories have not been very successful in this (e.g. CD-LOR project)
Contextual metadata - metadata about use and integration
Need to make this ‘natural’ and provide as much (unobtrusive) machine help as possible
Underlying conceptual representation – a preliminary view
An underlying conceptual representation of the world than enables the linking of information to create
emergent properties and entities
Need to create a dialogue between different traditions
Traditional formal, content oriented approaches
Learning design oriented approaches
Need a rich dialogue but some suggested linkage points are …
A preliminary view: mapping the learning object space
Object Pattern
Complex
Base Raw
Packaged
The Learning Object Cube - LOC
Undifferentiated “learning objects”
Packaged
Instance Pattern
Base
Holo
Raw
Def: “a learning object as any entity that … may be used in learning” …. IEEE LOM
Articulating the vertical dimension-
different levels of
learning …….
Packaged
Instance Pattern
Base
Holo
Raw
Content aggregation models
Learning content aggregation models
Alocom
Aggregation
Larger objective
Single objective
Content objects
Content fragments
Articulating the vertical dimension-
different levels of
design …….
Layered learning design?
Course
Session
Activity
Learning object
Each layer provides services to the layer above
JISC D4L (2007)
Layering correspondence?
Assets
Design
Courses
Sessions
Aggregation
Larger objective
Single objective
Content objects
Content fragments
Content
?Learning
object
Component
Relationship on IMS LD to learning objects
There is a shortcircuiting of the design space
Generative learning object layer
Develop layering model of design space
Explore correspondences between design layers and content aggregation levels
IMS Learning Designs
Learning objects
Some fundamental challenges
Develop a comprehensive and sophisticated articulation of the conceptual space
Explore the relationship between content aggregation models and layered learning design (part-of, component-of relationships)?
Treat objects as instances of learning designs ( is-a relationships)
Begin to develop a meaningful representation of the learning object/entity/design space
RawObject Pattern
Holo
Base
Packaged
Summary
What needs to be captured?– meaningful information on ‘learning’ as well as
‘objects’– This is a significant challenge
Who needs to be involved?– Metadata experts– Users: teachers and learners– Learning design experts
What can be achieved? How can it be done – open for further discussion
Recommended
