Interoperability for eLearning Service Management and Provision

Sun, L. and Fu, Y. (2005) Interoperability for eLearning Service Management and Provision. World Wide Web, 8 (4). pp. 395-412. ISSN 1573-1413 doi: 10.1007/s11280-005-1320-3

Abstract/Summary

Learning Objects offer flexibility and adaptability for users to request personalised information for learning. There are standards to guide the development of learning objects. However, individual developers may customise these standards for serving different purposes when defining, describing, managing and providing learning objects, which are normally stored in heterogeneous repositories. Barriers to interoperability hinder sharing of learning services and subsequently affect quality of instructional design as learners expect to be able to receive their personalised learning content. All these impose difficulties to the users in getting the right information from the right sources. This paper investigates the interoperability issues in eLearning services management and provision and presents an approach to resolve interoperability at three levels.