Paul Hollins

Learning Technology Standards Adoption How to Improve Process and Product Legitimacy

Standardisation of learning technologies as a co-ordinated design activity needs legitimacy to attract the necessary support from its stakeholders. This paper identifies the need for a theoretical model of such standardisation and offers an analysis of two pivotal concepts in such a theory, process legitimacy and product legitimacy.

Learning Technology Standards Adoption Process Improvement and Output Legitimacy

In the context of a theoretical model on process and product legitimacy of Learning technology standards development and adoption proposed by the authors in 2008, this paper discusses recent activity and progress in the Learning, Educational and Training (LET) standards domain. In January 2010 experts from Europe and USA gathered in the United Kingdom to discuss the “Future of Interoperability and Standards in Education”. It is the presented position papers, case studies and recorded discourse from this conference, which provides data to which is used to test the validity of the model itself. The Process and Product Legitimacy model was found to still support necessary discourse towards an improved LET standardisation process, even if a new area of discourse related to Intellectual Property Rights was identified as not covered in the model and thus calls for further work.

Could European eGovernment Policy Initiatives, in Effect, be Stifling the Development of Learning Technologies?

European eGovernment initiatives give standards boards a prominent role in the governance of standards and specifications for Learning, Education and Training. One of the instruments of governance is a standards catalogue, which is intended to guide users towards appropriate standards to implement. However, these initiatives coincide with a debate of the value of formal standards versus community specifications. The authors analyse the standards catalogue approach against a horizon scan report of current standardisation projects in the sector. They suggest that eGovernment standards boards should focus on semantic, organisational, cultural, political and legal interoperability, in preference to attempting to stabilise practice around a limited number of technical interoperability standards.

From the Games Industry: Ten Lessons for Game-Based Learning

This paper draws on lessons learned from the development process of the entertainment games industry and discusses how they can be applied to the field of game-based learning. This paper examines policy makers and those wishing to commission or develop games for learning and highlights potential opportunities as well as pitfalls. The paper focuses on ten key points in which the authors feel from experience in both commercial game development and education that parallels are drawn between the entertainment and educational games development processes.

Virtual Worlds, Standards and Interoperability

It is well documented that virtual worlds today are applied in both educational and commercial teaching and learning contexts. Where virtual worlds were once the reserve of entertainment, they have now taken on a variety of roles as platforms for business meetings, simulation, and training and education. In this context, the integration and interoperability with both online and offline resources and technologies is important. In this paper, the authors review progress toward increased integration and interoperability from the first virtual world games to todays virtual world platforms. This paper highlights opportunities that will arise from further improvements in the ability to create virtual world platforms, content and activities that are truly interoperable, as well as more significant challenges along the way.

The RAGE Software Asset Model and Metadata Model

Software assets are key output of the RAGE project and they can be used by applied game developers to enhance the pedagogical and educational value of their games. These software assets cover a broad spectrum of functionalities – from player analytics including emotion detection to intelligent adaptation and social gamification. In order to facilitate integration and interoperability, all of these assets adhere to a common model, which describes their properties through a set of metadata. In this paper the RAGE asset model and asset metadata model is presented, capturing the detail of assets and their potential usage within three distinct dimensions – technological, gaming and pedagogical. The paper highlights key issues and challenges in constructing the RAGE asset and asset metadata model and details the process and design of a flexible metadata editor that facilitates both adaptation and improvement of the asset metadata model.

Standards for Learning, Education and Training A Proposal for an Improved Process

The standard setting process within the Learning, Education and Training domain needs to be improved to strengthen the legitimacy of these standards. When new work items are proposed in the domain alternative methods to technical solutions are seldom discussed. This is shown in a small case study presented in this paper. To guide a methods discussion the authors propose a new framework for LET standardisation with constructs from four ontologies and a four-step process. The model is meant as a toolbox to be used to ensure that issues related to both the process and product legitimacy of standards setting are addressed.

The RAGE Advanced Game Technologies Repository for Supporting Applied Game Development

This paper describes the structural architecture of the RAGE repository, which is a unique and dedicated infrastructure that provides access to a wide variety of advanced technologies (RAGE software assets) for applied game development. These software assets are reusable across a wide diversity of game engines, game platforms and programming languages. The RAGE repository allows applied game developers and studios to search for software assets for inclusion in applied games. The repository is designed as an asset life-cycle management system for defining, publishing, updating, searching and packaging for distribution of these assets. The RAGE repository provides storage space for assets and their artefacts. It will be embedded in a social platform for networking among asset developers and other users. A dedicated Asset Repository Manager provides the main functionality of the repository and its integration with other systems. Tools supporting the Asset Manager are presented and discussed. When the RAGE repository is in full operation, applied game developers will be able to easily enhance the quality of their games by including advanced game technology assets.

Learning Technology Standards Development Planning for an Improved Process and Product

This paper presents a framework for improving the legitimacy of learning technology standards by focussing on a better process and product. It is suggested that there is a need for a change in the standardisation paradigm, moving from monolithic to more modular standards.