Title Slide Interoperability

Title Slide

Interoperability – an Overview of the

Landscape

November 17, 2009

Today’s Overview

What is SIF?

Teaching and Learning Framework

Content Catalog

Pilots

Copyright © SIF Association

What is SIF?


Not a product, but a technical blueprint for pK-12 software that will enable diverse applications to interact and share data and information seamlessly

Designed for pK-12 technology providers and educators in an open, platform independent neutral standard way

Manages data and information within the pK-12 environment

Enables diverse applications to interact/share data – allowing best-of-breed

Works cross-platform, over a Web-based interface – vendor neutral

Allows automated reportingCopyright © SIF

Association

What is SIF?

Publish and Subscribe

Request and Reply

Message Channel Message Bus

Guaranteed Delivery

Message

Application A

Application B

Message Endpoint

Message Endpoint

SIF Agent

SIF Agent

SIF Zone

Hohpe, G and Woolf, B. (2004) Enterprise integration patterns: Designing, building and deploying messaging solutions Copyright © SIF

Association

SIF Enterprise Integration (Conceptual)

Network Account

H.R. &Finance

Data Analysis

& Reporting Instructional

Services

Library Automation

Student Information

Services

GradeBook

FoodServices

– Zone Integration Server (ZIS)

– SIF Agents

– Applications

– SIF Data Objects

“SIF Zone”Copyright © SIF

Association

Components Working TogetherHorizontal Interoperability

• 2 identified implementation concepts

• Horizontal Implementations

• Vertical Implementations

Library Automation

FoodService

s

Student Information System

District Zone

State Zone


Meeting Multiple Level Needs…

* Implementation 2.3 – Data Model and Infrastructure

* Web Services 1.0


SIF Specification

Non-profit for over 12 years developing open interoperability specifications for schools

Over 2,300 members

Specification utilized to serve millions students, teachers and tech coordinators in 50 states and 6 countries

Legislatively mandated in states and internationally

Demanded/suggested by USED, states, schools and international governments in dozens current or planned RFP’s

Lead support agency for US National Data Model Activities

International expansion – SIF Association UK and SIF Association AU

Certification program


What is the SIF Association’s Current Status?





• 10 Objects containing 111 elements• Assessment• AssessmentAdmininstration • AssessmentForm • AssessmentItem• AssessmentPackage • AssessmentRegistration• AssessmentSubtest • ItemCharacteristics • StudentResponseSet • StudentScoreSet


Assessment

• Allows the opportunity to move student assessment scores to various systems

• Provides item characteristics for assessment items and results enabling data analysis

• Aligns with student learning and performance standards

• Provides opportunity to take assessment, have it scored, results reported and analysis conducted between multiple systems


So What?

• 10 Objects containing 107 elements• MarkValueInfo • MarkInfo • SectionMarkInfo • StudentSectionMark • GradingCategory • GradingAssignment • GradingAssignmentScore • StudentGradedItem• StudentPeriodAttendance • OfficialStudentPeriodAttendance


Grade Book

• Tracks official student attendance• Allows grades from multiple systems

to be passed to official grade book• Sends official grades to other

systems


So What?

• 10 Objects containing 179 elements• Activity• Assignment• Content Catalog (2.4)• Curriculum Structure• LearningResource• LearningResourcePackage• LearningStandardDocument• LearningStandardItem• Lesson • Metadata - EducationFilter


Instructional Services

• Provides a way to uniquely identify student learning standards

• Defines lesson, activity, assignment and learning resource; enabling interoperability between multiple systems (eg. content management system, learning management system, instructional management system, content repository)

• Allows for content portability and interoperability

• Expands tagging of content for schools specific needs


So What?

• 7 Objects containing 75 elements• ActivityProvider • ProfessionalDevelopmentActivity• ProfessionalDevelopmentProgram • ProfessionalDevelopmentRegistration • EmployeeCredentials• EmployeeCredit• EmployeeRecertification


Professional Development

• Enables LEA staff to automatically recertify or re-license with SEA

• Tracks professional development activities for professional development programs

• Tracks budget and stipends for professional development programs and activities

• Aligns professional development with student learning standards

• Follows staff involved in professional development

• Makes possible for staff to compile professional development activities and programs completed


So What?

• 3 Objects containing 104 elements• StudentParticipation• StudentPlacement• TestAccommodation


Special Programs

• Enables tracking of student’s eligibility for and participation in special programs and services

• Provides accommodations for assessments

• Describes specific instructional, related or transitional service that has been prescribed or recommended in a student’s IEP


So What?


Content Catalog

• Many different applications and presentation layers to get content– Multiple publishers– Content repositories– Different viewing formats

• No easy way to search across heterogeneous sources and media

• Metadata for education- consistent tagging

• Differentiated pedagogy


Challenge

• Facilitate searching for resources. • Initiated by a requesting application

such as a digital learning environment or learning management system.

• Search response will be served by provider applications such as instructional asset repositories.


Content Catalog

• Educators and curriculum designers require the ability to communicate their specific instructional asset needs to the providers of repositories of instructional content.

• The language of the request must be concise and applicable across the spectrum of all instructional asset types.

• The scope of the request must be definable in a standard way


Business Case

Content Catalog



Pilots

• Student data passed from SIS to LMS• Utilizing SCORM Content• Student works through content• Work scored• Grade passed from LMS to Grade Book• Implementing: Cengage Learning,

Edustructures, eSchool Data, New Century Education

• Participating: ADL, Becta, CDSM, Education.au, Learning Mate, Math Resources, Pearson, SIF Association


SIF/SCORM Proof of Concept

• Phase III• Use SIF Assessment Objects in

the RTE• Pass RTE data in real time via SIF


SIF/SCORM Proof of Concept

• The purpose of the SIF Assessment Pilot was to validate the 2.0 assessment objects and thereby establish their viability.

• The StudentResponseSet and StudentScoreSet were transported via the SIF Framework from a testing vendor (Pearson) to another educational entity (VA DOE).


Assessment Proof of Concept

• Rapid delivery of assessment results• Act quickly on:

– Verified credits– Remediation plans– Summer school

• Monitor security• Future – direct delivery to SIS and

Education Info. Mgmt. System (EIMS)


VA DOE’s Participation

• Assessment• AssessmentForm• AssessmentSubTest• AssessmentRegistration• AssessmentAdministration• StudentScoreSet• SchoolInfo• LEAInfo• StudentPersonal


POC Objects


POC Object Relationships

• POC was a success• Issues were discovered• Encouraged to expand• Mutually beneficial partnerships work• SIF is the segue for moving data


Lessons Learned

Introduction

Kristie [email protected]

http://www.desire2learn.com/

Desire2Learn Overview

We develop and support a learner-centric, enterprise eLearning suite to enrich the teaching and learning experience, and provide a complete suite of professional services to support client success.

Desire2Learn at-a-glance:– Our roots are academic– Fastest growing provider of Enterprise eLearning solutions– Recognized for product leadership, focus on clients and R&D– Over 5 million learners worldwide– 160 employees and growing


Common What?

• IMS standards – Content Packaging– Question/Test Interoperability– Metadata


IMS Common Cartridge

• Standard allows publishers to create packages of resources (content, assessments, question libraries, discussions) using existing IMS and QTI packaging standards

• Publishers can optionally protect the package, requiring users to authenticate with the publisher before importing or accessing protected resources– Designed to provide a standard way to protect content, as

opposed to each publisher or each LMS creating a proprietary method of protection and enforcement

– Desire2Learn has representatives in the IMS Common Cartridge Alliance working groups to help drive the standard


IMS Common Cartridge Support

• Import, usage, and authorization enforcement of IMS Common Cartridge packages– Incorporate resources such as content and quizzes

from publishers packaged according to IMS Common Cartridge specification into Desire2Learn courses

– Enforce any resource protection specified in the cartridge

• Prompt a user for a valid access code• Verify the code electronically with the publisher when a

protected resource is requested



SIF Association Members at iNACOL

• American Education Corporation

• Blackboard• Discovery Education –

ThinkLink Assessment• K12• Pearson• SAS

Jill Abbott Associate Executive Director/COO

[email protected]+1 202.491.8214


Contact Information

Title Slide Interoperability – an Overview of the Landscape November 17, 2009.

Documents

data analysisaligns

interactshare data

student learning

diverse applications

student assessment scores

assessment items

international governments