Schema.org is a joint initiative of the search engines Google, Bing, Yahoo and Yandex aimed at making it easier to index web pages in such a way that facilitates the building of sophisticated search services. Schema.org metadata may also be used for other applications e.g. in eBooks and as stand-alone metadata records.

This briefing describes schema.org for a technical audience. It is aimed at people who may want to implement schema.org markup in websites or other tools they build but who wish to know more about the technical approach behind schema.org and how to implement it. We also hope that this briefing will be useful to those who are evaluating whether to implement schema.org to meet the requirements of their own organization.

This briefing has been produced as part of the Learning Resource Metadata Initiative (LRMI), which is concerned with extending and applying schema.org to the description of educationally relevant properties of resources. Other briefings in this series will provide an in-depth overview of LRMI.

[If you wish to take advantage of the CC-By licence and edit your version, there is a copy on Google docs that you may clone, or you may download a zip archive of the files used to create the PDF in Scribus, this archive includes the plain text and the images.]

Preview
[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/schemaBriefing.pdf]

This briefing introduces a range of approaches and specifications for recording and exchanging data generated by the interactions of users with resources.

Such data is a form of Activity Data, which can be defined as “the record of any user action that can be logged on a computer”. Meaning can be derived from Activity Data by querying it to reveal patterns and context, this is often referred to as Analytics. Activity Data can be shared as an Activity Stream, a list of recent activities performed by an individual. Initiatives such as OpenSocial, ActivityStreams and TinCan API have produced specifications and APIs to share Activity Data across platforms and applications.

While Activity Streams record the actions of individual users and their interactions with multiple resources and services, other specifications have been developed to record the actions of multiple users on individual resources. This data about how and in what context resources are used is often referred to as Paradata. A specification for recording and exchanging paradata has been developed by the Learning Registry, an open source content-distribution network for storing and sharing information about learning resources.

[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/paradataBriefing.pdf]

This paper provides a high level overview to the CETIS Analytics Series. The series explores a number of key issues around the potential strategic advantages and insights which the increased attention on, and use of, analytics is bringing to the education sector. It is aimed primarily at managers and early adopters in Further and Higher Education who have a strategic role in developing the use of analytics in the following areas:

• Whole Institutional Issues,
• Ethical and Legal Issues,
• Learning and Teaching,
• Research Management,
• Technology and Infrastructure.

Preview:

[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Analytics-Vol1-No1-Briefing-Paper-online.pdf]

The IMS Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) specification provides a standard mechanism for seamlessly connecting Interoperability learning applications and remote content to virtual learning environments (VLEs) and enterprise portals.

It is increasing in popularity as a method for providing integrations which are not dependent upon a particular VLE.

This briefing paper provides an overview of the LTI specification and illustrates the benefits for developers, VLE administrators, teachers and learners.

Preview:
[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/LTI-Briefing-Paper.pdf]

Summary: The term “Cloud Computing” refers to any “computing capability that is delivered as a service over the Internet. While there is no authoritatively accredited definition of the concept, one of the most frequently used definitions is the one given by Gartner, who describe cloud computing as “a style of computing where massively scalable IT-related capabilities are provided ‘as a service’ across the Internet to multiple external
customers.”

This briefing paper will explain some of the key characteristics and delivery levels of current development and implementations that provide a basis for understanding cloud computing and the ongoing discussion about it.

[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Cloud_Computing.pdf]

Providing a decade of interoperable assessment, IMS Question and Test Interoperability is a widely used specification for managing and sharing assessment material. Now that we are near the release of the final version of QTI v2.1 this paper provides an overview of the specification, outlining some of the key features of QTI v2.1 and its value for developers and educators. The intended audience for this paper is managers, learning technologists and developers interested in online and electronic assessment and new to QTI.

[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/qti_v21_briefing.pdf]

With today’s students carrying a vast array of mobile devices that operate across a massively fragmented and shifting market, institutions can find themselves wondering how to deliver content and services specifically designed for mobile use most effectively. Apple’s App Store? Android? Blackberry or Microsoft Phone? Each has created their own app ecosystems.

The aim of this briefing paper is to give institutions an overview of the mobile web space and an understanding of why developing hosted, mobile web applications can offer an attractive and viable solution that can overcome the fragmentation and deliver crossplatform services.

Summary: This guide is an introduction to service design and improvement methodology and its application in Higher and Further Education. It introduces a key technique service blueprinting – which has been used successfully at the University of Derby in the Development and Review of Business Interfaces (DERBI) project to improve the transition stage from applicant to registered student, with a specific focus on the university enrolment process. Together with a theoretical introduction to service design, the guide provides illustrative examples (coloured boxes) of how service blueprinting can be applied.

[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Service_Design.pdf]

Summary: This briefing paper provides a high level overview of key concepts relating to the Semantic Web, semantic technologies, linked and open data; along with references to relevant examples and standards. The briefing is intended to provide a starting point for those within the teaching and learning community who may have come across the concept of semantic technologies and the Semantic Web but who do not regard themselves as experts and wish to learn more. The examples and links are intended as starting points for further exploration.

[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/The_Semantic_Web.pdf]

Leap2A is an open specification for transferring learner-owned information between different systems. e-Portfolio tools and systems are now widely used by learners to present evidence of learning, achievements and abilities for many purposes, including application for a job or university, assessment or professional accreditation. During their studies, these learners may invest significant time and effort in collecting, selecting, reflecting on and presenting the information included in their e-portfolios, so it is vital that their work doesn’t disappear or become unusable as learners move to another college, university or into the workplace.

[pdf http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/briefingpaper/2010/BPLeap2Av1.pdf]

Summary: After a period of relative stability and deeper embedding, the debate about the role and function of the VLE (virtual learning environment)
within the institution is gathering pace again. Many institutions in the UK
are in the process of reviewing their current VLE provision in the light of
changing pedagogical requirements, more administrative integration and the emergence of new classes of social media on the wider web.

In the past, the requirement for deeper integration with other (administrative) systems gave rise to the MLE (managed learning environment) concept. Later, the demand for greater personalisation and the availability of new web tools gave birth to the PLE (personal learning
environment) debate, in which people radically re- conceptualised the notion of a learning environment. During these phases, however, the VLE still remained a dominant force within institutions. This has resulted in a tension between the role of the VLE as a common tool for the institutional community, the desire to make it permeable to the institutional network and the wider web and to allow greater levels of personalization / customization for individuals and institutions.

A number of working solutions are now emerging to address these tensions. This briefing paper will explore five emerging models, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each and link to working examples and further sources of information.

[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Distributed_Learning.pdf]

Making a business case for interoperability and standards is a challenging task for those involved in the strategic planning of IT systems in educational institutions. This briefing with its accompanying references is intended to provide advice and supporting materials to help people to incorporate standards in their ICT-related business cases. It assumes some familiarity with the way IT systems are presently deployed and maintained in educational institutions, and will be of interest to Information Services managers and senior managers for strategy planning and resourcing.

[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/bpbusinesscasestandards.pdf]

No longer current.

A CETIS Briefing paper on item banks, collections of assessment items and associated software to enable the storing of content to support the assessment of student learning. An assessment item is a complex object, consisting of a question together with its associated data such as score, feedback and either any media files required or links to those files. Item banking software enables items to be deposited, discovered and retrieved. In order to support the discovery and delivery of items, each item needs to be described with metadata, and may also be related to usage data.

[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/What-is-assessment-item-banking.pdf]

A CETIS Briefing Paper on the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH), which offers a simple technical option for catalogue and repository services to make their metadata available to other services.

Link: IMS AccessForAll Metadata Specification (pdf).

CETIS briefing paper on the IMS AccessForAll Metadata Specification, which defines the meta-data that can be used to describe a learning resource’s accessibility and its ability to match a learner’s preferences. It works in conjunction with the IMS ACCLIP (Accessibility for Learner Information Package) Specification, and provides guidance on how to make the two specifications work together.

No longer current.

Link: IMS Accessibility for Learner Information Package (ACCLIP) Specification

A CETIS Briefing on the IMS Accessibility for Learner Information Package
(ACCLIP) Specification, which provides a means of describing preferences so that learners can interact with an e-learning system regardless of disability, hardware or environment. These preferences are based on those parts of a computer system (hardware and software) that can be adjusted to improve accessibility, rather than on type of disability.

No longer current.

Link: IMS Guidelines for Developing Accessible Learning Applications (doc).

A CETIS Briefing on the IMS Guidelines for Developing Accessible Learning Applications which provide a set of accessibility resources and recommendations for the e-learning community, so that online learning can be made accessible to everyone.

No longer current.

A CETIS Briefing on the IMS AccLIP Specification, which provides a means of describing preferences so that learners can interact with an e-learning system regardless of disability, hardware or environment.

No longer current.

A CETIS briefing on IMS Learning Design, which is a specification used to describe learning scenarios. IMS Learning Design allows these scenarios to be presented to learners online, and enables them to be shared between systems. It can describe a wide variety of pedagogical models, or approaches to learning, including group work and collaborative learning. It does not define individual pedagogical models; instead it provides a high level language, or meta-model, that can describe many different models. The language describes how people perform activities using resources (including materials and services), and how these three things are coordinated into a learning flow.

No longer current

A CETIS briefing on IMS Content Packaging, a specification for sending learning resources (or learning objects) from one program to another, facilitating easier delivery, reuse and sharing of materials. IMS Packages enable you to export content from one virtual learning environment (VLE), content management system or digital repository, and import it into another while retaining information describing the media in the IMS Package, and how it is structured, such as a table of contents or the HTML page to show first.

No longer current.

A CETIS Briefing Paper on the ADL Shareable Content Object Reference Model. Shareable content objects (SCOs) are individual, electronic units of learning that may be combined to create a course of study.

No longer current

A briefing on IMS Simple Sequencing (IMS SS) which is a specification used to describe paths through a collection of learning activities.

No longer current

A briefing paper about IMS Question and Test Interoperability (QTI), which is a specification for a standard way of sharing assessment data.

No longer current.

A CETIS briefing paper on the IEEE 1484.12.1 – 2002 Standard for Learning Object Metadata, a standard for the description of “learning objects”. IEEE 1484.12.1 is the first part of a multipart standard, and describes the LOM data model. The LOM data model specifies which aspects of a learning object should be described and what vocabularies may be used for these descriptions; it also defines how this data model can be amended by additions or constraints.

[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/WhatIsIEEELOM.pdf]

A CETIS briefing paper about IMS Enterprise, a specification for transferring data about people and groups (for example, students on a course) between systems such as Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), Portals, Student Record Systems (SRSs), and Management Information Systems (MISs).

No longer current.

A CETIS briefing paper about the IMS Learner Information Package (LIP), a specification for a standard means of recording information about learners. LIP is designed to allow information about learners, including their progress to date and awards received, to be transferred between different software applications.

No longer current.