IMS Learning Design

Encyclopedia : I : IM : IMS : IMS Learning Design

IMS Learning Design (IMS LD) is a specification for a metalanguage which enables the modelling of learning processes. The specification is maintained by IMS Global Learning Consortium.

Contents

1 Background
2 Description
3 Use
4 Support
5 External links

Background

IMS LD has its origins in the Educational Modelling Language developed at the Open University of the Netherlands, with the IMS LD specification being released by the IMS Technical Board in February 2003.

Description

IMS Learning Design is a metalanguage for describing learning designs that claims to be pedagogically neutral (according to their authors, it does not mandate a specific pedagogical approach). The specification can be likened to a stage-play:

People act in different roles
Roles work towards specific objectives by performing learning and/or support activities
Activities are conducted within an environment consisting of learning objects and services

IMS LD is made up of three levels (A, B and C), with each level extending and encorporating the previous:

Level A contains the core elements of the meta language
Level B enables the use of generic properties and conditions
Level C provides the ablility to use notifications (enables activities to be set dynamically)

Use

The specification is a method for describing teaching strategies (pedagogical models) and educational goals. The language is represented in XML which makes it machine readable; an IMS LD-aware tool is able to "play" a unit of learning.

Although it is a relatively new specification (published in 2003), IMS LD has an active support base with a wide range of research and experimentation being conducted around its application, particularly in Europe.

Support

The Open University of the Netherlands has developed an IMS LD engine for playing LD called CopperCore[link], and a number of tools have been developed which support LD such as the Reload[link] editor.

External links

[IMS Learning Design Specification]
[IMS Learning Design Frequently Asked Questions]
[UNFOLD Project]

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.