14 thoughts on “CETIS OER Gathering

  1. Background: I’m multimedia developer/Learning Technologist and work mainly with the Flex framework using Actionscript 3, PHP, mySQL and XML. I will also be representing my work colleague Fred Riley at this gathering, Fred is our sonet website administrator.

    The challenge is:

    We run a custom-built learning object ‘repository’
    (sonet.nottingham.ac.uk/rlos/) developed in mySQL and PHP. It would be very useful to have practical code/algorithms for exposing our metadata for external harvesting and propagation via standard exchange formats (OAI-PMH, SRU, RSS, JSON maybe) as it would be the devil’s own job to write, from scratch, PHP code to generate, say, an OAI-PMH service given the insanely complex OAI-PMH syntax and data formats. It would conversely be very useful to have practical code/algorithms for harvesting/querying other repositories or data sources which expose their data in standard formats.

  2. I’m a developer working for the last 5 years in PHP, PostgreSQL, XML for Moodle.

    I’m familiar with OAI-PMH and RSS exchange formats, along with IMS CP,CC,SCORM and other content packaging standards. Our use of these includes disseminating Dublin Core and LOM metadata.

    I can demonstrate the disemmination features of OpenLearn, and the way in which they meet international guidelines for metadata exposure. I can also demonstrate the OAI service written for ASPECT (a european project of which iCoper are also partners). I can also share the OAI service code and help others (e.g. Mike above???) to implement it in their repositories.

    I’m interested in discussing UK agreement on exchange best practice and hearing about plans for dynamic thematic collections and how OpenLearn might support them.

  3. Background: I’m a Research Associate at the Institute for Computer Based Learning at Heriot-Watt University and have some technical experience.

    Interested in: Dissemination of OERS and searching for OERs through RSS/APIs.

    Demo: Could demonstrate Engineering Open Educational Resources Search.

    Tools/Languages: Google Custom search, Yahoo! Pipes, APIs, RSS, XML, PHP.

    Metadata/Standards: DC, LOM, CC, IMS CP.

  4. Background: In the context of ICOPER I am leading the development of the Open ICOPER content space (OICS), a testbed for ICOPER’s research in processes of outcome-based learning.
    Interested in investigating inclusion of UK OER content into OICS, management of heterogenous (institutionally controlled and user-generated) metadata (enrichment, annotation), access to learning ressources from authoring environments, LMS and PLEs.
    I could present the OICS Middle layer API and some of the practical examples (prototypes) that make use of it.
    We are using the OpenACS platform, written in TCL.
    We try to define a LOM application profile, and am interested in experiences with management of application profiles.
    The OICS has an OAI-PMH target at http://oics.icoper.org/oics/oai-pmh. The OICS middle layer defines methods for searching for ressources, that have been bound to ATOM feeds. See http://www.educanext.org/dotlrn/clubs/icoper/new-lors/Deliverables/Deliverables_-_Submitted/D1.2_Draft/D1.2-31052010.pdf?m=show

  5. Hello,

    I helped to write Xpert, which is an RSS aggregating search engine developed at Nottingham.

    I do Toolkits as well (www.nottingham.ac.uk/xerte).

    Pat

  6. Background: CETIS Assistant Director with an interest in all areas relating to resource management, description and discovery. Most definitely not a developer though!

    Interests: Interested in all aspects of OER management, particularly dynamic collections with reference to the OER 2 call. Would like to learn more about what can be achieved with existing technologies in terms of resource management, discovery and aggregation.

    Standards: Familiar with IEEE LOM, DC & IMS CP. Have developed an IEEE LOM application profile in the past and hope not to have to do so again ;)

    * Within the scope of the event, what are you most interested in discussing?
    * If applicable, what would you like to demonstrate at the event?
    * What are you most interested in hearing more about/ seeing demonstrated?
    * If you’re a developer, what languages do you know/ what development environments/tools do you work with?
    * If applicable, which metadata standards are you familiar with?
    * If you run a repository or service that you’d like involved in the event can you provide us with some details about it (e.g. OAI-PMH base url / api functionality / feeds)?

  7. Hi!

    I am a developer (Java, PHP, Javascript, XML, SQL etc) at The Open University, currently working on the OLnet Project – Open Learning Network (http://olnet.org/).

    The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation are supporting the development of this Open Learning Network whose aim is to bring researchers and educators together in an intelligent social network to share knowledge on the development, use and reuse of Open Educational Resources.

    I am developing The Cohere Tool set (http://cohere.open.ac.uk) which is part of the Collective intelligence aspects of the project. Quick overview of Cohere for OER can be seen in our flyer http://cohere.open.ac.uk/help/cohere-flyer.pdf

    More detail can be read on our blog at http://technologies.kmi.open.ac.uk/cohere/2010/06/14/gathering-and-exploring-collective-intelligence-around-open-educational-resources/

    Michelle

  8. I’m a developer (C#, Java, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, PHP, SQL etc) at Strathclyde University, IT Services/Centre for Academic Practice & Learning Enhancement.

    I was formerly based at Strathclyde’s Law School, where I was the lead developer on the JISC/UKCLE funded SIMPLE project, and also helped set up an OER project to share resources for simulation based learning.

    I’m interested in seeing what other OER projects have produced and looking at how it may be possible to integrate OER repositories/resources with learning systems such as Moodle etc.

  9. I’m a software developer, working for the past three years on the VLEs and associated websites in the medical college, Edinburgh.

    Our websites are custom-built using VBScript+MSSQL with some bits of .NET as well, and considering moving to PHP.

    Our VLEs and other web-based learning application have grown up over a period of around 8 years, so there’s a lot of valuable stuff here needing to get out.

    I’m looking to find out more about:
    1. How best to release the learning materials accumulated in our closed systems.
    2. How best to consume/re-use others’ open learning material, especially given that we’re currently outside the mainstream open-source technology stack.

    I have taken brief look at SCORM and IMS packaging, but I’m really hoping there are better alternatives somewhere :)

  10. Background: I’m the ‘solutions architect’ for a number of “outward facing” web resources at Harper Adams University College. I’ve a history (from the early dot.com era, as a contractor) of developing commercial online implementations – but as VB turned to ASP and then ASP.NET, my hair went from red to grey and then to none.

    I’m interested in many aspects of syndication and shared service offerings; I’m particularly interested in the value of JISC’s eFramework and n-tiered architectures and why it is that ordinary mortals just don’t seem to get it yet.

    I’m responsible for a legacy project that acts as a shared open-access repository (currently for grey literature and research papers, with a limited set of simple OERs). We’re keen to extend the capability of its OER holding. This platform has an API, a number of ways of generating XML feeds, and XML import/export facility.

    Though our various ‘business and community engagement’ activities we’ve found unsurprisingly that an appreciation of good metadata is a lost art, and SCORM and LOM reside in a different part of the brain, so adoption here is approached largely through stealth.

    I’m leading a new project that will put 25 degree modules online a.s.a.p., which means some rapid (?) implementation of Re-purposable Learning Objects, so have a burning interest in getting slick Xerte packages together for use in a Moodle VLE. Whilst many of these will be ‘hewn from the wood’, we also want to adapt some bodies of existing material. We’re keen to share a proportion of this as OER through a number of related public-facing collaborating web projects, and facilitate co-deposit in platforms like Open Jorum.

  11. I’m interested in

    Tools and tricks like Yahoo Pipes and other filtering agents.

    Dynamic tools or sites for aggregating and filtering OER feeds

    Tools that can test and validate RSS/ATOM

    Tools that create packages of linked lists of OERs

    Tools that can can be used with searches to bookmark easily sets of related HE OERs into paths for the learner, how these tools might then package up into web micro-sites…

    RSS aggregating search engines – such as the test video aggregation portal developed as part of JISC Steeple – http://steeple.org.uk/podcasts

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