They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single
step. The Federated European Virtual University is not as far away as one might
think, and the innovations of the CUBER project bring it even closer to reality.
CUBER has developed a system for classifying distance learning course modules in
a machine-searchable way, using a comprehensive XML metadata schema. Details of
modules can be accessed regardless of the location of the Host University or
language used. CUBER supports a course brokerage with which students can locate
the course modules they want.
Flexible learning and student mobility are central to the EU's vision of an
integrated Europe. The idea is to accommodate, as far as is possible, all the
barriers to learning: location, language, age, family commitments, work
commitments, and so on. A notion that has been gathering momentum in recent
years is that of the course brokerage, for students and institutions to see what
courses are available.
The central problem is to find a way of describing courses in a coherent way,
taking into account all the educational attributes that enable students and
academics make their choice. "There are lots of course databases and
repositories on the web, from universities and colleges round the world,"
observes Bernd Kramer, co-ordinator of CUBER. "The trouble is that they are
described inadequately. Course attributes such as academic level, entry
requirements, etc., are not described in a consistent way. For some courses, a
credit is obtained by simply handing in an essay, for others a credit is only
issued when a formal exam has been passed."
Defining principles
One of CUBER's innovations has been to devise a conceptual
model that defines the essential concepts of the subject domain, together with
their attributes and relationships to one another. The project has also devised
a meta-ontology that captures the definition of all the concepts in the
conceptual model. This level of complexity is unavoidable if one wants to
represent course information in a coherent and rational way, and represents a
quantum step compared to the current situation with web-based course
repositories.
Using an XML-based representation enables the information to be accessed by
search engines. "CUBER has developed the ontology and metadata schema based on
LOM (Learning Object Metadata, developed by the IEEE) , which enables us to
describe courses in quite an elaborate way," comments Kramer. "The metadata
schema covers such things as preparation time, how the course is delivered,
teacher requirements, and more."
How it all works
The course broker system comprises three main elements, a
knowledge base, authoring interface and search engine. The knowledge base
currently has course details for 50 study programmes and over 500 courses that
are offered by various European distance-learning universities in the subject
domain of information technology. The ontology and metadata schema was designed
so that it can be easily extended to other subject domains; the project
restricted itself to the IT domain for budgetary reasons only.
The authoring interface provides the means by which educational institutions
maintain their entries on the knowledge base. "It has the tools to structure the
information and establish logical relationships between educational objects. We
can describe a study program in terms of its constituent courses and the study
materials," notes Kramer.
Students use the search engine to access the knowledge base. It provides an
'exploration interface' according to individual educational and learning
requirements, including free-text and keyword search, and conceptual content
analysis based on expert-defined classification schemes. The search engine also
supports problem-solving dialogues, where constraints such as location, time,
preferred learning mode, etc. can be resolved iteratively.
Credit transfer and the Federated European Virtual University "CUBER also
provides an ECTS-based (European Credit Transfer Standard) decision model for
mutual recognition of course credits from CUBER-compliant universities," says
Kramer. "The CUBER methodology allows the equivalence of two courses to be
checked automatically in terms of ECTS credits, placement of course in
curriculum, examination method and course content. This automatic decision
support provides a quick, fair and objective evaluation of course alternatives,
and will help to handle the growing numbers of applications for places on
courses."
Where's all this leading? "CUBER has the vision of a Federated European Virtual
University, where resources and services of affiliated institutions could
interact with one another," answers Kramer. "As a student, you will be able to
design your own study programme, using a variety of courses from different
institutions. All the necessary administrative information would be co-ordinated
automatically because of the trusted relationship between institutions. The
problems now are political ones, not technical ones."
Subject Descriptors : Communications networks, Information
transmission
Subject Index Codes : Telecommunications, Information Processing, Information
Systems
Subject Class : IT, telecommunications
Remarks : Results entry form
Collaboration Sought : Further research or development support, Information
exchange/Training
Sources of Support : CEC
Programmes : IST
Projects : IST-1999-10737
Project Title : Personalised Curriculum Builder in the Federated Virtual
University of the Europe of Regions
Contact Details
Contact Name : KRAMER, -Ing. B. J. (Prof)
Department : Phillip-Reis-Geraude (PRG)
Contact Organisation : FernUniversitat in Hagen
Address : Universitatsstr. 27
City : Hagen
Region : NORDRHEIN-WESTFALEN
ARNSBERG
Hagen, Kreisfreie Stadt
Postcode : 58084
Country : GERMANY
Telephone Number : +49-2331-987371
Fax Number : +49-2331-987375
Electronic Mailbox :
bernd.kraemer@fernuni-hagen.de
