E-LEARNING TECHNOLOGIESTutorial by Martin Ebner, Martin Schön and Sandra Schön

CC BY SA BIMS e.V. | Martin Ebner, Martin Schön, Sandra Schön | April 2014URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/de/

Please not: All images available under CC BY Sandra Schön here:https://www.flickr.com/photos/24120891@N02/sets/72157640966865605/

This tutorial is a modified version of a tutorial developed for GIZ.This is a PDF version and potentially with some spelling errors.

Please feel free to use and enhance our material!

A short message would be nice: sandra.schoen@l3t.eu

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Introduction

Welcome to the tutorial “e-Learning Technologies”! Within this tutorial you will deepen your knowledge about e-Learning technologies. How does an engi -neer think? What was the main invention of the World Wide Web? What are potential future technolo -gies? – These are some of the question we want to discuss here.

Throughout this seven-unit tutorial, you will gain a deeper knowledge of technologies and technologicalissues of e-Learning. You can work through the tutorial texts chronologically, or, you can jump aroundfrom unit to unit as you prefer. Please note that in various sections of the course, like in “Explore” or“Entertainment”, you can fnd complementary instruments and additional resources that help supportthe tutorial topics. Beside the main assessment we developed some small challenges and tasks and wewould love to see you dealing with it.

Learning OutcomeAt the end of this tutorial you will be able to identify, develop and structure efective concepts for thetutoring of virtual communities.

Specifcally, you will be able to:

1. identify the diferent technology tools used for learning and teaching2. list Web based tools for diferent learning requirements and activities3. Select appropriate information systems for learning 4. Know functionalities of learning management systems5. Use selected tools for e-learning content production6. list of variants of mobile technologies for learning7. be aware of development and future trends

After fnishing this tutorial you will be able to answer the following questions:

1. What are current technologies used in learning and teaching?2. How can I evaluate and select the appropriate tool or technology?3. Which are typical functionalities of learning management systems?

Usage of the tutorialThis script of an tutorial was meant as one module for an online course for e-learning developer. Youmay use it for your own learning, or as part of your (online) course as well. Additional tasks may be help-ful and the test should be made interactive.

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OverviewUnit 1: Introduction into technologies for learning and teaching................................................................4

Unit 2: Foundations of the Web and Social Media.................................................................................... 12

Unit 3: Learning with Information Systems: LMS and Co...........................................................................22

Unit 4: Functionalities and Selection of Learning Management Systems.................................................. 29

Unit 5: Tools for Authoring and Standards................................................................................................ 35

Unit 6: Mobile Learning Technologies....................................................................................................... 42

Unit 7: Development of technologies and future trends........................................................................... 49

Glossary..................................................................................................................................................... 52

Self Assessment Test................................................................................................................................. 55

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Unit 1: Introduction into technologies for learning and teaching

At the end of this unit you will:

• have reflected your technological backgrounds;• be able to list devices for presentation in classrooms;• be able to list some devices for learning and teaching;• know a frst list of arguments when thinking about a new device.

How techie are you?This tutorial is about TECHNOLOGY. We do not know if you make this perspective curious, enthusiasticor thrilled. But we know, that it is tricky to make a helpful tutorial for people with diverse backgrounds.Perhaps you are a computer scientist or a network administrator? Perhaps you are a professional Inter -net user and media protagonist? Perhaps you are an experienced educator and the course was your frststep into a new world, into the World Wide Web and e-Learning? To get you along with us let us do thefollowing.

If you are a starter or advanced user: We always will give you a introduction into technological back-grounds. For some of you this would be easy, perhaps daily business. For all the others, especially if thistutorial challenges, we want to start with a: RELAX! It is not the idea that you will be technological ex-perts. Our aim is to give you the idea of technological backgrounds, questions and an engineer’s per-spective. You should be able to communicate with someone with a strong technological background af -ter this unit. At least you should do this on a more advanced level as before ☺.

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Are you a techie? Even so, we think that some of our questions and tasks will also be challenging for toptechies. Technological decisions, adaptions or developments have dynamic and fluent factors. Technolo-gies, software development and devices are a vivid business. Decisions are sometimes not easier tomade with a profound technological background. And if technology is not challenging you: We wouldlove to see you communicating and tutoring your peers within the course. Technologists talking compre-hensively about learning technologies would be another great result of this course.

Thinking in technologies: Problem solution as task of engineersBy now, the whole course was from the perspective of teachers: How do I teach? How do I developlearning content? These were two typical questions. The common thing of educational practitioners andengineers is just following: We have a problem and we want to solve it. Both are application-orienteddisciplines and working habits. Even so, we have the impression, that for educational science and prac-tice a decision for the best teaching method (e.g., for a majority of students) is not easy.

So if you ask an engineer for a solution (s)he wants to have a precise, concrete list of requirements. Andthen, (s)he tries to give you one (ONE! Not two, three, four, ... ONE!) ftng solution. Perhaps two andyou may decide. But not more. And most probably: One. A technological solution is not something, wemay discuss. Of course, you may discuss if your requirements are the most important and the right one,but the solution itself is not a matter of personal choice or a dialectic compromise.

(Of course, we are exaggerating. Of course, also engineers have interests or hobbies when they developa solution for you.)

If you talk to an engineer to fnd a technical solution for your e-Learning scenario, (s)he will probably askyou for a very well defned requirement analysis. On a very general level this includes:

• What tools and techniques are available for your students?• What tools are available for you as teacher and organization?• What form of maximal data transfer and (minimal needed) interactions are planned?• How many users are there, when and how often?

It does not include:

• A long list of potential interactions and scenarios.• A special image that you would love to present in unit 3.• A discussion on pedagogical ambitions and storytelling. • And of course, even not: A discussion about good teaching or motivating aspects.

We will prepare you for even more detailed conversation. But, at this point we hope you got the point,what information is needed when talking to an (typical) engineer.

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Presentation and interaction tools for classroom and lecture hall learning After our – hopefully entertaining and not ofending – introduction into engineer’s thinking we want tostart with technologies for learning. Therefore, we give you a short overview of some – not all! – tech-nologies that had been or are in use in today’s classrooms and lecture halls.

Perhaps you have never seen some of them – and perhaps you even know others and more?

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• Let’s start with the “blackboard”. Okay, this is no electronic device, but besides, it is aformer “technology”. The traditional chalkboard, black or green colored, is describablewith chalk and you can re-use it after cleaning with a damp sponge. Most of us use(d) it,as it is standard equipment in schools all over the world. Interestingly, the invention ofthe blackboard was not welcomed by teacher several hundreds years ago, as it forcesthe teacher to show his/her back to the pupils. Teachers’ association argued that thiscould lead to subversive incidents in classrooms. From our current point of view, thisseems to be a old (but still true) story. The blackboard is a basic tool in classrooms, asthey are easy to handle: You need no electrics and it is easy to use by teachers and alsoby pupils.

• A further development of blackboards is whiteboards. A white board is describable withspecial whiteboard markers. The surface is cleanable with a dry flannel, so no chalk dustis produced or water needed.

• Besides, this unit is about technologies, which refers to electronic devices. The frst oneis an electronic blackboard, so-called “interactive whiteboard”. This is a big display con-nected with a computer. Typically, notes with “electronic” markers enrich preparedpresentations. With them you “write” on the whiteboard, but only virtual. Every annota-tion can be saved at the computer. If you have never seen such a tool in action, we rec-ommend looking for a tool presentation in video format (e.g. at youtube.com).

• In modern face-to-face learning setngs typically video projectors are in use for presen-tations. This device is connected with presenter’s computer and it projects the comput-er screen on a canvas or white wall.

• An older presentation tool is the slide projector, also called diascope. It projects dias(small transparent framed photos) on a canvas or white wall. The slide projector is inuse, when bright and high-defnition photo presentations are done. Even so, this tool isnot a digital one and builds on a photo technology that is outdated.

• Quite often in use are still overhead projectors. They projects printed or written plasticsheet on a canvas or wall. It is easy to change sheets or to present a sheet just made byparticipants with a special marker.

Still, our selected tools are not a complete list of presentation tools (or technologies). We are sure, youknow more tools that you had used in your school, at university or are also still in use there. What arethese tools?

Technologies for tele-teaching and self organized learningPerhaps you already stumbled about the fact, that there are many more technologies that influencedlearning. We try to list them in our following introduction to technologies in mission for tele-teaching orself-organized learning.

Going back more than a century, self-organized learning was bound to books, magazines or mail corre -spondence with a tutor or teacher. Even so, there are frst records with spoken tutorials, for example forlanguage learning. A milestone in tele-teaching was 1875 the foundation of the frst distance university.UNISA, located in Pretoria, South Africa, is still the biggest distance university of the world. Electronic

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tele-communication led to more interaction between learners and tutors. This also led to a bigger vari -ance of learning materials and setngs.

The last development, the spread of computers as well as the Internet enabled a broad variety of dis -tance learning and teaching scenarios. We will explain the technologies behind this, for example thefoundation of the World Wide Web, in the following units in more details.

Evaluation of Tools: What device is the best for me and my learners?When thinking about a new device, several aspects should be considered:

• Does the new device ft to my needs as teacher or as learner?• Which new or diferent learning and teaching arrangements are possible with the new

device?• What will be improved compared the current state?• Which competencies are necessary to use the new device?• What does the device cost?• What additional purchases are needed, e.g. extension cables, mobile Internet connec-

tion?• Considering future developments will this device be the appropriate one?• How lifelike are my ideas possibly done with the device?• Are there any other related efects, such as other personal or professional usages of the

device?

From research we know, that new devices in classrooms are always potentially drivers for learning, asthey are “new”. From pedagogical perspectives, such efects are completely okay, for example if it leadsto an engagement of people with low learning interest before. Nevertheless, also managers and teach-

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ers are influenced from “new” and “hot” devices and should carefully reflect, how this influence theirdecisions to buy and use a new device.

ENTERTAINMENT

New technologies are always challenging! Within our video recommendation, you will see how the book might be introduced in north Europe in middle age. The video has English subtitles. See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ - Source: Original taken from the show "Øystein og jeg" on Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) in 2001. With Øystein Backe (helper) and Rune Gokstad (desperate monk). Written by Knut Nærum. Available via Youtube Channel of NRK.

Check (Self-Assessment and Assignments)The aim of the tutorial is not only to get knowledge about some tools or some technologies, it shouldalso train your competency to come to well-founded decisions for or against a special tool or product.According to the technologies we mentioned in the frst unit, we give you a challenge.

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Of course, we do not know, what your next job will be and where it is settled. Nevertheless, we want toask you some questions about your decision:

• Which equipment is needed to use your devices (chalk, water, transparencies, a PC,plug-ins) and is this available?

• Is your device helpful for co-operative learning setngs? For example a video projectoris not a clever solution to show co-operative developed results, or only, if all learnerscan use laptops for their co-operative work.

• How much does it cost? How much cost the other devices? How would this influencesyour or the organizer’s decision?

Do our arguments influence your decision? Perhaps you also see additional arguments and questionsthat influence your decision.

Explore: Links and Further Readings, Good Practices and Case StudiesThis is a small collection of interesting contribution about technologies in classrooms, their history andefects. We hope you like it!

• Anuli Akanegbu (2013). Vision of Learning: A History of Classroom Projectors. In: EdtechMagazine. URL: http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2013/02/vision-learning-history-classroom-projectors

• Anuli Akanegbu (2012). Calculating Firsts: A Visual History of Calculators. In: EdtechMagazine. URL: http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2012/11/calculat-ing-frsts-visual-history-calculators

• Ricky Ribeiro (2013). Is It Time to Get Rid of Desks in the Classroom? In: Edtech Maga-zine. URL: http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2013/09/it-time-get-rid-desks-classroom

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Unit 2: Foundations of the Web and Social Media

At the end of this unit you will:

• know more about the evolution and technical foundations of the Internet and theWWW

• have an idea of html as a mark-up language• remember the content of the frst (legendary) e-mail

The Internet as a base for new communication possibilitiesFor “digital natives” the Internet is such common to their lives that it is impossible to think about beingofine or without the Internet itself. Still, only few decades ago, the idea of a decentralized (distributed)worldwide network for communication was entirely a vision.

In 1964, Paul Baran and Donald Watts Davies proposed a new secure network structure for communica-tion. The tradional communication structure, for example the analog telecommunication with tele-phone, was a centralized or decentralized networks. You see them on the left of the next fgure. If a cen-ter station of such a tradiditonal centralized or decentralized network is out of order, all or several ofcommunication stations are unable to link to another. This would be the case, if the center stations inthe networks on the left side and in middle get out of order. Within the new proposed, „distributed net -work“ single stations out of order will not disable the communication amongst others. In new distrib-uted networks communication is possible, even when some knots will not work. You see such a networkon the right of the next fgure.

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The second necessary innovation was that communication should be transported in small „packages“that are able to fnd their (diferent) paths trough the network. In 1965, frst experiments by LawrenceG. Roberts and Thomas Merrill show the possibilities to communicate with packages swifting.

With the ordinary line switching approach, which is used in analog telecommunication, a complete lineis reserved for a call. No other can use this line. At frst sight, the new package switching looks a little bitmore complicated: Someone has to separate information in small packages, and there is a need to rear-range them after sending. Even so, the big deal is that more than two corresponding stations can use alink to communicate. Additionally, communication is still possible, even if a (direct) link break. This ex-plains, why Voice over IP telecommunication sometimes sound like talk trash. When the whole networkis overloaded, the collection and ordering of the packages cannot proceed in real time. And than you arenot able to understand a single word.

After the frst successful experiments with package switching communication between two computers,Lawrence G. Roberts got chief developer at ARPA IPTO and started to develop the ARPANET in 1967.ARPANET was the acronym of the research project called “Advanced research projects agencynetworks”. It became the ancestor of the Internet. In 1969, the frst four computers had been connect -ed. In 1971, Ray Tomlinson from BBN developed the frst two e-mail programs called SNDMSG andREADMAIL and wrote a frst e-mail via ARPANET. Electronic messaging was not completely new at thistime. But Tomlinson’s smart idea was to use the “at-sign” (@) (which was on the keyboards he used), toseparate name and host within the e-mail address; for example someone@someplace.

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The history of the Internet is full of such stories as mentioned in the above fgure. Additionally, peopleare seen as inventors, whereas they were not; and there are also important invention and inventors al-ready forgotten. Besides, this is not the right place to tell all the stories of the Internet’s whole history.And we want to go straightforward to another important innovation: The World Wide Web.

Origins of the World Wide Web Perhaps you are so used to it, so it might not easy to answer: What is so special about the World WideWeb, in short WWW?

Perhaps you think about the mass of information or the possibilities of interaction and sharing ideaswith it. Yes, both aspects are right, but the key new idea of the World Wide Web, as the most popularInternet service, is the interlinking of its parts: the so-called “hyperlinks”.

Some smart people already thought about “hyperlinked information system” when the Internet or simi -lar telecommunication strategies was even not invented. Vannevar Bush is one of these guys, he wrotean essay with the title “As we may think” and sketched a hypertext system called Memex (1945). Forthis he described a personal information system that is available at in a special desk.

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The main idea of hypertext is to link referring content with similar, more or other ftng content at otherpages. With the help of such (hyper-) links it is possible to go from one point to another place.

In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau worked at the CERN in Switzerland (Europe). This was thebiggest Internet hub in this time. Their idea to adapt the hypertext idea to the Internet structure got thename “World Wide Web”. They already had developed a frst Web browser (called Nextstep). On its frstday, it was pretty easy to surf to the World Wide Web. By the way, Tima and Robert were not the onliestones dealing with the idea of WorldWideWeb. Especially in Europe there were diferent strong researchgroups working on more less the same. Today Tim is seen as the inventor, but be aware that many dif -ferent researchers are researching on these issues.

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Vannevar Bush and the other men mentioned in the last paragraphs are just some of these smart peoplewho created ideas and visions for our current Web. If you like reading further stories, you may look forexample for Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider who developed a vision of “on-line Man-Computer Communi-cation” and a “galactic network”.

Hypertext Markup LanguageDocuments using the hypertext markup language (HTML or short hypertext) are the base of the WorldWide Web. As a markup language, it is used to defne several parts of texts as special formats (for exam -ple a hyperlink or table) or content (for example a title). Although a lot of editors support editing HTMLdocuments without need to understand HTML, it is sometimes pretty good to know some key conceptsof the language.

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Within html, users have to “mark-up” text by using small marks in brackets (< >). Such marks are usuallystarting with one command in brackets <START_COMMAND>, followed by the text to be marked, andanother </ END_COMMAND > after. For example, “<b>bold</b>” in html should be printed bold in aWeb browser.

The Web 2.0: Not only new technologiesAlthough html is not tricky, to host a Website or edit Webpages was not a trivial thing in the frst yearsof the World Wide Web. A Website editor needs to know about html in detail as well as basis knowledgeabout server infrastructure and appropriate network protocols (for example ftp, http).

Still, more and more used the Web to present own work or enterprises. Hence, the need for extra devel -opments, for example searching engines got bigger. The successes of the World Wide Web even lead toa “dot-com-crisis” around the year 2000. A lot of overvalued start-ups and enterprises failed. Even so,the WWW got bigger and attracted more and more people. People used the WWW to search for infor-mation and entertainment. In the frst years of the new century, the opportunities to contribute at theWeb got more and more easier. The growing currency of broadband-technology is one of the causes.New applications and combinations of existing systems were a result. Several tools and platforms gotfounded and got important. This "new version" of the WWW got named “Web 2.0”. It has to be emp -hazised that this development is not a pure technological one. A dream of Tim Berners-Lee, who we getto know as one of the inventors of the World Wide Web, seem to come true. The WWW appeared to bea platform where everybody can get involved. Participating, sharing and working together are such newparadigms of the second generation of the Web. The term “Web 2.0” does not refer to a version of spe -cifc software; it is a collective name for the developments within the Internet concentrating on the ac-tive user. Another term often used for the new tools is “Social Software” or “Social Media”, at the socialaspect is important.

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ENTERTAINMENT

Watch this video by Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Kan-sas State University for a great explanation of Web 2.0 - it is not a technological revolu-tion it is a attitude about how people are using it. - Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g

Overview of tools and platforms of the Social WebYou probably know the following systems, so this list could be something like a repetition. If some toolsare still unknown to you we also provide you with interesting links in the other parts of the unit.

• Wiki systems were invented by Howard Curringham and are a tool to collect and orga-nize knowledge in a cooperative and fast way. A Wiki (Hawaiian: "fast") is an interactivesystem including single websites linked to each other that gives writing- and read-ing-permissions to a know or unknown group of users. So Websites can be edited veryeasily and authentic collaborative working via the Internet has become reality. Using asimple markup-language (easier than html) allows editing a Wiki-website. In the basicidea Wikis are open (anybody can edit structure and content), organic (scruture an con-tent are changing and growing), observeable (all contents are logged and traceable) andin relation easy to use. The most famous Wiki platform is probably the online ency-lopaedy Wikipedia. Note, that Wikipedia is just using the Media Wiki platform and thatyou have to separate the fnal product from the idea of Wiki’s itself.

• Weblogs are chronically ordered postings, with typically the latest message at frst. As itis easy to handle a Weblog, they are used mostly for private users, for example to shareexperiences and hobbies. Even more, also others, such as professional networks useWeblogs. The RSS technology makes it easy to share, to get up-to-date and to syndicateWeblog posts via RSS feeds. A famous blog hoster (someone who is ofering Weblogs foranyone for free or for sale) is wordpress.com.

• Social Networks are Websites building on the “friend of a friend” idea (FOAF). Their de-sign is related at the purpose of the network (friendship, professional, fans, hobbies)platforms such as Facebook.com, twitter.com, Linkedin.com and others. It fosters com-munication and sharing amongst (virtually) related person.

• Social Tagging is the usage of keywords to tag Web materials such as images, videos orbookmarks to make it easier to fnd it personally or for others. As an alternative to pro-fessional classifcation in categories, social tagging is a lightweight and some times evenbetter way to collect metadata and to enhance search.

• Mash-Ups are new arrangements, building on two or more streams of other Websites.With the mash-up approach it is possible to integrate several sources and application atone (personal) Webpage.

These are only some technological developments of tools. Some more are for example peer-to-peernetworks to share videos, multi media platforms in general, or also real time editing applications. The

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“Web 2.0” idea is still evolving in new tools. The key technological making this development possible issketched in the next paragraphs.

Technological background: Really Simple Syndication and APIWeb 2.0 accompanies or was strongly related to RSS. The collective information was made possible bydynamic linking, refering to each other and automatic transmission. Cornerstone of this developmentwas another remarkable improvement of the architecture of the Internet. This is the platform indepen-dent RSS-technology or full „Really Simple Syndication“. With RSS the content of a website is not onlylinked, but can also be integrated to other websites by subscribing to the RSS-feed. Via RSS-technologythe user receives information about any update of the website he/she subscribed to. Such generatedupdates are called RSS-feeds. For a better understanding such imagine the following. Every time any-thing is changed on a website a new entry to RSS-feed is done too. You as reader of such a website getalso a message in your RSS-reader: “Hey take a look there is something new on it!” This simple technolo-gy changed the way we deal with the Web nowadays arbitrarily.

RSS is seen as the basis of all Web 2.0 applications. Without the possibility to create content dynamic,use them flexible, most applications will not work. In last years, the RSS technology was complementedand also replaced by another new technology called API (“application programming interface”). An APImakes data and functionalities of Websites available for other external applications, but in a better,moderated way than with RSS. Applications, build for such API request predefned data and get it if theWebsites requirements are fulflled. With “Open API” every developer is able to develop an applicationusing the API (and the Website behind). The development of the Open API fgures mirrow the success ofthis new approach. Ebay.com ofered the frst Open API in 2000, followed by Amazon.com in 2002. In2005, Websites ofered around 100 Open API. In 2008 they were over 1,000 and in 2010 already morethan 2,500 (Source: API directory of programmableweb.com).

Many applications at your smartphone or desktop use an API to gather data from (diferent) sources. Forexamle, application on your phone uses data from your social network or simply your bank connections.In the following fgure we try to illustrate the diferent functionalities of RSS and API. With RSS you al-ways get the whole news stream and new posts, e.g. Weblog posts, as a copy from an RSS feed. WithAPI an application uses a defned communication structure for requesting special data. This requesteddata could be used again within an external application.

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RSS was the foundation, and API is the modern follower technology for the core of the Web 2.0 and so -cial networks and enables the linking of information together with social networks and the linking of thepeople behind. With them, the Internet becomes a big communication and collaboration platform. Justa fnal remark – RSS is ofered open, therefore no security aspects can be taken into account, thereforean API is simply a must.

E-Learning 2.0It is noteworthy, that all these above mentioned tools and platform are not dedicated for learning. Evenso many learners and teachers use them. Stephen Downes was the frst who named this “e-learning 2.0”(see Stephen Downes article about E-Learning 2.0). We stop here as you already got to know such newpossibilities of using Wikis, Weblogs and other for convincing and succesfull learning setngs.

Check (Self-Assessment and Assignments)For beginners: Edit a Wikipage! Wikis use a very simple mark-up language (You remember, html is sucha mark-up language, too.) You do not know how and where to edit a Wiki page? The “Sandbox” ofWikipedia is build to be used for beginners. You will not be able to destroy something.

And perhaps you get a Wikipedia contributor afterwards? URL of the sandbox:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sandbox. A tutorial about editing Wikipedia is here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial

For advanced learners: If you did already know some basics of html or simple mark-up languages as wi-thin Wikis, we wanted to invite you to a next step: Ready to start an own Weblog? There are several freeweblog hosts available, and it is always fne to have a personal place with professional informationabout you and your work. Two ofers are from blogger.com and wordpress.com. You will fnd several tu-torials to build your blog.

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For experts: If you already edited Wiki pages and run your own Website or Weblog, you are probablygood in mark-up languages. First this qualifes you to support co-learners of this tutorial. It would begreat if you share your experience with less experiences learners. (And take this as possibility to learnwhile teaching).

Explore: Links and Further Readings, Good Practices and Case StudiesInterested in more stuf around this unit? Here some of our recommendations:

• Internet Society: History of Internet. URL: http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/what-internet/history-internet/brief-histo-ry-internet

• Tim O'Reilly: What is Web 2.0? URL: http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html

• A tutorial for HTML beginners. URL: http://learn.shayhowe.com/html-css/• Explaining RSS. URL:

http://cravingideas.blogs.com/backinskinnyjeans/2006/09/how_to_explain_.html • Stephen Downes (2005). e-Learning 2.0. URL: http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?

section=articles&article=29-1

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Unit 3: Learning with Information Systems: LMS and Co.

At the end of this unit you will:

• know key functionalities of information systems• be able to list some information systems for learning• evaluate pros and cons of open sources versus proprietary software• have an idea of the efort to host an information system for learning

IntroductionWithin this unit technical background to “information systems” is the topic. An “information system” is a(technical) system that deals with information using the Internet (or Intranet). With other words, simplydealing with information about anything .

In our case we will of course look at information systems that are in use for especially teaching andlearning. There are several functionalities, an information management supports. They are search andaccess of information, upload and editing of data and the management of data.

Overview of Information Systems for LearningSeveral information systems are used for learning. We collected some of these information systems spe-cialized for learning issues.

• Authoring tools support the development of learning content, including multimedia andassessment.

• Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS) and learning resources repositorieshelp to store and manage learning content. Such learning contents are huge Web BasedTrainings (WBT) or single Learning Objects (LO) (or “assets”). Whereas the LCMS refers

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to the logic of a Content Management System (CMS) and thus has for example severaleditor rights, a repository is a database with metadata. The diferences are floating.

• The most popular information system for teaching and learning is the Learning Manage-ment System (LMS). Their purpose is to administrate learners as well as contents, forexample to organize the access to contents for a special class.

These three possibilities for information systems are typically listed as information systems for learning.Beside them, two extra systems are in use in some learning organizations:

• Besides this, assessment systems are also in use for learning issues. • Over and above, there are often administrations tools at learning organizations that ad-

ministrate learners itself and their competence development. In school such systemsstores mark and personal data of students, in enterprises they document competencedevelopment of the staf.

Some of these system may be used in your organization, and others not. Additionally, single applicationscan be part of other systems. Assessment systems are for example sometimes part of learning manage-ment systems. To get an idea of your own organizations information system’s structure it is wise to askwhich systems are in use at your organization.

Additionally, there are also more specialized systems supporting forms of self-organized learning.

• E-Portfolio systems support the didactical approach of e-portfolio work. The system hasfeatures to organize reviewing and access to materials from the e-portfolio work. And itsupports the organization of “artifacts” by the learners (which are the users).

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• A Personal Learning Environment (PLE) supports the central, cockpit-orientated man-agement of individuals’ learning. This could be realized with widgets at the browser (ordesktop) or beyond or as mash-up.

• A MOOC system is developed for usage of thousand of users and integrated multimediaresources (typically videos) in “Massive Open Online Courses” (in short MOOCs). From atechnological perspective it is a lightweight, but scalable learning management system.

•

Do you know other information systems, which can be also in use for teaching and learning? If not, itwould be a good idea to go to unit 2. There you will fnd tools from Web 2.0, which are in fact informa-tion systems, but we did not use this term there. A wiki system is for example another form of an infor-mation system.

Technical base: peer-to-peer, client-server and cloud service architecture ofinformation systems

As you can see, several information systems are used for learning. Every time “management” of infor-mation is important, the following technical aspects are the basis. Coming into the role to pick a specialtool or system, you should know some technical concepts and have an idea to test and check the mar-ket.

Three modes of architectures for information are currently in use: the client-server model, the peer-to-peer model and cloud services.

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The information system is stored at the server in so-called client-server architectures. As long the serveris available via the Internet, the system and data is secure and usable for all clients. Peer-to-peer net -works are commonly used for big multi media sharing platforms. When the peer computer with themissing part of your video is not available, you will not be able to watch your video. As information sys -tems for learning are usually not use this architecture, such a situation is unknown for learning. The lat -est of information architectures development is cloud computing. Information systems and their dataare not stored at a single server anymore but “in the cloud”. The "cloud" is a virtual network of so-calledvirtual servers at real servers. From the users' perspective it is less likely that the server (with the infor-mation system) is not available. Besides this, cloud architectures will not influence the usage technically,but the cloud architecture is to be seen as a challenge from the perspective of data security and privacyissues. For example, several universities in Europe have to desist from services from U.S. frms such asGoogle.com, Facebook.com etc. for privacy issues.

ENTERTAINMENT

Our introduction into Cloud Computing was pretty short. A nice introduction is deliv-ered by a user called High TechDad at Youtube. See more her: Introduction into Cloud Computing by High TechDad – URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJncFirhjPg

Commercial Background: Open Source and Proprietary SoftwareIf discussions and decisions for a special system have to be made, an important question is the back-ground of the system. Is it open source software with open source code or is it proprietary softwareowned by a frm? Apparently, it sounds good to get free software as Open Source software is, even so ishelp and support then not a matter of course. The following table shows general pros and cons.

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Whereas proprietary software was dominant in the late 1990ies, there are nowadays many establishedOpen Source products, for example for server hosting (Apache), operating systems (Linux) or Webbrowser (Mozilla Firefox).

Hosting of Information Systems: Tasks Software is not only a question of possession. Technically, there are many tasks around new software oran information system that have to be done – or considered in a planning phase. Just to give you someimpressions of “technical” tasks, which include (technical) service for end-users, we list some of them.You can add specifc competences and also devices at nearly every aspect.

• The information system has to be installed on a server. Which server will you need forhow many people working simultaneously?

• A set-up is needed and also links to existing systems, e.g. to a LCMS or a platform. Is thesystem also ofering APIs (see unit 2) to exchange data with other systems?

• Administration as back-up and log fles is needed. There must be a clear strategy whoteachers’ contents as well as learners’ data is stored and can be retrieved in case ofemergency.

• Device management, network management, fault management and performance man-agement should be delivered.

• Is your system scalable and which kind of database is needed? It’s quite usual that youare starting with few classes and getng more and more users of years.

• Technical support and service for (end-) users is an important task.

This list hopefully helps, when you think about diferent solutions for a dedicated software or system inrespect of technical workload.

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Free Information Systems for Learning – Business ModelsIn light of the technical tasks, free usage of Web based information systems for learning and your learn -ers seems to be a good option for you. Even it is not a pure technical aspect, we want to give you someideas of their business models.

Of course, there are systems that can be used for free where you do not have to pay for because thebackground of its provider is non-proft. For example, some universities provide free etherpad applica -tions (with this tool it is easy to collaborate on text production). Or you may use Wikis from the Wikime-dia foundation to develop for example a textbook with your class or course.

Additionally, some providers of information systems that can be used for learning give free accounts foreducational usage. This means, that buyers of the software fnance your educational usage. (Still, thiscan be also seen as a marketing or public relation strategy.)

Last, but not least, there is a third opportunity to re-fnance free ofers. The refunding approach is to of -fer and sell advertisement, or to sell data of the learners and their activities. Beneath didactical andfunctional aspect of a technology, you should consider such issues as well.

Check (Self-Assessment and Assignments)At the beginning of the unit we introduced general functionalities of information systems: data entry,data storage, data transfer, data transformation and data provision. Thinking about your daily work withlearners we wanted to ask you: How should your personal (visionary) information systems look like?What are the concrete functionalities and data used in your information system?

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Explore: Links and Further Readings, Good Practices and Case Studies• Further reading on information systems for learning in schools: The Wikibook “Comput-

er Information Systems in Education”. URL: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Computer_In-formation_Systems_in_Education

• Further reading on information systems for learning at universities: Haitham A. El-Gha-reeb (2009). E-Learning and Management Information Systems. Universities Need Both.In: eLearn Magazine, URL: https://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=1621693

• Case Study Video: Rural schools and cloud computing project, a research project f-nanced by HP Labs running in a public school in Spain, CRA Boqueixón-Vedra. URL:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12qkbusBQCQ

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Unit 4: Functionalities and Selection of Learning Management Systems

At the end of this unit you will:

• know key functionalities of learning management systems• be aware of technological challenges and requirements• be able to create a checklist to evaluate learning management systems

Repetition: Learning Management System vs. Learning Content Management SystemWithin this unit we want to concentrate on learning management system. A Learning Management Sys-tem (LMS) allows administrating courses, classes, learning materials and teachers as well as students. Arelated system are Learning Content Management System (LCMS). They are especially important, whensimilar learning materials should be stored and administrated. Perhaps you remember the following im-age from the last unit?

You need a learning content management system (LCMS), or a repository if you have a huge amount oflearning materials. Universities and big enterprises need such systems to maintain their learning contentin a smart way. Compared with this, learning management systems (LMS) are common, also for smallerorganizations. Thus, we will use this unit to deepen our knowledge about their functionalities.

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Functionalities of LMSLearning management systems has the following functionalities.

• First of all, they support the administration of teachers, learners or courses and classes.The system organizes who has access to what. Typical roles are administrators, teachers(or tutors for one or more classes) and learners (students). Administrative tasks ascourse evaluation are also part of these administrative issues.

• Second, a learning management system manages and provides learning content. Suchlearning materials are text, illustrations, tests and other multimedia as well as interac-tive content. This includes calendars, schedules and curricula.

• Finally, learning management systems ofers tools for communication and collabora-tion. Such tools are discussion forums, virtual blackboards, chats, and whiteboards. Wewill deepen this in the following paragraphs.

Typical tools within a course and a typical course WebpageThe variety of tools available within learning management systems went broader in the last years. Youmay fnd the following tools in your learning management system:

• Collaboration tools, such as online presentation, virtual whiteboards, document man-agement, discussion forums, polls or Wiki spaces.

• Communication tools, such as Web mail, messaging, discussion forum, notifcation.• Personal Workspace for teachers and learners, such as bookmarks, calendar, fle stor-

age, publishing.

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Learning management systems manages learning activities in course setngs. This includes Web BasedTrainings (WBT, for single learners) or also virtual seminars with intense communication. According tothis, some functionality is more, and other is less important.

The following illustration is a typical surface of a course from learner’s perspective.

Above that, learning management system has some extra functionality, for example the calendar forlearners, the system-wide search and the right management itself.

The roles within a learning management system: administrators, tutors and teachers

There are several roles of users implemented in learning management systems. According with the role,typical rights are related.

• A learner is not able to edit the course or its materials. But (s)he is able to contribute tothe course by using the communication and collaboration tools as planned by the tutor.

• A tutor or teacher is able to edit course description, to upload or select course materi -als, and to select tools for the special course. Tutors are also able to see, if students hadupload homework and to correct or mark it. They are able to see, who logged in. Andthey are able to moderate course related discussions, including deletion of comments.

• Admins have the widest rights. They are able to give reading and editing access to newlearners and tutors, to install new features of the learning management system etc.

Besides this, big learning management systems with hundreds of learners have more roles and usergroups to support users and learners.

Technical Requirements of and for a LMSTechnically, there are several requirements for a learning management system:

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• Capacity: First of all you have to think about system requirements, due to the fact thatyou (or your server administration) have to install it on a server. Also a backup strategyis necessary.

• Access: In general a web browser is needed for getng access, but should it also avail -able for mobile devices?

• Scalability: It should be scalable, that means it should be able to manage also highernumbers of users (up to a defned maximum)

• Connectivity: In general a connection to a database is needed.• Expandability: Can the system be expanded to increasing requirements? Are there APIs

for communication with other services?• Standardization: It should support several standards, also meta data standards for learn-

ing content (IMS or SCORM). Within the next unit, we will introduce you this importantissue.

• Security: A strategy for data security is needed.

In the following you see an exemplary list of concrete LMS and their special technical requirements.There is no need so learn it by heart, but it should illustrate, that there are quite a lot of technical ques-tions and related challenges are to be addressed.

The selection process and criteria: Three fictional LMSThe following descriptions and evaluations of learning management systems from administrator’s per-spective are fctional. Even so, it should help to get insights into the considerations while choosing a spe-cial system. And of course, there are a lot more variants of LMS and arguments for and against them.

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(The following examples are from Lorenz, A.; Safran, C. & Ebner. M., 2013, Informationssysteme. In: L3T,http://l3t.eu).

(a) LearningWithFun – The Open Source Solution

The LMS “LearningWithFun” can be downloaded for free and can be installed on your own. The basispackage has a simple course and a user administration. More functionality is available via plug-ins devel-oped by the user community. Plug-ins for complex user management, the integration of tests, and sta -tistics of learning outcomes are available. The Open Source license gives the opportunity to develop andadapt the source code.

• Pros: The LMS is cheap, expansible, adaptable to own requirements, installation andhosting through the own organization

• Cons: workload (and costs) for installation, hosting and adaption and new developments

(b) LearningWithSystem – the Standard Solution

The LMS “LearningWithSystem” is sold and developed by a commercial provider. It includes a courseand user management, supports the development and realization of tests, and ofers overviews forlearning progress of the users (learning time, average learning outcomes). For communication integrat -ed e-mail and discussion boards can be used. The access to the LMS is bound to client software that hasto be installed on user’s computers. The provider installs, hosts and fosters the LMS on your server. Thisincludes small adaptions, as the usage of your logo within the LMS. The LMS, including installation, set-up, 10 hours support and 1.000 user licenses for the client software are $ 15,000. Additional user licens -es, adaptions, support hours and trainings for your staf can be bought. Updates and maintenances costanother $ 1,500 a year.

• Pros: Hosting and set-up through a competent partners, adequate functionalities, scal-able access to an desktop program (can be helpful within frms with restrictive access toWWW), data on own server

• Cons: eventual to expensive, eventual adaption needed, eventual costs for own server,eventual extra costs for user, adaption costs and support not simple to calculate

(c) LearningWithStrategy – the expert solution

The LMS “LearningWithStrategy” is developed and sold by a commercial provider. Its center is a complexcompetence management for business organizations. It organizes the planning of further developmentdue to current competence profles and job descriptions of the co-workers. It provides interfaces to per-sonnel databases and document management systems. The provider ofers installation and hosting ofthe LMS on his own servers, defned adaptions as the enterprise’s organization matrix and existing jobdescriptions and development plans as well as learning content. The annual fee for the LMS includes in -stallation, set-up, support and 1.000 user accounts for the Web-based access and cost $ 40,000. Addi-tional adaptions, user accounts and trainings are available with extra costs.

• Pros: Complete service through competent provider, individual adaptable functions,scalable, complex user management and management of learning activities

• Cons: annual fee, data at another’s server, eventually to complex

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As you have seen, it is not easy to decide for a LMS, as there are many options and available.

Creating a personal checklist of for evaluationWhen you have to decide for a special learning management system, a checklist is a helpful tool. As youwill see in the “explore” bubble of this unit, there are several checklists available – some are long! Be -sides hard facts they include for example aspects of administration, usage etc. Whenever you have totest and check a LMS you have to develop a checklist for your own organization: What are the needs,the requirements you have? Reading and using existing check lists help a lot!

Check (Self-Assessment and Assignments)Develop a short checklist as “quick check” of potential LMS system for your organization.

Explore: Further Reading and Links• LMS Evaluation Checklist by Teacher Online – URL: http://teach.ucf.edu/resources/web-

courses-migration/lms-evaluation-checklist/• LMS requirements checklist. In: Safari Books Online – URL: http://my.safaribooksonline.-

com/book/digital-media/9781562868376/job-aid/navpoint12 • LMS Evaluation Checklist by ACT@Uof (Please note: this checklist is free to modify and

republish (CC BY ACT@UoF) - URL: http://testsoft.ati.utoronto.ca/wordpress/avi/fles/2013/03/LMSEvalChecklist.pdf

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Unit 5: Tools for Authoring and Standards

At the end of this unit you will:

• know functionalities of an authoring system• recognize the importance of standards for learning content• have an understanding of rapid e-Learning authoring

Authoring E-Learning-Content: An introductionYou have already learned about content development for e-Learning. Within this unit, we probably tellyou some things, you already know. As the tutorial is about technologies, we will not focus on learningor teaching issues, but on the technologies, the e-Learning authoring tools. What functionalities havethey? What should I consider before I decide to buy one? Are there any free tools available for my re-quirements?

Learning Objects and bigger unitsLearning objects are the smallest unit of learning content that can be used as “single learning objects”.Such learning objects are for example short videos, an illustration, or an interactive object. Preparing alearning unit, for example materials for self-organized learning or material for online courses, you willtypically take and re-arrange diferent learning objects. Within this unit we will describe possibilities todevelop and re-arrange learning objects.

ENTERTAINMENT

If you want to try some interactive learning objects, we recommend the following:

The “Schnittkraftmeister” App is developed by the Graz University of Technology in Aus-tria and is a Web application that trains engineering skills with a gaming approach. It is also available as free app for smartphones. URL: http://www.ifb.tugraz.at/schnittkraft-meister/

Another simpler learning object is the following graphical depiction of a radian for angu-lar measurement by Roy Peterson. URL: http://www.wisc-online.com/objects/ViewOb-ject.aspx?ID=TMH1301

Authoring tools for e-LearningAn authoring tool supports the production of multimedia learning objects or units. It is for people with-out or just a few programming skills. You can edit content units as graphics or videos as in usual editingsoftware tools for end-users. Slides and images are created similar as in usual ofce programs. For ex-ample, you can change the order of single parts of the e-Learning materials with drag-and-drop.

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Some authoring tools have own (simple) programming languages (or use extensions). They describe forexample how and when tests should appear or the feedback students will get. Some tools are availableas desktop installation, others for installation in networks or also in the Web. And there is a long list ofcommercial products you have to pay for.

To give you an impression about a (typical) surface of an author tool looks like we sketched the follow-ing.

Functionalities and optionsAuthoring tools reminds of ofce tools, especially presentation tools. The following functionalities in thesoftware is typical:

• Editing of texts and pictures (sizes, color etc.)• Capturing and editing of screencasts or videos and audio.• Animation is possible, for example rotating icons, moving pictures, changing the order of

slides.• Editing of interactivity is supported, for example to give the learners options on how to

proceed. Interactivity means not a social interaction, but a computerized. • Also the development of quizzes (multiple choice test, drag-and-drop tasks) is included

as typical options.• A pool of graphics is included.• Current author tools also support content for mobile learning.• Professional tools should deliver materials according to standards for e-Learning con-

tent.

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As mentioned above, authoring tools are available as desktop solutions, but also as Web application. Ifthe content development should be cooperative or collaborative, a version for networks should be pre-ferred. Such multi-authors systems also sometimes support for commenting other author, what mightbe helpful in terms of quality assurance.

Authoring Learning Content with Standard Software and ProgrammingBesides specialized authoring tools as described, a lot of learning objects are developed with standardsoftware or are simply programmed.

Examples for learning objects authored with standard tools are: Interactive spread sheets developedwith an ofce tool (such as Microsoft Excel or Open Ofce), short videos produced with your mobilephone and uploaded at a common video sharing platform, or pictures developed with a drawing applica -tion.

Interactive learning objects using Flash can also be developed with the help of tools (examples are thecommercial Adobe Flash Builder and the Open Source tool FlashDevelop). Besides, there is programmingknowledge needed to create such learning objects. Last but not least, interactive Webpages or learningcontent can be developed with pure html or in other Web related programming languages (e.g. Java andJavaScript), too.

Why Standards are important To make e-Learning content searchable and interchangeable the use of standards is a must. Standardsare the base to make learning objects work on diferent information systems. An example is the transferof content from the authoring tool to the learning management system. Several institutions developedstandards, but they have no legal character. But it is in interest of all, e-Learning provider, repositoryprovider or also learners to use them. (The following paragraphs build upon Rensing, C., 2013, Standardsfür Lehr- und Lerntechnologien. In: L3T, URL: http://l3t.eu/ )

Whereas standards for metadata describe how learning resources should be described, standards forlearning content defne how e-Learning resources should be structured and stored to be interchange-able and fnally standards for learning and teaching processes should make information about it inter-changeable. Within the following, you fnd some technical reasons for it.

The following illustration shows which standards are addressed at the several interaction positions of in -formation systems.

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In the following, we will give you some short explanation of the acronyms used in the fgure.

• Standard for Metadata - Learning Object Metadata (in short LOM) is a standard abouthow learning resources should be described. IEEE LTSC published the standard in 2004and by now, nearly all LMS and LCMS, a lot of learning object repositories and many au-thor tools use this standard. To describe a learning resource in details 80 criteria are tobe flled out or selected, for example: keywords, date, purpose, language, semantic den-sity or duration.

• Standards for content format - SCORM and QTI: Whereas LOM is needed to get infor-mation about the learning resources, standards for the content format are also needed.Such standards are important to produce a learning resource with an author system andto publish it in a learning management system. The aim (and result) is, that a learningresource may be zipped and send from one LMS to another and will still be usable. Themost common format is SCORM for learning resources that means “Sharable ContentReference Model” and was published by the Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative.Specialized on test items is the standard “Question & Test Interoperability” (in shortQTI).

• Standard for description of learning and teaching processes - the IMS Learning Design:This standard includes all standards we already described and add several items to rep-resent all information for potential usage. It is called “IMS Learning Design” and is sup-ported by IMS Global. For example, the IMS Learning Design Standard includes roles ofinvolved persons in the learning process, or activities and setngs.

If your organization works with one or more information systems, such as an authoring tool and a LMSor a LCMS, or if you want to use such systems, it is needed to fulfll the standards. More concrete, thatmeans the systems should fulfll the standards and you should add adequate information to your con -tent.

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Rapid e-Learning MethodologyDeveloping e-Learning materials in short time is called “rapid e-Learning methodology”. Of course, ev-erybody who is a competent and an experienced e-Learning content developer will be quicker than oth -ers. Rapid e-Learning methodology refers not only to a quick, but also “simple” production of learningmaterials, that means simple tools and procedures.

Typically rapid e-Learning methodology produces slides with audio, for example made with theMicrosoft tool Powerpoint and enhanced with some spoken words. There are several tools available,also Web based, which support the production of such as “slideshow with audio”. The results are shortor even longer multimedia products that can be part or base of an e-Learning unit.

Free and Open Source ToolsProfessionals working in a big enterprise potentially may use an (more or less) expensive author tool.But rapid e-Learning methodology or e-Learning authoring in general is not confned to professional au-thoring and author tools and includes also simple lightweight and free tools. We provide you with sometools and lists for tools in the bubble “explore” and recommend searching for such lists in the Web. Youwill be really impressed what is possible to make and how long the lists are!

To illustrate possible usages we just sketch one example: The production of a 3D animated GIF.

We animated an illustration from unit 1 for you and made a simple animation with it. Therefore we useda visual illusion method by inserting two white stripes for a simple 3D efect and made a set of imageswith our presentation tool. We exported the slides as GIF-Files and then used a simple free tool for ani-mated gifs (http://gifmaker.me/). The result is the following:

(to download this gif: http://sansch.fles.wordpress.com/2014/02/presentation_tools.gif )

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The variety of possibilities of free Web based tool is really funny and exploring them defnitely takestime. Beside, it will be inspiring how and with which tools you will be able to enrich your learning unit.

What is important when selecting an author tool?When selecting a professional, which means also very often, a commercial authoring tool the followinglist of questions should help your decision:

• What do I want to create? Which kind of formats and content? Which kind of multime-dia?

• What is my prior knowledge? What do I already know about content development andmedia, for example ofce software?

• What are my fnancial options?• What tools and devices do I have already? • What functionalities do I need, especially for export/import to other tools, especially my

LMS? Will the materials/ author tool work with the LMS?

If you plan to use or use free Web applications for parts of your learning content you should additionallyconsidering the following aspects:

• Can I use my content on any platform or is it bound so special tools or platforms? • Is it possible to store my content at other places or to download it (and re-use it else-

where)? Is it possible to share it privately or with a closed group? • Who has the ownership of my content?

Check (Self-Assessment and Assignments)Of course, this unit should motivate your content authoring. Perhaps you already started to search forfree tools and their possibilities? If not or as a frst start, we want to give you a short list with short tasks.

For beginners and people with limited time (this can be done in 15 minutes):

• Create your new profle photo as animated gif. You need a short sequence of photos ofyou and a free gif maker tool (e.g. http://gifmaker.me/). Download it and replace yourcurrent profle photo within this course. If you do not have photos of use (or a camera),take free images from the Web and create your new animated profle photo.

• Create a short cartoon about yourself. You can do this without login for example withhttp://bitstrips.com/, but there are really many options to do this.

If you have more time and/or some advanced knowledge with multimedia production:

• Create an animated video about the course you will develop: What may people learn?We recommend the tool http://www.powtoon.com/ if you are already used to videocapture software. Nevertheless, it is not possible to download the video to other plat-forms and a logo of Powtoon is inserted.

• Create a slideshow with audio about the course you will develop: What may peoplelearn? We recommend to use your favorited presentation software, to export the slides

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as pdf and upload it to http://slideshare.com. Additionally, capture some sentences ofyour as .mp3. This tutorial will help: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Slide-cast-on-Slideshare

Explore: Links and Further Readings, Good Practices and Case Studies• Tom Kohlmann (2011). How to be successful at rapid e-learning. URL: http://www.artic-

ulate.com/rapid-elearning/how-to-be-successful-at-rapid-e-learning/ • Christopher Pappas (2010). Free and Open Source Authoring Tools for e-Learning. URL:

http://blog.efrontlearning.net/2010/10/open-source-authoring-tools-for-e.html • CCCOER Webinar (Video by Una Daly), OER authoring tools. URL: http://www.youtube.-

com/watch?v=K1WdEfLsVfg • Judy Unrein (2012). Rapid Power Tools: The top performers of eLearning authoring soft-

ware. In: eLearn Magazine. URL: http://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=2221186 • Alison Bickford (2012). Tracking E-Learning in a LMS: The role of SCORM. In: elearning

academy. URL: http://www.elearningacademy.com.au/blog/2012/12/tracking-elearn-ing-lms-scorm/

• Video: SCORM Demystifed by KMI Learning – URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzxNwWvmwf4

• Top 10 Free E-Learning Authoring Tools by Sandra Miller. In: Dashburst. URL:http://dashburst.com/best-e-learning-authoring-tools/

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Unit 6: Mobile Learning Technologies

At the end of this unit you will:

• be able to list mobile devices • decode a QR code • reflect characteristics of smart phones• know the meaning of BYOD

Introduction: Importance of mobile learningPersonal Computers and Internet connections are common and ubiquitous available for people in West -ern Europe or North America. It is the same with several other regions in the world. Still, the difusionand availability of several mobile devices is even more impressive. Mobile devices, for example mobilephones are spread even in rural areas with a bad electronic supply. They are seen as a key driver for e-Learning and also for learning in general. When books and teachers are not available, the mobile phoneis a valuable medium for learning. In this light, it is no surprise that also the UNESCO see mobile learningas an important development. Thus, UNESCO supports it through a regular worldwide conference aboutmobile learning (MLW) and further activities.

“Mobile learning”, or in short m-learning, is a term for diverse (mobile) devices and also learning set-tings. In the following images you see some of such devices. Have you already seen such devices or usedthem?

As you see, also small mobile computers as notebooks and tablet computers are seen as devices for e-Learning. And additionally, some other devices are missing in the fgure. Can you add a missing device?For example, personal digital assistants (PDAs) are missing.

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E-Learning with notebooks is already a part of the other units of this tutorial. So, we will concentrate on(media enriched) phones and smartphones within the following paragraphs. Most of it is also applicablefor tablet computers (for example iPads).

ENTERTAINMEN

Smartphones seem to be everywhere in many metropolises of the world. This short video gives an impression on the, some times even sad, developments of this ubiquitous tech-nology. Enjoy this video “I Forgot My Phone “, written by Charlene de Guzman and Miles Crawford, directed by Miles Crawford and starring Charlene de Guzman, URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OINa46HeWg8

Mobile Communication TechnologiesYou use special mobile communication technologies, when you talk, share text messages, browse the In-ternet, exchange data, or write e-mails with your phone. Besides, not all are available for every deviceand region.

Mobile telecommunication (voice, or short messaging) is available via satellites and radio towers. To usemobile Internet, for example to read e-mail or to browse the Web, a fast connection is needed. MobileInternet can also be provides via satellites and radio towers. Another option is the use of wireless localarea networks. They are called in short "wlan" or also "Wi-Fi"; even if these terms are not synonymwhen looking at technical details. Bluetooth and infrared are some more connection modes to sharedata, for example contact information, if you want to connect only some mobile phones directly.

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Learning with SMSSMS stands for “short messaging service”. Such short messages with 140 signs per message are a widespread tool for communication and also learning around the world. If this is the only way to communi-cate and learn, you will appreciate it. Even so, in regions where learning with SMS is one of the few op -tions to learn, there are many other challenges too:

Challenges are that users should be able to read and write (in a special language) and that they need tobe able to handle the messaging. Additionally, there are also technical and practical challenges of mobilelearning with SMS. You need the device and a provider (respectively money) and in several cases themobile phone is attractive for theft. Additionally you need electricity – a power station and a plug sock-et.

Many of the SMS approaches base on the exchange of SMS. They’re are also push- and pull-services ap-plicable, automatic messaging and other services with SMS. This enhances information transfer and lim-its human (teachers) eforts.

Special functionalities of smart phones and tablet computersThe usage of simple or media enriched mobile phones (all mobile phones before the smart phone area)is a reduction of e-Learning possibilities like traditional personal computer and Internet connection. Inwell-equipped setngs, the usage of smart phones and tablet computers make extra options possible.For example sensors in smartphones could be used – an ambient light sensor, a proximity sensor, a mo -tion sensor or a temperature sensor. The following functionalities of smart phones are also usable forlearning and teaching and widen the options for e-Learning setngs:

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• First of all, smart phones have a motion sensor that can be addressed. Smartphone canbe used to control movements (if they are right) or the moves can be used as input, forexample to move a car in a learning game application.

• Then, smart phones (and tablet computers) use a new form of software, so-called “ap-plications” or in short “apps”. As there is no need (or ability to use) open ofce packageor other complex software suites, apps are always for well-defned and granular tasks.App stores make it easy to and common to download games or services for the smartphones.

• When a mobile phone is online, it is able to tell you its place. Sometimes the locationenhances the learning behavior through the GPS signal (location based learning).

• Smart phones have a good microphone and as further extra a camera on board (some-times even two, one at both sides). The camera makes it possible to take pictures andthe microphone allows additionally audios (and to share them). The smartphone is aportable sound and voice recording gadget. It also allows you to read or watch multime-dia enhanced content, for example eBooks.

• Besides the camera, image detection is possible. With some photo apps, smiling facescan be detected; other apps detect (multidimensional) barcode and decode it. With thisfeature it is very easy to look for user recommendations and feedback online if you arein a supermarket and found some new stuf. The QR code, a new, free two-dimensioncode, is in use to make long URL or other information decodable for smartphone users.

• RFID reader and NFC technology are currently not very widespread, but are potentialfeatures for new learning setngs.

Above this all, but this is not a technological feature, personal used smartphone are a private device.They are even more private as laptops: Usually, you take them into your living room and quite often it isused also in bed and with other private occasions. If this is a pro or con as learning tool is open: It is a

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pro, if you like to use the smart phone as device for spare time or waiting. It is a con, if the learner doesnot like to invest private time with automatic reminders or similar notes from a learning app.

Example for m-learningPerhaps you are thinking: Interesting functionalities, but how can they used for learning? If you have al -ready some ideas, maybe your ideas are already part of the following list:

• Mobile information is the smallest unit of learning (often called micro learning). If youget quick mobile information, such as a word in another language, a defnition of a term,the name of a songwriter this can potentially be a (very small) piece of learning experi-ence.

• Geo location can be used to provide learners with local, context information. It can forexample send you a signal, if a peer of your school is near of you. It makes location relat-ed learning ofers possible, for example information about a historical point of interestin your neighborhood.

• Mobile Phones are also well prepared to store podcasts: Using some earphones, youmay hear and watch your daily learning unit as podcast.

• Additionally, smart phones are usually equipped to store e-books. Even if you are onlineyou will be able to take some notes in your textbook, to read some pages of your fa-vored author in a foreign language, or to look for a special missing formula.

• Mobile smartphones are often used to take part of social networks, for status updatesand sharing of photos. Social networking can also be part for informal learning process-es, the core of your community of practice or the room where your students share openissues of your course.

• Smartphone and their apps gives so many opportunities for learning, that it is ridiculousto start a list. If you look for learning apps in your app store you will fnd a lot of learninggames, also for multi player, which can be used to train vocabulary or the multiplicationtable.

• The camera and apps to capture and edit videos, photos and audios can be used to askstudents and learners to deliver homework as short videos. You will be surprised howengaged they will be and how impressing some of the results.

The characteristic of mobile learning is the following. It happens typically in real time (synchronous) or inwaiting times (travelling), it is often quick and with short interactions, spontaneous and not planed. Be-sides, the mobile devices are included also in formal learning setngs.

ENTERTAINMENT

An interesting initiative of mobile learning for everyone with broad impact was the world wide initiative „One Laptop per child“. This is one of several documentation videos you will find in the Web. „One Laptop per Child“ - Uploaded By Unlocking Minds Inc. URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj4T2LkG3Pg

Bring your own device (BYOD)The development of smart phones and its difusion lead to new e-Learning possibilities and setngs. Co -workers and students bring their personal smart phones to enterprises, schools and universities. Assmart phones have a big potential for learning, it is a simple approach to build learning setngs around

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this phenomena. “Bring your own device” or in short BYOD refers to the usage of personal mobile digitalequipment for learning in schools and other learning organizations (also enterprises).

BYOD can be seen as a cheap and simple possibility to use digital devices for learning, to train media andInternet competencies, to develop Web literacy. Besides, BYOD is a pedagogical and also a technologicaland practical challenge. We give you some technological issues. It is the question, if the wireless net -work of the school can cope with the users, or who will give support for all the diferent systems, or howstudents can charge their phones during the day. Within our literature recommendation you will fndsome literature about BYOD.

Check (Self-Assessment and Assignments)(a) Take action: The QR Code Secret

(b) Develop a learning setng with smart phones.

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Explore: Links and Further Readings, Good Practices and Case StudiesThis is a small collection of interesting contribution about mobile technologies for learning. We hopeyou like it!

• Handheld Devices in the 21st Century Classroom, a Wiki page edited by Christina Luciak, Jonathon Brady-Patry, Shawn Lank, Christopher Sandor and Daphne Cockerill URL: http://etec.ctlt.ubc.ca/510wiki/Handheld_Devices_in_the_21st_Century_Classroom

• BYOD Policy Paper AUSTRALIAN NSW DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND COMMUNITIES WWW.DEC.NSW.GOV.AU - URL: https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/technology/com-puters/mobile-device/implementation_1_PD20130458.shtml

• Bring Your Own Device: A Guide for Schools by Crown in the Right of the Province of Al-berta, as represented by the Minister of Education – URL: https://education.alberta.ca/media/6749210/byod%20guide%20revised%202012-09-05.pdf

• List of great apps for math education: http://drippler.com/updates/share/best-maths-apps-children-iphone-ipad-and-android-apps-kids

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Unit 7: Development of technologies and future trends

At the end of this unit you will:

• see how fast technology get normal in your life• recognize that e-Learning innovation can be supported • probably inspired to read more about future technologies for learning

Technological evolution is impressing - a look back Not only learning about technologies is challenging. Developing and writing a unit about e-Learningtechnologies is a challenge, too. :-)

The challenge is not simple to know current technologies. It is also to decide, which knowledge abouttechnologies will be (still) needed in 6, 12 or 24 months. Still, we are not able to see the future. This isthe reason, why we fnish this technology tutorial with an outlook. We want to present you two per -spectives of future technologies. On the one side, it is the user-centered development for future tools.On the other side, there are approaches to detect future developments.

Before we do this, we wanted to ask you to make a sketch. Please provide a timeline of your personalusage of technologies (if you already used it). You can see the timeline of one of us authors – living inWestern Europe. And how looks yours? Please take some minutes and draft your personal timeline.

Without being visionary or magic, we guess you get similar impression of your timeline as we have,when looking at our own or others. It is pretty magic that it takes just short time to get used to a newtechnology. Now, learning opportunities with technologies are not comparable with that some yearsago. That applies even when you are young. The world and e-Learning technologies are changing prettyrapidly.

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Innovations for e-LearningWhen you develop e-Learning materials or use technologies in classrooms, you should at least recognizethe role of new and future developments. Not every development will revolutionize your teaching orlearning practices. But some will do.

We all should work and think about how to get one step further, or even to innovate e-Learning. Still, itis pretty hard to decide whether a trend is just a short hype and buzz or if it has the potential to inno-vate and influence learning deeper.

Some currently future technologies are the following. We will see watches with functionalities as smart-phones, glasses with enriched facilities (for example Google glasses), foldable and/or transparent dis-plays, flying cars, gesture based input devices, facial recognition as logins. And of course, it can be thatthis list is already outdated when you read it.

One smart way is to work with in the feld of innovation development within e-Learning. Does this soundcomplex? In fact it is not. There are so many possibilities to use new technologies. And several learningsetngs are already tested or in use, but not all. Thus, the development of new technologies is fast andthere are always new apps, devices and tools available. It would be great, if practitioners are alreadypart of development process of technologies. But in fact, they are often in the role of inventive users,when they pick up and use new technologies for learning. In innovation research, you call such develop-ments “open innovation”. Single users or a community develop something new.

There are diferent possible ways to think about future. Innovation development is not always the resultof a planned process. But innovation development can be fostered with methodologies. Examples forsuch approaches are the lead-user approach and idea competitions. Another example is open initiativeswhere students and teachers get free room to develop something together (or students alone).

Approaches get an idea of future developmentsThinking two steps beyond, it gets pretty harder and speculative to think about future technologies forlearning. You should consider several developments in parallel. You have to look (a) at invention of tech-nologies itself, (b) at market availability and difusion and (c) at the possibilities for usage and adoptionsfor learning. Several technologies of future research are in use to gain insights into future developments.Often Delphi techniques are used, these are two or more steps questionnaires of experts. Another tech -nique develops scenarios with a group of diverse experts: a best-case, a worst-case and a wished sce-nario. Road mapping is a method to think about enablers and barriers to a (wished) future development.

An example of a popular annual study about future technology usage in classrooms and for learning isthe “Horizon Report”. For it, experts discuss and decide future usage of technologies for learning. Theyhave to decide, which two concrete technology enhanced learning developments will be part of learningand teaching within the next year, the next 2 to 3 years and beyond. When you look for the publications,you will see that mobile technologies are mentioned several times in the last years.

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ENTERTAINMENT

Top Ten Future Technologies that already exist by HEK TV – URL: http://www.youtube.-com/watch?v=cYPqZ_SJCjw

Check (Self-Assessment and Assignments)Write a message to your future you!

Explore: Links and Further Readings, Good Practices and Case StudiesAs recommended the unit you should read some of the Horizon Reports – URL:http://www.nmc.org/horizon-project

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Glossary

Application Programming Interface or short API is an interface ofering content and functionalities fromone application to another. See unit 2.

Authoring tools support the development of learning content, including multimedia and assessment.See unit 3 and especially 5.

Bluetooth is a standard for data transfer on mobile phones or other mobile devices. See unit 6.

Bring your own device (BYOD) is the usage and implementation of personal mobile digital equipmentfor learning in schools and other learning organizations (also enterprises). See unit 6.

Client-Server architecture has the system and data at a central server. See unit 3.

Cloud architectures use a network of so-called virtual servers at real servers to store information. Seeunit 3.

Circuit switching is also called inline switching and is a methodology to use a network for communica-tion with providing a dedicated free channel. See unit 2.

Diascope is a slide projector. It projects dias (small transparent framed photos) on a canvas or wall. Seeunit 1.

Distributed network is a network with no central stations and links. See unit 2.

E-Portfolio system has features to organize reviewing and access to materials from the e-portfolio work.See unit 3.

Hypertext is the text where parts of it link to referring content with similar, additional or other ftngcontent at other pages. See unit 2.

Hypertext Markup Language or short HTML is the core language used to establish the World Wide Web.See unit 2.

IMS Learning Design is a standard for description of learning and teaching processes. See unit 5

Infrared is a communication way to connect mobile phones or devices. See unit 6.

Information system is a technical system dealing with production, distribution, management and ex-change of data. Today mostly stored on servers using diferent webtechnologies . See unit 3.

Interactive whiteboard is a big display connected with a computer, interaction is possible through spe-cial markers. See unit 1.

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Inline switching see circuit switching. See unit 1.

Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS) helps to edit, store and manage learning content. Seeunit 3, 4 and 5.

Learning Management System (LMS) supports the administration of learners as well as contents, for ex-ample to organize the access to contents for a special class. See unit 3 and especially 4.

Learning Object Metadata (LOM) is a standard for metadata. See unit 5.

Learning Resources Repositories stores and manage learning content and its access. See unit 3, 4 and 5.

Mash-Ups are new arrangements, building on two or more diferent web resources. See unit 2.

Mobile learning (m-learning) is learning with mobile devices and in mobile learning setngs. See unit 6.

MOOC system is developed for usage of thousand of users and integrated multimedia resources (typi-cally videos) in “Massive Open Online Courses” (in short MOOCs), it is lightweight, but scalable learningmanagement system. See unit 3.

Open Source Software is liberally licensed software where the Source Code is available. See unit 3.

Overhead projector is a machine projecting transparencies on a canvas or wall. See unit 1.

Package switching is a methodology to use several packages to transport communication through a dis-tributed network. See unit 2.

Peer-to-peer architecture has the system and data distributed at a system of peer computers in a net-work and not on a central server (see client-server architecture). See unit 3.

Personal Learning Environment (PLE) supports the central, cockpit-orientated management of individu-als’ learning, for example as mash-up. See unit 3.

Proprietary Software is commercial software where the source code is not available open and copy-rights are very strict regulated. See unit 3.

QR code is a free two-dimensional code used to make long URL or other information decodable forsmartphone users. See unit 6.

Question & Test Interoperability (QTI) is a standard for assessment content format. See unit 5.

Rapid e-Learning Methodology is the approach to develop e-Learning materials in short time. See unit5.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a technological method to ofer updated information in the Web soothers can use it via the RSS feed. See unit 2.

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Sharable Content Reference Model (SCORM) is a standard for learning content format. See unit 5.

Short Messaging Service (SMS) provides electronic messages with 140 signs per message spread via mo-bile phones; SMS is also the name for the message itself. See unit 6.

Social Networks are Websites building on the “friend of a friend” idea and fosters communication andsharing amongst (virtually) related person. See unit 2.

Social Tagging is the usage of keywords to tag Web materials such as images, videos or bookmarks in acollaborative way. See unit 2.

Video projector is a machine projecting a computer display on a canvas or wall. See unit 1.

Weblog system is a Web tool to write and publish chronically ordered postings, with typically the latestmessage at frst. See unit 2.

Wi-Fi is the term for wireless local area networks. See unit 6.

Wireless local area networks (wlan) are sometime synonymous called Wi-Fi. See unit 6.

Wiki system is a Web tool to organize information in a fast and cooperative way and allows easy editingand creation of Website with a simple mark-up language and editing option. See unit 2.

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Self Assessment Test

TestPlease select all statements that are appropriate!

1. Which are prototypical statements of computer engineers when discussing e-learning technologies?

If you talk to an engineer to fnd a technical solution for your e-Learning scenario, (s)he will probably askyou for a very well defned requirement analysis. Which of the following topics are relevant?

Pedagogical ambitions and role of storytelling for teaching. Available tools for teachers and organizationsPotential maximum of data transfer A special image that you would love to present in unit 3.Number of users, frequency of interaction Good teaching and motivation aspects.

2. What are former and current presentation tools for teaching?

Video projectorTracing projectorInteractive whiteboardBlackboardBlueboardOverhead projectorWhitewall projector

3. Which statements are correct?

With the line switching approach a complete line is reserved for a call. With the package switching approach no other can use a line between to stations.Within the package switching approach a link between two stations can be used formore than one communication. With the package switching approach communication is still possible, when a link is notavailable anymore. Voice over IP sometimes sound like trash talk.

4. What is “QWERTYUIOP”?

This is the frst URL used within the World Wide Web.These are the letters of the second row on the keyboard.This is an encrypted signal within the html protocol.It is told that this was the text of the fst e-mail send via the ARPANET.This was the frst SMS send with a smart phone.

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5. What is correct html to set a hyperlink?

<p>A correct html <http://giz.de> hyperlink </http>.</p>A correct html <a href=”http://www.giz.de”>hyperlink</a>.A correct html <hyperlink> hyperlink</hyperlink>.A correct html (hyperlink[http://www.giz.de]).A correct html <a href=”http://www.giz.de” target=”_blank”>hyperlink</a>.

6. Which of the following systems are information systems that can be used for learning?

Wiki systemGeneral educational systemWooza serverLearning content management systemE-Portfolio systemSocial systemWeb based authoring toolsLogistics system

7. Which are typical functionalities of learning management systems (LMS)?

A LMS supports the administration of teachers, learners or courses and classes. A LMS uses an API to publish students’ personal data.A LMS organizes who has access to what. A LMS uses mash-up technologies to implement standards such as LOM or SCORM.A LMS manages and provides learning content.Typical roles within LMS are administrators, teachers (or tutors for one or more classes)and learners (students). A LMS ofers tools for communication and collaboration, for virtual blackboards andchats.

8. Which are technical requirements for a learning management system (LMS)?

Quality: The LMS should be certifed with ISO 9000.Scalability: It should be scalable, that means it should be able to manage also highernumbers of users (up to a defned maximum).Connectivity: In general a connection to a database is needed.Multiple-Stage: Several levels of course difculty should be addressed.Standardization: It should support several standards, also meta data standards for learn-ing content (IMS or SCORM). Security: A strategy for data security is needed.Circuitousness: It should have enough room for every learner.

9. Why are standards important for e-Learning development?

To ensure a certain level of quality.

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To make e-Learning content searchable and interchangeable.To make learning objects work on diferent information systems.To fulfll licensing requirements.To support non-commercial international standardization organizations.

10. What is important when selecting an author tool?

I should select an author tool that supports the kind of formats and content I want todevelop.I should select an author tool that I already have in a similar version.I should select an author tool that fts to my personal preferences of design.I should select an author tool that rises above my personal fnancial limit.I should select an author tool that is able to export/import to the LMS.

11. What are special functionalities of smart phones and tablet computers, compared with laptops orcomputers?

A smart phone knows the birthday of your grandma.Smart phone identifes its owner by QR code decoding.Smart phones have a motion sensor that can be addressed. When a mobile phone is online, it is able to tell you its location. Smart phones have a good microphone and a further extra a camera on board (some-times even two). Besides the camera, image detection is possible. You can check your e-mail with a smart phone.

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SolutionCorrect answers are highlighted with green.

1. Which are prototypical statements of computer engineers when discussing e-learning technologies?

If you talk to an engineer to fnd a technical solution for your e-Learning scenario, (s)he will probably askyou for a very well defned requirement analysis. Which of the following topics are relevant?

Pedagogical ambitions and role of storytelling for teaching. Available tools for teachers and organizationsPotential maximum of data transfer A special image that you would love to present in unit 3.Number of users, frequency of interaction Good teaching and motivation aspects.

2. What are former and current presentation tools for teaching?

Video projectorTracing projectorInteractive whiteboardBlackboardBlueboardOverhead projectorWhitewall projector

3. Which statements are correct?

With the line switching approach a complete line is reserved for a call. With the package switching approach no other can use a line between to stations.Within the package switching approach a link between two stations can be used formore than one communication. With the package switching approach communication is still possible, when a link is notavailable anymore. Voice over IP sometimes sound like trash talk.

4. What is “QWERTYUIOP”?

This is the frst URL used within the World Wide Web.These are the letters of the second row on the keyboard.This is an encrypted signal within the html protocol.It is told that this was the text of the fst e-mail send via the ARPANET.This was the frst SMS send with a smart phone.

5. What is correct html to set a hyperlink?

<p>A correct html <http://giz.de> hyperlink </http>.</p>

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A correct html <a href=”http://www.giz.de”>hyperlink</a>.A correct html <hyperlink> hyperlink</hyperlink>.A correct html (hyperlink[http://www.giz.de]).A correct html <a href=”http://www.giz.de” target=”_blank”>hyperlink</a>.

6. Which of the following systems are information systems that can be used for learning?

Wiki systemGeneral educational systemWooza serverLearning content management systemE-Portfolio systemSocial systemWeb based authoring toolsLogistics system

7. Which are typical functionalities of learning management systems (LMS)?

A LMS supports the administration of teachers, learners or courses and classes. A LMS uses an API to publish students’ personal data.A LMS organizes who has access to what. A LMS uses mash-up technologies to implement standards such as LOM or SCORM.A LMS manages and provides learning content.Typical roles within LMS are administrators, teachers (or tutors for one or more classes)and learners (students). A LMS ofers tools for communication and collaboration, for virtual blackboards andchats.

8. Which are technical requirements for a learning management system (LMS)?

Quality: The LMS should be certifed with ISO 9000.Scalability: It should be scalable, that means it should be able to manage also highernumbers of users (up to a defned maximum).Connectivity: In general a connection to a database is needed.Multiple-Stage: Several levels of course difculty should be addressed.Standardization: It should support several standards, also meta data standards for learn-ing content (IMS or SCORM). Security: A strategy for data security is needed.Circuitousness: It should have enough room for every learner.

9. Why are standards important for e-Learning development?

To ensure a certain level of quality.To make e-Learning content searchable and interchangeable.To make learning objects work on diferent information systems.To fulfll licensing requirements.

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To support non-commercial international standardization organizations.

10. What is important when selecting an author tool?

I should select an author tool that supports the kind of formats and content I want todevelop.I should select an author tool that I already have in a similar version.I should select an author tool that fts to my personal preferences of design.I should select an author tool that rises above my personal fnancial limit.I should select an author tool that is able to export/import to the LMS.

11. What are special functionalities of smart phones and tablet computers, compared with laptops orcomputers?

A smart phone knows the birthday of your grandma.Smart phone identifes its owner by QR code decoding.Smart phones have a motion sensor that can be addressed. When a mobile phone is online, it is able to tell you its location. Smart phones have a good microphone and a further extra a camera on board (some-times even two). Besides the camera, image detection is possible. You can check your e-mail with a smart phone.

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