Reflections of the COLIS (Collaborative Online Learning and.docVIP

Reflections on the COLIS (Collaborative Online Learning and Information Systems) Demonstrator project and the Learning Object Lifecycle James Dalziel Executive Director WebMCQ Pty Ltd Senior Lecturer Institute for Teaching and Learning University of Sydney james@ Abstract The COLIS (Collaborative Online Learning and Information Systems) project is a DEST funded initiative based on a consortium of five Australian universities (Macquarie, Newcastle, Tasmania, UNE, and USQ) and five e-learning vendors (Computer Associates, Fretwell Downing, IPR Systems, WebCT and WebMCQ) seeking to build a broad, interoperable, standards-based e-learning environment for the future. Part of the first phase of COLIS was the creation of a Demonstrator or testbed environment to investigate and demonstrate strategies for the incremental development of levels of technical interoperability in learning space application integration. Interoperability was based on adoption of IMS standards such as Content Packaging and Digital Repositories, the IEEE Learning Object Meta-data (LOM) standard, and the Open Digital Rights Language (ODRL) standard. This paper provides reflections on the evolution of the Demonstrator environment, and the implications of this experience for future developments in e-learning standards. In particular, COLIS has made important steps towards understanding a broader view of the Learning Object Lifecycle. Keywords E-learning standards, interoperability, integration, Learning Objects, Digital Rights Management, testbed Introduction The COLIS (Collaborative Online Learning and Information Systems) project was funded under an Australian Federal Government Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) Systemic Infrastructure Initiative Grant. Its primary goal in 2002 was: to develop a distributed systems framework for online learning and information services which would demonstrate the following: - Linking of learning management systems to library e-se