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We have now released version 3.0 of SCAM! Slightly delayed as there have been a LOT of problems with SourceForge lately.

As I wrote earlier, SCAM comes in three flavours: the SCAM Repository Development Platform, SCAM Nimble (formerly known as Slasken) and SCAM ePortfolio.

There are several new features in SCAM 3.0 (I mentioned some of them in my pre-announcement), such as RSS-support, a complete redesign of the SCAM architecture, better administration, better configurability, annotation of resources, it is possible to change the look and feel in an easy way, multilingual support, enhanced support for adding new metadata models and much more. I have uploaded some screenshots of the SCAM ePortfolio. SCAM ePortfolio will be distributed via the Swedish School-net, starting in january. There will be a test installation at the Swedish School-net as well.

The SCAM website has also been updated and somewhat redesigned. You will find a lot more information about SCAM 3.0 on the SCAM web at http://scam.sourceforge.net/

As SCAM applications often uses the SHAME editor framework, this notice from the KMR-group blog is relevant for the SCAM III release:

SHAME + Velocity = Speed The new SHAME and Velocity based web editor is now baptised as Speed. I have run out of good aronyms so if you want to interpret the name, just think of it as an abbreiviation for SPEcific EDitor.

More at the KMR-blog 

As usual (about every third month) there is a new "Question of the month". This time more interesting than ever!

Now you can even add your own, alternative answers.

Wikipedia about Web 2.0 

De två stora dominanterna inom elevadministrativa system i Sverige - Tietor Enator och IST - har tillsammans med bland andra Sundsvalls kommun, Linköpings kommun, Malmö kommun, Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting och Myndigheten för skolutveckling (MjukIs projektet) inlett ett samarbete för att underlätta utbytet av elevinformation mellan olika system. Arbetet har initierats efter önskemål från kommuner där dett uppstått behov av att flytta information mellan systemen i samband med gymnasieintagningen.

Detta är ett bra initiativ och definitivt ett steg i rätt riktning. Extra intressant i sammanhanget är intentionen att, så långt som möjligt, basera arbetet på internationella standarder för elevinformation. Bland annat undersöks IMS LIP som ett alternativ.

Förutom att detta arbete öppnar för en bättre hantering av elevinformation för intagning till gymnasiet så är detta också generellt, sett i ett större perspektiv, ett steg mot bättre kopplingar mellan skolans elevadministrativa system och andra system. Ett exempel är kopplingen mellan elevinformation och den virtuella lärmiljön (VLE). Ett annat exempel är kopplingen mellan elevinformation och verktyg för att arbeta med Individuella utvecklingsplaner (IUP). En vanlig situation i många kommuner är att de olika systemen fungerar som isolerade öar, där elevinformation måste lagras och uppdateras i flera olika system. Detta skapar givetvis både ett merarbete och ett kvalitetsproblem (avseende informationsredundans, integritet etc.) - samt uppenbarligen en hel del irritation… Det är bland annat denna - och annan liknande - problematik som ligger till grund för begreppet Managed Learning Environment (MLE) enligt JISC.

Man kan ju alltid hoppas att detta arbete sprider sig till att även omfatta skolans övriga informationshantering. Det är ju trots allt detta som är essensen i begreppet Mjuk infrastruktur!

The TELCERT Workshop; Tools for the e-Learning Framework, is probably an interesting event for anyone interested in the e-Learning Framework and the development of Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) for Learning.

This workshop introduces participants in the e-Learning Framework projects and the broader JISC community to the tools developed by the TELCERT) project. These tools exploit the IMS Application Profiling Guidelines which offer the prospect of refining (i.e. profiling) a variety of e-Learning technology specifications so as to better meet the needs of a target community, without breaking underlying interoperability.

This is an important work in order to make two of the leading metadata standards move in a common direction. This work emphasizes the importance of RDF and Semantic Web technology as a mechanism for metadata interoperability.

Via the CEN/ISSS Learning Technology Standards Observatory (even though Mike is my colleague at KTH;)

In the context of the joint work item between DCMI and IEEE/LOM to develop a recommended representation of the metadata elements of the IEEE Learning Object Metadata Standard in the Dublin Core Abstract Model, Mikael Nilsson made a presentation to the IEEE/LOM meeting in Orlando in October 2005 outlining the approach and the current status.

Have a look at his presentation

The version 0.11 of the eXe e-learning content authoring tool is now available for download from http://exelearning.org/ I have made a Swedish translation of eXe so now it is also available in Swedish! Still only the eXe software is translated, but soon there will be more of the eXe material translated into Swedish.

The eXe project was conceived to address the use of technology in the design and authoring of learning resources for the web. Initial research showed that while there are many web authoring tools available their usability and sophistication varied considerably. We identified the need for a tool to specifically assist teachers and academics to publish professional looking web pages according to the structure and form required for good teaching, and in such a way that this content could be integrated with existing LMS applications.

A new book called "Kids in Cyberspace: teaching anti-racism using the Internet in Britain, Spain and Sweden" (ISBN 1 873927 45 2) has been published by Symposium Books. This is a book for teachers who need new ideas and new input on how to make good use of ICT in their teaching.

Combining young people’s fascination with the Internet with teaching about racism and anti-racism was the inspiration behind the Eurokid project (and this book). The outcome was a joint Spanish, Swedish and British project aimed at developing good anti-racist practice and curricula via the Internet, hence addressing the shortage of authoritative, well-researched resources and teachers’ anxiety and insecurity about tackling the issue. The outcome was a small overall linking site (www.eurokid.org) connected to two new websites (www.spanishkid.org / www.diversidadjuvenil.org and www.swedkid.nu) plus a revised version of the original British website (www.britkid.org). The aim was to make the websites attractive and easy to use, credible and trustworthy, challenging and enabling yet not over-directive and ‘preaching’, and appropriate for use with school computers.

This book charts the progress of the project and the decisions, for good or bad, made along the way concerning, for example, terminology, design and visuals, pedagogical principles and ethics. It has eight chapters which seek to illuminate the Eurokid project in its entirety yet not disguise or homogenise the local contexts and variations to promote a bogus unity or a ‘one size fits all’ mentality. It can be read from beginning to end, or as individual chapters discussing aspects of context, design or evaluation which can be understood independently. A number of themes emerge and re-emerge; for example, the slippage between the truth claims of research on which much of the content of the websites is built, and the fictionalising of characters and dialogues as a means of rendering the issues more accessible to young people; the unity of the whole (the creation of similar websites) building on global networks and ideas, yet the impact of the local in terms of design, content and impact; and the deliberate non-linearity of the website and texts, which nevertheless promote a recognisable, accessible and distinctly narrative structure. The book provides a fascinating insight into how international attempts at curriculum development can work and a positive picture of the impact of European funding to support social change and equality.

Read more about "Kids in Cyberspace" at http://www.symposium-books.co.uk/gaine/KidsInCyberspace/index.html

The summary of the expert contributions for the LIFE Manchester workshop on Learning Objects Repository interoperability, September 5th is now avaliable at http://home.hio.no/estandardblog/archives/docs/LIFE_LORI_base_doc.pdf

My own contribution:

Paulsson, F. (2005, September 5, 2005). Achieving Learning Object Repository interoperability: Position paper for the LIFE workshop on Learning Object Repository Interoperability. Paper presented at the LIFE workshop on Learning Object Repository Interoperability, Manchester. 

is avaliable at http://www.frepa.org/papers/Paulsson-LIFE-position-paper050830.html

… will be held in Crete, Greece - October 1-5, 2006.

With the shift towards the knowledge society, changing working conditions and the continuous evolution of information and communication technologies, peoples’ knowledge and skills need continuous development. Technology-enhanced learning is one of the strategic objectives of the EU/IST Work Programme, with the goal of "improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of learning, for individuals and organizations, independent of time, place and pace." Innovative infrastructuctures, methods and approaches are needed to reach this goal, and will facilitate transfer and sharing of knowledge between individuals and in organisations.

More information about the conference at http://www.ec-tel06.org/

Christmas Eve will be a little bit earlier this year… The third (an so far best) release of SCAM (Standardized Contextualized Access to Metadata) is planned to the 19th December. SCAM III will be much easier to install, use and develop than the earlier versions. Besides overall feature and performance improvements, we have made some serious changes to the SCAM architecture. Among the more notable changes are the exchange of the SCAM controller framework, to the use of a more general  web application framework: OpenSymphony’s WebWork. The use of WebWork - in combination of the use of the Java-based template engine: Velocity - have done wonders for the usability of SCAM, for users, developers and everyone in between. This also makes it much easier to integrate SCAM-based systems with other systems.

SCAM III will be released in three flavours:

• The SCAM III development platform, which is the development framework intended for anyone that want to develop advanced and sophisticated repository solutions based on Semantic Web Technology and RDF. The SCAM Development Platform, which is the core of SCAM is distributed as Source Code and/or JAR:s via Source Forge.
• SCAM III "Slasken" (which will have a new name at release day) is intended for anyone who, quick and easy, want to set up a Semantic Web and RDF-based repository solution. Without any deeper knowledge in programming or Semantic Web Technology it is possible to set up a repository (archive) solution for Learning Objects (or other other types resources of course), choose an existing metadata model (or implement your own) and adapt the web-based user interface to one of your choice. So there will be no excuse for not using Semantic Web Technology as anyone can use it now!
• An finally, crowning the work, SCAM III Portfolio. SCAM Portfolio is a very nice educational e-Portfolio solution built upon SCAM. A Student/Teacher (and parents?) portfolio system can easily be set up by downloading and installing the SCAM III Portfolio release. It will be distributed as a WAR-file or as bundled with TomCat and a database - Just to download and install in the simplest way possible. SCAM III Portfolio is of course based on Semantic Web Technology as well and by default it uses the most common metadata standards for e-learning and it is possible to add support for additional metadata standards and resource types. SCAM III Portfolio will be distributed via SourceForge, via EduForge and via the Swedish Schoolnet!

In connection to the SCAM III  release(s), we will also release some serious new SCAM documentation for users and developers. We will also make some (much needed) improvements to the SCAM website.

So, keep your eyes on http://scam.sourceforge.net/ around the 19th of December…

Det har pratats mycket om individuella utvecklingsplaner (IUP) under det senaste året. Givetvis beror detta på att den nya Skollagen föreskriver att varje elev skall ha en IUP. Det är egentligen två saker som har varit i fokus: hur skall IUP utformas och tillämpas och finns det några verktyg som stöder arbetet med IUP? Den första frågan fick delvis sitt svar i och med att Skolverket publicerade "Skolverkets allmänna råd och kommentarer för arbetet med att upprätta individuella utvecklinsplaner".

När det gäller IT-stöd och pedagogiska verktyg för IUP så har det (fram till nu) inte funnits så mycket - annat än de "gamla vanliga" skol-administrativa systemen. Det sker dock en del intressant utveckling inom detta område. Nyligen släpptes första versionen av Unikum eUIP av Unikum AB. Verktyget har utvecklats inom samarbetsprojektet "Unik". det som gör detta verktyg intressant är delas att man utgår från den pedagogiska processen, samtidigt som man sätter eleven i centrum. För att göra detta har man redan från början arbetat tillsammans med en stor grupp användare i form av pedagoger som befinner sig ute i skolans verksamhet. Dessutom har Unik-projektet valt att arbeta med "mjuk infrastruktur" för att skapa öppna och flexibla verktyg som kan utgöra samverkande komponenter i en större utbildningsarkitektur.

Jag hoppas verkligen att vi får se betydligt fler specialiserade verktygs-komponenter som kan utgöra byggstenar i skolans IT-miljö, som alternativ till dagens monolitiska system där man försöker lösa allas behov och problem i ett enda system - någonting som givetvis inte är möjligt att göra på ett bra sätt.

• Läs mer om Unik projektet och eUIP på Unikums webb
• Läs mer om IUP på Myndigheten för skolutveckling och på Skolverket
• Läs mer om mjuk infrastruktur på Mukis-webben
• Läs Jonas Rybergs debattartikel i Pedagogiska magasinet

From the CEN/ISSS Learning Technology Standards Observatory

The following new CWA:s have been made avaliable by the CEN/ISSS Learning Technology Workshop: 

• CWA 15453 Harmonisation of Vocabularies for eLearning
• CWA 15454 A Simple Query Interface Specification for Learning Repositories
  
• CWA 15455 A European Model for Learner Competencies

From the IMS Global Learning Consortium:

The IMS Tools Interoperability (TI) approach addresses the growing demand for a reusable mechanism for integrating third-party tools with core LMS platforms. Tools can add specialist functionality to the LMS such as assessment or discipline-specific teaching aids.

Dowload the IMS Tools Interoperability Guidelines v1 Public Draft at http://www.imsglobal.org/ti/index.html