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