alt-i ² -lab 2006, is an on-going collaboration of organizations, companies and individuals who are advancing learning technology interoperability. This 4th annual alt-i-lab again brings together creators, vendors, users, and buyers of learning technology to evaluate demonstrations, exchange technology, and participate in working sessions focused on real-world interoperability, strategies maximizing the impact of learning technology, and critical examination of state of the art technology.

This is a working meeting. The format will provide technology demonstrations and seminar style working sessions, with ample opportunity for professional networking and informal discussion. The participants are informed practitioners, planners, and decision makers from the international vendor and consumer community.

The Summit on Global Learning Industry Challenges is a gathering of industry leaders to introduce and debate ideas on on issues impacting the growth of learning worldwide. This is a unique and highly direct conversation for the purpose of illuminating the key business challenges facing the learning industry. The Summit is facilitated by a focused set of highly interactive panel sessions with audience participation.

alt-i-lab 2006 and Summit Sponsors
Platinum Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

Co-Hosts
           

Keynote Address :

Michael D. King
Director, Market Development
IBM Global Education Industry

The Future of Learning:
Learning technologies have evolved significantly over the past decade, with new innovations on the horizon. The traditional segments of K12, Higher Education and Corporate Training are growing more fluid, with customer projects and vendors spanning these distinct markets. Open standards and open source technologies will also have significant impact in the market in the future. This talk will explore how the market has changed over the years, and what the future may hold.

Welcome Presentation
IMS Learning Impact Presentation Rob Abel, IMS CEO

alt-i-lab 2006 Working Session Tracks (Monday, 19 June - Tuesday, 20 June)

1. Service-oriented Approaches, Web Services and the Integrated Learning Architecture
   The aim of this theme is to explore the possibilities of next generation data exchange between learning management systems, assessment systems, and learner information systems. This working session will focus on discovering the real pain points and hurdles that are impeding wider adoption and true interoperability.

   A number of open specifications have been available to support these systems for several years e.g. IMS Enterprise Services, IMS Question & Test Interoperability, IMS Tools Interoperability Guidelines, etc. However, we have not yet addressed the issue of service choreography between these specifications or real-time interaction independent of the data model being exchanged. We need to look at how to integrate all these services by considering the Enterprise Service Bus, and other infrastructure integrations, approaches to developing Web Services.

   Web service are becoming key infrastructure components for Internet-based applications. From an e-learning perspective, web services must support the integration of LMSs, SISs, assessment systems, etc. There are many ways to construct web services to support these systems depending on the business and institutional needs.

   Position statements from the LMS and the SIS communities will be followed by a presentation work recently undertaken by IMS/GLC on the state-of-the-art of Integrated Learning Architecture frameworks. This will be followed by a scoping debate to establish areas of agreement and difference. Short presentations from a variety of stakeholders will then support the mapping of the problem space and the development of common agendas. To ensure best practice we need to look at:

   a) What applications Web Services do we need to develop;
   b) Agree the common services that underpin the application services;
   c) Identify who is doing what and why. Identify what is not being attempted and why;
   d) identify the 'low lying fruit' that can be developed for the next 12 months.
   

   Chair:
   Chris Vento, Senior Vice President - Technology & Product Development, Blackboard
   Agenda
   Session 1
   
   * Introductions by the Chair (15 mins)
   * LMS Perspective Presentation (25 mins) - C.Vento, Blackboard
   * SIS Perspective Presentation (25 mins) - Cary Brown, Oracle
   * Frameworks for Enterprise Solutions Presentation (25mins) - TBA
   * Open discussion (30 mins)
   
   Session 2
   * OpenEAI (45 mins)
   * Positioning presentations (10 mins each)
   - OSIDs perspective (Scott Thorne, MIT)
   - ADL/SCORM (Jennifer Brooks, ADL)
   - Publisher perspective (Erik Unhjem, Pearson Education)
   - IMS perspective (Colin Smythe)
   
   * Open discussion (60 mins)
   * Agreement of timeline (30 mins)
   
   Expected Outcomes
   (1) Narrative Journal report
   (2) Agreement on where we should be by alt-i-lab 2007
   

2. Plug-&-Play for Rich Media
   There is renewed interest in new media for learning applications. Connectivity, bandwidth, and personal digital devices are becoming pervasive. What should be the standards for enabling learner and instructor interaction via rich media that will impact student success? IMS/GLC is chartering a new working group to apply existing and new specifications to this challenge.

   Is it possible to create great tools in closed systems? Of course, there are avenues into those closed systems, but do they go far enough to allow a robust tool that used in several different LMS/CMS's?

   Plug and Play can simplfy maintenance and upgrades, so how should SoA, Web Services and OSIDs factor into development?

   The aim of this session is to explore the possibilities of achieving true plug and play in rich media learning applications and data sources.

   This working session will focus on discovering the real pain points and hurdles that are impeding wider availability of tools and true interoperability.

   Some of the questions, we will explore will be:

   What are the shared features of successful plug & play applications?
   How do existing IMS specs need to be extended to achieve true plug & play applications?
   Does achieving plug & play necessitate more rigorous testing?
   Would appropriate conformance tests help implementers?
   Would certification help develop the market for plug & play products?
   What other approaches can aid in achieving plug & play?
   What damage might be done by false claims?
   How should new Web 2 content be handled, including pod-casts and streamed peer-to-peer media?
   How do we support a multiplicity of delivery devices i.e. the issues of mobility?
   How do we handle the extreme problems of accessibility given environmental extremes such as noise, darkness, etc?
   How is this new content to be created and what is the appropriate content model?
   How is this new content to be packaged, distributed and presented?
   
   IMS, and the other similar organizations, have an excellent basis for developing the new suite of specifications and standards. However, we now need to plan how these must be developed during the next two years.
   
   Agenda
   Session 1 - Present Capability & Requirements
   15:00 Coffee/Introductions
   15:10 Tool Interoperability - Dirk Herr-Hoyman, Uni of Wisconsin (TBC)
   15:30 Common Cartridge - Kevin Riley, IMS
   15:50 Accessibility Requirements - Rich Schwerdtfeger, IBM
   16:10 Enriching Content - Brian Allan, Tegrity
   16:20 Content Producer - Jeff Bonasso, IBM
   16:30 Open Discussion
   17:00 Close
   
   Session 2 - Achieving Plug-&-Play
   13:00 Summarize Objectives & Outcomes
   Implications for the Network
   13:20 Streamed Services - Dave Dusthimer, Cisco (TBC)
   13:40 Mobility Perspective - Andrea Lorenzon, Giunti iLabs
   Plug-&-Play Interoperability Arsenal
   14:00 Tool Integration Support - Bruno Van Haetsdaele, Horizon Wimba
   14:30 Conformance Testing & Certification - David Rose, The Open Group
   15:00 Coffee
   15:20 Discussion of other Measures:
   -Open Source Components
   -Plugfests
   -Reference Implementations
   -Test Harnesses & Test Data-Sets
   16:00 Roadmap to alt-i-lab 2007
   16:30 Meeting Report
   17:00 Close
   Expected Outcomes
   (1) Narrative Journal report
   (2) Agreement on where we should be by alt-i-lab 2007
   

   Chair:
   Bruno Van Haetsdaele, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, HorizonWimba

3. Introducing talent management.
   Learning and human resource development have been occurring for years, but the tools available to human resource managers and learners have been primitive. Join this working session to explore a new IMS/GLC project that addresses standards for talent management - the integration of learning with human resource development.

   Many corporate executives have identified Talent Management - the strategic management of human capital - as a top issue for 2006 and beyond. Implementing enterprise wide talent management today requires the integration of new and existing processes, content and technology.

   Almost ten years ago IMS was formed to provide technical expertise and a neutral gathering point to participants in the e-learning market. Working together IMS members succeeded in developing a set of common technology specifications that have lowered the cost and improved the outcomes of technology-based learning solutions across global training and education segments.

   Integrated Talent Management (ITM) is an approach to managing corporate investments in people - human capital - that integrates previously disconnected HR processes such as learning, recruiting, performance management, and compensation to improve company performance.

   This working session will evaluate the opportunity of developing an open architecture and sharing best practices for global talent management solutions.

   Questions we will explore during the session include:
   

   1. What it Integrated Talent Management (definitions and examples)?
   2. What is the market opportunity for Talent Management solutions (data and projections)?
   3. Challenges in implementing global talent management
   4. Existing source material for the development an open talent management architecture

   Agenda- Session 1
   
   * Introductions (15 mins)
   * Presentation 1 (25 mins) - HR perspective
   * Presentation 2 (25 mins) - Vendor perspective
   * Presentation 3 (25 mins) - Vendor perspective
   * Open discussion (30 mins)
   
   Session 2
   Positioning Statements
   * Learning Vendor Position
   * Training Position
   * Recruitment Position
   * Performance Position
   * Compensation Position
   * Specifications
   * Next Steps
   * Open discussion (60 mins)
   * Agreement of timeline (30 mins)
   
   

   Chair:
   Robert Todd, Sr. Director, Product Management, Convergys

4. Providing more and better options for digital course content.
   Two fundamental frames for thinking about how to make digital content useful in practice are the Marketplace - activities focused on distributing, accessing and exchanging content - and the Workplace or Commons - activities focused on interacting with, collaborating about and sharing content. In this alt-i-lab 2006 Working Session, we will examine perspectives on use by and amongst learners, creators and re-users of digital content, develop exemplary scenarios that prioritize problems to be solved and consider how issues arising in the Marketplace or Workplace frames should or could be integrated for sustaining best practice.

   The session will involve participants who have knowledge and experience in open source and proprietary approaches to creating, distributing and (re)using digital content in everyday learning contexts. They will develop scenarios of learning and teaching that illuminate and prioritize those aspects of technical, organizational and social infrastructures that critically enable or constrain widespread and effective use of shared educational resources amongst everyday creators, re-users, learners and distributors.

   Following the spirit of alt-i-lab, the goal of the session is to produce
   

   1. Annotated scenarios that identify specific long-term goals and serve to prioritize problems to be solved in the next 12-24 months,
   2. Agreement on specific scenarios for which solutions could be demonstrated at alt-i-lab 2007, including functional objectives and performance metrics for evaluating these solutions and
   3. Contributions to a high-level roadmap and initial milestone schedule for R&D

   Agenda Session 1 - Monday, 19 June, 3-5 pm
   Chairs: George Ward, CSU Digital Marketplace, & Tom Carey, MERLOT
   
   The Marketplace: Distributing, accessing, and exchanging digital content
   * Introductions (15 mins)
   * Identify work topics and structure agenda (30 mins)
   

   - Presentation 1 (10 mins) - Scenarios from the California Digital Marketplace project
   - Presentation 2 (10 mins) - Scenarios from the Alberta Online Consortium
   -Presentation 3 (10 mins) - Scenarios from Harvest Road applications
   
   * Open discussion (30 mins)
   * Summary: Challenges and future actions (15 mins)
   -Discussion leader: Kathy Christoph, University of Wisconsin
   
   Session 2 - Tuesday, 20 June, 1-4:30 pm
   Chairs: Ed Walker, CS4Ed, and Tom Carey, MERLOT
   
   The Workplace: Interacting with and collaborating to use digital content
   * Executive Summary of Session 1 and introductions (15 mins)
   * Mapping out the Workplaces/Commons (60 mins)
   
   -'Fire hose' presentations (30 mins)
   -Learners Commons - Open Learning Support [Brandon Murumatsu, Utah State University]
   -Learners Commons - OCI Repository [Joel Greenberg, Open University]
   -Creators' Workplace - D2L Collaboratory [John Baker, D2L]
   -Creators' Workplace - IVIMEDs
   -Teachers/Re-user Commons - MERLOT 3.0 [Tom Carey]
   -Teachers/Re-user Commons - Starting Point [Sean Fox, Carleton College]
   -Digital Marketplace - George Ward
   -Discussion & agenda setting for working groups (30 mins)
   
   * Default agenda for Working Groups (90 mins, including 10 min break)
   
   -The Learner's Workplace/Commons
   -Expand scenario presentations (20 mins)
   -Develop R&D agenda (60 mins)
   -The Creators' Workplace/Commons
   -Expand scenario presentations (20 mins)
   -Develop R&D agenda (60 mins)
   -The Teachers/Re-users' Workplace/Commons
   -Expand scenario presentations (20 mins)
   -Develop R&D agenda (60 mins)
   
   * Plenary: report-back and discussion on where we go from here (30 mins)
   * Agreement on actions and timeline (15 mins)
   
   Working Session time is limited. Participants are asked to review the Discussion Starter Presentation and browse project and product websites before the alt-i-lab Working Session. The following list is preliminary. Please suggest additions and visit here often for updates.

   Alberta Online Consortium http://www.ataoc.ca/
   Open Content Initiative http://oci.open.ac.uk/Connexions
   Connexions http://cnx.org/
   Starting Point http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/
   Education Commons http://educationcommons.org/commons/
   HarvestRoad http://www.harvestroad.com/
   Desire2Learn http://www.desire2learn.com/products/products.asp
   MERLOT http://www.merlot.org
   MIT OpenCourseWare http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html
   Moodle http://moodle.org/
   Sakai http://sakaiproject.org/
   
   

   Chairs:
   George Ward,CSU Digital Marketplace, California State University
   Ed Walker,Co-Chair MERLOT Advisory Board, & Principal Consultant, CS4Ed
   Tom Carey, Ph.D., Visiting Senior Scholar,MERLOT Project,Chancellor's Office, California State University & Associate Vice-President, Learning Resources & Innovation University of Waterloo, Canada

Summit on Global Learning Industry Challenges Panel Sessions (Wednesday, 21 June)
Look for additional panelists soon. Click on the panelist name for further information
Curent Panelists Include:

The Big Picture: Focusing on a Vision of What Constitutes A Better Higher Education: Taking the Non-profit/For-profit Debate in a More Productive Direction
What is the next generation of high quality education? How can we accelerate our industry focus on building capacity, career and life impact, development of learning skills, reinvestment to improve the delivery of learning, improving attainment, dealing with the accelerating growth of knowledge, and improved admissions processes? Join our panel members who have a passion for improving the quality of education beyond currently accepted practices for an exciting discussion about the future.

Nicholas H. Allen,Provost and Chief Academic Officer,University of Maryland University College

Arthur J. Lendo, Ph.D., President and Professor of Management, Peirce College, Philadelphia, PA

Dr. Paul Clark,, Pro-Vice-Chancellor,(Learning and Teaching) The Open University (via Proxy)

Sunand Bhattacharya,National Director of Corporate Curriculum Development, ITT Educational Services

Cathleen Raffaeli, President and CEO, Cardean Learning Group

Moderator:
Rob Abel, CEO, IMS Global Learning Consortium, Inc.

Greg Ritter, Director of Research and Development, Blackboard

Charles F. Leonhardt Principal Technologist, Georgetown University

Bill Graves, Ph. D., Senior Vice President, Academic Strategy,SunGard Higher Education

Jeff Merriman,Senior Strategist,Project Director, Open Knowledge Initiative, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Kathy Christoph, Director of the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) Academic Technology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Moderator
Bill Graves, Ph. D., Senior Vice President, Academic Strategy,SunGard Higher Education

Chris Vento, Senior Vice President - Technology & Product Development, Blackboard

Chris Moffatt, Senior Program Manager,Education Products Group, Microsoft

Joel Greenberg, Ph.D., Director of Strategic Development Learning & Teaching Solutions,The Open University

Mike King, Director, Market Development, IBM Education Industry

Brad Wheeler, Ph.D.,Indiana University Chief Information Officer & Indiana University-Bloomington Dean of IT, Indiana University

Moderator:
Rob Abel, CEO, IMS Global Learning Consortium, Inc.

Victoria Szabo, Ph.D.,Academic Technology Manager for the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Stanford University

Bernard Luskin, Ed.D.,Executive Vice President,Fielding Graduate University, Director, Media Psychology Program

Stuart Sim, Chief Architect, Education Business Solutions, Sun Microsystems

Carin Martell,learn eXact LCMS, International Markets Manager, Giunti Interactive Labs

Professor Jeremy Dunning,Indiana University

Brian Allen,Vice President, Business Development, Tegrity

Moderator:
Larry Humes, Principal, Humes & Associates, Executive Vice President, A-HEC

• How integration can happen
• How standards support an integrated approach
• Relevant IMS specifications
• Typical customer requirements
• Making 'fit for purpose' choices
• Real user case studies

Workshop Draft
View Video of the Workshop

Demonstrators

We will again be holding a Demonstrator Event - an interoperability showcase of projects, products and services, evaluated by a committee of experts. This document details the timetable and acceptance criteria for proposed demonstrations.

Demonstrators Evaluation Committee

Dr Joel Greenberg
Director of Strategic Development Learning & Teaching Solutions,The Open University

Prof. Tsuneo Yamada
Director of Research & Development Department, National Institute of Multimedia Education

Kathy Christoph
Director of DoIT Academic Technology, University of Wisconsin (Madison)

Gary Driscoll
Executive Director of the Scoring Center of Excellence, ETS

George Ward
CSU Digital Marketplace, California State University

Steve Lay
Senior Manager, ICT Group Cambridge Assessment

• Medical Content from Distributed Repositories
  - Presentation
  Organizations: Giunti Interactive Labs S.r.l.,Cisco Systems Inc.,Massachusetts Institute of Technology,IVIMEDS and UK NHS

• Profiling & Conformance Testing
  - Presentation
  Organizations: The Open Group, University of Koblenz-Landau, EIfeL, OUNL,Leverage Meaningful Solutions

• Managing the Content Lifecycle
  Organizations: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Apple Inc., HarvestRoad Ltd

• Common Cartridge Interoperability
  - Presentation
  Organizations: WebCT Inc., ANGEL Learning Inc., Blackboard Inc., Pearson Education, University of Michigan

• Video Interoperability
  - Presentation
  Organizations: Cisco Systems Inc.,Giunti Labs S.r.l.,Bedford, Freeman, and Worth, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Testing of IMS CPv1.2 Specification
  - Presentation
  Organizations: ADL,Australian Partnership Lab,CETIS,LSAL

Draft Agenda:
Monday, 19 June:
9 am: IMS Technical Board Meeting *
1 pm: Opening Keynote and Hosts Welcome
2 pm: IMS/GLC: Addressing Learning Industry Challenges
3 pm: Working Sessions
5 pm: Reception

Tuesday, 20 June:
8:30 am: Interoperability and Innovation Demonstrators Talks and Exhibition
1 pm: Working Sessions continued
5 pm: Reception / Technical Exchange

Wednesday, 21 June:
8:30 am: Demonstrator Winners and Panel Session: Where do we go from here?
11 am: Summit on Global Learning Industry Challenges
5 pm: Reception

Thursday, 22 June:
8 am - 10am: IMS Annual Meeting *
10 am - 1:30pm: Special Workshops

* IMS Contributing Members Only