Blackboard/Common
Cartridge and Open
Educational Resources
with SoftChalk
Jeff Kahn
Member
QuickTi me™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see thi s pi cture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Sponsor
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Member
What we will cover
• What is IMS Common Cartridge
• Who is SoftChalk
• How does SoftChalk integrate with Blackboard via
Common Cartridge and otherwise
• What is an Open Educational Resource (OER)
• How does SoftChalk support authoring OERs
• How can Blackboard be an OER Repository
IMS Global Learning Consortium
Common Cartridge
www.imsglobal.org
What Problem Does Common Cartridge
Address?
The Need for a Standard
• Common Cartridge is a
specification for packaging
learning and assessment
content.
• The package distills the latest
and best community practices for
sharing digital content among
authoring tools and learning
platforms.
What’s In CC 1.0
• Cartridge Manifest – describes the cartridge (zip of files)
• Metadata
– Cartridge, Roles, Curriculum Standards (coming)
• Content
– html, xml, media files (mpg, jpg, mp3), application files (e.g.
Microsoft Office), …
– Web links
• Integrated assessments (and question banks)
–
–
–
–
–
Multiple choice (single or multiple response)
True/false
Essay
Simple fill in the blank
Pattern match (optional)
• Discussion forum
• Authorization for protected content (optional)
Simplified Course Import Example
Starting with this…
Some Course Documents
Some Links to Content
Some Discussion Topics
An Assessment
We package like this…
course-xx.zip
imsmanifest.xml
resources
content file (supporting files)
xml file describing link
xml file describing discussion topic
xml file describing assessment
Simplified Course Example
Cartridge Structure on Disk
Discussion Topics
(specification section 4.7)
• Discussion topic text is stored in an XML file that must be
processed by the learning platform.
• Discussions can have attachments.
Web Links
(specification section 4.8)
• Link information is stored in an XML file that must be
processed by the learning platform.
• Links can have some parameters related to desired
behavior.
Assessment (continued)
Authorization
(specification section 4.6)
•
•
•
•
Authorization on cartridge import
Authorization on cartridge use
Authorization on resource use
Mechanism (separate specification)
– Unique identifier
– Web service address
Blackboard Support for Common
Cartridge Import
Resources for Developers
Sample Cartridges
• Developer section on the CC Alliance Forum
– http://www.imsglobal.org/developers/alliance/ccresources.cfm
• Valid Cartridges (17) and Invalid Cartridges (35)
– These determine conformance for importers
• Feedback on Cartridges
• Other Cartridges
– Product Directory
– Learning Impact Challenge
Compliant and In-the-Works
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompress or
are needed t o see this pict ure.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see thi s picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
http://www.imsglobal.org/cc/statuschart.html
Take-Aways
• SoftChalk is a content authoring tool that
can export material in IMS Common
Cartridge format.
• Blackboard will be able to import
Common Cartridges.
www.softchalk.com
Who is SoftChalk LLC
• Based in Richmond, Virginia
• Founded in 2002 by folks with history of educational technology
innovation since 1996, including Web Course in a Box later sold to
Blackboard.
• Offers a range of online and in-person training
• Works with a number of open initiatives, including: IMS, MERLOT,
Connexions Consortium, and Sakai.
• Blackboard Signature Partner
• Cofounder of SoftChalk was Cofounder of the BbOpenSource.org that
predated OSCELOT.
What is SoftChalk Lesson Builder
•
•
•
•
•
Desktop application, written in Java
Runs on Windows and Mac OSX
Creates content in Web format
Students view with a web browser
Content delivered in a Learning
Management System (LMS), on CD-ROM, or
on a web server
Media Search Tool
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Includes Blackboard Content System
Building Block for Dump of Content
System Metadata
• REST interface
• Uses NOSESSION to avoid login
• Returns XML containing items and their
metadata
• Available through OSCELOT
Publish to Blackboard From Within SoftChalk
Building Block for Upload
• REST interface
• Login using a key
• Get TOC, Course, Folders, and Items,
Content
• Add Item, zip, SCORM
• Replace and Delete
Open Educational Resources
Quick Time™ an d a
d eco mp res sor
ar e n eed ed to s ee this pic ture .
What is an Open Educational Resource
According to Wikipedia:
“Open educational resources (OER)
are learning materials that are freely
available for use, remixing and
redistribution.”
Complete OER Solution
•
•
•
•
•
•
Authoring Tool
Content
Use License
Repository to Hold Content
Discovery Service / Refer-atory
Consuming Application
OER Licensing
http://www.creativecommons.org
Quick Time™ an d a
d eco mp res sor
ar e n eed ed to s ee this pic ture .
Quick Time™ an d a
d eco mp res sor
ar e n eed ed to s ee this pic ture .
Quick Time™ an d a
d eco mp res sor
ar e n eed ed to s ee this pic ture .
Quick Time™ an d a
d eco mp res sor
ar e n eed ed to s ee this pic ture .
Quick Time™ an d a
d eco mp res sor
ar e n eed ed to s ee this pic ture .
Quick Time™ an d a
d eco mp res sor
ar e n eed ed to s ee this pic ture .
License Displays in Footer
Blackboard as OER Repository
• Decide how open to allow contribution
– Instructor(s) login
• Users outside the institution can be given
Guest access
• Make the content discoverable
– MERLOT, etc
References to OERs
Peer Reviewed
SoftChalk Publish
Take-Away
•
•
•
•
•
•
Authoring Tool
Content
Use License
Repository to Hold Content
Discovery Service / Refer-atory
Consuming Application
QuickTi me™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see thi s pi cture.
Quick Time™ an d a
d eco mp res sor
ar e n eed ed to s ee this pic ture .
Please provide feedback for this session by emailing
DevConFeedback@blackboard.com.
The subject of the email should be title of this
session:
Blackboard/Common Cartridge and Open
Educational Resources with SoftChalk
Questions?
jeffkahn@verbenaconsulting.com
jkahn@imsglobal.org
jkahn@softchalk.com