27 March 2009, Leeds, UK West Yorkshire Lifelong Learning Network XCRI Dissemination Event 08/06/09 | XCRI Briefing | Slide XCRI: from concept to reality Prof Mark Stubbs Head of Learning & Research Technologies Manchester Metropolitan University [email_address] Agenda | history, progress, implementation, benefits, lessons xcri.org

xcri | rationale National agenda of ‘informed choice’ about learning opportunities but feeling that education lags behind other sectors in making its ‘products’ easy to discover and compare. Standards exist for exchanging information about people, groups, membership and learning objects but no standard way to exchange information about courses. Institutions developing ways to populate their prospectus from definitive data but resorting to primitive data entry to populate aggregator sites, regional portals, area prospectuses… Genuine interest from the community in a standard for exchanging course info that facilitates joined-up thinking. 08/06/09 | XCRI Briefing | Slide

National agenda of ‘informed choice’ about learning opportunities but

feeling that education lags behind other sectors in making its ‘products’ easy to discover and compare.

Standards exist for exchanging information about people, groups, membership and learning objects but

no standard way to exchange information about courses.

Institutions developing ways to populate their prospectus from definitive data but

resorting to primitive data entry to populate aggregator sites, regional portals, area prospectuses…

Genuine interest from the community in a standard for exchanging course info that facilitates joined-up thinking.

xcri | genesis 08/06/09 | XCRI Briefing | Slide Manchester: where the XCRI project was born … except it was raining! Ty’n Rhos: where the XCRI concept was born

xcri | concept: transforming advertising relationships 08/06/09 | XCRI Briefing | Slide Learning Provider Web Prospectus Provider Re-keys & Pushes for each Aggregator UCAS LLN NLD Learning Provider UCAS LLN Web Prospectus XML Aggregators Poll & Harvest from Providers Provider publishes XCRI prospectus as well as web prospectus NLD

xcri | history 08/06/09 | XCRI Briefing | Slide 2005 JISC fund XCRI “Reference Model” project. Team review international standards, e-prospectus websites (161+) & site visits; R1.0 XCRI schema prototyped & tested with Plymouth-UCAS, Oxford, Reid Kerr & L’pool LMX 2006 XCRI tools prototyped: XCRI>PDF brochures & ReST Xpath search. Existing deployment reviewed & optimised XCRI CAP 1.0 released. JISC fund XCRI CAP 1.0 trials, demo aggregator & xcri.org support 2007 XCRI ‘invited’ to brief DfES and Becta. XCRI CAP pilot with London 14-19 leads to XCRI as ‘preferred approach’ in LSC vision. Bolton, OU, Oxford, MMU & Staffs CAP feeds read by demo aggregator. CEN WS-LT & vendor meetings for European MLO harmonization begin. 2008 JISC funds CAP 1.1 trials + talks open with Becta about regional 14-19. XCRI champion elected to DIUS/DCSF ISB + JISC fund more CAP trials. GMSA, Edge Hill, West Cheshire, Kent develop XCRI feeds. CEN WS-LT Agreement on MLO & formal submission for European Norm; East Midlands, Huddersfield, Teesside, Worcester start XCRI projects. 2009 UK Gov Info Standards Board for Education Skills & Children’s Services approves XCRI-CAP 1.1 as national e-prospectus standard

xcri | projects 08/06/09 | XCRI Briefing | Slide Reid Kerr Bolton UCAS Oxford London Met WYLLN (Huddersfield) MMU East Midlands LLN Liverpool LMX & CPD MOVE LLN (Herts) Adam Smith Plymouth Open University GMSA HW LLN (Worcester + Kidderminster) Edge Hill West Cheshire NEHSN (Teesside) Staffordshire Kent

xcri | schema 08/06/09 | XCRI Briefing | Slide Catalog @generated Provider identifier*, title*, subject*, description*, relation*, url, image, address Course identifier*, title*, subject*, description*, relation*, url, image, qualification*, credit* Presentation identifier*, title*, subject*, description*, relation*, url, image, start, end, duration, studyMode, attendanceMode, attendancePattern, languageOfInstruction, languageOfAssessment, placesAvailable, cost, enquireTo, applyFrom, applyUntil, applyTo, entryProfile*, entryRequirements*, venue* Plugin description refinement vocab Plugin studyMode refinement vocab Plugin … ? refinement vocab Customization

xcri | support xcri.org Specifications and guidance - Creative Commons license Aggregator – “does my data look good in this?” Calls for mini projects Developer forum XIM “ XCRI Readiness” check with top tips Implementation Model Final Report 08/06/09 | XCRI Briefing | Slide

xcri.org

Specifications and guidance - Creative Commons license

Aggregator – “does my data look good in this?”

Calls for mini projects

Developer forum

XIM

“ XCRI Readiness” check with top tips

Implementation Model

Final Report

xcri | evolution Information Standards Board for Education Skills & Children’s Services has asked its Portfolio Learning Opportunities & Transcripts SIG to provide governance on evolution of the XCRI-CAP specification ISB PLOT SIG will review suggestions for CAP v1.2 in the light of the UK’s binding to the forthcoming European Norm on Metadata for Learning Opportunities suggestions should be discussed first at http://www.xcri.org/forum/ submitted officially by email with a subject of XCRI to [email_address] NB work on the XCRI spec, forums & wiki is © xcri.org and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License to facilitate transfer to an appropriate standards body in due course 08/06/09 | XCRI Briefing | Slide

Information Standards Board for Education Skills & Children’s Services has asked its Portfolio Learning Opportunities & Transcripts SIG to provide governance on evolution of the XCRI-CAP specification

ISB PLOT SIG will review suggestions for CAP v1.2 in the light of the UK’s binding to the forthcoming European Norm on Metadata for Learning Opportunities

suggestions should be

discussed first at http://www.xcri.org/forum/

submitted officially by email with a subject of XCRI to [email_address]

NB

work on the XCRI spec, forums & wiki is © xcri.org and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License to facilitate transfer to an appropriate standards body in due course

xcri | summary Committed to joined-up thinking Partnering with key agencies: UCAS, Becta, LSC, DCSF/DIUS ISB … Keeping it simple and testing thoroughly with real data Building capacity: funding mini projects Going beyond tech support to organizational readiness: XIM Keen for more institution, agency, vendor engagement Aware of role in delivering Bologna, Burgess, Leitch, 14-19.. Go to http://www.xcri.org to discover more. http://www.escs-isb.org.uk/news/news/Newsletter-February-2009.htm 08/06/09 | XCRI Briefing | Slide

Committed to joined-up thinking

Partnering with key agencies: UCAS, Becta, LSC, DCSF/DIUS ISB …

Keeping it simple and testing thoroughly with real data

Building capacity: funding mini projects

Going beyond tech support to organizational readiness: XIM

Keen for more institution, agency, vendor engagement

Aware of role in delivering Bologna, Burgess, Leitch, 14-19..

Go to http://www.xcri.org to discover more.

http://www.escs-isb.org.uk/news/news/Newsletter-February-2009.htm

27 March 2009, Leeds, UK West Yorkshire Lifelong Learning Network XCRI Dissemination Event 08/06/09 | XCRI Briefing | Slide XCRI: from concept to reality thanks for listening! Prof Mark Stubbs Head of Learning & Research Technologies Manchester Metropolitan University [email_address] Agenda | history, progress, implementation, benefits, lessons xcri.org

xcri | lessons XCRI… went for low hanging fruit: course advertising = inherently public data sought out & engaged key experts & practitioners discovered huge inefficiencies arising from embedded work-arounds promoted & celebrated its “shared response to a shared problem” evolved by keeping it real – real data, real people, real processes is increasingly seeking out policy makers, senior managers & vendors to support sector process re-engineering We are “ learning to network and networking to learn ” And now… it feels less like a JISC project & more like a start-up business trying to get a product across Moore’s chasm! 08/06/09 | XCRI Briefing | Slide

XCRI…

went for low hanging fruit: course advertising = inherently public data

sought out & engaged key experts & practitioners

discovered huge inefficiencies arising from embedded work-arounds

promoted & celebrated its “shared response to a shared problem”

evolved by keeping it real – real data, real people, real processes

is increasingly seeking out policy makers, senior managers & vendors to support sector process re-engineering

We are “ learning to network and networking to learn ”

And now…

it feels less like a JISC project & more like a start-up business trying to get a product across Moore’s chasm!