The document introduces Phil Nicholls and his background working with interoperability standards, and provides an overview of the Learning Information Services (LIS) and Course Planning and Scheduling (CPS) specifications. LIS allows different systems like student information systems and learning management systems to exchange student data in a standard way, while CPS extends LIS to also exchange scheduling data between systems. The specifications were developed by IMS Global to facilitate integration between education technology systems and avoid point-to-point integrations.

1. Phil Nicholls
August 2014
Introduction to LIS and CPS

2. Introduction: Phil Nicholls
• Software Developer since ’95 (mostly
standards)
• “LIS Guy” / Tech Facilitator for IMS Global
• Psydev: consultants specialising in
interoperability standards; has products to
aid LIS adoption
• www.linkedin.com/in/philnicholls
• @psydevuk

3. What is LIS for?
• Different systems take different views of
the same data.
• LIS is a specification that allows systems
to exchange information about people,
courses, groups, memberships and
outcomes in a standard way
• Commonly it is used to integrate Student
Information Systems (SISs) with LMSs…

4. LIS Scenarios

5. Where did LIS come from
• The specification has been built over
several years by IMS Global, a not for
profit member organisation.
• LIS contributors include Oracle, Ellucian,
Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Psydev 
• www.imsglobal.org/developers/lisalliance

6. Why use a standard like LIS?
• Built by a wider community
• Removes need for people to code to many
individual APIs across lots of systems.
• Conformance Test support
• Avoids lots of “pairwise” integrations
• Easier migration path
• Opens opportunities with partners

7. What is CPS?
• Course Planning and Scheduling
• Timetabling is hard, so specialised
planning systems do it:
– Avoid rooms being too far away
– Common classes between different courses
– People change courses
– Timetabling also for rooms and equipment

8. What is CPS?
• CPS provides a standard for scheduling
systems to send and receive data about
people and the courses that they wish to
do.
• Scheduling system works out the
timetable…
• … informing the SIS of which classes to
create

9. How
• CPS uses LIS, with some extensions.
• Bulk Data Exchange for the big data loads
• Updates via the “live” services.
• Approach allows SIS and Scheduling
System to make changes and inform the
other.

10. Technical Stuff
• LIS defines services in WSDL, and
implementations use SOAP for the
message transport
• Data Model is therefore bound in XML
• Good tool support for WSDL->Language
• Controlled, extensible vocabularies used
where possible to aid interoperability
• Application space is typically SIS->LMS-
>SIS, in reality much wider.

11. Conformance
• IMS has software to check conformance
for:
– Sending LIS Live Data (typically SIS)
– Receiving LIS Live Data (typically LMS)
– Sending / Receiving LIS Live Grades (SIS and
LMS)
– Sending / Receiving Bulk Data (SIS and LMS)
– Sending / Receiving CPS Data (SIS and
Timetabling System)

12. APMG
• Membership of LIS APMG open to IMS
associates and CMs.
– Oversee spec development
– CMs get to vote
– Currently looking at Privacy (via the taskforce)
– Also considering a RESTful binding

13. Links, Q&A
SAIP Moodle Video: youtu.be/Mtr5OE4llBc
Psydev’s white paper on LIS: bit.ly/15092xa
Moodle Integration Factsheet:
bit.ly/14seGs3
Spec: www.imsglobal.org/lis
IMS Global: www.imsglobal.org

14. Contact Details:
www.psydev.com
pjn@psydev.com
www.linkedin.com/in/philnicholls
@psydevuk