LOM |1 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Learning Object Metadata (IEEE LOM) By Christina Magnifico Learning Object

Metadata (LOM), developed and published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association, is the most widely used solution for classifying and describing digital resources intended specifically for learning and education (Friesen, 2004). The IEEE published LOM to support the reusability of learning objects, to aid discoverability and to facilitate interoperability, usually in the context of online learning management systems (Library Technology Reports, 2002). As stated on the IEEE LTSC (2005) website, the purpose of LOM is: To enable learners or instructors to search, evaluate, acquire, and utilize Learning Objects To enable the sharing and exchange of Learning Objects across any technology supported learning systems To enable the development of learning objects in units that can be combined and decomposed in meaningful ways. To enable computer agents to automatically and dynamically compose personalized lessons for an individual learner. The IEEE (2005) defines a learning object as, [A]ny entity, digital or non-digital, that may be used for learning, education or training. Learning objects, considered a new way of thinking about learning content,(WORC, 2012) are much smaller units of learning or shorter lessons that an instructor can use for education purposes. The IEEE LTSC website gives several examples of learning objects, specifically technology supported learning. They give computer-based training systems, interactive learning

LOM |2 environments, intelligent computer-aided instruction systems, distance learning systems, and collaborative learning environments as examples of learning objects (IEEE LTSC, 2005). A more specific example of a learning object could be a web-based game about the types of infectious diseases. This object would be an educational supplement to a health instructors lesson on epidemiology and infectious diseases. LOM uses a combination of structural, administrative and descriptive metadata. Though it has many elements, it does not require the cataloger to use each element and allows for a great degree of flexibility when adding information within the schema. Learning Object Metadata uses similar elements to Dublin Core, though Dublin Core uses 16 elements and the LOM standard includes 76 data elements (Friesen, 2004). Friesen also states that: The LOM defines all of its data elements in interrelationships that are both hierarchical and iterative. At the top of the hierarchy of LOM elements are nine broad category elements: General, Lifecycle, Meta-metadata, Technical, Educational, Rights, Relation, Annotation and Classification. The category elements each contain sub-elements, which, in turn, often contain further sub-elements. Many of the category elements, sub-elements, and subordinate elements can be repeated. This results in complex hierarchical and iterative structures, allowing for a total of over 16,000 possible, concatenated element repetitions. LOM, which is encoded in extensible markup language, or XML format to increase interoperability (IEEE LTSC, 2005), does not have a rigid structure and thus provides some flexibility in the way it is used. The LOM schema is broken down into a hierarchical structure with the first element category being General. Under General there are nine elements and two sub-elements. The first element is the Identifier, which is a unique string of letters, numbers, or a combination of both, used to identify a unique object. The second element is the Title; this is where the objects name is entered. Under Title is CatalogEntry, which contains the two sub-elements the first of which is Catalog, the physical or digital location of the object. The second sub-element Entry is the field where the catalog specific identifier is located.

LOM |3 Following the sub-elements, the next header element Language identifies the human language the object uses to communicate. Description, the fifth header element, is the field where the object is textually described. This field is similar to an abstract within a paper. The Keywords element contains a phrase or keyword that described the topic of the object. Keywords denote a controlled vocabulary within a database, and will often link to a thesaurus. Within the metadata schema, Coverage is time place, geography or region to which [the] learning object applies (IEEE, 2005). Continuing under the General category, Structure refers to the underlying organizational structure of the object (IEEE, 2005). The last element under the General category is Aggregation Level, which represents the functional granularity of the object (IEEE, 2005). The second category under the schema is Life Cycle, which contains three main elements and three sub-elements. The first of the three main elements is the Version element that identifies the edition or numerical version of the object. Following Version is Status. The Status element allows the user to see the condition of the learning object, for example if the link is broken the Status field may show unavailable or unknown. The last element is Contribute which heads three sub-elements: Role, Entity and Date. These sub-elements identify the kind of contribution, such as the publisher or editor; the people or organizations associated with the object; the date the contribution was made. The next important category is the Technical category, which contains the technical specifications of the object being described. These specifications include the Format or data type, the Size of the object represented in bytes, the Location of the device which is a string that one can use to access the object, the Technical Requirements the user must know in order to use the object, and any further Installation Remarks that would be useful in operating or using the object. Out of all the categories, one of the most important is the Educational category. This category contains eleven elements, which are core elements educators use when searching for learning objects. The first element under the education category is the Interactivity Type, which is defined by the IEEE (2005) as being the predominant mode of learning supported by this learning object. The IEEE (2005)

LOM |4 also specifies that the field should contain one of three words: active, expositive, or mixed. The second element is the Learning Resource Type. This element describes the type of learning object, and follows the vocabulary terms as defined in the OED: 1989 (IEEE, 2005). Examples of a Learning Resource Type that would be entered into the value field would be lecture, self-assessment or graph. Interactivity Level, valued from very low to very high, denotes the degree of interactivity associated with the learning object. The fourth Educational element is Semantic Density, which is assessed using the same scale as the Interactivity Level. Semantic Density is defined by the IEEE (2005) as, the degree of conciseness of a learning object. Another important element located within the LOM schema, especially for educators, is the Intended End User Role. The Intended End User Role allows the educator to discern if the learning object would be useful for their purpose. When an instructor or educator is browsing a LO repository or database, they can check this particular value for the type of user this learning object was created for. The elements that describe the Learning Context, Typical Age Range, and Difficulty all have to do with the learning objects intended audience. These elements show which environment, age and educational level the learning object was intended for. The final element that is specific to the Educational category is the Typical Learning Time and is the approximate or typical time it takes to work with or through the learning object for the typical intended audience (IEEE, 2005). Rights, the final category, only contains two elements. The Rights category is the header element for the Cost and Copyright and Other Restrictions. This category allows for the description of the property rights whether there are any other restrictions that apply to the learning object. These are some of the elements that make up the Learning Object Metadata (LOM), and I will use the majority of the elements associated with the schema on the following page.

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LOM |6 LOM Element Name General Identifier Title CatalogEntry Catalog Entry Language Description Keywords Coverage Structure Aggregation Level LIFECYCLE Version Status Contribute ContributeRole ContributeEntity ContributeDate METAMETADATA Metadata Scheme Language TECHNICAL Format Size Location Requirements RequirementType RequirementName RequirementMinimumVersion RequirementMaximumVersion Installation Remarks EDUCATIONAL Interactivity Type Learning Resource Type Interactivity Level Semantic Density Intended End User Role Learning Context Typical Age Range Difficulty Typical Learning Time Description Language RIGHTS Cost Copyright and Other Restrictions Data 00905cam a2200289 4504 Chapter 1: The history and scope of epidemiology publichealth.jbpub.com publichealth.jbpub.com/friis/flashcards.cfm English Animated public health flash card sets Public health, epidemiology, health practice 20th century-21st century Atomic 3 3.0 Final Author *CharacterString* 2013 LOMv1.0 en flash/html Unspecified publichealth.jbpub.com/friis/flashcards.cfm Adobe Flash Player 11.5 11.7.700.225 Install newest version of flash to use flashcards Active Flashcards High High Teacher, Learner Higher education, Training 15-30 Difficult Unspecified Use as a supplement to public health texts en Free Jones and Bartlett Publishers

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References

Friesen, N. (November 01, 2004). The International Learning Object Metadata Survey. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 5, 3.) Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/EJ853887.pdf

LOM |8 Metadata standards. (2002). Library Technology Reports, 38(5), 19. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tfh&AN=7478856&site=ehost-live Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Learning Technology Standards Committee. (2005). WG12: Learning Object Metadata. Retrieved from http://ltsc.ieee.org/wg12/ Wisconsin Online Resource Center. (2012). Why Learning Objects? Retrieved http://www.wisc-online.com/listobjects.aspx