E-Learning Networked Environments: Concepts and Issues.- E-Learning Networked Environments: Concepts and Issues.- Building Knowledge Scenarios.- Bridging the Gap Between E-Learning Modeling and Delivery Through the Transformation of Learnflows into Workflows.- A Toolkit for Building Geo-Referenced Lessons: Design, Implementation, and Praxis.- Building Knowledge Environments.- TELOS: A Service-Oriented Framework to Support Learning and Knowledge Management.- Cognitive Modeling of Personalized Software Design Styles: A Case Study in E-Learning.- Skills SuperStore: Online Interactive Study Skills Environment.- E-MEMORAe: A Content-Oriented Environment for E-Learning.- Building Knowledge Networks.- Designing and Testing an Open-Source Learning Management System for Small-Scale Users.- Reinforcement Agents for E-Learning Applications.- Secure Communication Layer for Scalable Networks of Learning Object Repositories.- Quality of Service and Collaboration Aspects in a Distributed E-Laboratory Environment.- Retrieving Resources and Knowledge.- Quality Rating and Recommendation of Learning Objects.- Data Mining in E-Learning.- LORNAV: Virtual Reality Tool for Navigation of Distributed Learning Objects Repositories.
"10 Secure Communication Layer for Scalable Networks of Learning Object Repositories (p. 276-277)
MAREK HATALA, GRIFF RICHARDS, TIMMY EAP, AND ASHOK SHAH
Abstract. The eduSource Communication Layer (ECL) de?nes a set of services, middleware, and communication conventions that enable repositories and tools to communicate with each other. ECL was designed and implemented within the scope of the recommendations in the IMS DRI speci?cation. The ECL has been deployed worldwide and connects repositories in Canada, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Europe.
In this chapter we describe the design of ECL, its architecture, and its middleware components. We also describe novel ECL security infrastructure (ECL-SI) for Web services that provide the security framework for object repositories based on a trust federation. The security solution de?nes security pro?les, infrastructure services, and middleware component for a low-barrier adoption by existing repositories. Although this infrastructure can scale to large networks; it is particularly sensitive to the needs of medium-sized and small organizations, which have complex attributes and accessing policies.
10.1 Introduction
Over the last few years we have seen signi?cant progress in the area of crucial technologies and standards for the Semantic Web’s XML and Resource Description Framework (RDF). They have gained wide acceptance in the industry, and the semanticWeb group atW3Cis ?nalizing the recommendation for next essential semanticWeb component—the OntologyWeb Language. Metadata are in use across all vertical layers of the systems, and several large-scale initiatives are trying to build usable networked systems for object and knowledge sharing and to further our understanding of the related issues.
All these activities promise to develop systems that can discover and share information with other systems in the near future. One of the leading areas where integration and sharing are in high demand is education, particularly in e-learning. The wholesale adoption of Internet technology as a channel for education and training has resulted in an abundance of learning resources in Web-ready digital format. Typically, these digital learning objects [33] may be lesson content stored as text, audiovisual or interactive media ?les, or simply learning activity templates expressed in a learning design format [18].
Despite their apparent ubiquity, locating and reusing learning objects are hampered by a lack of coordinated effort in addressing issues related to their storage, cataloging, and rights management. Strident efforts have been made to create portal repositories by communities such as Merlot,1 SMETE,2 RDN3 and, in Canada, by BCcampus4 and CAREO5. Not surprisingly, each entity produces a rather individual re?ection of its own perceived organizational needs, and the concept of making all these repositories work together, while laudable, has received less attention. The e-learning community has seen fruitful initiatives in the standardization of learning object metadata by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) [16] and the emergence of speci?cations toward the standardization of other aspects of learning objects and learning processes by organizations such as IMS and ADL.
More recently, the e-learning community has been focusing on the ability to connect and use resources located in distributed and heterogeneous repositories. This process of federation closely resembles the initiatives in the domain of digital libraries, to the extent that there have been initiatives such as the IMS Alt-i Lab meetings to bring these two communities together."
