A learning object is "a collection of content items, practice items, and assessment items that are combined based on a single learning objective". The term is credited to Wayne Hodgins, and dates from a working group in 1994 bearing the name. The concept encompassed by 'Learning Objects' is known by numerous other terms, including: content objects, chunks, educational objects, information objects, intelligent objects, knowledge bits, knowledge objects, learning components, media objects, reusable curriculum components, nuggets, reusable information objects, reusable learning objects, testable reusable units of cognition, training components, and units of learning.
The Portable Operating System Interface is a family of standards specified by the IEEE Computer Society for maintaining compatibility between operating systems. POSIX defines both the system and user-level application programming interfaces (APIs), along with command line shells and utility interfaces, for software compatibility (portability) with variants of Unix and other operating systems. POSIX is also a trademark of the IEEE. POSIX is intended to be used by both application and system developers.
Adobe Authorware was an elearning authoring tool with its own interpreted, flowchart-based, graphical programming language. Authorware was used for creating interactive elearning programs that could integrate a range of multimedia content, particularly electronic educational technology applications. The flowchart model differentiated Authorware from other authoring tools, such as Adobe Flash and Adobe Director, which rely on a visual stage, time-line and script structure.
Moodle is a free and open-source learning management system written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. Moodle is used for blended learning, distance education, flipped classroom and other online learning projects in schools, universities, workplaces and other sectors.
The Schools Interoperability Framework, Systems Interoperability Framework (UK), or SIF, is a data-sharing open specification for academic institutions from kindergarten through workforce. This specification is being used primarily in the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand; however, it is increasingly being implemented in India, and elsewhere.
A learning management system (LMS) or virtual learning environment (VLE) is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, automation, and delivery of educational courses, training programs, materials or learning and development programs. The learning management system concept emerged directly from e-Learning. Learning management systems make up the largest segment of the learning system market. The first introduction of the LMS was in the late 1990s. LMSs have been adopted by almost all higher education institutions in the English-speaking world. Learning management systems have faced a massive growth in usage due to the emphasis on remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee (AICC) was an international association of technology-based training professionals that existed from 1988 to 2014. The AICC developed guidelines for aviation industry in the development, delivery, and evaluation of CBT, WBT, and related training technologies.
Learning Object Metadata is a data model, usually encoded in XML, used to describe a learning object and similar digital resources used to support learning. The purpose of learning object metadata is to support the reusability of learning objects, to aid discoverability, and to facilitate their interoperability, usually in the context of online learning management systems (LMS).
Java Card is a software technology that allows Java-based applications (applets) to be run securely on smart cards and more generally on similar secure small memory footprint devices which are called "secure elements" (SE). Today, a secure element is not limited to its smart cards and other removable cryptographic tokens form factors; embedded SEs soldered onto a device board and new security designs embedded into general purpose chips are also widely used. Java Card addresses this hardware fragmentation and specificities while retaining code portability brought forward by Java.
The IMS Question and Test Interoperability specification (QTI) defines a standard format for the representation of assessment content and results, supporting the exchange of this material between authoring and delivery systems, repositories and other learning management systems. It allows assessment materials to be authored and delivered on multiple systems interchangeably. It is, therefore, designed to facilitate interoperability between systems.
PENS is a content update notification protocol standard created by the AICC.
ILIAS is an open-source web-based learning management system (LMS). It supports learning content management and tools for collaboration, communication, evaluation and assessment. The software is published under the GNU General Public License and can be run on any server that supports PHP and MySQL.
The Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative is a US government program that conducts research and development on distributed learning and coordinates related efforts broadly across public and private organizations. ADL reports to the Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA), under the Director, DHRA. Although it is a DoD program, ADL serves the entire US federal government, operates a global partnership network including international defense ministries and US-based academic partners, and collaborates closely with industry and academia. ADL advises the DoD and US government on emerging learning technologies, best practices for improving learning effectiveness and efficiency, and methods for enhancing interoperability. Notable ADL contributions to distributed learning include the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), Experience API (xAPI), and the DoD Instruction 1322.26.
The Agrega project is a digital repository which is to be used by 19 educational authorities in Spain. Each educational authority will have its own repository of curricular learning objects created according to educational standards, and each single repository will be able to integrate and interoperate with other learning systems locally and worldwide.
The International Federation for Learning, Education, and Training Systems Interoperability (LETSI) is an international nonprofit organization focused on enabling technical interoperability for computer-based learning, education, and training systems. Comprising e-learning vendors, adopters, standards bodies, associations, and policy makers, LETSI's primary activity is to support the adoption of open software standards in learning systems. The LETSI community formed around an international planning effort for the next generation of the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), which was originally created by the U.S. Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative. LETSI was founded in March, 2008 to serve the international SCORM community.
The Open Group Future Airborne Capability Environment was formed in 2010 to define an open avionics environment for all military airborne platform types. Today, it is a real-time software-focused professional group made up of industry suppliers, customers, academia, and users. The FACE approach is a government-industry software standard and business strategy for acquisition of affordable software systems that promotes innovation and rapid integration of portable capabilities across programs. The FACE Consortium provides a vendor-neutral forum for industry and government to work together to develop and consolidate the open standards, best practices, guidance documents, and business strategy necessary to result in:
iSpring Suite is a PowerPoint-based authoring toolkit produced by iSpring Solutions that allows users to create slide-based courses, quizzes, dialog simulations, screencasts, video lectures, and other interactive learning materials. The output courses are published in HTML5. iSpring-made courses are compatible with the following LMS standards:SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, AICC, xAPI, and cmi5.
EthosCE is a learning management system for the administration of continuing medical education in nursing, pharmacy and other healthcare-related programs. Developed by DLC Solutions, it provides interfaces for organizations to produce and manage continuing education websites. Distribution is provided as a software-as-a-service web application.
The Experience API (xAPI) is an e-learning software specification that records and tracks various types of learning experiences for learning systems. Learning experiences are recorded in a Learning Record Store (LRS), which can exist within traditional learning management systems (LMSs) or on their own.
A Learning Record Store (LRS) is a data store system that serves as a repository for learning records collected from connected systems where learning activities are conducted. It is an essential component in the process flow for using the Experience API (xAPI) standard by ADL or the Caliper standard by IMS Global. The Experience API is also known as the "Tin Can API" and is an Open Source e-learning specification developed after AICC and SCORM. The concept of the LRS was introduced to the e-learning industry in 2011, and proposes a shift to the way e-learning specifications function.
