An Integrated Approach to Learning Object Sequencing

The use of learning objects (LOs) to support learning processes is considered a key factor in the deployment of e-learning frameworks. Although their discrete and self-contained nature offers many advantages LOs have presented courseware designers with two fundamental issues. The first issue concerns the adequate identification of the learning objects and the second relates to their integration into a suitable learning programme. This paper is concerned with the presentation of a framework that addresses and reconciles these requirements by capitalising on the metadata of the learning objects and on the profiles of the learners. The learning process is mediated by a core component, a learning management system (LMS) that, through a registry, accesses the metadata of the learning objects published by providers and acts as a repository of metadata. In addition, it enables learners to construct learning paths (LP) from a set of relevant LOs in accordance with their profile. The LMS can also generate automatically a learning path on behalf of a learner and determine the schedule of the learning process. The implementation of the framework takes advantage of the flexibility of Web Services.