Re: Representing Sequences of Educational Exercises and Activities

Hi Adam,

I work with Phil on K12 OCX, and it's true that OCX doesn't currently
anticipate dynamic content sequencing. We generally rely on a piece of
technology we call a "loader" to read the OCX and inject it into an LMS or
similar system. That loader could make instructional design decisions such
as sequencing based on user-provided configuration - but this would still
result in a statically loaded sequence of content into an LMS. I think
primarily this is because I'm not aware of any LMS that can handle
algorithmic adjustments to content sequencing..

I do think that if content sequence logic representations become important
in OCX/loader contexts, it would be very interesting to provide a mechanism
to include your Algorithm types in the OCX. I don't think that would be
hard to achieve on the OCX side. We already provide mechanisms to inject
free-standing assessment packages, as well as external learning tools (both
of which many LMS can handle), so for systems that can handle Algorithms
alongside content, it seems pretty do-able to package it in an OCX
statement..

The problem right now (for me) is that I don't know what systems can
support this kind of dynamic content sequencing. Guidance welcome on this!

I'd be happy to talk more about this if it's useful, and I'd guess Phil
would too.. I'll certainly be interested to keep up with what you're
developing over time..

Steve

On Thu, May 16, 2024 at 6:21 PM Adam Sobieski <adamsobieski@hotmail.com>
wrote:

> Phil,
> All,
>
>
> Hello. One difference between the K12-OCX model [2][3] (as I currently
> understand it) and the proposed ideas [1] sketched for discussion is that
> the proposed ideas utilize JavaScript to enable dynamic sequences of items.
>
> The proposed ideas [1] intend to enable expressiveness for
> content-authoring teams including and beyond static sequences of activities
> (e.g., arrays or ItemLists of Activities).
>
> Instead of content authors having to manually write these JavaScript
> algorithms, software tools can be envisioned which would allow content
> authors to create and to use diagrams and visualizations. These software
> tools would then generate and output packages including JavaScript
> algorithms.
>
> Brainstorming with respect to models, schemas, and ontologies, perhaps
> there could be included a new or existing model component, "Algorithm",
> representing a thing which schedules Activities for learners?
>
> Happy to discuss the proposed ideas [1], K12-OCX [2][3], or both.
>
>
> Best regards,
> Adam
>
>
> [1] https://github.com/WICG/proposals/issues/153
>
> [2] https://k12ocx.github.io/k12ocx-specs/
>
> [3] https://k12ocx.github.io/k12ocx-specs/manifest/structure.html
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Phil Barker <phil.barker@pjjk.co.uk>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, May 15, 2024 4:10 AM
> *To:* public-exercises-and-activities@w3.org <
> public-exercises-and-activities@w3.org>
> *Subject:* Re: Representing Sequences of Educational Exercises and
> Activities
>
>
> So sorry: this is the link I meant to include:
> https://k12ocx.github.io/k12ocx-specs/manifest/structure.html
>
>
> On 15/05/2024 09:08, Phil Barker wrote:
>
> Hi Adam, everyone, you might be interested in K12-OCX. It's about
> publishing curriculum and content materials in such a away that they can be
> reused, and has suggestions for metadata to describe ordered aggregations
> of content. Apologies that the formatting on that link is somewhat broken,
> but we will be doing further work on standardizing the spec soon, so now
> seems like an opportune time to mention it. Let me know if you're
> interested.
>
>
> Phil
>
>
>
> On 14/05/2024 21:43, Adam Sobieski wrote:
>
> Educational Exercises and Activities Community Group,
>
> Hello. I just opened a WICG issue with some ideas about representing
> sequences of educational exercises and activities in self-contained
> OCF-based archives and utilizing JavaScript to support dynamic client-side
> item scheduling.
>
> https://github.com/WICG/proposals/issues/153
>
> Hopefully these ideas are of some interest. I'm eager to improve upon the
> proposal using any comments, questions, or feedback. Thank you.
>
>
> Best regards,
> Adam Sobieski
> http://www.phoster.com
>
> --
>
> Phil Barker <http://people.pjjk.net/phil>, http://people.pjjk.net/phil
>  (he/him).
> Cetis LLP <https://www.cetis.org.uk>: a cooperative consultancy for
> innovation in education technology.
> PJJK Limited <https://www.pjjk.co.uk>: technology to enhance learning;
> information systems for education.
>
> CETIS is a co-operative limited liability partnership, registered in
> England number OC399090
> PJJK Limited is registered in Scotland as a private limited company,
> number SC569282.
>
> --
>
> Phil Barker <http://people.pjjk.net/phil>, http://people.pjjk.net/phil
>  (he/him).
> Cetis LLP <https://www.cetis.org.uk>: a cooperative consultancy for
> innovation in education technology.
> PJJK Limited <https://www.pjjk.co.uk>: technology to enhance learning;
> information systems for education.
>
> CETIS is a co-operative limited liability partnership, registered in
> England number OC399090
> PJJK Limited is registered in Scotland as a private limited company,
> number SC569282.
>