IMS Global
Encyclopedia
IMS Global Learning Consortium (usually known as ITIMS or IMS GLC) is a global, nonprofit, member organization that strives to enable the growth and impact of learning technology in the education and corporate learning sectors worldwide. IMS GLC members provide leadership in shaping and growing the learning industry through community development of interoperability and adoption practice standards and recognition of the return on investment from learning and educational technology. Their main activity is to develop interoperability standards and adoption practice standards for distributed learning, some of which like QTI
and Content Packaging are very widely used.
Although the IMS has produced many good specifications, some criticism of it centers on the fact that, unlike most bodies working in the standards space, it requires large membership fees for organizations or individuals seeking to review or comment on its work.
s used in "distributed and collaborative learning." IMS specifications promote the adoption of learning and educational technology and allow selection of best of breed products that can be easily integrated with other such products. These include a wide variety of technologies that support or enhance the learning experience, such as web-based course management system, learning management systems, virtual learning environments, instructional management systems, student administrative systems, ePortfolios, assessment systems, adaptive tutoring systems, collaborative learning tools, web 2.0 social learning tools, learning object repositories, and so forth. These include technologies and products that support learning situations that involve support for collaborative learning involving learners and instructors. The learners may be in a traditional educational environment (i.e., a school
classroom
in a university
), in a corporate or government
training
setting, or at home
.
began a project to create a set of widely adopted standards for exchanging college
learning content. The founding universities included California State University, University of Michigan, and University of North Carolina. The acronym IMS originally stood for Instructional Management Systems; but the full term was quickly dropped and now only IMS is used. While IMS got its start in higher education
, it moved quickly into a much wider range of learning contexts, including corporate and government training and K-12 education.
Common Cartridge benefits include:
The Common Cartridge format includes the following specifications:
The Common Cartridge Alliance is a community of institutions committed to supporting and adopting the Common Cartridge standard.
QTI
The IMS Question and Test Interoperability specification 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...
and Content Packaging are very widely used.
Although the IMS has produced many good specifications, some criticism of it centers on the fact that, unlike most bodies working in the standards space, it requires large membership fees for organizations or individuals seeking to review or comment on its work.
Scope of IMS standards
The scope for IMS specifications and standards cover most of the data elementData element
In metadata, the term data element is an atomic unit of data that has precise meaning or precise semantics. A data element has:# An identification such as a data element name# A clear data element definition# One or more representation terms...
s used in "distributed and collaborative learning." IMS specifications promote the adoption of learning and educational technology and allow selection of best of breed products that can be easily integrated with other such products. These include a wide variety of technologies that support or enhance the learning experience, such as web-based course management system, learning management systems, virtual learning environments, instructional management systems, student administrative systems, ePortfolios, assessment systems, adaptive tutoring systems, collaborative learning tools, web 2.0 social learning tools, learning object repositories, and so forth. These include technologies and products that support learning situations that involve support for collaborative learning involving learners and instructors. The learners may be in a traditional educational environment (i.e., a school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
classroom
Classroom
A classroom is a room in which teaching or learning activities can take place. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, including public and private schools, corporations, and religious and humanitarian organizations...
in a university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
), in a corporate or government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
training
Training
The term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies. It forms the core of apprenticeships and provides the backbone of content at institutes of...
setting, or at home
Home
A home is a place of residence or refuge. When it refers to a building, it is usually a place in which an individual or a family can rest and store personal property. Most modern-day households contain sanitary facilities and a means of preparing food. Animals have their own homes as well, either...
.
History
In 1997 the National Learning Infrastructure Initiative of EducauseEducause
EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is "to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology." Membership is open to institutions of higher education, corporations serving the higher education information technology market, and other related...
began a project to create a set of widely adopted standards for exchanging college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
learning content. The founding universities included California State University, University of Michigan, and University of North Carolina. The acronym IMS originally stood for Instructional Management Systems; but the full term was quickly dropped and now only IMS is used. While IMS got its start in higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
, it moved quickly into a much wider range of learning contexts, including corporate and government training and K-12 education.
Common Cartridge
Common Cartridge is a specification being developed by IMS. The Common Cartridge (CC) standard distills state-of-the-art practice in online education and training into an easy-to-follow format for creating and sharing digital content.Common Cartridge benefits include:
- Greater choice of content: Enables collections of learning resources of various types and sources.
- Reduces vendor/platform lock-in: Establishes course cartridge native formats endorsed by educational publishers, and supports a wide variety of established content formats, eliminating platform lock-in.
- Greater assessment options: Explicitly supports the most widely used standards for exchanging assessment items.
- Increases flexibility, sharing and reuse: Fits within the educational context of enabling instructors to assemble lesson plans of various resources and publish those as reusable and changeable packages that are easy to create, share, and improve.
The Common Cartridge format includes the following specifications:
- Content PackagingContent packageA content package is a file containing content and metadata.A content package is used in e-learning to define some learning content or an assessment that can be delivered, for example by a Learning Management System...
v1.2 - Question & Test InteroperabilityQTIThe IMS Question and Test Interoperability specification 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...
v1.2 - IMS Tools Interoperability Guidelines v1.0
- IEEE Learning Object MetadataLearning object metadataLearning Object Metadata is a data model, usually encoded in XML, used to describe a learning object and similar digital resources used to support learning...
v1.0 - SCORMSCORMSharable Content Object Reference Model is a collection of standards and specifications for web-based e-learning. It defines communications between client side content and a host system called the run-time environment, which is commonly supported by a learning management system...
v1.2 & 2004 (Essentially common cartridge specification v1.0 DOES NOT include SCORM. As stated in IMS CP 1.1.4 Best Practices and Implementation guide SCORM was considered in development of this new standard)
The Common Cartridge Alliance is a community of institutions committed to supporting and adopting the Common Cartridge standard.
See also
- SharePointLMSSharePointLMSSharePointLMS is a Learning Management System which is based on the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 & WSS3.0 platform. SharePointLMS is an .Net-based application that is designed to be scalable, reliable, and secure...
- OLATOLATOLAT is an acronym for Online Learning And Training. It is a web application – a so called Learning Management System that supports any kind of online learning, teaching, and tutoring with few educational restrictions. OLAT is free software and is open source. Its development started in 1999 at the...
- ATutorATutorATutor is an Open Source Web-based Learning Content Management System .ATutor is used in various contexts, including online course management, continuing professional development for teachers, career development, and academic research...
- ANGEL LearningANGEL LearningANGEL Learning, Inc. was a privately held educational software company specializing in eLearning. Its main products are the ANGEL Learning Management Suite , ANGEL ePortfolio, and services offerings. In May 2009 it was acquired by Blackboard Inc.....
- Desire2LearnDesire2LearnDesire2Learn Incorporated is a provider of enterprise eLearning solutions and develops online Learning Management Systems used at more than 450 institutions around the world...
- E-learningE-learningE-learning comprises all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching. The information and communication systems, whether networked learning or not, serve as specific media to implement the learning process...
- MoodleMoodleMoodle is a free source e-learning software platform, also known as a Course Management System, Learning Management System, or Virtual Learning Environment...
- QTIQTIThe IMS Question and Test Interoperability specification 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...
- Sakai ProjectSakai ProjectThis page is about the software project, for other meanings, see Sakai.Sakai is a community of academic institutions, commercial organizations and individuals who work together to develop a common Collaboration and Learning Environment...
- SCORMSCORMSharable Content Object Reference Model is a collection of standards and specifications for web-based e-learning. It defines communications between client side content and a host system called the run-time environment, which is commonly supported by a learning management system...
- Virtual learning environmentVirtual learning environmentDefined largely by usage, the term virtual learning environment has most, if not all, of the following salient properties:* It is Web-based* It uses Web 2.0 tools for rich 2-way interaction* It includes a content management system...
- AgregaAgregaThe Agrega project is a federation of learning Digital repository which is to be used by 19 educational authorities in Spain...
External links
- Opening Up Online Learning Inside Higher Ed, October, 2006
- Latest Activities of IMS Global Learning Consortium
- IMS Common Cartridge Working Group
- Common Cartridge Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Common Cartridge Specification
- Common Cartridge Roadmap. MERLOT, 2007.
- Video on Common Cartridge Sakai project
- Why Teachers' Unions Should Demand Support For Common Cartridge, Michael Feldstein, e-Literate
- IMS Global Web Site
- Video report on Common Cartridge demonstration
- IMS Common Cartridge roadmap
- IMS Question & Test Interoperability Specification (mailing list)
- IMS Accessibility Project Group
- IMS Learning Tools Interoperability Working Group
- IMS Learning Object Discovery and Exchange Project Group
- IMS Learning Information Services Project Group