Policies for Collaboration based on eLearning Standards

While it is very common to read papers or hear presentations about the value of eLearning “standards” in relation to collaboration, the development of reusable learning objects and interoperability between systems and institutions, there are still many misconceptions about how to achieve these objectives. This paper will provide an overview of the roles of the different initiatives that are often described as standards, how they inter-relate to each other and their main objectives. There will be a brief discussion of the purpose and value of educational standards and how they provide value to different types of organisations and the implications for the development of a standards-based, eLearning infrastructure. Implementation examples using the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) from the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative will be used to highlight the decisions that need to be made when focusing on achieving pedagogical and organisational objectives when developing the infrastructure. These perspectives will then be used to elaborate the policies necessary to support models for collaboration for different types of communities.