Coherent Social Systems for Learning – An Approach for Contextualized and Community-Centred Metadata

Scenarios which reflect the concept of receptive learning and the acquisition metaphor of learning (Sfard 1998) are well addressed in the current discussion on educational metadata and standards. A typical scenario looks as follows: Learning material is produced by an author, sampled to courses by a course designer, classified according to skill taxonomies, and finally distributed to a learner. A learner, who owns a learning passport which lists skills and prior knowledge, is offered specific courses based on his learning portfolio and preferred learning style. A learning flow management guides the learning process, samples personalized sequences based on learners action, coordinates tracking functionalities and presents the learning material. Scenarios, which are currently intended, are mainly those of instruction, distinguishing a provider side (author and course designer) from a consumer side (learner). The IEEE Standard for Learning Metadata proposes a corresponding vision: “To enable computer agents to automatically and dynamically compose personalized lessons for an individual learner” (LTSC-LOM 2003).