An approach to the quality and reusability of metadata specifications for e-learning objects

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss research that leads to identifying new metadata for learning objects and extending the SCORM standard. Design/methodology/approach – The research involves a questionnaire to collect data from users of e-learning resources and a statistical analysis of that data. The discussion employs concepts from such areas as e-learning, didactics, and statistics. Findings – The main finding is the identification of several learning objects metadata, including those that are not defined in current e-learning standards. Some of the new metadata could be introduced to the existing standard metadata categories; the others could be used to form completely new categories. Research limitations/implications – The general solution has been developed but more work is still necessary. Practical implications – The ideas discussed in the paper, especially the identified metadata, could be used to extend the standard metadata (e.g. in the SCORM standard). Originality/value – The paper presents both a method for identifying learning objects metadata and conclusions that, after further development, could be applied to extend the metadata parts of e-learning standards. Both new categories and modification to some existing ones could offer additional support for users who need to choose a suitable resource.