Academic Co-Lab News

The last couple of days have been spent looking through the various documentation and getting the environment configured.  The documentation was a little light in some areas, so more time was speant just looking at various examples and seeing how they worked, then looking at the source code to see how it was coded.  This method works great for getting the "feel" of how the code interacts, especially when there are multiple classes from different sources all working together.
Getting the Code:
We are working out of the "Great White" branch of Papervision 3D.  This means that we are working with some unstable code.  This could lead to trouble, but there are some extra performance enhancements in it that are worth persuing.  It appears that some of the documentation is a little out of sync as well, so we will probably need to rely on forums a little more than usual.
There are two other libraries that we will be using, a bending class, and the WOW physics engine.  Both of these are in similar states as the papervision classes.  So we will be using at least 3 unstable branches of code, and probably will look to bring in a tweening class as well.  Not the best environment to work out of, but all the code is under heavy development at this point so this is what there is to work with.  Hopefully the code that has been committed is pretty stable, from what I've seen it is.
Setting up the environment:
When we started this application, we had to decide what tool we were going to use.  The primary two tools are Adobe Flash, and Adobe Flex.  We chose to use Flex as it has some better debug tools built in, especially when working with several different class files at the same time.
Getting started in Flex was a little more difficult than I had expected.  There were a couple different issues that we ran into.

• The first was getting the source files structured correct and starting to build up some namespaces areas to keep the code clean.
• The second (and more problem-matic) was getting the 3D elements to display in Flex.  Flex has a lot of well developed UI components, but they don't like an external class coming in and trying to draw directly to there internal display areas.  Flex components have a UI method called .rawChildren.  This method should allow us to draw directly within the component, but not for us.  We finally found a specific Canvas3D class that was written to work with Flex.  Getting this component added finally allowed us to get some basic primitives to draw.

Ok so we need a plan before we can get too serious about building yet.  This is going to be the informal specifications list / guide / document.
We're intending on building this in a pretty agile manner due to time constraints and the needed exploration of various technologies.  It's expected that we will need to make changes to the specifications as the project goes, hopefully no removals, but possible modifications or additions.
The roller coaster simulator will do the following:

1. Drag and drop world builder: The application should allow for the various pieces of track to be dropped on the world for quick assembly.
2. Realistic physics engine: The application should use a good physics model to be realisitic and predictable.
3. Runnable from within an LMS (Learning Management System):  The application should be deployable from within an LMS to provide the best availability for students, this does not mean that it can only be launchable from within an LMS.
4. Launchable restore points:  The application should allow it to have a "pre-built" model in it already so that it can allow for completion of started elements.
5. Spot checkable physics:  During the build process you should be able to select a segment of track and see what the current speed is and the change of it.

Technical specifications (subject and likely to change):

• Use of the Papervision3D framework for visual display.
• Use of the WOW engine for physics
• Built for the Flash 9 Player.
• Flex 3 development environment.

We have decided to create a prototype application to help research methods for the study of physics in an online course.  We are going to use the concept of roller coasters as t he environment to study.

We are going to build this application as a 3d virtual simulator, and have decided to use the Papervision3d framework to help create and mange the display of 3d objects.  The work on this project happens to coincide with an open competition for the title of “PaperKing” from the Papervision3d group.  Since the timing is similar we thought that this project would be an opportunity to create a submission for the contest, and it provides some definite delivery times for completion.
I’m going to blog about the experience thorugh what will hopefully be a daily update posting on progress, insights and frustrations.   So please check back for more information.

After a very successful 2008 Games, Learning and Society (GLS) conference, the dates for GLS 5.0 have been announced. The conference will be held June 10-14, 2009 in Madison, WI. Mark your calendars today for a bigger and even better event next year!

LETSI, Learning Education Training Systems Interoperability (LETSI), Learning Education Training Systems Interoperability, the international, nonprofit federation dedicated to improving individual and organizational learning, has taken on the task of developing the next generation of SCORM, the Sharable Content Object Reference Model. As part of this initiative, LETSI is soliciting White Papers from all stakeholders interested in shaping the future direction of SCORM and the implementation of learning systems technology. See the full announcement at this URL:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/06/prweb988494.htm

LibSCORM 2.6.3 released, including an all-new textual guide.

The Academic ADL (Advanced Distributed Learning) Co-Laboratory is pleased to announce a new extensive partnership agreement with the Wisconsin Charter Schools Association (WCSA). See our press release for full details.

MADISON, WI (6/10/08) — The Academic ADL (Advanced Distributed Learning) Co-Laboratory is pleased to announce a new extensive partnership agreement with the Wisconsin Charter Schools Association (WCSA). The agreement includes co-locating the WCSA offices within the Co-Lab, AADL provision of technical services, and future project development.

Full press release

LETSI, Learning Education Training Systems Interoperability (LETSI), Learning Education Training Systems Interoperability, the international, nonprofit federation dedicated to improving individual and organizational learning, has taken on the task of developing the next generation of SCORM, the Sharable Content Object Reference Model. As part of this initiative, LETSI is soliciting White Papers from all stakeholders interested in shaping the future direction of SCORM and the implementation of learning systems technology.

June 1, 2008 -- Stakeholders in all parts of the education and training world are invited to submit White Papers concerning the technical and pedagogical requirements for future learning systems interoperability. The deadline for submission is August 15, 2008. The open solicitation was announced May 28th, 2008 at the SCORM Technical Working Group meeting, hosted by the Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative in Alexandria, VA.

The development of the next SCORM, the Sharable Content Object Reference Model, has been tasked to LETSI, a new international federation for Learning-Education-Training Systems Interoperability. LETSI's goal is to advance innovation and adoption of learning technology across all market sectors and to support the use of open software standards in learning technology.

Open standards reduce life cycle costs and risks, and promote innovation. SCORM allows content developed in one system to be shared and fully functional within any other SCORM-conformant system. SCORM has been successfully used to develop sharable content in self-paced military training; automobile sales force training; healthcare professional re-certification; K-12 after-school tutoring in South Korea; and many other types of e-learning applications. Over the last decade, SCORM has become the de facto international software standard for learning systems interoperability.

SCORM 2.0 will include specifications and standards created and managed using open, transparent processes that are not encumbered by patents, licenses or restrictions that would impinge on its availability to the global LET community. LETSI will create an open source software community to support SCORM adopters and product developers. LETSI itself does not develop the component standards that go into SCORM.

"Given the demands for harmonization across international technical learning standards, Core SCORM will be based on unencumbered open standards to maximize market growth and global adoption and implementation." -- Paul Jesukiewicz, Deputy Director, Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative.

The U.S. Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative (ADL), which has been the advocate and steward of the first ten years of SCORM's development, will continue to support the SCORM community and will maintain the current version,SCORM 2004. LETSI was formed by the ADL and eleven other organizations to provide an international, balanced, open forum for SCORM development and to harmonize activity across the diverse communities that are investing in learning technology: public education, higher education, for-profit education, military training, professional development/certification, corporate training, and on-the-job performance support.

To accommodate these diverse market needs, SCORM 2.0 will have two components:

1) A general reference model, Core SCORM, based on widely adopted, accredited learning technology standards that support basic interoperability.

2) Additional components that support broadly applicable LET functionality and instructional capabilities based on specifications that are not yet standards.

SCORM 2.0 will have a modular, extensible architecture that will allow specific communities of practice to adapt and extend the model with functionality and innovations that are important for their particular situation (e.g., a new medical simulation standard or aviation-industry specific metadata). LETSI will play the leadership role in publicizing such extensions and will consider them for future inclusion in SCORM.

In mid-October, LETSI will host a 3-day SCORM 2.0 Workshop where participants will discuss alternative future learning technology solutions. The results will be incorporated in the next release of SCORM, which LETSI will announce at year's end. It is expected that new products that are SCORM 2.0 conformant will begin to appear in late 2009.

LETSI is sponsored by a dozen organizations with commitments to SCORM and to the development of open learning technology standards. LETSI is organized as a program under the IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization. For more information about LETSI, please visit: http://www.letsi.org.

LETSI's White Paper Solicitation is available here:
http://www.letsi.org/letsi/download/attachments/4751660/LETSI+White+Pape...
For more information about the white paper solicitation and the SCORM 2.0 Workshop, visit:

http://www.letsi.org/SCORM2/

"White Papers are being solicited to gather the broadest possible input for SCORM 2.0. White Papers will be used to identify the issues and ideas that are of top priority to the existing community of SCORM users and potential SCORM users, and to identify tractable approaches to solutions in SCORM 2.0."

http://www.letsi.org/letsi/display/nextscorm/Home