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We recommend a combination of well balanced system components and offer pre-configured solutions to kickstart your open source-based Digital Learning Ecosystem:
This not only saves you money. It also future-proofs your Digital Learning Ecosystem!
Our services range from consulting, setup, and implementation to rollout including change management.
For ongoing operations, we offer enabling, training and support packages, as well as full stack hosting of Learning Ecosystems with proven partners.
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Based on a CMS like Typo3, we can provide a highly scalable Learning Content Management System (LCMS) with H5P and cmi5 – the first cmi5 compliant authoring system for digital learning that is open source based.
With high market shares and global developer communities, open source content management systems are a solid starting point for creating and managing engaging learning content. For example, as of September 2021, the number of page views of WordPress articles was approximately 23.66 billion. More than 40 percent of the top 1,000 websites use open source CMSs, which are available in more than 190 languages and offer a wide variety of free plug-ins.
H5P is a modular, web-based authoring system that is natively integrated into Open Source CMS (e.g. WordPress, Typo3, Drupal) via a plugin. H5P extends the functionality of the CMS with a variety of interactive e-learning components. The H5P components can be edited directly in the CMS backend.
cmi5 is a new e-learning standard that adopts key features of SCORM and is based on a future-proof and scalable technology with xAPI. cmi5 provides the prerequisites for learning analytics and professional learning content management.
ILIAS stands for Integrated Learning, Information and Work Collaboration System. ILIAS is the first LMS in the open source area that supports the xAPI/cmi5 standard comprehensively and “out-of-the-box”.
In contrast to many learning platforms, ILIAS is not limited to learning and working in courses. ILIAS is oriented more towards the idea of a library and enables the provision of learning and working materials in all areas of the platform. Content can also be made available to non-registered users. In addition, a shop system is available for the marketing of learning content.
In terms of data protection, ILIAS offers extensive configuration options to meet the requirements of GDPR. ILIAS relies on powerful functions to pseudonymise and anonymise data. Depending on the settings and requirements, only anonymised data is transferred to the Learning Record Store via the ILIAS xAPI proxy. In addition, functions for data enrichment (metadata) as well as data reduction and deletion are available.
ILIAS is the first open source LMS to support the xAPI and cmi5 standards comprehensively and without additional customisation, thus enabling the establishment of modern learning ecosystems.
Learning Locker is an xAPI/cmi5 certified open source Learning Record Store, released in 2013 by HT2 Labs (now Learning Pool).
A Learning Record Store (LRS) is a database system that can store Learning Records. A Learning Record is a data set that describes a learning activity in a digital learning environment. The syntax and structure of a Learning Record follows the xAPI specification (the x in xAPI stands for “experience”). Learning Records are therefore also called xAPI statements.
Anyone who wants to leverage the various deployment scenarios and value propositions of modern learning ecosystems for their organization and thus describe, record, analyze, aggregate or interpret learning activities based on the xAPI specification.
The cmi5 profile provides a set of “additional rules” for xAPI. These enable “plug and play” interoperability between traditional LMS systems and learning activities with digital learning content. Bill McDonald (ADL, cmi5 Working Group Leader): If xAPI is the greatest thing since electricity, then cmi5 is your “wall socket”. To stay with the image: The wall outlet simplifies the process of connecting to the power grid to a few simple steps. You don’t need any special knowledge or to hire an electrician. You just plug it in and it works (as long as the device and the outlet follow these “extra rules”).
SCORM, which stands for “Sharable Content Object Reference Model,” was released in 2001 and is considered the leading e-learning standard for delivering learning content in Learning Management Systems (LMS).
However, the technical and didactic limitations in the three core areas of SCORM technology are becoming increasingly apparent.
According to the data model underlying SCORM (AICC CMI), the recording of learning activities is limited to a defined set of events. There is no way to extend the recording of learning activities.
The evaluation and processing of learning activities collected with SCORM are cumbersome and limited in many LMS (Learning Management Systems).
Since data exchange is only possible in browsers via a JavaScript-based API (SCORM Run Time Environment), learning activities in mobile apps cannot be recorded with SCORM.
Furthermore, the API requires a constant connection to an LMS during the processing of a learning medium, meaning that learning activities in offline learning materials cannot be recorded.
All components of a SCORM-compliant learning medium must be contained within a package according to IMS Content Packaging (IMS CP), which then needs to be loaded into an LMS.
With few exceptions (e.g., streaming video), the components of a learning medium cannot be reused and must be repackaged into each new learning medium. This results in high redundancy in the management and maintenance of files, media, and content. Moreover, the use of Content Delivery Networks (CDN) as a global approach to efficiently deliver learning media is not possible.
The workflow from creating/adapting a learning medium in an authoring system, exporting it as a SCORM package, and importing it into an LMS is cumbersome, time-consuming, and, aside from PENS (Package Exchange Notification Services), can only be performed manually.
Since 2015, cmi5 has been available as a new standard for digital learning, incorporating the most important functions from SCORM and building on a future-proof and scalable technology with xAPI.
Therefore, cmi5 offers ideal conditions for Learning Analytics and Learning Content Management.
Cmi5 is designed for use in Learning Management Systems (LMS) and is based on the xAPI standard (cmi5 is an xAPI profile). xAPI is an open and flexible standard for describing and recording learning activities of any kind.
Bill McDonald (the leader of the cmi5 Working Group) has found an apt metaphor for the relationship between xAPI and cmi5: “If xAPI is ‘electricity’, then cmi5 is your ‘wall socket’!” This means if xAPI is considered ‘electrical current’, then cmi5 is the ‘socket’ that makes it usable in specific contexts.
Modern technology for data exchange via RESTful web service and the use of the JSON data format enables the provision of learning content in standalone app formats (mobile, browser-free, online/offline). The technology can be used in any programming environment and is safe and efficient (e.g., no more issues with popup blockers).
The cmi5 specification’s open approach to the content packaging specification allows for the free referencing of content and components of a learning medium, eliminating the need to host everything in a single package within an LMS. This opens the door to highly efficient Content as a Service (CaaS) approaches in e-learning, such as:
Digital learning formats raise expectations – and questions: How to do it? Where to get started? Who needs to get on board? What costs will incur? What needs to be considered when implementing? Who offers what? We know these questions very well and help our clients to sort out ideas, create clarity and make decisions – as intensively as necessary, as quickly as possible. Many questions are self-explanatory, whether in the development of pilot projects, the strategic implementation or the operation of a learning ecosystem.
Creating a positive learning experience is our passion. Once the framework is set, we let our creativity run wild. With years of experience, we crack even the toughest material, analyzing, thinking, and playing until it works – sensually, understandably, and experientially. Whether multi-device, multimedia or blended learning – to select the appropriate formats, we place the competencies in the context of the performance, learning and assessment activities and then design the appropriate learning scenario.
The production of learning media is teamwork. Sounds good – but media production is first and foremost a division of labor. With an eye on the big picture, we bring together nerds, aesthetes, geeks, pedants, freaks, theorists, and creatives, and create space for short paths, clear messages, quick comprehension, a positive attitude, and respect. For us, every technician is also a musician, just as every lyricist can also be a mathematician.
Blended learning has become an integral part of modern workforce development strategies. Both cost reduction and quality assurance play a role. Combining the operational side of digital media production with the strategic side of content management requires powerful tools. The open source components of the BLX Ecosystem make it possible to map the complete lifecycle of digital learning formats and to operate clearly defined products with high process transparency and service quality.
