Standards and Technology for Bringing Mathematics into the Information Age

1. Standards and Technology for Bringing Mathematics into the Information Age Robby Robson Eduworks Corporation and Department of Computer Science Oregon State University

2. “I think we are about to find out that mathematics is the flea on the elephant” - Keith Dennis, January 2002 Introduction • “It would appear that we have reached the limits of what it is possible to achieve with computer technology, although one should be careful with such statements, as they tend to sound pretty silly in 5 years.” • - John Von Neumann (ca. 1949) EICM Satellite Conference

3. What Has Changed? • The cost of transporting information is now low • The ability to store and retrieve data is now high • Barriers that have been exposed as artifacts: • Symbols must be created with a type ball • People must meet in order to communicate • You must go to a building to get a book • You must meet with a mentor to get advice • Your knowledge is all in your head EICM Satellite Conference

4. What to Expect • Division of labor • Changes in production practices • Amusing anachronisms • Surprises that shouldn’t have surprised us • Poor predictions But, we digress . . . EICM Satellite Conference

5. Concrete Projects & Goals • Make “all of mathematics” available to researchers • Create “digital libraries” of learning objects • Make available to a global community • What you want and what you need • When you want it and when you need it • How you want it and how you need it • Where you want it and where you need it EICM Satellite Conference

6. Good Questions to Ask • How does our work relate to that of others? • What is already available to help us meet our demands? • How will we pay for all of this? (Not the topic today) EICM Satellite Conference

7. Pictures to be Painted • Enterprise Computing • Content Management • Learning Management • Knowledge Management • Enterprise Scale Architecture • Standards EICM Satellite Conference

8. Enterprise Computing • Automation of Tasks & Processes • Financials • Human Resources • Enterprise Resource Planning • Customer Relationships • E-business • Content, Learning & Knowledge Management • Co-management and Conflation of data about People, Places, and Things • Deriving value from the ability to see and manage data and information EICM Satellite Conference

9. Academic Enterprise Environment Campus Portal Learning Management Alumni Relationships Sales & Services Registrar & Catalog Library Information Fundraising Course Development Physical Plant Student Administration Human Resources Financial Information University Press Classroom Management Institutional Data Budget Process File Servers, Databases, etc. Internet, Intranet & Internet II EICM Satellite Conference

10. Authoring Transformation Aggregation Metadata Roles & Workflow Library Services Internationalization & Localization Search & Discovery Personalization Rights & Roles Management, Caching & Replication Page generation, formatting Sales & Services Processing & Storage Access & Publication Delivery & Feedback Content Management Creation & Acquisition EICM Satellite Conference

11. E-Learning EICM Satellite Conference

12. E-Learning & E-Research EICM Satellite Conference

13. E-Research? EICM Satellite Conference

14. Factors of Scale • Number of students at largest US higher education institutions: About 100,000 • Open University in the UK: 185,000 • UFI: 280,000 with goal of 1,000,000. Becta (post 16 non-HE in UK): goal of 6,000,000 • Global Enterprises on the scale of hundreds of thousands. (USPS has 750,000 employees, Wal-Mart has 1.2 million) • China has projects targeting 40 million students EICM Satellite Conference

15. Create Learning Content Authoring Tools Existing Content Chunk Repurpose Assemble Learning Catalog Find Import LMS Track Deliver The E-learning Content Lifecycle EICM Satellite Conference

16. Learning Object Metadata Packaging Run Time Communication Learner Information Enrollment Management Competencies Question & Test Interoperability Schools Interoperability Framework Sequencing Higher level design DREL Quality Accessibility Architecture OKI Learning Technology Standards EICM Satellite Conference

17. HTML with JavaScript functions in a frameset EXAMPLE 1: SCORM RUNTIME COMMUNICATION LMS API Object supplied by LMS instantiates functions Frame climbing code finds API Object LMSInitialize() LMSGetValue() LMSSetValue() LMSFinalize() + error handling EICM Satellite Conference

18. Example 2: Content Packaging Package Interchange File (Zip Archive) Manifest File EICM Satellite Conference

19. Knowledge Management • Explicit knowledge • Documents, Educational Materials, Presentations, Journals, etc. • Tacit knowledge • Perspectives, Experiences, Practices • KM seeks to capture, combine, distill, catalog, and publish both explicit and tacit knowledge • TOOLS: CMS, LMS, Knowledge Mapping, Recommender Systems, Portals, Taxonomies, Search Engines, etc. EICM Satellite Conference

20. Enterprise Scale Architecture • Scalable and Durable • Modular • Well understood and standardized interfaces • Redundant • Distributed • Flexible and Extensible • Modular • Well understood and standardized interfaces • Well understood and clearly separated layers • Distributed EICM Satellite Conference

21. OKI Example • OKI = Open Knowledge Initiative • Architecture + APIs + Reference Models • Design Partners • Cambridge University • Dartmouth College • MIT • North Carolina State University • Stanford University • University of Michigan • University of Pennsylvania • University of Wisconsin • Coordinating with standards organizations EICM Satellite Conference

22. Educational Component APIs Course Mgmt Content Mgmt Assessment Etc… Etc… Etc… Educational Service Implementations Common Service APIs AuthN AuthZ DBMS File GUID Rules Logging User Messaging Etc… Common Service Implementations Common Objects Institutional Infrastructure Example: OKI Service Framework EICM Satellite Conference

23. SIS Data Digital Repository Authentication/ Authorization Digital Repository SIS Data Multiple OKI Servers Serving Different Content But Sharing Some Enterprise Services EICM Satellite Conference

24. Standards • Interoperability • Semantic interoperability • Syntactic/System interoperability • Human-Computer Interoperability • Standards go hand-in-hand with architecture • International in scope and nature EICM Satellite Conference

25. Standards Development Process R&D Concepts Spec Consortia Programs, Test beds, Markets Standards Bodies ApprovedStandards User Needs Technical Trends New products, Pilot Programs, Test beds Consensus,Consolidation,Conformance Specifications, Best Practice EICM Satellite Conference

26. Comments On Relevant Consensus Standards Efforts • MathML • Metadata • Digital Rights EICM Satellite Conference

27. What Can Mathematics Projects Use? • Commercial Enterprise Software • Knowledge and expertise from other areas • Standards for metadata, interoperability, content management, service layers, personal information, etc. EICM Satellite Conference

28. What Can Mathematics Contribute? • Everything associated with a “community of practice” • Requirements • Taxonomies • Metadata application profiles • MathML • Appropriate business models • Specialized software • Knowledge Gained from Implementations and lessons learned EICM Satellite Conference

29. Observations & Recommendations • Think Research Management System • Start with an architecture (and stick to it) • Don’t separate research and education • Think in terms of services, not goods • Keep the end-user in mind, always • Metadata, metadata, metadata • Think in terms of re-usable objects • Recognize that roles will change • Spend your time on what you can influence • If you’re lost, ask for directions EICM Satellite Conference

30. DISCUSSION rrobson@eduworks.com