The iQTool project: Developing a quality assurance tool for eLearning Polyxeni Arapi xeniaced'tuc'gr

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The iQTool project Developing a quality
assurance tool for eLearningPolyxeni Arapi
xenia_at_ced.tuc.grTechnical University of
Crete/Laboratory of Distributed Multimedia
Information Systems and Applications (TUC/MUSIC)
http//www.music.tuc.gr
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Quality assurance - QA

• QA addresses the need to ensure suitability of
  products for their intended purpose
• It is related to quality control of final
  products by specifying critical parameters that
  need to be tested
• It also identifies issues for quality improvement
• It can be applied, with appropriate adaptation,
  to any production process

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QA in eLearning

• Learning and eLearning ? special case of
  production process
• need QA methodologies to meet the needs of
  Learners
• Learning services, materials ? products ? quality
  should be ensured and controlled
• Quality in eLearning is significant in two
  perspectives
• Quality through eLearning
• Quality for eLearning
• The need to produce quality eLearning products is
  widely accepted
• However, most of the eLearning organizations do
  not apply QA methodologies (quality gap)
• Need to promote a quality culture in a systematic
  manner

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The iQTool aim and consortium

• General Information
• Leonardo Da Vinci project
• Start December 2007
• Duration 2 years
• 6 partners from 5 countries
• Enables VET institutions to embrace a quality
  culture
• Quality assurance methodology
• Open source software tool for quality control of
  training services and materials
• Training material on quality management
• Pilot testing

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iQTool Evaluation Component

• Self-standing component that can be used in many
  LMSs with minimal adaptation each time
• It can also be used for evaluation in other
  contexts (not only e-learning)
• By integrating this component in an LMS, the
  Evaluator can evaluate what (s)he actually
  experiences
• It can store the answers related to the quality
  simultaneously when the training material pages
  are displayed on the screen.
• Standards-based and service-oriented

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Functionality of Evaluation Component?

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iQTool Evaluation Component Architecture
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The Evaluation Component Repository

• User Profiles
• Represented using IMS LIP
• Web services allowing
• Creation, retrieval, update, export, import of
  user profiles
• Assessment Objects (items/tests)?
• METS, LOM, QTI
• Web services allowing
• Creation, retrieval, update, searching of
  Assessment Objects (boolean and fuzzy filters)
• Responses
• Represented using QTI
• Web services allowing
• Storage, retrieval, update of responses

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The Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard
(METS)?

• A widely-accepted Digital Library standard
• A flexible, but tightly structured container for
  all metadata necessary to describe, navigate and
  maintain a digital object (XML)
• Descriptive,
• Administrative and
• Structural metadata
• Each type of metadata is described in a separate
  section, which is linked to its counterparts by
  internal identifiers
• These metadata (any preferred scheme) may be
  physically stored within the METS file, or in
  external files referenced from within the METS
  document

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The Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard
(METS)?

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IMS Question and Test Interoperability
Specification v2.1

• Describes a data model for the representation of
• questions (assessmentItems) and tests
  (assessmentTests) data and
• their corresponding results reports
• It allows for the exchange of items, tests and
  results data between authoring tools, item banks,
  test constructional tools, learning systems and
  assessment delivery systems (interoperability)
• The interchange of items and tests is done with
  appropriate XML documents

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IMS Question and Test Interoperability
Specification v2.1

• Assessment Item (AI)
• smallest exchangeable object that can be used for
  assessment
• encompasses the information that is presented to
  a candidate and information about how to score
  the item
• it can be considered as a simple Question, but it
  is more. It contains
• the question and instructions to be presented,
• the response processing rules to be applied to
  the candidates response(s), and
• the feedback that may be presented (including
  hints and solutions)

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IMS Question and Test Interoperability
Specification v2.1

• Assessment Test (AT)
• An organized collection of Items ? questionnaire
• It contains all necessary instructions to enable
• the sequencing of the items, and
• the calculation of the outcome values (e.g. the
  final test score)

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Using METS in the case of iQTool
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Additional Services of the Evaluation Component
Repository

• Specification of evaluation (quality control)
  parameters
• Who evaluates, what, when and how
• Specification and presentation of statistics
• Statistical processing of responses given in the
  context of an evaluation (quality control)
  process
• Simple and combined statistics
• Special kind of questions/questionnaires are used
  to address the need for extensibility of user
  profiles?

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Conclusions Future work

• In the first phase of the iQTool project
• Develops an appropriate QA methodology for its
  target groups
• Designs and develops a flexible Evaluation
  Component to support quality control in eLearning
• Integrates the Evaluation Component with ILIAS
  LMS
• In the second phase of the iQTool project
• Specific assessment objects will be created
  implementing the iQTool QA methodology
• Courses for the usage of the specified QA
  methodology and the Evaluation Component
• Pilot testing
• iQTool project Web Site http//www.iqtool.eu/

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Thank you for your attention!Questions?