iSHARE Framework for Sharing of Digital Resources to
Support Teaching and Learning in Singapore Schools
Wong Kin Mun
Educational Technology Officer, Ministry of Education (Singapore) Teo Chan Chuan
IT Consultant, Infocomm Development Authority (Singapore)
Abstract
This paper presents a framework (iSHARE) where teachers in Singapore are currently using to share digital resources created by teachers for fellow teachers to enhance learning in the classroom. It also serves to support teachers’ professional development through sharing in the repository. The iSHARE framework focuses on the systems and structures employed in the implementation of the repository as well as on other more critical areas of change management of people and processes
Introduction
There are many content management systems (CMS) in the world that enables the sharing of digital resources through repositories. Many of these systems are mainly state-owned and they reside on a single platform or system. Some examples of these repositories are EDUNET (Korea), IRI (Scotland) and JORUM (UK). These repositories are usually centrally managed and driven from the Educational Ministry of the country. These repositories are expensive to set up due to the sheer size and complexity of the system. To take advantage of the economies of scale, these repositories are centrally managed and a ‘one size fits all’ design is usually adopted to cater to all the educators in the state or country. Hence, the features might not be able to meet the needs of all the educators and consequently resulted in lesser than desired level of usage. It remains a challenge to increase or sustain the usage of these repositories.
iSHARE Project
Singapore ICT Masterplan 2 (mp2) provides schools with autonomy on ICT implementation at their local context of operations. At the current state, all teachers are literate in the technical use of computers; however, their level of technical knowledge varies with the more proficient ones being able to develop their own ICT-based teaching and learning resources to meet their own needs. Many schools have also embarked on initiatives to promote sharing of teacher-created digital resources that support the integration of IT into the curriculum. To facilitate the access and sharing of these resources, the approaches adopted range from the use of shared folders on the network to the use of commercial as well as open source e-learning platforms.
Schools have expressed the view that the pool of teacher-created resources could be enlarged many times if teachers are able to have access to and share their resources with fellow peers beyond their schools. As schools in Singapore are grouped in clusters, attempts have been to take advantage of this natural grouping to create cluster-based resource repositories whereby all teachers who belong to a particular cluster would have individual accounts for them to search, upload and download the resources.
To extend the cluster-based approach further, a project was piloted in 2005 to connect 3 cluster repositories which were built on different systems and to enable the teachers of the 3 clusters to share and search for resources with each other. A framework called inter-cluster SHAring of REsources (iSHARE) was developed concurrently to provide a systematic and formalized deployment model that clusters could refer to when implementing similar projects. The framework that is presented here will serve as an important resource for school clusters when developing their own repository solutions to share and collaborate across cluster, through inter-operability between different platforms. The ultimate aim is to connect all teachers in Singapore and for them to have expanded access to rich and diverse pools of reusable resources for teaching and learning that are developed by Singapore teachers for Singapore teachers based on the local curriculum needs. The repository will also facilitate the sharing and collaboration among teachers in Singapore.
The iSHARE project is unique and different when compared to other countries who implemented the “one-size-fits-all” solution. It is a ground-up initiative with schools encouraging their teachers to contribute, and with the clusters having a project management committee to oversee the development of the sharing culture. A taskforce based in the Singapore Ministry of Education provided project management consultancy to support the efforts of the clusters and schools.
The iSHARE project was first implemented in 3 clusters in the West Zone in end 2005. In October 2006, this was rolled out to the rest of the 4 clusters in the West Zone and in August 2007 to 7 clusters in the South Zone. It took almost a year to expand the project because effectiveness studies were carried to surface issues, identify learning points and map out steps to improve the implementation processes, so that the other clusters or zones that would embark on the project later would do so more confidently and effectively. Moreover, it was established that the technical solutions were a non-issue as compared to change management which was a slow process, had to be implemented at the schools and clusters to get teachers to embrace the concept of sharing resources. By the end of 2008, iSHARE would have completed linking up teachers from all schools, including schools in the North and East zones.
iSHARE Framework
The framework covers the roles and involvement of all parties in the creation, procurement, sharing, usage, maintenance, review of digital resources for teaching and learning. Digital resources include images, videos, sound clips, animation, learning objects, documents and PowerPoint files.
Figure 1 shows a pictorial representation of the framework.
Principles
The underlying principles of the framework are:
• Ownership
In line with mp2’s emphasis on providing schools with greater autonomy in managing their IT initiatives to meet the different needs of their pupils. Schools, not Ministry of Education HQ, will be the key driver in managing the resources.
• Sustainability
The platform needs to be sustainable in the long-term, in terms of resources, interest, cost etc. A sustainable pricing model is essential to ensure that recurrent costs are manageable. The subscription model is the chosen model due to lower capital and recurrent cost.
• Scalability
The entire platform should be scalable to allow future expansion across zones, clusters and schools. An off-the-shelf solution with minimal customization is highly recommended. It would minimize overheads and require lesser time commitment on the part of the stakeholders, compared to developing systems from scratch. An added benefit is that schools and clusters can focus on the “soft” aspects of the framework, such as change management and preparation of resources, rather than the technical aspects of building and maintaining a system.
• Simplicity
Teachers must find the sharing platform and supporting processes easy to use and sufficiently flexible to meet their needs. The system should be simple to use with a gentle learning curve. The teachers should be able to access the system anytime and anywhere.
Systems and Structure
System and structure in the form of appropriate supporting policies and guidelines in the areas of IT security, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and governance. The proper selection of the system architecture will also facilitate seamless sharing of resources catering to the needs of the teachers using the system.
People and Processes
Critical components in people and processes such as a vibrant sharing culture in schools, strong school leadership support and an effective digital resource life-cycle management process need to be put in place for an efficient, effective and active digital resource sharing amongst schools.
The management of digital content follows a lifecycle consisting of 5 key stages. Understanding these stages is crucial to providing the necessary support and resources that will help the various stakeholders to play their part and ensure the sustainability of the project.
At this stage, schools and clusters would have set up their own system of clearing resources and conducted the relevant communications to teachers to inform them of issues such as IPR. Awareness should be drawn to resources that might potentially infringe copyright, especially learning resources that may have incorporated content from other sources such as Internet websites.
• The Sharing Stage
At this stage, teachers upload the content into the iSHARE platform. This is where the user does the appropriate metadata tagging, such as target level, subject and resource type, so that the resources can be searched and retrieved efficiently. However, it is important to strike a good balance between ease of tagging and efficiency in resource retrieval. The more rigorous the tagging, the better the outcome will be in the search and retrieval of resources. However, a stringent tagging process may put off the users and hinder the flow of content into the system.
• The Usage Stage
Teachers download and use the resources at this stage. The usage rate is a good indication of the quality of a resource.
• The Maintenance Stage
It is necessary for schools and clusters to review the resources that have been placed in the iSHARE portal, to ensure that they are relevant and subsequently to purge out resources of low quality.
• The Review Stage
It is important to review the progress made, identify potential obstacles and plan for the year ahead.
These 5 stages will continue to be revisited by the clusters to ensure digital resources are properly managed from year to year. This is crucial to ensure the resources stay relevant and useful to the teachers.
Architecture design of iSHARE
Figure 2 below shows the overall architecture design of iSHARE and its extension to other zones. There are two tiers in the design, the cluster repository tier and the
Global Search Index1 (GSI) tier. GSI is the key component that binds the various
repositories together, facilitating the cross repository search.
1
The Global Search Index (GSI) is an infrastructure that maintains overall catalogue of the resources shared across cluster repositories and ensure authorised access to the resources.
Figure 2. iSHARE Architecture Design
A distributed2 computing model was adopted for the 2 tier design, in which cluster
repositories can be separately hosted and managed by different vendors, but is connected to each other via common metadata and taxonomy standards (refer to Annex A and B) (Singapore Standard: Content Exchange Metadata Standards (CEMS) for the education sector) and search capabilities. This model reduced the risks of a single-point of failure as it spreads the network load and resource management across multiple platforms.
The separation of the two tiers design allows clusters to have the autonomy and flexibility to develop their own customized cluster repository with connectivity to an extended digital resource database via a common GSI. Subsequent connectivity to other zonal resource indexes can be easily established online as it’s standards-based and Internet accessible. This design balances the tedious effort of resource management by decentralizing to the respective clusters & zones. With extension of iSHARE to all zones, a holistic view of the teaching & learning digital resources available for schools would be useful to understand the various resource types and its sources.
Common Portal features and functionalities
The common features and functionalities of the portal comprise of the repository and collaboration features that encourage and enhance sharing and collaborations
2
Computing is distributed if the data, software, and hardware needed for a project are distributed across several locations but appear to the user as if they were united. Eng in e Re sou rce Catalog Global Search Index East Zone South Zone ... N orth Zone ... West Zone ... W1 Clus te r Re pos itor y Search Engi ne Resource Catal og School...School W7 Clus te r Re pos itor y Sea rch Eng i ne Resou rce Catal o g Sc hool...School Zonal Re pos itor y Sea rch Eng i ne Resource Ca tal og School...School N1 Clus te r Re pos itory Se arch En gi ne Reso urce Cata l og Sc hool...Sc hool N7 Clus te r Re pos itory Search Engi ne Resource Ca tal og School...School S1 Clus te r Re pos itor y Se arch En gi ne Re so urce Catal og Sc hool...Sc hool S7 Clus te r Re pos itor y Search Engi ne Resou rce Catal og School...School NIE SH ARE Re pos itor y Search Engi n e Resource Ca tal og edumall 2.0 Re pos itor y Sea rch Eng i ne Resource Catal o g ...
amongst teachers. Some of the common features and functionalities are: a. Customizable portal Homepage
b. Digital Resource Management c. Search for Digital Resources d. Discussion Forum
e. Blogging
f. Personal Profiling g. User Administration h. System Audit Trail i. Enquiry and Reports j. Video Streaming
Conclusion
There appears to be signs of success in the implementation of the iSHARE project with teachers having expanded access to their fellow peers’ rich and diverse pools of relevant and reusable resources based on the local curriculum for teaching and learning. Usage reports indicate an upward trend in the number and types of
resources uploaded as well as downloaded. (See Chart 1 and Chart 2 below) It will
remain a challenge to increase the quality vis-à-vis the quantity of resources contributed by the teachers. For the increase in quality or quality expected of the resources would imply that more efforts need to be invested to develop the resources. This would inevitably affect the quantity of resources uploaded as teachers will take more time to develop resources. In addition, there may be teachers who would like to but do not contribute when they feel that their resources are not good enough.
Chart 1: Growth of iSHARE Resources from Dec 2005 to Jun 2008
11559 14724 22435 29882 34138 49713 55031 61652 66405 27847 10271 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000
Dec-05 Mar-06 Jun-06 Sep-06 Dec-06 Mar-07 Jun-07 Sep-07 Dec-07 Mar-08 Jun-08
Period No. of
There are also other issues related to the usage of resources such as unwillingness to use other teachers’ resources and lack of time to search for resources. These are people-related and organizational issues which are dynamic in nature and not easily solved.
In light that there will be continual efforts put in by clusters and schools to support the sharing concept, the chances of sustaining or even growing the iSHARE project further would be maximized.
References
1. Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) V1.2, Advanced
Distributed Learning Laboratories
2. IMS Metadata V1.3, IMS Global Consortium Inc
3. IMS Digital Repository Interoperability V1.0, IMS Global Consortium Inc.
4. Singapore e-Learning Framework, E-learning Competency Centre (NIE,
Singapore)
5. Web Services Description Language (WSDL) V1.1 ,W3C Org
Chart 2: Composition of iSHARE Resource Types as at Jun 2008
Lesson Plan, 5429, 8% Practical, 859, 1% Project, 1159, 2% Multimedia, 6448, 10% Worksheet, 6434, 10% URL, 332, 0% Lesson Package, 7048, 11% Static Learning Resource, 12393, 19% Interactive Learning Resource, 2847, 4% Game, 831, 1% Assessment, 14597, 22% Others, 8028, 12%
Assessment Game Interactive Learning Resource Static Learning Resource Lesson Plan Practical
Project Multimedia Worksheet URL Lesson Package Others
Annex A – iSHARE Metadata
Element XMLtag Encoding Scheme
Audience* → Education Level <aud_edulevel_level> <aud_edulevel_stream> P1-P6 (MS, EM3, GEP) S1-S4 (EX / NA / NT) Pre-U
Contributor <contributor> Free-text
Creator* <creator> Free-text
Date*
→ Date Created
<date_created> YYYY-MM-DD [ISO 8601] Description* <description> Free-text Format → Duration → Size <format_duration> <format_size> Text Applications Audio Image Multimedia Others Identifier* <identifier> Free-text Language* <language> EN [ISO 630-1]
EN, ZH, MS, TA Publisher* <publisher> Free-text
Relation <relation> Requires/Is Required by Resource Type*
→ Learning Resource Type
<restype_learnrestype> Assessment Game
Interactive Learning Resource Static Learning Resource Lesson Plan Practical, Project Others Rights →Access Restrictions → Access Rights → Copyright → Cost → License <rights> Free-text
Rights Holder* <rights_holder> Free-text
Subject* <subject> iSHARE Taxonomy
Title* <title> Free-text
Annex B – iSHARE Taxonomy
The iSHARE Taxnomy consists of two level of classification:
1st level 2nd level School Level Level
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
PRINCIPLES OF ACCOUNTING Sec & Pre-U Sec 3 above
ELEMENTS OF BUSINESS
STUDIES
Sec Sec 3 above
CIVICS AND MORAL EDUCATION
All
COMPUTING
COMPUTER APPLICATIONS Sec Sec 1 above
COMPUTER STUDIES Sec Sec 1 above
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
Sec
TECHNICAL STUDIES Sec 1 above
DESIGN TECHNOLOGY Sec 1 above
MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES Sec 1 above
STRUCTURES Sec 1 above
ECONOMICS Pre-U
MICROECONOMICS
MACROECONOMICS
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
HUMANITIES Pri GEP & Sec & Pre-U
GEOGRAPHY GEP, Sec 1
above
HISTORY GEP,Sec 1
above
SOCIAL STUDIES All
NATIONAL EDUCATION All
PROJECT WORK All
HEALTH EDUCATION Pri All
HOME ECONOMICS Sec
CONSUMER EDUCATION Sec 1 above
FOOD & NUTRITION Sec 1 above
FOOD & CULTURE Sec 1 above
FOOD MANAGEMENT Sec 1 above
TEXTILES & CLOTHINGS Sec 1 above
LITERATURE Sec & Pre-U
LITERATURE (ENGLISH) Sec 1 above
LITERATURE (CHINESE) Sec 1 above
LITERATURE (MALAY) Sec 1 above
LITERATURE (TAMIL) Sec 1 above
LANGUAGES All ENGLISH LANGUAGE CHINESE LANGUAGE MALAY LANGUAGE TAMIL LANGUAGE MATHEMATICS All
MATHEMATICS (GENERAL) Pri & Sec All
ADDITIONAL MATHEMATICS Sec & Pre-U Sec 3 above
1st level 2nd level School Level Level
FURTHER MATHEMATICS Pre-U
MUSIC AND PERFORMANCE
All
MUSIC All
THEATRE PRODUCTION Pre-U
THEATRE STUDIES Pre-U
PHYSICAL EDUCATION - All
SCIENCE All
SCIENCE (GENERAL) Pri & Sec P3 above, all
BIOLOGY Sec & Pre-U Sec 3 above
CHEMISTRY Sec & Pre-U Sec 3 above
PHYSICS Sec & Pre-U Sec 3 above
RELIGIOUS & CULTURAL STUDIES
Sec
APPRE FOR CHINESE CULTURE
VISUAL ARTS AND CRAFTS
All
ART & DESIGN Sec Sec 1 above
VISUAL ART Sec Sec 1 above
ART & CRAFT Pri All
DIGITAL ART Sec Sec 1 above
ART FOR AEP Sec Sec 1 above
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
All
CO-CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES All
