Survey Norm Friesen

A wide range of projects and organizations is currently making digital learning resources (learning objects) available to instructors, students, and designers via systematic, standards-based infrastructures. One standard that is central to many of these efforts and infrastructures is known as Learning Object Metadata (IEEE 1484.12.1-2002, or LOM). This report builds on Report #11 in this series, and discusses the findings of the author's recent study of ways in which the LOM standard is being used internationally. Characteristics of Learning Object Metadata Surveyed “Metadata ” refers to systematically created and formatted descriptions of resources, intended for learning, informational, or other purposes. The LOM standard has become the most widely used solution for classifying and describing digital resources intended specifically for learning and education. It is only one way of describing digital and online resources, however. Other metadata standards and methods have been developed for the same purpose, including Dublin Core and the Rich Site Summary (RSS): see Report #11 in this series. A common feature of these standards and methods is the fact that each defines the function and structure of a number of data elements. Examples of these include the title, author, and location of the resource. RSS, for example, focuses on three of these data elements- title, link, and description; while Dublin Core specifies only 16 metadata elements. The LOM standard, on the other hand, includes 76 data elements, covering wide-ranging characteristics attributable to LOs, including their size, level and type of interactivity, and the educational context to which they are best suited. The LOM defines all of its data elements in interrelationships that are both hierarchical and iterative. At the top of the hierarchy of LOM elements are nine broad category elements: General