LAMS Launch CD
April 2005
 
 
 

Resources

 

 

 


Summaries

 

LAMS Brochure
LAMS International, 2004

Summary: Brochure about the benefits of LAMS

 

LAMS Overview
James Dalziel, 11 February 2005

Summary: An overview of LAMS, including brief examples of the benefits of LAMS from early trials in schools, vocational training and universities.

LAMS Launch Workshop Presentation
James Dalziel, 13 April 2005
  Part 1
  Part 2

Summary: These two presentations were part of the LAMS Launch Workshop on 13 April 2005 at Macquarie University, Australia. In this workshop Prof. James Dalziel addressed how the concepts of Learning Design, and its implementation in the LAMS software, can transform education and training.

 

White Papers

 

Implementing Learning Design: The Learning Activity Management System (LAMS)
James Dalziel, 12 August 2003

Summary: This short article was the first research paper about the development and implementation of LAMS, presented at the ASCILITE 2003 conference. It contains background on the concept of Learning Design, an overview of the short version of "What is Greatness?", and a summary of the initial set of LAMS activity tools.

Related Resources:

Accompanying the paper was a Powerpoint presentation, including a screenshot walkthrough of an early of version of LAMS.

 

From Re-usable E-learning Content to Re-usable Learning Designs: Lessons from LAMS
James Dalziel, 6 April 2005

Summary: This is a longer, more technical article about the theoretical background to Learning Design (including discussion of how the IMS Learning Design specification relates to other work in the field, including LAMS). It include the full "What is Greatness?" example; a review of challenges in implementing LAMS in relation to IMS Learning Design; and a discussion about tools integration for Learning Design platforms. An earlier version of this article was submitted for inclusion in the book "Learning Design" by Koper and Tattersall, but was rejected.

Related Resources:

Accompanying the paper was a Powerpoint presentation, including "the recipe analogy" and "Next Steps" for LAMS in the final slide.

Discussion Paper for Learning Activities and Metadata
James Dalziel, 15 July 2003

Summary: This is an early discussion paper about LAMS with a section about new issues for descriptive metadata that arise from the Learning Activities approach.

 

 

Case Studies

 

LAMS Case Study Year 9 Geography Kemnal Technology College, UK
Prepared by Russell Francis, Oxford University

LAMS Case Study Using LAMS to teach Bioinformatics
Prepared by Dr Peter Miller from the University of Liverpool

LAMS Case Study Using LAMS in Teacher Training
Prepared by Dr James Dalziel

 

Videos

 

LAMS Introduction Video (2005)

Summary: A brief introduction to the fundamentals of LAMS.
Duration: 2 minutes, 4 seconds
Format: Microsot AVI

 

Kemnal Technology College: Making Learning Active (2004)

Summary: Best practices in e-learning using LAMS at Kemnal Technology College.
Further information on video and case study
Duration: 4 minutes, 17 seconds
Format: Microsoft WMV
Video Transcript

Case Study: Kemnal Case Study

 

LAMS Presentations

NB: The following are a representative snapshot of LAMS presentations over the life of the initiative. Many things have changed with time (including organisational affiliations, interface quality and sometimes the content of the presentation), but the key concepts of LAMS can be traced all the way back to the earliest presentations.

From Re-usable E-learning Content to Re-usable Learning Designs: Lessons from LAMS
James Dalziel, 6 April 2005

Summary: Presentation to accompany the detailed article about the history and development of LAMS (including issues with IMS Learning Design) presented at Educause Australasia, 2005 in Auckland, New Zealand.

LAMS in the future
James Dalziel, 11 January 2005

Summary: Presentation for the JISC LAMS evaluation mid-project workshop at Aston University, Birmingham, UK. This presentation is a complement to the SST presentation (November, 04), in that it provides details of future development based on requests from teachers and students. Includes screenshots and mockups of a number of important future LAMS features.

Learning Design: Why does it matter?
James Dalziel, 25 November 2004

Summary: This presentation for the annual workshop of the Standards Australia e-learning and library standards communities is of interest for two reasons. First, it represents the first public statement of disillusionment with the agenda of the e-learning standards community after almost 3 years of close involvement. Second, the presentation considers ways in which librarians could become involved in developing and managing LAMS sequences - including screenshots of a suggested process for development by librarians.

Open Code and Open Content for Education: The LAMS Experience
James Dalziel, 18 November 2004

Summary: Presentation for the "Unlocking IP" conference at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. This is the first presentation to discuss not only the topic of open source software and LAMS, but also the application of open content (ie, Creative Commons) to the "output" of the LAMS software, that is, LAMS sequences. Also includes a brief discussion of open source business models and sustainability issues. This presentation was given "virtually" two weeks later for the Open Source Summit in Arizona.

LAMS: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
James Dalziel, 9 November 2004

Summary: Presentation for the Specialist Schools Trust LAMS implementation workshop in London. This presentation provides a historical overview of the development of LAMS, including the reasons why it was development. It then reviews current and future activities in the areas of technology, pedagogy, open source and business models.

Activity Tools for Learning Design: Lessons from developing LAMS
James Dalziel, 22 July 2004

Summary: This presentation was given for the Learning Design steam of the IMS Altilab standards conference in San Mateo, California. The presentation incorporates screenshots and problems from the original presentation of LAMS to the Valkenburg group in February 2003 with the diagrams from the CMI presentation in April 2004, based on differences between the LAMS approach and OKI/Sakai. It asks why there has been no movement on revising the IMS Learning Design specification in the 18 months since the problems raised by LAMS were first discussed. This remains a key presentation about the relationship of LAMS to the IMS Learning Design specification. Further details on this issue are contained in the Educause Australasia article in the White Papers section.

LAMS Roadmap launch
James Dalziel, 15 July 2004

Summary: This is the presentation at which the open source roadmap for LAMS was officially announced. This launch was hosted by Professor Diana Laurillard, Head, E-learning Strategy Unit at the UK Department for Education and Skills.

LAMS - extra CMI [Cambridge MIT Institute] slides
James Dalziel, 22 April 2004

Summary: This presentation was meant to be a fairly typical overview of LAMS, and slides based on this had even been distributed before the talk. However, due to the presentations and conversations on the day, the normal presentation was abandoned for these slides, which discuss the differences between the OKI and Sakai approaches to e-learning architectures, and the LAMS approach. Of particular interest are the final two slides, which compare the "hoped for" nature of Learning Design development (via crude "box size" indicating the scale of the development effort) with the actual experiences learned from build LAMS. Even at April 2005, few people have recognised the challenge illustrated by these diagrams.

The Next E-learning Revolution: Customisable Learning Designs
James Dalziel, 10 January 2004

Summary: Invited presentation of UK BETT Show about the concepts of Learning Design, and their implementation in LAMS. A highlight of this presentation was a section from Kemnal Technology College on their experiences of using LAMS, including basic statistics about student reactions to the system.

LAMS - Learning Activity Management System
James Dalziel, 8 December 2003

Summary: Presentation to accompany the ASCILITE LAMS paper - the first published article about the development of LAMS.

LAMS - The Learning Activity Management System
James Dalziel, 15 November 2003

Summary: Presentation of LAMS at University of California at Berkeley. Early sections are similar to previous presentation, but the ending introduces a new section analysing a basic activity structure into a number of different delivery modes depending on time and place, and modelled using the LAMS authoring environment.

CETIS Pedagogy Forum: LAMS - The Learning Activity Management System
James Dalziel, 3 August 2003

Summary: This presentation for the UK CETIS Pedagogy forum is similar to the Educational Content SIG presentation, except that it also includes a first attempt at modelling the IMS Learning Design "Versailles" use case - widely considered to be the defining example of Learning Design from the IMS Learning Design specification. This presentation was also memorable due to the fact that when a transition line was first drawn between activities to illustrate the flow of tasks, there was an audible intake of breath across the audience. The same presentation was given to The Learning Federation in Melbourne, Australia the following week.

LAMS - Learning Activity Management System: A Learning Design "inspired" system
James Dalziel, 13 June 2003

Summary: Presentation in London for the UK CETIS Educational Content Special Interest Group of the shorter "What is Greatness? example, including, for the first time, annotated screenshots (although in the presentation, LAMS was demonstrated live - the screenshots were for a record afterwards). Variants of this presentation were given in a range of public and private contexts in Australia and the UK from this time onwards.

Introducing LAMS: A Learning Design inspired system
James Dalziel, 19 May 2003

Summary: Brief presentation of the shorter "What is Greatness?" example given to Australian Department of Education Science and Training staff in May, 2003.

Introduction LAMS: An EML/LD "inspired" system
Author: James Dalziel, 23 February 2003

Summary: Presentation of live LAMS prototype for Valkenburg Learning Design group meeting - screenshot walkthrough included with slides, showing learner, monitoring and authoring environments in action. Also includes summary of concerns with the IMS Learning Design specification based on the experience of building LAMS, and discussion links between LAMS and lessons learned from the COLIS project. This presentation was also shown the following week at a JISC-hosted meeting in London about e-learning architectures that included Professor Diana Laurillard. This led to support for the first real world trial of LAMS, at Kemnal Technology College in the UK, which started in May 2003.

Creating Next Generation Interoperable Learning Tools
Donna Gibbs and James Dalziel, 19 July 2002

Summary: An early presentation about the evolving development of LAMS resulting from the collaboration between Dr Donna Gibbs (School of Education, Australian Centre for Education Studies - ACES - Macquarie University) and James Dalziel (at that time Executive Director of WebMCQ Pty Ltd and P/T Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney). Include an early mock-up of the LAMS authoring environment - of historical interest.

 

 

Articles/Reports/Research on LAMS

 

 

JISC Report: Review of Learning Design: Concept, Specification and Tools
Sandy Britain, 31 May 2004

Summary: This report by Sandy Britain on behalf of JISC investigates the concept of Learning Design, the IMS Learning Design specification, and various Learning Design related tools. An important and detailed summary about Learning Design. One of the recommendations (4.2) of this report was to consider a formal evaluation of LAMS - which led to the JISC Evaluation of LAMS and related work (see below).

Related Resource:

An earlier more general report on e-learning systems by Sandy Britain and Oleg Liber, which includes a section on LAMS and discussion of how traditional learning systems relate to new systems like LAMS, is available here.

 

JISC Evaluation of LAMS
JISC, 2004-2005

Summary: This is a summary of the overall JISC project to evalute LAMS, start in mid 2004 as a result of the recommendations of the Learning Design evaluation report by Sandy Britain for JISC. This evaluation has led to a range of other projects and resources, such as the evaluation being conducted by Oxford University, the LAMS evaluation workshop, etc (see below).

 

JISC E-learning and Pedagogy: LAMS Evaluation Workshop
Various, 11 January 2005

Summary: This is the website for the mid-project workshop for the JISC LAMS evaluation. It include lots of links to information about the LAMS evaluation, outcomes from user trials, and a presentation by James Dalziel on upcoming LAMS features.

 

JISC E-learning Focus: Effective Learning Design using LAMS - A report from the JISC LAMS evaluation workshop
Christina Smart, 23 March 2005

Summary: A report on the mid-project workshop for the JISC LAMS evaluation. This website include several links to related JISC LAMS information.

 

JISC Evaluation of the LAMS Practioner Trial
JISC, 2004-2005

Summary: Summary of information about the evaluation of LAMS being conducted by Oxford University on behalf of the JISC.

 

Professor Diana Laurillard heralds software evaluated in liaison with JISC
JISC, 16 July 2004

Summary: JISC news article about the July 2004 announcement of plans to make LAMS available as open source. The announcement was hosted by Professor Diana Laurillard on behalf of the UK Department for Education and Skills.

 

University of Calgary, Canada

 

Repository to Reality [R2R] Project: Investigating LAMS
David Bean, 31 March 04

Summary: A report by David Bean from Tom Carey's group at University of Calgary on LAMS, and its potential benefits as a Learning Design system. Includes reflections on positive aspects of LAMS from a teaching and learning perspective.

 

 

CETIS


CETIS: Learning Design Inspiration
Wilbert Kraan, 5 November 2003

Summary: Early article about LAMS by Wilbert Kraan for the CETIS news website, including comparison of LAMS to other related approaches.


CETIS: LAMS to be open sourced, partnership programme announced
Author: Wilbert Kraan, CETIS
Date: 22/7/04

Summary: Article by Wilbert Krann for the CETIS news website about the July 2004 announcement of plans for LAMS to become open source, and invitations to join the Beta Partner Program.

 

Specialist Schools Trust


Specialist Schools Trust LAMS website
LAMS, 2004-2005

Summary: A large website set up to support the Specialist Schools Trust trial of LAMS for over 40 schools in the UK. Includes a wide range of resources and information. Of particular interest is the LAMS sequence templates (which can be downloaded and used in LAMS) - see http://www.uklams.net/resource/template.html


Specialist Schools Trust LAMS Development Group
Various, 9 November 2004

Summary: A workshop held in November 2004 for participants in the Specialist Schools Trust trial of LAMS. Includes a presentation from Professor Diana Laurillard about how LAMS relates to the DfES E-learning Strategy and presentations by various schools who have been using LAMS.


Announcement of the Specialist Schools Trust LAMS Pilot Scheme
Specialist Schools Trust, 20 September 2004

Summary: Original announcement of the SST LAMS Pilot scheme, including details of joining the scheme. Includes a photo of the first group of accredited "LAMS Trainers", including staff from Kemnal Technology College in Sidcup, UK, who travelled to Australia in February 2004 for training with James Dalziel and colleagues.

 

UK Department for Education and Skills


LAMS and the e-Learning Perspective on the DfES 5 Year Strategy
Diana Laurillard, 9 November 2004

Summary: This is a presentation by Diana Laurillard about the DfES 5 year E-learning Strategy, and how LAMS relates to this strategy in the area of supporting teachers with innovative design tools.

 

Adult and Community Learning Network UK (ACLearn.net)


The Learning Activity Management System (LAMS)
ACLearn.net, 2 April 2004

Summary: Article about potential of LAMS for use in the UK Adult and Community Learning Sector.

 

BECTA


CRIPSAT - BECTA Review of LAMS
CRIPSAT, 30 November 2004

Summary: Overview of the BECTA-SST evaluation of LAMS in UK schools. This evaluation is being conducted by CRIPSAT at the University of Liverpool.


LAMS - The Learning Activity Management System
Andrew Parry, 7 July 2004

Summary: Presentation for BECTA conference about the use of LAMS at Kemnal Technology college, including student survey data on reactions to the system, and comparison with face to face teaching methods.


FERL Interview with James Dalziel: LAMS - Designing for Learning
Karen Wood, 27 August 2004

Summary: Interview with James Dalziel about LAMS. Covers the following topics: What is LAMS? How does LAMS compare to tradition VLE/LMS systems? Why make LAMS open source? How can you get involved?

 

Kemnal Technology College


Using LAMS at Kemnal Technology College
Andrew Parry, 21 June 2004

Summary: Presentation about the use of LAMS at Kemnal for a Fourth Annual National VLE Conference, hosted by the University of Bristol Learning Technology Support Service.


Kemnal Technology College's Online LAMS User Guide
Andrew Parry, 2004-2005.

Summary: Guide for using LAMS put together by Andrew Parry from Kemnal Technology College, and used as a support resource for the Specialist Schools Trust LAMS schools trial in the UK.


Kemnal Technology College Staff Lead in e-Learning

John Atkins, 23 February04

Summary: Press release from Kemnal Technology College about staff visit to Macquarie University and related organisations in February 2004 to receive LAMS training. Includes a number of photos, and information about Kemnal's role in supporting UK schools using LAMS

 

Open University, UK


Patterns, Designs and Activities: Unifying Descriptions for Learning Structures
Patrick McAndrew, Peter Goodyear and James Dalziel, 2005.

Summary: Pre-print of article comparing the learning design concepts of Patterns, IMS Learning Design and LAMS.

 

Oxford University


LAMS Workshop
Howard Noble, 13 Januart 2004

Summary: Website for a LAMS workshop held at Oxford University in early 2004, including details of LAMS trials at Oxford.


Toole Interoperability Project
Howard Noble, 2004-2005.

Summary: Details of the Oxford-managed, JISC funded "Tools Interoperability Project", which includes integration of LAMS with the Boddington open source Virtual Learning Environment.


Designs for Learning website
Various, 2004-2005.

Summary: Website about Learning Design and related tools to accompany the Oxford managed JISC Tools Interoperability Project - including sections on LAMS.

Oxford Internet Institute: Innovative Pathways to the Next Level of E-learning
Victoria Nash, William Dutton and Malcolm Peltu, 30 September 2004

Summary: Detailed report from the Oxford Internet Institute about the next generation of e-learning. Includes a section on LAMS (p29-30) as a promising example of new approaches to pedagogy and technology.

 

EPS Ltd


LAMS: Lesson Planning for Real E-learning
David Worlock, 15 January 2004

Summary: Independent review of LAMS from leading industry expert and analyst David Worlock from EPS Ltd. Of particular interest are observations about how LAMS differs from current e-learning systems.


LAMS: Open source and openly available in the UK
David Worlock, 20 July 2004

Summary: Discussion of LAMS open source announcement by leading industry expert and analyst David Worlock from EPS Ltd. Discussion includes the important of the open source decision, and how LAMS relates to other sector developments.

Other Publications

 

Taking off with online learning. EQ Australia, Summer 2004
Gibbs, D. & Philip, R. (2004). , 37 - 38.

Engaging with e-learning: Trialling a new Learning Activity Management System (LAMS) in Australia
Gibbs, D. & Philip, R. (2005, accepted paper).
Refereed paper for Ed-Media Conference, World Conference on Educational Media, Hypermedia & Telecommunications, 27 June - 2 July 2005, Montreal, Canada.

Designing activities for student learning using the Learning Activity Management System (LAMS), Acquiring and Constructing Knowledge Through Human-Computer Interaction: Creating new visions for the future of learning
Philip, R . & Dalziel , J . (2004). ICCE: International Conference on Computers in Education Conference
Melbourne, 30 November – 3 December, 2004.

Using LAMS in the classroom: New ways to engage students with curriculum
Philip, R. & Gibbs, D. (2005, in press). Connections, SCIS.

Walking together: LAMS, learning and experience for Indigenous students. Refereed paper for Ed-Media Conference
Voerman, A. & Philip, R. (2005, accepted paper)
World Conference on Educational Media, Hypermedia & Telecommunications, 27 June - 2 July 2005, Montreal, Canada.