Frequently Asked Questions
What is IMS Learning Design V1.0 Level A?
IMS Learning Design (IMS LD) is a specification developed by the e-learning specification development group IMS Global Learning Consortium. IMS LD is an XML-based description of requirements for e-learning based on the conceptual model of "people doing activities with resources". It is different to other e-learning specifications/standards in that it supports "multi-learner" activities and environments, not just single-learner content. IMS LD was released in its first version in early 2003 (V1.0), and there have been no revisions to the specification to date (and there is no formal revision work currently underway. The specification is complex, and includes three levels of potential implementation (Level A, B and C).
The development of LAMS was based on the conceptual model of Learning Design, and on parts of the IMS LD specification. However, LAMS encountered a range of practical problems with the specification during implementation, so it was not possible to implement the specification in full in the original LAMS development. For this reason, LAMS is often referred to as being IMS LD "inspired" rather than a reference implementation.
LAMS has committed to working on evolving the specification to help address the problems encountered in implementation (although this work is yet to begin within IMS). It is hoped that as the specification evolves to address problems identified in implementation, LAMS will be able to conform to the revised specification. In the interim, LAMS has committed to building an import and export feature for LAMS Version 2 for the Level A requirements of IMS LD V1.0 to assist with interoperability.