Where it all began...
In its infancy in the early 1990s Mainline's core business focussed on innovative approaches to work based learning. This led, with the advent of the Internet to our focus tending towards e-learning and the development of learning software.
While Mainline's horizons have broadened as our expertise has grown we continue to provide bespoke e-learning solutions that harness the power of the Internet and modern computing to assist and accelerate learning.
E-Learning Standards
Increasingly, e-learning tools are becoming standardised with the aim of promoting interoperability and transferability.
Mainline can advise upon and architect systems that comply with the e-learning standards managed by the following organisations:
- AICC (www.aicc.org) is an international group of technology-based training professionals that creates CBT-related guidelines for the aviation industry. AICC publishes a variety of recommendations, but its standards with the most impact on the e-learning arena are its computer-managed instruction (CMI) guidelines.
- IEEE (www.ltsc.ieee.org) is an international organization that develops technical standards and recommendations for electrical, electronic, computer and communication systems. Within the IEEE, the Learning Technology Standards Committee (LTSC) provides specifications that address best practices, which can be tested for conformance. Basically, they wrote the standard on how to write standards. The most widely acknowledged IEEE LTSC specification is the Learning Object Metadata (LOM) specification, which defines element groups and elements that describe learning resources. The IMS and ADL both use the LOM elements and structures in their specifications.
- IMS Global Consortium (www.imsproject.org) is a consortium of suppliers that focus on the development of specifications that focus on the use of metadata to address content packaging. The specifications are used to define how an LMS communicates with back-end applications and content objects or libraries. Several of its standards are made available on its website at no fee.
- ADL (www.adlnet.org) is a U.S. government-sponsored organization that researches and develops specifications to encourage the adoption and advancement of e-learning. The most widely accepted ADL publication is the ADL Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM). The SCORM specification combines the best elements of IEEE, AICC, and IMS specifications into a consolidated document.