To meet the needs, LearningMate designed the LearningMate ACE framework that provides for rapid content creation and maintenance; independent deployment; customized course navigation; performance data (score) posting; and advanced analysis and reporting.
LearningMate ICE (Instructional Content Editor) is an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor for creating course content pages. LearningMate ICE includes a rich set of pre-defined wizards that generate questions and assessments to be deployed as a part of a course, adhering to the SCORM-compliant SCO structure. With a repository-based approach, LearningMate ICE provides easy maintenance at a granular level (pages, questions, assessments, lessons, etc.) and also promotes reusability.
LearningMate ACE can also be configured to connect with existing content repositories that are accessible using Web Services, or protocols like WebDAV. The LearningMate ACE framework enables rapid development of multiple presentation layers suited to address different business requirements using the same source of content. This flavor of LearningMate ACE is ideally suited to deliver remediation content based on diagnostic tests.
Content is delivered through LearningMate ACE by either creating courses using LearningMate ICE or by dynamically pulling content from content repositories using protocols like WebDAV or Web Services. LearningMate ACE exposes options to configure and manage courses through an easy-to-use administrative interface. LearningMate ACE is typically deployed on an independent server (called the LearningMate ACE server), which can be hosted at any location. This server also stores the LearningMate Assessment and Course Player (ACP) that interprets and delivers the course to the end-users (students). Independent deployment helps in the following:
- Ability to host the solution at any location
- Custom Question and Assessment types
- Custom Course Navigation
- Single Source Deployment and Update
Standard LMS products support question types like Multiple Choice Single/Multiple Select, Fill in the Blanks, True/False, and Essay type questions and include options like random generation of question sets at run-time, and the ability to set time limits for assessment performance. Deploying courses through such an LMS restricts usage of other possible question types and assessment types. LearningMate ACE supports implementation of additional question types like Visual Identification (Hot Spot) questions.
LearningMate ACE supports two additional assessment types:
- Diagnostic Pre-Test
Based on the results of a Pre-Test, a list of links to the various modules and lessons within the course is suggested as a custom learning path. This function is further enhanced by providing a personal study plan for the student.
- Computer Adaptive Test (CAT)
Based on the Item Response Theory (IRT), the CAT one-parameter model is supported by LearningMate ACE. Students are assessed with questions close to the competency level.
Additional question and assessment types can be easily added to solutions built on LearningMate ACE.
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LearningMate ACE can either enforce a custom learning path as an outcome of a Pre-Test and/or provide complete access to the course hierarchy that allows students to access any module or lesson in any order. The course navigation-bar look and feel and the placement on the screen in reference to course content can also be customized to match the course navigation-bar with the LMS look and feel. This provides a seamless experience even though the course content is delivered and managed from an independent server.
The LearningMate ACE framework also supports rapid development of custom presentation layers for content delivery. A few examples are provided on the next page:
Course content and files are stored in a centralized repository. The course is launched from the LMS by referencing the LearningMate ACE course location. This facilitates a single course in LearningMate ACE to be deployed as multiple courses within an LMS. The administrator can control and assign different users to different courses in the LMS based on requirement. Updates to courses delivered through LearningMate ACE ensure that each course instance in LMS is updated without any overhead of tracking and testing.
The LMS is used as the entry and exit point for the end users (students and instructors) It can be used to capture and view score related reports for the course. Because the course is being launched from LMS and delivered through LearningMate ACE, LearningMate ACE is responsible for posting scores for the assessments within the course back to the LMS. In doing so, LearningMate ACE also maintains a copy of the score and student responses for each attempt.
Complete score data along with attempt analysis is available through LearningMate ACE. Students/Instructors can access these reports through a link from the LMS. Instructors can access individual or group performance within a course (LMS course). This report is also available to the Publisher/University for records and analysis.
LearningMate ACE collects score data as explained previously along with extensive data on question usage. All this data is available to the Publisher/University in the form of reports like:
- Question usage report
This report indicates what percentage of students who have been delivered this question answered it incorrectly with the distracter selection that lead to the incorrect answer. This report helps in instructional analysis of the question to find out the myths and perceptions that a student has and further can also help in pointing out if the question needs to be re-framed. This helps in further improving the learning experience of students. The questions for general assessments as well as CAT are tracked and reported.
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