Architectures

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Architectures

The term ‘architecture’ is most commonly associated with the construction of buildings. It describes the way people’s current and emerging requirements are combined with a knowledge of the surrounding environment, resource availability, various constraints and the technologies available to provide a blue print for construction.

A Broad Blueprint

An ICT architecture serves a similar purpose. It is a broad blue print for acquiring, developing, implementing and integrating ICT in a manner that supports the business functions and strategies of an enterprise. An ICT architecture supports the alignment of information technology solutions with business needs and reduces the inherent risks of investing in products and systems based on complex and rapidly changing technologies.

There are many ways to describe, present and document ICT architectures. This is because different perspectives can be applied. For example, different perspectives can focus on:

• Services and processes to be supported;
• Clusters of functionality required;
• Information and data that must be recorded and exchanged;
• Specific technology products that are deployed and integrated; and
• Technical standards for building systems and for interoperability between systems.

There are also different levels of detail that can be applied and presented.

A How-to Manual

An ICT Architecture Framework documents the architecture from a number of these perspectives and at various levels of detail. Its also serves as a broad ‘how-to’ manual: moving an organisation step-by-step toward a sound ICT architecture.

Open Standards and Interoperability

Increasingly, organisations are building ICT architectures based on open standards to better facilitate interoperability between internal systems and with external collaboration partners.

Within the education domain, current ICT architectural challenges include how to ensure that repositories of learning content interoperate with portals, administration systems, learning management systems, library information systems and corporate directories.

19 items in this category.

1. Developing a National Learning System Architecture Framework for the Australian Schools Sector
   Category: Architectures
   
   This document is a discussion paper that provides a summary of requirements, issues and actions relevant to developing a Learning System Architecture Framework for the Australian school education sector.
   
   

2. IMS Digital Repositories Specification
   Category: Architectures
   
   The IMS Digital Repositories v1.0 Final specification, released January 30, 2003, provides recommendations for the interoperation of the most common repository functions. On the broadest level, this specification defines digital repositories as being any collection of resources that are accessible via a network without prior knowledge of the structure of the collection This specification is intended to utilize schemas already defined elsewhere (e.g., IMS Meta-Data and Content Packaging), rather than attempt to introduce any new schema.
   
   

3. INSPIRAL: Digital Libraries and Virtual Learning Environments (2001)
   Category: Architectures
   
   INSPIRAL (INveStigating Portals for Information Resources And Learning) is a research project funded by JISC to examine the institutional challenges and requirements involved in linking virtual and managed learning environments (VLEs and MLEs) with digital and hybrid libraries.
   
   

4. Interoperability Framework
   Category: Architectures
   
   The Australian Government Interoperability Framework addresses the information, business process and technical dimensions of interoperability. It sets the principles, standards and methodologies that support the delivery of integrated and seamless services. Interoperability describes the ability to work together to deliver services in a seamless, uniform and efficient manner across multiple organisations and information technology systems. Promoting interoperability between agencies is a key focus to achieving whole-of-government collaboration.
   
   

5. Introducing SOA, the Service Oriented Approach: animated video
   Category: Architectures
   
   This short video clip provides an overview of the Service Oriented Approach. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) overcomes the problem of integration and interoperability across multiple technologies. The SOA approach to linking software components and applications is transforming the way many organisations share data. This animated video illustrates very simply the concepts and the benefits of interoperability, by providing a service layer between systems.
   
   

6. Learning in an online world: Learning architecture framework
   Category: Architectures
   
   The Learning Architecture Framework is a reference document to support organisation and school planning. It articulates issues for consideration by ministers and departmental leaders. It provides vendors and industry partners with an overview of national strategic directions in school education.
   
   

7. Library of Congress - Standards
   Category: Architectures
   
   The page supplies some key standards used in the information community that are maintained by the Library of Congress. Their Web pages supply information on their maintenance and use. Other links connect to information on the Library's collection of standards and key standards-settings organizations.
   
   

8. Library of Congress - Standards
   Category: Architectures
   
   The page supplies some key standards used in the information community that are maintained by the Library of Congress. Their Web pages supply information on their maintenance and use. Other links connect to information on the Library's collection of standards and key standards-settings organizations.
   
   

9. Online Legal Access Project: Guidelines and Standards
   Category: Architectures
   
   

   The Online Legal Access Project (OLAP) aims to promote current developments in online access to the law to facilitate the sharing of resources and information. The Guidelines and Standards page includes information on Best practice guidelines; Email law; Draft Justice Sector Metadata Standards.

   
   
   

10. Open Knowledge Initiative
    Category: Architectures
    
    The Open Knowledge Initiative (OKI) addresses what is perceived by many in higher education as a critical need: meaningful, coherent, modular, easy-to-use, web-based environments for assembling, delivering and accessing educational resources and activities. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and its primary partner, Stanford University, are lead planners in the OKI Project. The initiative is sponsored by a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. OKI is about:Tools that are sustainable, open source, and web-based to support teaching and learning (such as discussion forums, project team notebooks, portfolios, and grade-books); A system for assembling sets of web tools that can work together and with other campus systems. A community of planners and developers who create the basic system, tool builders (both commercial and academic), service providers who make the tools available, and students and instructors who teach and learn with the tools.
    
    

11. Open Knowledge Initiative
    Category: Architectures
    
    The Open Knowledge Initiative (OKI) addresses what is perceived by many in higher education as a critical need: meaningful, coherent, modular, easy-to-use, web-based environments for assembling, delivering and accessing educational resources and activities. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and its primary partner, Stanford University, are lead planners in the OKI Project. The initiative is sponsored by a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. OKI is about:Tools that are sustainable, open source, and web-based to support teaching and learning (such as discussion forums, project team notebooks, portfolios, and grade-books); A system for assembling sets of web tools that can work together and with other campus systems. A community of planners and developers who create the basic system, tool builders (both commercial and academic), service providers who make the tools available, and students and instructors who teach and learn with the tools.
    
    

12. Open Source Software and Australian School Education: An Introduction
    Category: Architectures
    
    This paper provides an introduction to open source software in the context of Australian schools. It is intended to provide the basis for developing some shared understandings about what open source software is; its benefits; its limitations; and it provides a brief scan of what is happening in Australian schools and sectors.There are several contexts that require consideration in order to discuss open source software and Australian school education: terminology; learning architectures: schools and software; software: a building block of learning architectures; how software is created; and the software market. Paper prepared in August 2003 by Dr Kathryn Moyle on behalf of education.au limited for consideration by the MCEETYA ICT in Schools Taskforce.
    
    

13. Preferred Standards to Support National Cooperation in Applying Technology to VET
    Category: Architectures
    
    

    This project was part of the Australian National Training Authority's Strategy 2000, which commenced the implementation of the Framework for National Collaboration in Flexible Learning in Vocational Education and Training 2000-2004. The site contains information on standards and guidelines used within the research, a background to the project, details of personnel involved, project reports, workshop papers and recommendations.

    
    
    

14. Roadmap for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA Roadmap)
    Category: Architectures
    
    The Roadmap for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA Roadmap) addresses the accessibility of dynamic Web content for people with disabilities. The roadmap introduces the technologies to map controls, AJAX live regions, and events to accessibility APIs, including custom controls used for Rich Internet Applications (RIAs). The roadmap also describes new navigation techniques to mark common Web structures as menus, primary content, secondary content, banner information and other types of Web structures. These new technologies can be used to improve the accessibility and usability of Web resources by people with disabilities, without extensive modification to existing libraries of Web resources.
    
    

15. SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model)
    Category: Architectures
    
    A set of specifications and standards for web-based learning technologies, developed by the Advanced Distributed Learning Network (ADLNet). The Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) integrates a set of related technical standards, specifications, and guidelines designed to meet SCORM's high-level requirements-accessible, interoperable, durable, and reusable content and systems. SCORM content can be delivered to your learners via any SCORM-compliant Learning Management System (LMS) using the same version of SCORM.
    
    

16. SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model)
    Category: Architectures
    
    A set of specifications and standards for web-based learning technologies, developed by the Advanced Distributed Learning Network (ADLNet). The Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) integrates a set of related technical standards, specifications, and guidelines designed to meet SCORM's high-level requirements-accessible, interoperable, durable, and reusable content and systems. SCORM content can be delivered to your learners via any SCORM-compliant Learning Management System (LMS) using the same version of SCORM.
    
    

17. Services and Semantics: Web Architecture
    Category: Architectures
    
    This document paints a picture of the emerging architecture of Web Services and the Semantic Web, two orthogonal directions of development of Web technology. These two transitions, the one from documents to messages as part of a long-running protocol, and the other from documents for human consumption to documents with machine-processable semantics, are to a certain extent independent concepts, but each to fulfill its full promise off the other.
    
    

18. TELCERT
    Category: Architectures
    
    TELCERT is a Technology Enhanced Learning research and development project under the European Union's 6th Framework programme. Led by a consortium of eLearning providers, research and industry organisations, TELCERT will develop innovative software testing and conformance systems to assure interoperability in eLearning content and technology. Certification and testing are crucial to accelerating market take-up of innovative eLearning technologies based on specifications and standards. Yet new test technologies are needed to meet the diverse needs of suppliers and users in different learning environments and cultures. At the heart of the technology, eLearning community requirements will be defined in application profiles, supported by profiling and content re-engineering tools. These will generate customised conformance tests and enable trusted product and content certification.
    
    

19. XML Inclusions (XInclude)
    Category: Architectures
    
    

    This World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) document specifies a processing model and syntax for general purpose inclusion. Inclusion is accomplished by merging a number of XML information sets into a single composite infoset. Specification of the XML documents (infosets) to be merged and control over the merging process is expressed in XML-friendly syntax (elements, attributes, URI references). 'Inclusion is the ability to reuse content, which lets me take something like a copyright statement and include it on all my company's XML documents. Without an inclusion mechanism, you have to copy and paste, and this lets you just reference it' (Le Hegaret).