Contractor

The SeaThings project aims to promote ocean literacy through the active involvement of researchers from different universities, schools and science centers in the region, in the creation of Learning Objects (LO) about the oceans and providing them on the web in open access repositories. Using artificial intelligence technologies, tools will be developed to support research, creation and management of LOs. The Learning Technology Standards Committee uses a standard for Learning Objects (IEEE Standard 1484.12.1) defined as any entity, digital or non-digital, that can be used for learning, education or training. This definition is complemented by the following main features: reusable – a single learning object can be used in multiple contexts for multiple purposes; self-sufficient – each learning object can be taken independently; aggregation – learning objects can be grouped into larger collections of content, including traditional course structures; metadata – each learning object has descriptive information that allows it to be easily found by a search. Based on the IEEE LOM standard, a new OBAA (Agent-based Learning Objects) standard has been proposed extending metadata (Vicari 2010), to add support for various platforms (such as digital TV and mobile device platform), allowing for the construction of objects interoperable learning tools; to include new fields in education that promote collaborative experience in the use of LOs; to add accessibility, covering most requirements for the use of different devices for citizens with special needs; and, finally, adding segmentation information, making it possible to index segments of a learning object by subjects, highlights or activities (Athanasiadis, 2010).