Funded by the LSC and available free to all authorised organisations in the post-16 sector, the NLN materials represent one of the most substantial and wide-ranging collections of e-learning materials in the UK.
The NLN Materials are small, flexible 'bite-sized' episodes of learning. They are not whole courses but are designed to support a wide range of subject and topic areas. The materials adopt a range of approaches involving some knowledge acquisition, a chance to practice and absorb, and some form of assessment to check that the learning has been understood and the learning outcome(s) achieved.
Xtensis Ltd. have been involved with the NLN project from the beginning, providing consultancy and SCORM-compliance testing of the materials being produced.
From Round 2 of the materials, BECTA commissioned Xtensis Ltd. to provide an Educational Content Management System, whereby all content suppliers uploaded content and added comprehensive metadata - by various means best suited to their individual production processes - and stored centrally for subsequent review, usability testing, compliance testing, version management, and lifecycle reporting. The NLN content was - and still is - stored in a neutral yet comprehensive format: entirely disaggregated into individual resources to enable future flexibility and portability, with export support for all possible export formats, including IMS, SCORM, and other specifications - and extensive but strictly controlled metadata, utilising many valuable curricula, taxonomies and vocabularies, including LearnDirect/Superclass, Qualification Level, National Curriculum, and all vocabularies from the UK LOM Core.
The Xtensis system supplied to BECTA provided the framework for one of the largest production of Learning Objects ever undertaken in the UK.
Xtensis provided version management, backup/restore, full metadata editing (at both resource and organization level, including dynamic vocabularies and multiple classifications), centralisation of technical policy, validation against the NLN Application Profile, file management (including shared files), workflow management, issue tracking, access for external testers, import and bulk export in various formats. This included a complex update project in 2005, where Round 1 and 2 materials were updated in-place, with no disruption to the live delivery of the materials.
In 2005, the Xtensis repository of NLN materials evolved from a back-end content-mangement service to a full practitioner-oriented website, when NIACE commissioned Xtensis to produce a site enabling Adult and Community Learning users to view, aggregate, download, and distribute the NLN Materials.
Early in 2007, mangement of the NLN Materials passed from BECTA back to the LSC. Xtensis was commissioned to take over responsibility for the nln.ac.uk website, giving centralised information on the project, and undertook a radical overhaul, rationalisation and update of the information and guidance available.
Later in 2007, Janet and the LSC launched a tender process for a unified delivery service for the NLN Materials, combining the facilities of the three existing distribution sites. Xtensis won the contract, and, on a swift delivery schedule, launched the new site at nln.ac.uk in October 2007. The new site included all the facilities included in the widely-acclaimed ACL site, but in a more dynamic and unified manner, opening access to all sectors, and with a dedicated support channel and help-line. On 10th April 2008, the service reached 10,000 registered users.
Visit the National Learning Network materials site.