Collage
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Type of application / System Requirements
Desktop application.
The tool is multiplatform. Binaries are available for Windows. The source code is available and since it is based on Java it could be easily compiled for other platforms. Java should be installed in the computer. See installation instructions in the CopperCore sandbox, for instance.
COLLAGE is based on Reload (http://www.reload.ac.uk/).
Purpose
COLLAGE, COLlaborative LeArning DesiGn Editor, helps users in the process of creating their own (collaborative) Learning Designs starting with existing patterns that represent broadly accepted techniques used by collaborative learning practitioners. Collage is a high-level specialized Learning Design authoring tool for collaborative learning.
What it does
Reload is an editor of Units of Learning which is general purpose. It allows a lot of flexibility, but it is difficult to use by people who are not very familiar with the IMS Learning Design terminology, as we have indicated in the corresponding sandbox. Collage takes a different approach: Instead of starting from scratch to create Units of Learning, Collage intends to help users by providing them with existing and generally accepted models or patterns that have been used by others; it is also specialized in collaborative learning; these are the patterns provided by COLLAGE. They have the names: Jigsaw, Pyramid, Brainstorming, Simulation, TAPPS, TPS.These patterns are called Collaborative Learning Flow Patterns (CLFPs).
One of the advantages of COLLAGE is that these patterns are integrated in a graphical user interface, represented visually as a tree representing the flow, and once they are selected, they are easy to edit.
How can it be used for creation of OERs
COLLAGE allows to create Units of Learning.
How can it be used for consumption of OERs
COLLAGE is an editor, which is not oriented to “consume” Units of Learning. Sled or CopperCore can be used for the consumption.
How can it be used for reuse of OERs
COLLAGE promotes the re-use of widely accepted techniques for collaborative learning, which are represented as the CLFPs mentioned. These techniques are in principle the best practices in collaborative learning structuring. They can be customized into Units of Learning which are better suited to the specific requirements and conditions of the intended learning.
License support
The tool is licensed under the GNU General Public License.
Standards / Compatibility
The tool supports the IMS Learning Design specification (http://www.imsglobal.org/learningdesign), and it is specifically IMS Learning Design (IMS-LD) level A compliant (IMS-LD has got three levels, A, B and C).
HOW TO USE IT
How to install and use COLLAGE can be found at http://gsic.tel.uva.es/collage/download. We suggest to go there through the project page: http://gsic.tel.uva.es/collage/. as there are different documents, examples, scenarios, etc. which are detailed in the next section.
Links / examples / Who is using it
As we have indicated, the main page of the project is: http://gsic.tel.uva.es/collage/. The project is a SourceForge project too: http://sourceforge.net/projects/collage/.
The main contributor to COLLAGE has been the Universidad de Valladolid (OUNL). We suggest to go to the project site to get updated information of different developments. As we have indicated earlier, the site of the project contains documentation, which we describe next: Publications related to Collage are available in http://gsic.tel.uva.es/members/davinia; a paper can be downloaded from http://gsic.tel.uva.es/~dherleo/ets06collage.pdf, the brochure from http://gsic.tel.uva.es/collage/documents/collage_brochure.pdf. The User Manual includes a Worksheet and a Questionnaire is available from http://gsic.tel.uva.es/collage/documents/collage_usermanual.pdf. There is other documentation, alos in Spanish.
One of the persons advising the development of COLLAGE has joined the GTI of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra who will continue contributing enhancements to COLLAGE. Contact them through http://gti.upf.edu.
Collage has been partially funded by EU e-Learning TELL Project, the Kaleidoscope Network of Excellence and the Spanish Ministr y of Science and Technology TIC-2002-04258-C03-02 project.
Sandbox
Collage can be downloaded from http://gsic.tel.uva.es/collage/ or from http://sourceforge.net/projects/collage/.
Comments / Discussion
COLLAGE has been greatly appreciated by the research community and has received a European prize (the European CSCL Award for Excellence in the Field of CSCL Technology).
COLLAGE represents an important step forward to making Learning Design tools usable.
