Final Report Reference Model Projects Synthesis Project - Jisc.doc

Final Report of the
Reference Model Projects
Synthesis and Evaluation Project
Tom Franklin
Franklin Consulting
Mike Beeston
Maven Associates Ltd
Hilary Dexter
University of Manchester
Mark van Harmelen
Independent Consultant and University of Manchester
Executive Summary
The JISC reference model projects ran initially for 12 months from March 2005, with several of the projects being given a six month extension. The outputs from the reference model projects were both diverse plex, In order to make the outputs of the reference model projects more accessible and to aid understanding of the reference mode projects, the missioned this project.
The reference model projects were:
Course Validation Reference Model (COVARM)
Framework Reference Model for Assessment (FREMA)
Learning Activity Design in Education (LADiE)
ePortfolio for Lifelong Learning (eP4LL)
Personal Learning Environments (PLE)
Exchanging Course Related Information (XCRI)
Only four of the six projects included in this work were originally funded under the reference model banner. PLE and XCRI were funded through other mechanisms and then added to the reference model programme as they included some effort aimed in the direction of reference models. The result is that the artefacts that those two projects produced have the least mon with the other reference model projects.
Given the level of funding available to the synthesis project it has had to focus closely on the deliverables defined in the invitation to tender (ITT):
Collation of the approaches and outputs from the six Reference Model Projects into a preserved collection that can be browsed with high degree of openness and ease of access. This appears on the JISC website at The web site anised into two main sections: Analysis material specifically requested in the ITT with links to drill down into the body of the collated projects, and synthesis anised around the lifecycle method (see 3 below) pares