Harvard University –with 100 MOOCs featuring 26,000 videos, problems and text pages on edX.org– continues to experiment with technology to allow broad reuse of edX content for its on-campus Canvas platform.
Its new technical solution is called DART: Digital Assets for Reuse in Teaching, a system that allows any Harvard instructor to utilize HarvardX edX content in their on-campus courses via the Canvas LMS using the LTI standard interoperability tool. [See a screenshot above].
“Content is discoverable through search and recommendation interfaces, and the embed process is reduced to a few clicks. The initiative is well aligned with the envisioned NGDLE (next-generation digital learning environment), focusing on platform interoperability (edX to Canvas) and microservices (small isolated coding blocks) that appropriately isolate development to allow for quick iteration,” explained Daniel Seaton, a product owner for the DART project at Harvard University, in an article on Inside The Higher Education.
Mr. Seaton recommends to the edX Consortium –which hosts 2,200 courses– to explore the possibility of extending these interoperability technologies to others members, creating a sharing economy for MOOC content. “When so many institutions have committed to open online courses, it’s natural to ask how these materials can be used to explore new pathways in both existing and nascent learning settings,” he says.
