Process pattern and process capability evaluation model for interoperability in learning object environments

Abstract The variety of educational resources available on the Internet, the efforts made by educational institutions for the creation of digital content, the wide variety of educational platforms, and the lack of standardized processes in their development, means that the efforts are many but the impact poor. The objective of this research is to provide elements to standardize the development of virtual learning environments and to unify efforts through mechanisms for interoperability. A Reference Model of Processes for Interoperability in Learning Object Environments [RMPI] is presented, including a Process Pattern and an Assessment Model of Process Capability [AMPC], which would serve as an activity guide that educational institutions [HEI] can follow when implementing learning objects environments to make them reusable and beneficial for the users who exchange them. Among the main results are the formal definition of a process pattern, the identification of 115 activities for interoperability in the technical, syntactic, semantic, organizational, educational and cultural dimensions, the formulation of an Evaluation Model for the Capability of Processes and its disposition through a Web application for the self-evaluation of the HEI. The self-evaluation of 6 HEI was carried out following the developed model, which allowed its characterization according to its capacities for interoperability. From the results of this self-evaluation, it was possible to identify activities for the process pattern, to validate the capability levels and to know the vocation of the evaluated HEI.