Designing an Effective

Organisational Infrastructure Jim Petch – Co Director eLRC

Institute of EducationLearning Technologies Unit18th January 2006 London

eLRC Manchester Position

• E-Learning is a driver……for…

• Organisational change driven by need to industrialise

• Redesign of teaching and learning provision

Organisational Change

• The commercial sector is experiencing radical and far reaching changes in thinking about how enterprises are run and how the challenges of technology-led business operations can be met

• The emerging requirements point to an end-to-end view of business processes and to a service view of what an organisation offers.

Organisational Change

• To achieve these qualities the enterprise needs a certain approach, and informed thinking indicates a service-oriented, component-based architecture

Organisational Change

• The IT strategy should be aligned with the business strategy neither bolted on to it nor driving it. A service-oriented, business requirements driven approach ensures greater alliance between IT and the business.

Object Management Group

• Main Ideas– MDA Model driven approach– SOA Service Oriented Architectures

• To which we add the idea of – QoS Quality of Service Framework

• To which we add the idea of – maturity (CMM model) and

benchmarking (eMM)

Model Driven Architecture

The eLearning Lifecycle

Practices (activities)

Phases (time) Inception Elaboration Construction Transition

time

Practices

1. Business Modelling

2. Business Analysis and Planning

3. Requirements Analysis

4. Activity Planning

5. Project Management

6. Change Management

7. Design

8. Development

9. Deployment

10. Evaluation

11. Testing

12. Teaching

13. Learning

14. Environmental Refinement

15. Staff Development

16. Research

PhasesOrganisation along Time

Inception Elaboration Construction Transition

initial elab#1

elab#2

cons#1

cons#2

cons#n

trans#1

trans#2

Organisation along C

ontent

The Lifecycle and Linked ProcessesIn order to control the lifecycle one has to build into the model the things that influence and change it.

This kind of domain model (or enterprise metamodel) acts as a blueprint for modelling a specific enterprise.

Modelling the response to changes arising from

the influence of the linked processes

End-to-End Process Model

Reminder!!

• NB the models are of technologies, artefacts, people, ….

• NOT technology alone!!

Layered Architecture for SOA in e-Learning

COVARM: The Manchester Validation Process

High level alignment of processes

Canonical Models

• Moving from use cases to models of use to synthesised models to canonical models

• 2 approaches– Empirical modelling– Cross domain mapping

Checklists and Cross Domain Mapping

• Checklists provide fullest available articulation of processes

• Extensive checklists are readily available• Examples later

Growing the World of Web ‘Service’ Components

• JISC Reference Model Projects– LADIE – activity design– FREMA – assessment– COVARM – Course validation– eP4LL – e portfolio– XCRI – exchanging course information

Course validation

Activity designproduction

design

Course info. planning

Assessment

Student record

E-portfolios

recruitment

marketing

registration

Delivery

Key Issues about the map

• They map is defined by the reference model components not by a higher principle

• The reference models are not joined up

• What is this a map of? An enterprise?

Some Uncomfortable assumptions

• Reference models are developed using a common method and with common tools

• There is an agreed level of granularity• There is a map that is known• It is a map of the enterprise

Service Oriented Architectures

QoS Framework Application Architecture

eLearning Services

QoS Framework Services

General Purpose Services

Mechanisms and Utilities

Execution Environment and Data Management

Profile

ePortfolio

Registration

Unstructured Data

Course Information

Learning Activity

Personal Folder

Workflow Schedule

Event

Structured Data

IDEVLE

Student

Assessment Validation

Authentication

Contract

Directory Services

Repository Data Warehouse

Legacy Adapter

Archive

Wizard MentorChecklist PatternProcess DirectorAgent

Operating System

XML manager

Service B Service AQF

GP

EE

QF

DL

MU

DL DL DL DL DL DL

QF

QF

QF QF

QFQF

QF

QFQF

QF

QF

GP GPGPGP

GP GPGP GP GP

MU

MUMU

MU MUMU MU

EE EE EEEE

Services composed of components from the framework

DLDL

DL

DL

DL

GP

MU

Reuse

GP

Deployment to different platforms

Deployment to different platforms

Service

Autonomous Business Components and Services

Unit

Student Course

Record VLE

Business components

But how?• Moving to a new enterprise architecture is a process

affecting organisational as well as technical aspects. • The new roles, concepts and techniques may form a

barrier to successful transition and it is necessary to help people adopt and use the architecture by providing a framework of guidelines, best practices, templates and tools.

• These are actively integrated into the work processes rather than being merely reference documents.

• The Framework is essentially a quality assurance tool that addresses the end-to-end business processes, their context, requirements and implementation.

• The Framework must provide a coherent set of mechanisms by which business requirements are modelled, their logic is turned into a flow of activities, which is then executed by a set of components, and their performance is monitored and evaluated.

The QoS Framework Elements

• QA mechanisms• Metadata builders• Models and Patterns• Standards• Guidelines and Best Practice

Process Driven Knowledgebase

PDK: Planning Student Support

Adding Idea of Bridging Principles

Maturity and Bechmarking

Capability Maturity Model- eMM

Level 1: Initial

Level 2: Repeatable Software configuration management Software quality assurance Software subcontract management Software project tracking and oversight Software project planningRequirements management

Level 3: Defined Peer reviews Integration co-ordination Software product engineering Integrated software management Training program Organisation process definitionOrganisation process focus

Level 5: Optimising Process change management Technology change managementDefect prevention

Level 4: Managed Software quality managementQuantitative process management

Disciplined processes

Standard, consistent processes

Predictable processes

Continuously improving processes

Capability Maturity Model- eMM

Capability Maturity Model- eMM

Capability Maturity Model- eMM

Benchmarking - Strategic Objective

• A driver for joined-up design of organisations

• Focus on metrics• Focus on ‘evaluation systems’ – that is

systems that are designed for change- that is learning organisations

So what?

The Concept Gap

• Getting people to understand• Communicating• Aligning• Sharing process and therefore knowledge

and power

The Strategy Gap

• Where to go?

• From which place?

• How to get there?

The Implementation Gap