Navigator for Integrated Learning Experience (NILE)

The Challenge

The TLA will enable multiple services and learning opportunities (of various modalities and points of delivery) to be managed in an integrated, interoperable “plug and play” environment. However, to realize this vision, the TLA must be able to facilitate data interoperability with existing tools.

The Solution

Implement and evaluate the utility of TLA specifications and business rules with a mature learning platform, Gooru.

About the Project

The goal of the NILE project was to demonstrate how TLA specifications, such as xAPI, can be integrated with an existing learning system. The NILE navigator tool was developed by this project, building upon the existing Gooru system. Gooru provides adaptive open education to K-12 students using a “Google Maps” metaphor. (Gooru is also a nonprofit spinoff of Google.) Gooru “locates” learners based on their current subject proficiency and then routes them to their learning destination, which is reached by completing various activities along the way. It can also reroute them based on performance until they achieve proficiency along personalized and adaptive learning paths. These paths are created using standards-compliant interoperable learning content and tools.

Every student journey, based on a learner profile, is reflected in a competency “skyline” that provides the learner with a route toward the successful completion of a chosen target journey. Using a dashboard interface, pathways are generated to map out the best route to achieve learning goals, with consideration given to each person’s proficiency, preferences, and portfolio. Updates are made in real time as the learner progresses on that pathway. The navigator tool accesses a catalog with millions of curated and organized resources that can be leveraged for the learner’s specific needs. Every learning activity is associated with a defined competency, and learning maps are used to identify the distinct types of curated learning activities required and available for a specific competency the student is trying to achieve.

This project sought to adapt the existing Gooru navigator and integrate it with TLA components—such as xAPI, the Competency and Skill System (CaSS), and learner profiles—to evaluate the extensibility and modularity of the TLA. An in-depth explanation of how the navigator tool works, as well as how it deployed TLA specifications and components, can be accessed in the project report and webinar links.