PIOP 2

Belongs to Portfolio interoperability projects.

Funded by the JISC, facilitated by Simon Grant of CETIS

Final PIOP 2 reports
The PIOP 2 projects have now finished. Their final reports from individual partner projects are available through the JISC web page on the projects.

Here also is (in PDF) [[Media:PIOP2-summary.pdf | the final summary report on the project as a whole]]. It contains a short summary of the work done, and a lengthy section on suggestions or recommendations for future work.

Participants
Here is a list of participants. On each page, the intention is that there are: contact details; project outline and timetable; specific deliverables; and links to documentation and materials.


 * PIOP LeicesterShire
 * PIOP Mahara
 * PIOP myprogressfile
 * PIOP Newcastle
 * PIOP Nottingham
 * PIOP PebblePad
 * PIOP Synergetics

Meetings
There was a PIOP testing meeting 2009-02-25 in Huddersfield for testing and tying up loose ends of the spec.

There was a PIOP startup meeting 2008-11-27 in Birmingham for all the current participants.

There was a meeting which included briefing for these projects, to which all interested were invited, in Manchester, on September 30th 2008.

Test account
Create a test account on the e-portfolio (or related) system which will be used for test export purposes. This test account should be filled with just enough representative information so that all the kinds of portfolio information that may plausibly be transferred between systems are present. Ideally this account will be available for project partners to read as if it were live, but no changes should actually be recorded in the database. (Other separate “sandbox” accounts may also be provided to allow experimentation.)

Scenarios
Document a range of scenarios of practice of how learners are using the e-portfolio system in question (for example for supporting personal development planning, reflective practice, professional development, etc.) and the resulting information that is stored within the system. Where these are similar to ones already collected at LEAP2A practice scenarios, this should be noted, and the scenario given as a variant, and not in full.

Mapping
Provide a shareable table documenting the individual fields of information in the system, data definitions, and mapping to LEAP2A. The mapping may be initially proposed by the project partner owning the system, but must be agreeable to collaborators, and agreed by the CETIS coordinator. In cases where the mapping is not straightforward, explanatory notes are expected. The documentation as a whole should be sufficient to allow a reader to relate input fields on the test account together with the export mapping to LEAP2A.

Glossary
Compare, and provide explanations as needed, of the terms used to describe and classify the portfolio information in the system, so that these terms can be related to the terms used in LEAP2A, in order that their meaning is made clear to other collaborators.

Import
Explore and implement a way of importing LEAP2A files into the system, as generated both by the system and by other systems. This may be offered directly to learners, or it may be made available through system administrative procedures. Successful bidders will also be required to document the results of the import of files from other systems, particularly noting where material or meaning appears to have been unavoidably lost, as some inevitably will be; and also the approach taken to importing, in a way that is designed to help others also trying to import similar files.

Export
Explore and implement a way for a user of the e‑portfolio system to export their information in LEAP2A format. Using this export facility, bidders will be expected to export the information in the test account, and to provide the exported Atom file for others to import, together with relevant attachments. The approach taken should be documented, together with any software libraries used.

Report
Complete a brief report summarising the current and potential value of interoperability using LEAP2A, including suggestions for improvements and most useful next steps.

General deliverables, as specified in the PIOP 2 call

 * A brief project outline within two weeks of the project start date.
 * (Here is the template used ([[Media:Project_Plan_Template_LEAP2A.doc |MS Word .doc]] or [[Media:Project_Plan_Template_LEAP2A.odt|OpenDocument .odt]]).
 * A static test account as described above in paragraph above.
 * The documentation given to learners using the system.
 * Any scenarios of practice, as detailed in paragraph above.
 * A table mapping information fields, as detailed in paragraph above.
 * A glossary, as detailed in paragraph above.
 * Documentation of the success or failure of meaningful import, as described in paragraph above.
 * Documentation of the approach taken to import, as paragraph above.
 * Documentation of the approach taken to export, as paragraph above.
 * A report or case study that includes:
 * discussion of the organisational and technical issues encountered during the course of the project;
 * evaluation of and feedback on the LEAP2A specification, including
 * evaluation of its usability for work such as this,
 * identification of any problem areas and suggestions for improvements,
 * resource/time implications as a guide for other developers implementing the specification;
 * recommendations to JISC on further development activity needed in this area.

Extended deliverables
Particularly for the original partners, but also for any other partners interested, we would like to see at least: Please note under the Discussion tab, and let us know, of any other desired extension work.
 * extension of the specification to cover names, addresses, contact details, etc.
 * an agreed solution to the question of packaging LEAP2A information together with related files (using IMS Content Packaging or otherwise)
 * detailing of a workable web service API allowing the transfer of information between systems without the intermediaries of separate file download and upload. For this, the Atom Publishing Protocol may be explored.