Led by the University of Washington, DCMI is helping to plan a project,
starting next year, to help instructors and faculty who teach Linked
Data technologies understand the available software tools and their use
in the classroom.

We are currently collecting comments to a short analysis of learning
topics and related tools posted on a Wordpress blog (below).  Comments
can range from simple expressions of interest to more detailed comments
on the substance of our planned project (e.g., priorities, from your
standpoint).  Descriptions of how the topic of Linked Data bears on what
you teach (or your users must learn) would be especially helpful.

Comments -- either posted to the blog, or sent directly to me -- would
be especially helpful by the end of June [1].

Please feel free to distribute the attached descriptions to anyone 
who might be interested.

Many thanks,
Tom

[1] http://lld.ischool.uw.edu/wp/ - Call for Comments

----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Learning Linked Data" - project plans 2013+ for comment

    "Learning Linked Data," a one-year planning activity under the
    National Leadership Program of the Institute of Museum and Library
    Services (IMLS) [1], is planning a project to support professional
    education and development by promoting software tools and skills
    needed for understanding and processing Linked Data.

    A planning workshop involving information-school faculty,
    information system consultants, students, and software developers
    identified the types of software tools needed for exploring a target
    set of learning topics.

    The follow-on project will engage instructors -- iSchool faculty,
    trainers, and consultants -- in dialog with developers -- experts in
    the use of tools, perhaps even the developers of those tools -- in
    order to produce documentation, screencasts, and the like, about how
    a target set of tools may be used in teaching, and specifically how
    they may be used in combination in addressing the target set of
    learning topics.

    Our activity has posted its analysis of learning topics and related
    software tools for public comment through June 30th [2].  We are
    interested in hearing from members of the target audience of library
    and museum information professionals about how they foresee using
    software tools for instruction and learning.  We are also interested
    in advice from software developers on what tools we should target,
    or in ways our project might help document or promote the use of
    those tools.

    [1] http://www.imls.gov/news/national_leadership_grant_announcement.aspx#WA
    [2] http://lld.ischool.uw.edu/wp/

----------------------------------------------------------------------

               Learning Linked Data Project

                   Call for Comments

                http://lld.ischool.uw.edu/wp/

The Learning Linked Data Project, a planning activity funded under the IMLS
National Leadership Program from October 2011 through September 2012, has taken
a first step towards developing a software platform to help instructors,
students, and independent learners interpret and create Linked Data.  The
platform is envisioned to be of use to anyone offering training and education
in Linked Data principles and practice, whether in academia or professional
settings, in online instruction or in classrooms.  

As Linked Data is based on data structures of a linguistic nature, the guiding
metaphor for the project is that of designing a "language lab" -- a software
platform for analyzing and manipulating Linked Data in support of a wide range
of pedagogical approaches and expected learning outcomes.

The project has prepared a draft "Inventory of Learning Topics", with an
analysis of software required for such a platform, and posted it for public
review through 30 June 2012 on a blog at:

    http://lld.ischool.uw.edu/wp/learning/

The document is divided into five short blog pages:

-- Understanding Linked Data [2]: "prerequisite" topics, specific to Linked Data,
   which must be grasped before a learner can meaningfully use software tools.
   The list of topics is linked to a three-page glossary [9] with definitions of
   terminology used.

-- Searching and Querying Linked Data [3]: just as language learners learn 
   through dialog with native speakers, learners of Linked Data must learn how
   to pose queries and explore datasets.  Tools for doing so include data
   validators, reasoners, query tools, and Semantic Web search engines.

-- Creating and Manipulating RDF Data [4]: In the Linked Data cloud,
   descriptions of things and descriptions of the vocabularies used to describe
   those things are all considered "data," so many of the basic tools for
   editing, mapping, converting, and extracting data may be adapted for
   different types of data.

-- Visualization [5]: Linked Data is conceptually diagrammatic in nature, and
   graphical tools can help the learner explore the statistical, spatial, or
   temporal characteristics of datasets by visualizing webs of data at various
   levels of granularity or by plotting the data to maps or timelines.

-- Implementing a Linked Data Application [6]: Simply learning how to interpret and
   manipulate Linked Data could stop with the topics outlined above.  The extent
   to which a language-lab-like platform for learning Linked Data should encompass
   tools for building real applications poses questions of scope on which the 
   project would appreciate input.

The project envisions the platform as a basis for the development of course
modules by people involved in both formal and informal learning environments,
so comments about the usefulness of such a platform for particular scenarios
would be especially welcome.

The comments received will be incorporated into a revised document and final
report to be published in September 2012. This report will be used as the basis
for a subsequent IMLS project proposal, to be submitted in early 2013, for
implementing the platform specified.

The partners of the Learning Linked Data Project are the University of
Washington, Kent State University, the University of North Carolina, JES &
Company, and 3 Round Stones, Inc. The project lead and contact person is Mike
Crandall of the University of Washington.

[1] http://www.imls.gov/news/national_leadership_grant_announcement.aspx#WA
[2] http://lld.ischool.uw.edu/wp/learning/understanding-linked-data/ 
[3] http://lld.ischool.uw.edu/wp/learning/searching-and-querying-linked-data/
[4] http://lld.ischool.uw.edu/wp/learning/creating-and-manipulating-rdf-data/
[5] http://lld.ischool.uw.edu/wp/learning/visualization/
[6] http://lld.ischool.uw.edu/wp/learning/implementing-a-linked-data-application/ 
[7] http://lld.ischool.uw.edu/wp/glossary/

-- 
Tom Baker <[log in to unmask]>
Learning Linked Data
    Wiki: http://wiki.dublincore.org/index.php/Learning_Linked_Data
    List: http://dublincore.org/pipermail/learninglinkeddata/

-- 
Tom Baker <[log in to unmask]>