1EdTech Glossary

This 1EdTech standard is a part of the 1EdTech Access for All work. It is used to describe digital resources that can be adjusted to improve accessibility. This standard is focused on the description of the characteristics of the resource that affect how it can be perceived, understood, or interacted with by users, including what sensory modalities are used in the resource; ways in which the resource is adaptable e.g., whether text can be transformed automatically; which methods of input the resource accepts; and what adaptations are available. Version 2 of the Access for All Digital Resources Description (AfA DRD) has been released as ISO Standard [ISO/IEC 24751-3:2008].

This 1EdTech standard is a part of the 1EdTech Access for All work. It defines a language for describing a learner’s needs and preferences with respect to how the learner can best interact with digital resources, including the configuration of assistive technologies. This standard is an important component of the 1EdTech e-assessment standards: APIP and QTI. Version 2 of the Access for All Digital Personal Needs & Preferences (AfA DRD) has been released as ISO Standard [ISO/IEC 24751-2:2008].

 AccessForAll^® is a standard developed by 1EdTech Consortium. AccessForAll provides accessibility to users by matching user needs and preferences with the characteristics of available resources. These preferences include information about how the user can interact best with a computer, not convey information such as medical history. The user's need for specific kinds of content, display features, or control mechanisms is recorded. This information is used to select or request appropriate adapted content, configure a visual display for easy reading, or locate resources that match the user's control requirements. For more information, see 1EdTech's Accessibility ProjectGroup Activities 1EdTech App Note: Enhancing Accessibility through 1EdTech Standards. Higher education institutional members may be interested in the Accessibility Innovation Leadership Network; for more information see Higher Ed Innovation Leadership Networks

 The technical work at 1EdTech focused on inclusive design, and personalization of online learning resources to meet the needs of all users/learners. The 1EdTech Accessibility workgroup activities focus on adaptation or personalization of resources, interfaces and content to meet the needs of individuals.

View the 1EdTech Accessibility Rubric for Suppliers.  Results of supplier self assessments can be viewed in the TrustEd Apps Management Suite for 1EdTech Institutional Members. 

Learn more about this work: Accessibility

Accessible Portable Item Protocol^® — 1EdTech has developed two tightly connected standards that the assessment community worldwide is using to improve learning, Question and Test Interoperability^® (QTI^®) and Accessible Portable Item Protocol^® (APIP^®). APIP offers students access to digital assessments on the first day of class that is customized to their personal learning needs with minimal or no modifications necessary so that teaching can proceed without interruption and results are transmitted faster than with paper-based assessments. APIP is a solution for authoring and delivering test items to students in a way that supports the consistency of the delivery of every item. The newer QTI 3 standard incorporates many of the concepts of the APIP standard into a more integrated solution. For more information see 1EdTech's Accessibility Project Group Activities and the 1EdTech App Note: Enhancing Accessibility through 1EdTech Standards. Higher Education Institutional Members may be interested in the Accessibility Innovation Leadership Network; for more information see Higher Ed Innovation Leadership Networks.

The Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite, defines a way to make Web content and Web applications more accessible to people with disabilities. It especially helps with dynamic content and advanced user interface controls developed with HTML, JavaScript, and related technologies. Without WAI-ARIA certain functionality used in Web sites is not available to some users with disabilities, especially people who rely on screen readers and people who cannot use a mouse. WAI-ARIA addresses these accessibility challenges, for example, by defining ways for functionality to be provided to assistive technology. With WAI-ARIA, developers can make advanced Web applications accessible and usable to people with disabilities.

Abbreviation for Access for All Digital Resources Description, a standard developed by 1EdTech.

Abbreviation for Access for All Personal Needs & Preferences, a standard developed by 1EdTech.

This is one of the Metric Profiles defined in the 1EdTech Caliper Standard. The Annotation Profile models activities related to the annotation of digital resources. Creating a bookmark, highlighting selected text, sharing a resource, tagging a document, and viewing an annotation are modeled.

API endpoints are URLs or digital locations that perform a service. Certified CASE Providers offer specific API endpoints that accept a CASE-formatted package and returns data so the client can "ingest" or consume a CASE Framework. More simply put, the API endpoint is your digital bridge to connect you to a CASE Framework, so you can upload it into your system (for example, an LMS.)

APIP is the abbreviation for Accessible Portable Item Protocol, a standard developed by 1EdTech. See the definition for the Accessible Portable Item Protocol for more information.

Abbreviation for Accessible Rich Internet Application, a standard published by W3C.

One of the Metric Profiles defined in the 1EdTech Caliper Standard. The Caliper Assessment Profile models assessment-related activities, including interactions with individual assessment items. Caliper provides details on the learner's activities on Assessments (Tests) and Items (Questions) and counts the number of times an assigned resource is attempted.

The Assessment Results Profile for Gradebook Service standard is a formal subset of the 1EdTech OneRoster 1.2 Gradebook Service. The OR 1.2 Gradebook Service, one service within the full OR 1.2 specification, provides the ability to manage the exchange of information about gradebooks in the form of results, lineItems, collections of lineItems (categories), and score-scales. It is also possible to exchange information about assessment activities in the form of assessment lineItems and assessment results. The Assessment Results Profile enables the exchange of detailed results that are assigned as part of some form of assessment activity, i.e., the assessment lineItems and assessment results parts of the OR 1.2 Gradebook Service.

This is one of the Metric Profiles defined in the 1EdTech Caliper Standard. The Assignable Profile models activities associated with the assignment of digital content to a learner for completion according to specific criteria. Caliper provides a generic assignable digital resource for describing these activities as well as a counting of the number of times an assigned resource has been attempted by the learner.

Assignment and Grade Services is one of the Learning Tool Interoperability^® (LTI^®) services that make up LTI Advantage. This extension enables the passing of assignment results from the tool back to the LMS. Assignment and Grade Services enables faculty to sync grades and comments in third-party tools into a single place, such as the LMS grade book, which gives students and faculty a clearer picture of learning progress in one place. With Assignment and Grade Services you get multiple benefits including gradable assignments shared with a tool, numeric scores returned to LMS grade book, assessor's comments returned if provided, multiple results supported in a single exchange, and instructor override and history of attempts allowed. For more information, see the LTI Advantage Overview.

Supports the passing of assignment results from the tool to the platform. Assignment and Grade Services enables faculty to sync grades and comments in third-party tools into a single place, such as the LMS gradebook.

Assignment and Grade Services is one of the Learning Tool Interoperability® (LTI®) services that make up LTI Advantage. This extension enables the passing of assignment results from the tool grades iconback to the LMS. Assignment and Grade Services enables faculty to sync grades and comments in third-party tools into a single place, such as the LMS grade book, which gives students and faculty a clearer picture of learning progress in one place. With Assignment and Grade Services you get multiple benefits including gradable assignments shared with a tool, numeric scores returned to LMS grade book, assessor's comments returned if provided, multiple results supported in a single exchange, and instructor override and history of attempts allowed. For more information, see the LTI Advantage Overview.

AsyncAPI is an open source initiative that seeks to improve the current state of Event-Driven Architectures (EDA). The long-term goal is to make working with EDAs as easy as it is to work with REST APIs. That goes from documentation to code generation, from discovery to event management. Most of the processes you apply to your REST APIs nowadays would be applicable to your event-driven/asynchronous APIs too. The first step has been to create a specification that allows developers, architects, and product managers to define the interfaces of an async API. Much like OpenAPI (fka Swagger) does for REST APIs.

This is one of the authorization grant mechanisms defined in the OAuth 2.0 standard (IETF RFC 6749).  The authorization code grant type is used to obtain both access tokens and refresh tokens and is optimized for confidential clients but for which there is no established trust relationship. Since this is a redirection-based flow, the client must be capable of interacting with the resource owner’s user-agent (typically a web browser) and capable of receiving incoming requests (via redirection) from the authorization server. This authorization approach is adopted and adapted in the 1EdTech Security Framework.

 Badge Extensions for Education, a 1EdTech initiative, augments the Open Badges 2.0 standard with important accreditation and assessment information to help employers and others better understand what was required to earn a badge. Badge Extensions for Education are two optional extensions—Assessment and Accreditation—to the Open Badges standard that allow an Open Badge to contain even more information about the achievement and issuing organization. First, the Assessment extension allows detailed information to be included pertaining to the assessment completed by the badge recipient. The Assessment extension describes the type of assessment (exam, performance, or artifact), whether it was a group assessment with a group evaluation, and information about how the assessment is scored. The Accreditation extension provides a way for the issuing organization to include information about related accreditation bodies, including their name and contact information, accreditation time period, and the accreditor's area of focus. For more information, see 1EdTech's Digital Credentialing Initiative and Digital Credentials and Badges Project Group Activity. Higher Education Institutional Members may be interested in the Digital Credentials & CBE Innovation Leadership Network; for more information see Higher Ed Innovation Leadership Networks.

Caliper Analytics^® is a standard developed by 1EdTech. Caliper establishes a means for consistently capturing and presenting measures of learning activity; defines a common language for labeling learning data; provides a standard way of measuring learning activities and effectiveness; and leverages data science methods, standards, and technologies. Caliper provides the means to collect click-stream data from all digital resources that can be streamed into an institution's dashboard of choice to view student interaction with digital tools and inform the instructional design to better understand the return on learning for their technology investments. For more information, see 1EdTech's Education and Digital Analytics Initiative and Caliper Analytics Project Group Activity. Higher Education Institutional Members may be interested in the Learning Data & Analytics Innovation Leadership Network; for more information see Higher Ed Innovation Leadership Networks.

Learn more about this work: https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/caliper

This is a new LTI Advantage extension service for LTI-enabled Tools for the configuration of the Caliper Analytics-based reporting capabilities of the Tool. An LTI Platform MUST communicate the availability of the Caliper Connector Service in every LTI message where the service is relevant.

A Caliper event is a data object that describes a learning activity.  It is made up of an actor, an action, and an object.

An individual, or consulting group that builds the CASE frameworks for the Issuer. They translate the issuer’s human-readable standards into the CASE format.

The digital package with a document that includes a list of all the competencies/academic standards (CFitems) for a curricular subject, in sequential order (vertical alignments.) It includes parent-child relationships.

The official entity that owns and generates the source standards. The issuer is the authority who publishes (until now, human-readable) standards. In the case of K12 education, it may be a state’s department of education (DOE/SEA), a Local Education Agency (LEAs), or other organizations that publish K-12 and K-12 PD learning and competency standards. 

The issuer (owner/author) can also be an industry association, other institutions (community colleges, etc.) or a company that offers professional development courses.

The ultimate objective of CASE (1EdTech’s Competencies and Academic Standards Exchange® specification) is to make it easier, more accurate, and less expensive for edtech suppliers to align resources and tools with state and district academic standards, therefore allowing educators to find resources that better support their needs. Before CASE, academic standards were usually officially published in PDF format, forcing institutions and edtech suppliers that needed machine-readable standards to perform time-consuming manual work or use proprietary formats. This increased costs and made it difficult to ensure fidelity (especially when standards were updated).

Now, every issuing agency can author machine-readable CASE versions of their standards using their own CASE publishing tool, allowing each agency to retain complete control over the source of truth for their standards and make this source of truth freely and openly available. The CASE Network serves a key function in the CASE ecosystem, providing a single access point for edtech suppliers to pull standards issued by agencies anywhere in the U.S. and access revision histories of those standards.

CASE Network 2 is available for everyone to browse and search without the need to sign in at casenetwork.1edtech.org. Additional functionality, including API and download access to the machine-readable CASE data for all frameworks, is available to edtech suppliers, educational institutions, and non-commercial entities that request Registered Access to CASE Network 2. Edtech suppliers are asked to pay a nominal annual fee to support the network; educational institutions and non-commercial entities can register at no cost. Learn more about CASE Network.  Learn more about the CASE standard. 

An individual from an organization who has registered to use the CASE Network.

A Unique Resource Identifier that leads the user the the API endpoint. This is the call that allows a system to "ingest" or consume an entire CASE Framework.

Is a URL link that directs the user to the original source (the Issuer's publication of the academic standards and competencies.

CAT is the abbreviation for Computer Adaptive Testing, a standard being developed by 1EdTech. See the definition of Computer Adaptive Testing for more information.

A term used in QTI 3 which holds additional resources for QTI content. A catalog holds support-specific dormant content that can be made active (a part of the perceivable content presented to the candidate) based on the candidate's PNP information.

Means that an application or supplier has demonstrated adherence to a 1EdTech standard, has passed the corresponding tests, and has received a certification number from 1EdTech.  This results in the product being listed in the 1EdTech Product Directory

1EdTech offers two types of certification: 

1. Certification for edtech Products against 1EdTech technical standard specifications. 

• Learn how to procure certified products: https://www.1edtech.org/certification/procure-certified
• Suppliers, click here to learn how to get certified: https://www.1edtech.org/certification/get-certified  

2. Professional certification for individuals. (Members only: https://www.1edtech.org/program/tacl) 

Are the suppliers (systems) that ingest CASE API Frameworks. By ingesting CASE frameworks, they can provide CASE-meta tagged resources to districts. CASE consumers can be (1) Education systems, such as an SIS, LMS, assessment platforms, content management systems (CMS) or learning object repositories (LORs), and (2) Curriculum & Assessment Suppliers, digital content providers, learning apps, or learning tools.

The software or system used to publish CASE Frameworks. CASE providers have to have their API’s  certified. 

Examples: FrostAlign, Standards Satchel, AEFIS, EdGate, and PCG’s OpenSalt. CASE providers can author frameworks, but sometimes the CASE Issuer publishes their competencies or academic standards using a Digital Conversion Tool (see definition below)

The abbreviation for Common File Format. This is one of the formats addressed by the 1EdTech Interactive White Board/Common File Format specification.

This is one of the authorization grant mechanisms defined in the OAuth 2.0 standard (IETF RFC 6749).  The client credential grant type is used to obtain both access tokens and refresh tokens and is optimized for confidential clients for which there is exists an established trust relationship. This authorization approach is adopted and adapted in the 1EdTech Security Framework. 

Most commonly used as "Curriculum Management System." Some people also use the acronym for "Content Management System."

Common Cartridge^® is a standard developed by 1EdTech. Common Cartridge provides a way to package and exchange learning content and assessments. Provides a way to package and exchange learning content  (documents, images, videos, audio files, etc.) into a zip file for easy transport. CC can contain the actual content, or links to the content via LTI  links, all with metadata.

Thin Common Cartridge is a subset of the full Common Cartridge that contains only links and metadata about the content. Today’s digital content comes from a variety of resources making it difficult to integrate. Common Cartridge solves this problem by providing a standard way to package learning content so that it can be exported from one system and imported into another, providing educators and students with greater choice and flexibility to share and reuse content to personalize learning. For more information, see 1EdTech's Common Cartridge Project Group Activity.  

Learn more about this work: https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/common-cartridge

CCx is the software developed and used by 1EdTech to enable the Characterization of products that have already achieved 1EdTech Certification. Characterization is the process by which the interoperability capabilities of a deployed product can be determined. The CCx software produces the characterization reports and is used for the comparison of such reports. It is this comparison which is used to identify the actual interoperability between the two characterized systems. This is the software that is used as a part of the 1EdTech Standards First Program.

CASE^® is the abbreviation for the 1EdTech Competencies and Academic Standards Exchange^® standard. CASE is a framework for digitally transmitting learning standards, competencies, rubrics, and the relationships among sets of learning standards.  Learn more about the standard: CASE.  For more information on the CASE Network, visit: https://www.1edtech.org/program/casenetwork2. 

• Label: CASE provides each learning standard its own unique identifier. 
• Package: States (or Learning Standards Issuers) can format and wrap a complete set of standards for a given subject (like a database) so it can be uploaded into a learning platform or digital library. 

1EdTech's Competencies and Academic Standards Exchange^® (CASE^®) standard uses the term competency framework to refer to academic standards documents published by organizations such as a state department of education and individual learning standards. 

Instruments used to identify performance expectations around a task, product or performance. 

For example, using Bloom’s Taxonomy to determine the depth of learning expected at a grade level.

In 1EdTech terms, compliant has no official meaning. You should be wary of the use of this in reference to a supplier’s reported implementation of a standard, specifically when there is no certification. Also a product’s claim of conformance, without certification should be discounted.  Only certified products have demonstrated adherence to the 1EdTech open interoperability standards. 

To learn more and get resources on how to procure certified edtech tools, visit: https://www.1edtech.org/certification/procure-certified

Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) - the specification that defines a comprehensive digital learner record applicable to education and workforce learning in a verifiable, portable, and interoperable format. 

A CLR is an official document that seeks to capture, record, and communicate learning when and where it happens in a student’s educational experience. This includes learning outcomes from courses, programs and degrees, as well as experience they have outside the classroom that help develop their career ready skills and abilities.

Example: Educators designed the CLR to record more context about learning achievements and the learning journey than is possible with a digital badge.  

Learn more about this work: https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/comprehensive-learner-record

Computer Adaptive Testing is a standard for establishing interoperability between adaptive testing engines and assessment delivery platforms to adapt a test to students' understanding of the subject matter. For more information, see 1EdTech's Assessment Project Group Activity and the Computer Adaptive Testing Project Group Activity.

Is simply a claim by a supplier that an application or tool demonstrates that it adheres to an 1EdTech specification e.g. that it has implemented the standard’s requirements. 

Only certified products have demonstrated adherence to the 1EdTech open interoperability standards. 

To learn more and get resources on how to procure certified edtech tools, visit: https://www.1edtech.org/certification/procure-certified

EdTech’s interoperability design relies on two important roles: consumer and provider. Consumers and Providers can be related to tools, content, or services. A Content Consumer ingests content. A Content Consumer would also typically be a learning management system.

The 1EdTech Content Packaging specification describes data structures that can be used to exchange data between systems that wish to import, export, aggregate, and disaggregate digital content and courses. 1EdTech content packages enable exporting content from one learning content management system or digital repository and importing it into another while retaining information describing the media in the content package and how it is structured, such as a table of contents or which web page to show first. This standard is focused on the packaging and transport of resources but doesn’t determine the nature of those resources. This is because the specification allows adopters to gather, structure, and aggregate content in an unlimited variety of formats. The 1EdTech Common Cartridge standard is derived from this standard. This 1EdTech specification is available as an ISO standard [ISO/IEC 12785].

1EdTech’s interoperability design relies on two important roles: consumer and provider. Consumers and Providers can be related to tools, content, or services. A Content Provider hosts the content to be used in the Consumer. Examples of Content Providers include an externally hosted platform or server containing an open educational repository or "for-purchase" digital content.

OIDC Login with LTI Client Side postMessages -- For the LTI launch flow use window postMessages to store and validate state instead of cookies

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule

Communicates to the tool the groups available in the course and their respective enrollment.

The Course Groups Service is a new LTI Advantage extension service for LTI-enabled Tools to receive information about the groups available in the course and their respective enrollment. For example, the tool could use this information to re-use LMS defined groups rather than having to define groups within the tool.

The 1EdTech Course Planning and Scheduling standard is an application profile of the 1EdTech Learning Information Services (LIS) standard. Course Planning and Scheduling defines how systems manage the exchange of information used for the planning and scheduling of courses, the optimal use of facilities within an institution, and the corresponding timetables for people within the institution. Released as a Candidate Final document in December 2013,CPS was never made a Final Release document due to a lack of adoption by 1EdTech Members.

The abbreviation for the 1EdTech Course Planning and Scheduling standard. See Course Planning and Scheduling for more information.

Comma separated values: One of OneRoster’s 2 exchange modes that allows 2 systems to exchange flat files asynchronously.

Data Privacy is the technical work at 1EdTech focused on vetting educational applications, to ensure that a minimum standard of privacy and security is met. 

Learn more: https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/data-privacy

Example: 1EdTech has vetted thousands of applications used in education against the Data Privacy rubric. 

Allows LTI-enabled tools to assist administrative users in managing and executing requests related to data privacy.

The TrustEd Apps Seal of Data Privacy identifies that an application satisfactorily completes the TrustEd Apps vetting process, is certified for Data Privacy, and its ratings on the TrustEd Apps Data Privacy Rubric are fully disclosed and meet a specified level of expectation of data privacy

The 1EdTech technical standards used to integrate digital content. The digital content standards are: 

- CASE (Competencies and Academic Standards Exchange)

- Common Cartridge and Thin Common Cartridge (CC/TCC)

- LTI-Advantage

- LTI-Resource Search

This group of standards are used to provide easy access to learning resources, which may include curriculum, content, activities and simple assessments.

All the various platforms, applications, tools, and ways in which those systems are connected to pass data among the systems. By creating standard ways to transmit data between these platforms, applications, and tools, school districts can reduce costs, time, and increase the effectiveness of the teaching and learning cycle.

Example: The digital ecosystem of Springfield County is a bit disjointed and learners have to log in to multiple systems each day.  The leadership team is evaluating the interoperability of the ecosystem and areas for improvement. 

Digital Resource Description. Part of the 1EdTech Access for All (AfA) specification.

Dynamic Client Registration – this is the process through which a Consumer can post its registration details to the authorization server. If the authorization server accepts the registration request, it will store the information provided in the request and respond with a registration response that includes a set of client credentials for the Consumer to use when requesting access tokens. The 1EdTech Security Framework makes use of both the IETF RFC 7592 and OpenID Connect dynamic client registration approaches.

Dynamic Client Registration Protocol (OAuth 2) – this specification defines methods for management of OAuth 2.0 dynamic client registrations for use cases in which the properties of a registered client may need to be changed during the lifetime of the client. Not all authorization servers supporting dynamic client registration will support these management methods. This document is published as IETF RFC 7592. A profiled version of this is adopted in the 1EdTech Security Framework.

The first educational technology suppliers committed to adoption and certification of a 1EdTech standard specification.   A minimum number of early implementations are required (as set by the Working Group creating the specification) before a Candidate Final can be moved to Final Release. 

Example: Blackboard, Edmentum, Hoonuit, Instructure, and McGraw Hill were among the suppliers who committed to early LTI Advantage adoption and 1EdTech certification in 2018. 

Learn more about this work: https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/onerosterlis

A key area of focus for 1EdTech work; describes any initiative using digital tools and resources to enhance teaching and learning.

1EdTech published the ePortfolio standard version 1.0 in June 2005. This standard enables the exchange of information about the learner, their learning activities and achievements, reflections on their experiences, goals, plans, etc. The ePortfolio is exchanged using an 1EdTech Content Package-based format. The 1EdTech Comprehensive Learner Record standard supersedes this standard.

ePub for Education is a profile for digital publishing targeted for an education audience. ePub focuses on defining accessibility features, learning objectives, and assessments that can be included in digital publishing. For more information see, ePub for Education.

XML is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. 1EdTech uses XML as one of the binding data formats for the exchange of information. The 1EdTech standards that use XML/XSD include Metadata, Common Cartridge, QTI/APIP, and OpenVideo Metadata.

This is a new framework document, under development, that brings together all of the patterns available for extending a 1EdTech specification. The aim is to create a single reference document for all of the extensions patterns that MAY be used in a 1EdTech specification. A 1EdTech specification will cite, and if necessary further profile, the extension patterns to be used (data model and service extension as appropriate). If a new extension pattern is identified, this will be added to this framework document and so ensure that a common approach is always used for any of the permitted extension techniques.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.

https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

pecification documents and associated technical documents—developed in Task Forces and Project Groups—that are intended for external publication as 1EdTech documents that have been approved by the Technical Advisory Board (TAB).

Example: The Open Badges version 2.1 final release was issued on October 25, 2021. 

This is one of the Metric Profiles defined in the 1EdTech Caliper Standard. The Caliper Forum Profile models learners and others participating in online discussion forums. Forums typically encompass one or more threads or topics to which members can subscribe, post messages and reply to other messages if a threaded discussion is permitted. 

One of the Metric Profiles defined in the 1EdTech Caliper Standard. The Caliper General Profile provides a generic event notification for describing learning or supporting activities that have yet to be modeled by Caliper.

The General Web Services Base Profile promotes interoperability for SOAP/XML-based web service based specification implementations on different software and vendor platforms. The Base Profile focuses on a core set of web service specifications and the most common problems experienced implementing the identified web service specifications. It is not a goal of the General Web Services Base Profile to create a plug-and-play architecture for web services or to guarantee complete interoperability. The General Web Services Base Profile addresses interoperability in the application layer, in particular, the description of behaviors exposed via Web Services. The General Web Service Base Profile is derived from the Web Services Interoperability Basic Profile v1.1 and the Web Services Interoperability Simple SOAP Binding Profile v1.0. 

(GUID) A unique label. Other providers may use "Global Unique Identifier" (GUID). Applications (LMS, SIS, CMS, and Apps) can "read" and share the GUID, making it possible to track the learners' use, activities and outcomes associated with a given Learning Standard.

One of the core services in the 1EdTech OneRoster standard. This service is used for the exchange of grade book information i.e. scores and results that have been awarded to students undertaking some form of assessed activity. A rich set of data can be exchanged about the Results, the set of Results for an assessment (LineItem), and Categories (collections of LineItems). The defined web service takes the form of JSON payloads exchanged by the communicating systems. At present this service is used extensively in the K-12/schools education sector.

This is one of the Metric Profiles defined in the 1EdTech Caliper Standard. The Caliper Grading Profile models grading activities performed, typically by a person of software application. Grading a learner’s attempt at an assignment and generating a score is modeled as is viewing a result.

HED is the abbreviation for Higher Education.

The abbreviation for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

The abbreviation for the Internet Engineering Task Force.

ILN - the abbreviation for Innovative Leadership Network, a collaborative group of leaders working on an area of common interest in member only, virtual meetings. 

Example:  The Learner Success ILN is a community network of higher education professionals interested in discussing and sharing best practices, insights and innovations around leveraging data and analytics to support learner success. 

The former name of 1EdTech, IMS Global Learning Consortium.  (IMS stood for the Instructional Management System project). 

Example:  1EdTech, formerly known as IMS, has been accelerating open standards and innovation in learning environments since 1997. 

The Interactive Whiteboard/Common File Format (IWB/CFF) standard, published by 1EdTech, defines a file format to hold content primarily designed to be viewed on a large display. Much of this content will be designed to be interactive, so objects can move around the page. The primary goal of this format is to establish a format that can be opened, edited, saved, and used across many whiteboard applications so that teaching content can be exchanged between establishments.

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a large open international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. The mission of the IETF is to make the Internet work better by producing high quality, relevant technical documents that influence the way people design, use, and manage the Internet.

Interoperable (interoperability) means that different devices, software, or systems can communicate with each other and exchange data. For example, a smartphone and a computer can be interoperable if they can both use the same type of file format. This means that you can easily transfer files from your phone to your computer, or vice versa.

Interoperability is important because it makes it easier to use different technologies together. For example, if you have a smart home with a variety of different devices, such as a thermostat, a doorbell, and a security system, you want to be able to control them all from a single app. If the devices are interoperable, you can do this.

The abbreviation for Item Response Theory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Item_response_theory)

The abbreviation for the International Organization for Standards/International Electrotechnical Commission.

Thhe abbreviation for the Interactive Whiteboard, a standard developed by 1EdTech.

JSON is an open standard file format that uses human-readable text to store and transmit data objects. Many web services are based on the exchange of JSON encoded messages. 1EdTech uses JSON as one of the primary data binding formats for the definition of 1EdTech APIs. 1EdTech standards using JSON-based data exchange include Caliper, OneRoster, LTI Advantage, and CASE.

JSON is the abbreviation for JavaScript Object Notation. See JavaScript Object Notation for more information.

A JSON Web Token (JWT) is a compact, URL-safe means of representing 'Claims' to be transferred between two parties. The 'Claims' in a JWT are encoded as a JSON object that is used as the payload of a JSON Web Signature (JWS) structure or as the plaintext of a JSON Web Encryption (JWE) structure, enabling the 'Claims' to be digitally signed or integrity protected with a Message Authentication Code (MAC) and/or encrypted. JWT is defined in IETF RFC 7519 and use of these is described in the 1EdTech Security Framework.

This is the abbreviation for JSON Web Encryption.

This is the abbreviation for JSON Web Signature.

This is the abbreviation for JSON Web Token and is pronounced 'jot'.

1EdTech published the Learner Information Package (LIP) standard version 1.0 in March 2001. The intent of this standard is to define a set of packages that can be used to import data into and extract data from a 1EdTech certified Learner Information server. The core structures of the learner information package are based upon: accessibilities; activities; affiliations; competencies; goals; identifications; interests; qualifications, certifications and licenses; relationship; security keys; and transcripts. The 1EdTech Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) standard supersedes this standard.

A generic term to describe digital spaces designed to help learners display their credentials and achievements. According to Jobs for the Future, a LER is “a comprehensive digital record of a worker’s skills and competencies. LERs can document learning wherever it occurs, and they may include records of people’s credentials, degrees, and employment histories.”

The 1EdTech Learning Design standard supports the use of a wide range of pedagogies in online learning. Rather than attempting to capture the specifics of many pedagogies, it does this by providing a generic and flexible language. This language is designed to enable many different pedagogies to be expressed. The approach has the advantage over alternatives in that only one set of learning design and runtime tools then need to be implemented in order to support the desired wide range of pedagogies. The language was originally developed at the Open University of the Netherlands (OUNL), after extensive examination and comparison of a wide range of pedagogical approaches and associated learning activities, and several iterations of the developing language to obtain a good balance between generality and pedagogic expressiveness. This standard was published in February 2003.

The global program (including annual conference and awards competition) which means to recognize and accelerate innovation within educational technology in ways which have an impact on learners. 

Example: The nomination period for the 2023 Learning Impact competition closed on February 28. Winners will be announced on June 7, 2023 during the Learning Impact Conference. 

Learn more about Learning Impact Awards and Reports.

The annual Learning Impact Awards are conducted to recognize outstanding, innovative applications of educational technology to address the most significant challenges facing education. Any product or service provider, educational institution, or training provider that meets the competition’s eligibility requirements can enter the competition. Entries are assessed for their impact on personalized learning, institutional performance, and the digital learning ecosystem. Award winners are announced at the annual Learning Impact Conference.

Learning Impact is 1EdTech's annual conference focused on digital innovation to improve access, affordability, and quality of education. This event held is held in June. At Learning Impact, meaningful progress to accelerate the deployment of an interoperable ecosystem is made together through a commitment to open standards.

The Learning Information Services (LIS) standard is the definition of how systems manage the exchange of information that describes people, groups, memberships, courses, and outcomes within the context of learning. It is a large set of services that include standard ways of exchanging data about people who are participating in learning; exchanging information for people attending courses; exchanging information about course structures; exchanging information about outcomes (grades) and providing processes for the transfer of large amounts of data. For more information, see Learning Information Services Background Information.

The role of a Learning Management System (LMS) varies depending on an organization’s objectives, online training strategy, and desired outcomes. However, the most common use of an LMS is to deploy and track online teaching, learning, and training activities. Typically, digital content or links to digital content are uploaded to the learning management system, which makes them easily accessible for remote learners. In many cases, the LMS, through standards-based integrations, allows the development, management, distribution, and use of online content through third-party applications and tools. The LMS is sometimes referred to as a virtual learning environment (VLE).

This 1EdTech standard aims to facilitate the discovery and retrieval of learning objects stored across multiple collections. In the context of this work, a learning object can be anything digital used for teaching, learning, or training. Learning objects can consist of simple assets (e.g. text, images, short videos) that can, in general, be rendered directly in a web browser, or more complex resources that usually consist of multiple components (e.g. text, images, simulations, videos, assessment exercises, etc.) that need to be combined in a precise way to provide end-users with a meaningful learning experience. Learning content specifications such as Content Package and Common Cartridge make it possible for such learning objects to be reused in different learning systems. This is achieved by packaging all the required components in a zip file together with a manifest describing how these components have to be rendered. As a result of this process where specifications have been applied, the content becomes more 'interoperable' and can be more easily exchanged and reused in learning platforms from different commercial vendors or in open-source learning (content) management systems that comply with the relevant content packaging specifications. The LTI Resource Search specification has superseded this work, and so the LODE standard SHOULD NOT be adopted.

This is a standard developed by the IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee (LTSC) for the description of learning objects. The LOM data model specifies which aspects of a learning object should be described and what vocabularies may be used for these descriptions; it also defines how this data model can be amended by additions or constraints. The formal description is published as IEEE 1484.12.1 with the XML-based binding published as IEEE 1484.12.3. 1EdTech Metadata specification is based upon the LOM information model but with a different, 1EdTech published, XML-based binding.

The terms LOR and CMS are sometimes interchangeably used in reference to the digital libraries.

A general term that describes where learning activities are collected. 

Learning Tools Interoperability® (LTI) is an interoperability standard developed by 1EdTech. LTI establishes a standard way of integrating rich learning applications with platforms like learning management systems, portals, or other educational environments. LTI enables districts to securely connect their learning platforms and tools while reducing the time and significant costs associated with developing separate product integrations. 

With LTI, institutions can maximize the effectiveness and capabilities of the teaching and learning ecosystem while saving time and money through a scalable and seamless approach to securely integrate multiple sources of digital content, learning tools, and assessment products into the digital learning environment. 

LTI Services: 

Names and Roles Provisioning (NRPS)

Assignment and Grades (AGS)

Deep Linking (DL)

For more information, see 1EdTech's Learning Apps and Tools Initiative and Learning Tools Interoperability Project Group Activity. Higher Education Institutional Members may be interested in the Learning Tools Interoperability Leadership Innovation Leadership Network; for more information see Higher Ed Innovation Leadership Networks. 

Learn more about this work: https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/learning-tools-interoperability

Learn more about this work: https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/lti-resource-search

A gradebook column

The abbreviation for the 1EdTech Learner Information Package standard.

LIS is the abbreviation for Learning Information Services, a standard developed by 1EdTech. See the definition of Learning Information Services for more information.

Learning Management System. A platform that provides access to the digital content of courses. It may include the sequence of lessons, content, activities, chat tool, and other tools. Some LMS have digital libraries, other may include a Lesson Planner.

LTI Advantage certification is awarded when a system certifies for LTI 1.3 and LTI Advantage services in the following ways:

• A platform must support LTI 1.3 Core and all 3  LTI Advantage services.  
• A tool must support LTI 1.3 Core and at least two LTI Advantage Services.
• Platforms and Tools that certify LTI 1.3 Core and all LTI Advantage Services get an LTI Advantage Complete Certification. 

Is the shorthand term used to describe the mechanics and workflow that happen when a person clicks on an LTI link from an LTI platform. The mechanics of the LTI flow are built using the combination of industry standards OAuth 2.0 and OIDC.

LTI services add functionality to core LTI to improve user experiences. These services can exist individually or all together depending on the type of product involved. Currently, the LTI Advantage services include Names and Role Provisioning Services, Deep Linking and Assignment and Grade Services, however many other extension services are under development. For more information, see the LTI Advantage Overview and Learning Tools Interoperability Project Group Activity.

This is the abbreviation for Message Authentication Code.

All 1Edtech content packaging standards (common cartridge etc) make use of a manifest which is a file that describes the contents of the package.

An XML based markup language that facilitates the use and re-use of mathematical and scientific content on the Web.

This is one of the Metric Profiles defined in the 1EdTech Caliper Standard. The Caliper Media Profile models interactions between learners and rich content such as audio, images, and video. Implementers can leverage a number of media-related entities including audio, images, and video. It is also possible to represent the current location in an audio or video stream.

Are digital labels used to specify the characteristics of a learning object. They may include information such as: Keywords, author, language, topic, reading level(s), object format (text, graphic, video), object type (content, activity, assessemnt.)

The 1EdTech Metadata standard is used to enable contextual and workflow information to be supplied about digital resources. It is derived from the IEEE Learning Object Metadata Standard [IEEE Std 1484.12.1 - 2002] and the information is exchanged in an XML format. The primary use, by 1EdTech, of this standard, is in combination with the 1EdTech Content Packaging and 1EdTech Common Cartridge/Thin Common Cartridge standards. The embedded metadata information is used to provide the context for how the resources can be used, are organized and the processes used to create the resource.

A representation of learning, awarded for completion of a short program that is focused on a discrete set of competencies (i.e., skills, knowledge, attributes), and is sometimes related to other credentials. Typically displayed using an Open Badge.

Supports the secure exchange of a list of course participants and faculty-defined groups to learning tools.

The OAuth 2.0 authorization framework enables a third-party application to obtain limited access to an HTTP service, either on behalf of a resource owner by orchestrating an approval interaction between the resource owner and the HTTP service, or by allowing the third-party application to obtain access on its own behalf. OAuth 2.0 is published as IETF RFC 6749. The 1EdTech Security Framework makes extensive use of OAuth 2.0.

• OAuth 2 Scopes – scopes are an optional feature in OAuth 2.0 to label the conditions for obtaining an access token. Use of OAuth 2.0 scopes is mandatory in 1EdTech service-based specifications.

In relation to the CASE standard, an official URL is a URL from the original source.

OneRoster® is a standard developed by 1EdTech. OneRoster allows for the exchange of roster data between learning management systems and student information systems and learning tools. The data exchanged can include information about students, teachers, classes, grades, and course materials. Institutions can save valuable instructional and administrative time with a low cost and scalable way to streamline the management and secure delivery of digital IDs, product use rostering, and transmission of assignment, scores, and grades across all digital resources. For more information, see 1EdTech's Educational Data and Analytics and Digital Curriculum initiatives and OneRoster Project Group Activity.  

Learn more about this work: https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/onerosterlis

Supports the exchange of gradebooks data in the form of: results, lineItems, collections of lineItems (categories) and score-scales. It is also possible to exchange information about assessment activities in the form of assessment lineItems and assessment results.

Supports the ability to manage the allocation of resources to classes, courses and users.

Supports the secure transfer of data related to enrollments. This service exchanges information about users, classes, organizations, and enrollments

Open architecture is a way of designing technology systems that make adding, upgrading, and swapping components easy. 1EdTech focuses on an open architecture that allows educational institutions to add and change components within their system. For example, this might be a student information system or learning management system or a content provider.

Open Badges are portable image files that include information about accomplishments associated with the image. In other words, Open Badges contain detailed metadata about achievements. Who earned a badge, who issued it, and what does it mean? The data is all inside the badge. 1EdTech is responsible for managing and advancing the Open Badges standard, which provides a secure framework to digitally capture and visually present achievements that are verifiable and portable to help learners differentiate their career readiness or college-readiness in an increasingly competitive world. For more information, see 1EdTech's Digital Credentialing Initiative and Digital Credentials and Badges Project Group Activity. Higher Education Institutional Members may be interested in the Digital Credentials & CBE Innovation Leadership Network; for more information see Higher Ed Innovation Leadership Networks.

Learn more about this work: https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/openbadges

 The OpenAPI Specification (OAS) defines a standard, language-agnostic interface to RESTful APIs. It allows both humans and computers to discover and understand the capabilities of the service without access to source code, documentation, or network traffic inspection. When properly defined, a consumer can understand and interact with the remote service with minimal implementation logic. An OpenAPI definition can then be used by documentation generation tools to display the API, code generation tools to generate servers and clients in various programming languages, testing tools, and many other use cases. Many of the 1EdTech standards have OpenAPI-based descriptions for the defined services, including CASE, OneRoster, Comprehensive Learner Record, and Open Badges.

OpenID Connect (OIDC) is a simple identity layer on top of the OAuth 2.0 protocol. It allows Clients to verify the identity of the End-User based on the authentication performed by an Authorization Server, as well as to obtain basic profile information about the End-User in an interoperable and REST-like manner. OIDC allows clients of all types, including Web-based, mobile, and JavaScript clients, to request and receive information about authenticated sessions and end-users. The specification suite is extensible, allowing participants to use optional features such as encryption of identity data, discovery of OpenID Providers, and session management, when it makes sense for them.

The abbreviation for Open ID Connect, a specification published by the OpenID Foundation.

OpenID Connect 1.0 is a simple identity layer on top of the OAuth 2.0 protocol. It enables Clients to verify the identity of the end user based on the authentication performed by an Authorization Server, as well as to obtain basic profile information about the end user in an interoperable and REST-like manner. This specification defines the OpenID Connect Core functionality: authentication built on top of OAuth 2.0 and the use of claims to communicate information about the end user. It also describes the security and privacy considerations for using OpenID Connect

The OpenID Connect Discovery specification defines a mechanism for an OpenID Connect Relying Party to discover the End-User's OpenID Provider and obtain information needed to interact with it, including its OAuth 2.0 endpoint locations.

OpenID Connect 1.0 is a simple identity layer on top of the OAuth 2.0 protocol. It enables Clients to verify the identity of the End-User based on the authentication performed by an Authorization Server, as well as to obtain basic profile information about the End-User in an interoperable and REST-like manner. The OpenID Connect Dynamic Client Registration specification defines how an OpenID Connect Relying Party can dynamically register with the End-User's OpenID Provider, providing information about itself to the OpenID Provider, and obtaining information needed to use it, including the OAuth 2.0 Client ID for this Relying Party.

The OpenID Foundation is a non-profit international standardization organization of individuals and companies committed to enabling, promoting and protecting OpenID technologies. Formed in June 2007, the Foundation serves as a public trust organization representing the open community of developers, vendors, and users. OpenID Foundation assists the community by providing needed infrastructure and help in promoting and supporting expanded adoption of OpenID. This entails managing intellectual property and brand marks as well as fostering viral growth and global participation in the proliferation of OpenID.

This is a specification under development by 1EdTech. The OpenVideo Metadata specification defines a format for creating rich media content that describes captured rich media in a standardized way such that management solutions that support the standard can exchange the media. The goal of the OpenVideo Metadata specification is to make it simple and easy for educational institutions to manage all of their captured content, in a way that is agnostic to the software and hardware they used to capture it. The standard aims to remove siloed data and long integration projects by creating one simple, standardized format that describes captured rich media, as well as a process by which this media can be transferred into a media management solution that supports the format.  Learn more about this work: https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/openvideo

A software package is a collection of files or LTI links and information about those files. In 1EdTech, a package describes data structures to ensure the interoperability of digital content with content creation tools and platforms (LMS, SIS, CMS.)

"Zips" and "SCORMS" are commonly known packages. In this course we will talk about a package called Common Cartridge.

Portable Custom Interaction, an item interaction defined in the QTI specification as an extension that references all of the code that is required to implement the user interface and behavior of the interaction when used to render and interact with the item containing the portable custom interaction.

This is one of the core components in the LTI Advantage specification.  In LTI parlance, the platform serves as the service consumer as they are consuming and making available the tool.  

 A tool platform or, more simply, platform has traditionally been a Learning Management Systems (LMS), but it may be any kind of platform that needs to delegate bits of functionality out to a suite of tools. In LTI 1.x a Platform was known as a Tool Consumer.

In prior versions of LTI this was called the ‘tool consumer’ but that verbiage does not align with industry standard terminology and was retired.

Personal Needs and Preferences. A PNP is a user profile as used in APIP and QTI 3 using the AfA standard. A PNP for a user will contain information that describes their accessibility needs and/or support preferences.

The Privacy Framework, contains the definition of a set of rules and methodologies to be supported by future 1EdTech specifications so that implementers can implement the specification correctly, all whilst enabling the implementer to efficiently and transparently meet local requirements regarding privacy information storage and exchange.

This is a 1EdTech standard to allow platforms used for assessment to integrate more easily with tools used for proctoring candidates taking assessments on those platforms.  Using the Proctoring Specification a candidate can launch out from their assessment platform to the proctoring tool, initiate a proctored session with that tool, and be returned securely back to the assessment platform to take the assessment while being proctored by the proctoring tool. This standard also provides a method for proctoring tools to send messages to the assessment platform during the assessment to control a candidate’s progression including, if necessary, a facility to terminate the assessment. This standard is based upon LTI Advantage.

This is the product produced by the process of specification Profiling. A Profile of a 1EdTech specification consists of a set of new constraints. In general a 1EdTech specification enables a wide range education and learning workflows, processes and practices. A profile is designed to establish and impose best practices for the target community. A profile MUST only increase constraints i.e. it MUST NOT relax constraints in the base specification. For example the multiplicity of a property in the data model MAY be changed from [1..*] (required and permitting many) to [1..1] (required and only one) but MUST NOT become [0..*] (optional and permitting many). The most common profiling changes include more strict data typing, changes to enumerations, vocabulary changes, prohibition of endpoints and creation of new endpoints. A profile could make use of the extension capabilities to extend the specification to support new features (only possible if the base specification has suitable extension features). The key objective of a profile is to remove, wherever possible, interoperability uncertainty e.g. by removing optionality.  

For example, a profile in Caliper analytics term that means a grouping of Caliper events that help to solve for specific learning analytics use cases.

This is the process by which a 1EdTech specification is tailored to meet the requirements of a specific community: the community could be a reflection of a market sector, a geographic location, etc. An example of such a community is the Norwegian K-12/Schools for whom a profile of the 1EdTech OneRoster 1.2 specification has been created. The process of profiling starts with the corresponding base specification and defines a set of new constraints to make the subsequent modified specification better fit the requirements of the target community. Once the profile has been defined, the next step is to create the corresponding Conformance Test Systems and Certification process for that profile: these will be modified versions of the equivalents created for the base specification. It is recommended that profiling is undertaken within 1EdTech so that the 1EdTech model driven specification tools can be used.

Product Steering Committee (PSC) - a contributing member only group where the work of moving the needle in innovation with open standards is done through conversations between Supplier Partners and Institutional Members. 

Example: The OneRoster Product Steering Committee has been working on use cases and stories to influence the ongoing development of the standards. 

This is the XML structure, defined in QTI, that represents the question presented in an online test. The term 'Item' is used because the corresponding XML-instance contain more than just the information to present the question to the learner. It also includes: the response processing to determine if the answer is correct or not; the set of scores to be assigned to the learner and the rules for aggregating these scores; the alternative information to be rendered according to the accessibility needs and preferences of the learner; information to be presented as a hint.

This is the zip file that contains the QTI artifacts (QTI Test, QTI-Sections, etc.) and all of the related assets (images, video, etc.). A QTI Package is a formal profile of the 1EdTech Content Packaging specification. A QTI Package MUST contain the 'imsmanifest.xml' file which is the manifest of the set of files and the metadata for all of those files.

This is the structure used in the QTI specification to collect together QTI Items and child QTI Sections (this is the structure that enables the construction of complex hierarchical testing structures). QTI Sections are used to create different types of collections. A collection could consist of Items and Sections that have some pedagogic coherence. Alternatively they could have some relevance to the sequencing of the next Item to be prevented (for adaptive testing). The collection could also be for commercial reasons only.

This is the XML structure, defined in QTI, that represents the actual online test. In QTI 2.1 and later versions, a QTI Test MUST be composed of one or more QTI Test-Parts and each QTI Test-Part MUST contain at least one QTI Section. A QTI-Item MUST not be a direct child of a QTI Test or QTI Test-Part.

This is the XML structure define in versions 2.1 and later of the QTI specifications. A QTI Test is composed of one or more QTI Test-Parts.  Each QTI Test-Part MUST contain at least one QTI Section. Typically, QTI Test-Parts are used for administrative purposes e.g. the full test may have several separately scheduled delivery sessions and so each session would be expressed as a QTI Test-Part.

Question and Test Interoperability (QTI)- the exchange of item, test and results data between authoring tools, item banks, test construction tools, learning systems and assessment delivery systems, including accessible assessments.

Example: We will be able to move our digital assessments to the new platform because both systems use the QTI standard. 

1EdTech has developed two tightly connected standards that the assessment community worldwide is using to improve learning. The first is QTI (Question and Test Interoperability) and the second is APIP® (Accessible Portable Item Protocol®). QTI enables the exchange of a wide range of rich questions and tests. QTI enables testing from formative quizzes to formal summative high stakes tests. And it allows all kinds of data to be transmitted between authoring tools, item banks, test construction tools, learning systems, and assessment delivery systems, and scoring administrative systems. 

QTI provides an easier way to administer fully accessible digital assessments, both formative and summative, that provide actionable data in a more timely manner to teachers, students and parents to inform personalization of learning. For more information see 1EdTech's E-Assessment initiative and Question and Test Interoperability Project Group Activity. State and large district assessment leaders may be interested in participating in the State Assessment Leaders Innovation Leadership Network, for more information see the K-12 Innovation Leadership Networks.

There is also a full QTI Terms & Definitions document which defines QTI specific terminology.

Learn more about this work: https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/qtiapip

One of the Metric Profiles defined in the 1EdTech Caliper Standard. The Caliper Reading Profile models activities associated with navigating and viewing digital textual content. Caliper provides several entities representing digital content, including a generic digital along with the document, chapter, page, webpage, message, and frame.

RFCs are produced by the IETF and cover many aspects of computer networking. They describe the Internet's technical foundations, such as addressing, routing, and transport technologies. RFCs also specify protocols like TCP, IP, etc. that are used to deliver services used by billions of people every day, such as real-time collaboration, email, and the domain name system. Only some RFCs are standards. Depending on their maturity level and what they cover, RFCs are labeled with different statuses: Internet Standard, Proposed Standard, Best Current Practice, Experimental, Informational, and Historic.

Requests for Proposals (RFP) are documents that identify a need and ask organizations to respond by explaining their solution, its cost, and their qualifications.  1EdTech provides numerous resources to help with creating RFPs, for more information see Require 1EdTech Certification When Purchasing EdTech Products.

The 1EdTech Resource List Interoperability (RLI) standard details how structured metadata can be exchanged between systems that store and expose resources. It is used to create resource lists and gather and organize those resource lists for educational or training purposes. A typical example of such a resource list is a reading list. This standard was published in July 2004. At present, there are no known implementations of this standard.

One of the Metric Profiles defined in the 1EdTech Caliper Standard. The Caliper Resource Management Profile models a person managing a digital resource.

One of the core services in the 1EdTech OneRoster standard. This service is used to identify the set of learning and teaching resources that are required by a Class, Course, and/or User (the information about the Class, Course, and User would have been supplied using the 1EdTech OneRoster Rostering Service). The defined web service takes the form of JSON payloads exchanged by the communicating systems. This service uses the identifier for the resource. The resource could be obtained using systems/tools/applications that use the 1EdTech Common Cartridge/Thin Common Cartridge specification. At present this service is used extensively in the K-12/schools education sector.

A synchronous, machine to machine mode for exchanging information.  Many 1EdTech standards (including OneRoster) make use of REST API Methodology as their way of exchanging the data in the specifications.

The 1EdTech standard that provides a means to create common understandings of competencies that appear as part of a learning or career plan, as learning pre-requisites, or as learning outcomes. The information model in this specification can be used to exchange these definitions between learning systems, human resource systems, learning content, competency or skills repositories, and other relevant systems. This standard provides unique references to descriptions of competencies or objectives for inclusion in other information models. This work was adopted any the IEEE to become the IEEE Standard for Learning Technology-Data Model for Reusable Competency Definitions (IEEE 1484.20.1-2007). The original 1EdTech RDCEO standard was published in October, and this has been succeeded by the 1EdTech Competency and Academic Standards Exchange (CASE) standard (published in 2017).

One of the core services in the 1EdTech OneRoster standard. This service is used for the exchange of rostering information i.e. the enrollment of Students on Classes. A rich set of data can be exchanged about Users (inc. Students and Teachers) and their Demographics, Classes, Courses, Enrollments, Academic Sessions (inc. Grading Periods and Terms) and Orgs (inc. Schools). The defined web service takes the form of JSON payloads exchanged by the communicating systems. At present this service is used extensively in the K-12/schools education sector.

one of the Metric Profiles defined in the 1EdTech Caliper Standard. The Caliper Search Profile models an actor—typically a learner—querying a resource for information. The profile provides a search event and a searched action for describing information retrieval activities. An optional search response entity can be employed to describe the query submitted by a user, as well as any information returned as a result of the search.

SSL and its successor, Transport Layer Security (TLS), are protocols for establishing authenticated and encrypted links between networked computers. The SSL protocol was deprecated with the release of TLS 1.0 in 1999, but it is still common to refer to these related technologies as 'SSL' or “SSL/TLS.” The most current version is TLS 1.3, defined in IETF RFC 8446.

1EdTech has created, is creating, and will create, service-oriented and message-exchange interoperability specifications. These specifications recommend or require several different security patterns: for example, the use of OAuth 1.0 based message signing, OAuth 2 based authentication and authorization, and so forth. The 1EdTech Security Framework defines a set of patterns for security that all of its specifications SHOULD use (only in special circumstances will we consider exceptions). These security patterns are based upon the appropriate standards and specifications published by other organizations: for example, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and its Requests For Comments (RFCs). The aim is to make use of the appropriate solutions and best practices already adopted in the IT sector as a whole. The security framework has three basic patterns for adoption: (a) use of the OAuth 2.0 Client Credential Grant mechanism to secure web services between trusted systems; (b) use of the OAuth 2.0 Authorization Code Grant mechanism to secure web services between systems where there is no pre-established trust relationship; and (c) use of OpenID Connect with JWT-based message exchanges to secure browser-instigated exchanges between a tool and the launching platform.

semantic versioning addresses versioning for Public APIs. Within 1EdTech, the associated principles of Semantic Versioning have been applied more broadly and will be used when versioning specifications, documents, specification artefacts, reference implementation software releases, etc. The versioning nomenclature uses:

• MAJOR version when incompatible changes are made
• MINOR version when functionality is added in a backwards compatible manner
• PATCH version when backwards compatible bug fixes are made.

1EdTech’s interoperability design relies on two important roles, consumer and provider. Consumers and Providers can be related to tools, content or services. A Service Consumer ingests the provided data from a Service Provider. Service consumers and providers are often similar kinds of applications such as learning management systems, student information systems, digital content libraries. In OneRoster exchanges, the LMS is the most common system that serves as the service consumer.

1EdTech’s interoperability design relies on two important roles, consumer and provider. Consumers and Providers can be related to tools, content or services. A Service Consumer ingests the provided data from a Service Provider. Service consumers and providers are often similar kinds of applications such as learning management systems, student information systems, digital content libraries.  In OneRoster, the SIS is the most common system that serves as the service provider.

one of the Metric Profiles defined in the 1EdTech Caliper Standard. The Caliper Session Profile models the creation and subsequent termination of the session established by a user interacting with an application/tool/system. The Session Profile can facilitate the capture of data about who is logging into the learning environment, and more importantly, which students are not logging in.

this 1EdTech standard describes an extension to e-learning runtime systems that enables the storage of and shared access to state information between content objects. There is currently no prescribed method for a content object to store (arbitrarily complex) state information in the runtime system that can later be retrieved by itself or by another content object. This capability is crucial to the persistence of the sometimes complex state information that is generated by a variety of interactive content, e.g., simulations, and that is currently stored and retrieved in proprietary formats and through proprietary methods. This standard was published in July 2004. It is one of the standards used in the Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM).

this 1EdTech standard defines a method for representing the intended behavior of an authored learning experience such that any learning technology system can sequence discrete learning activities in a consistent way. The standard defines the required behaviors and functionality that conforming systems must implement. It incorporates rules that describe the branching or flow of instruction through content according to the outcomes of a learner's interactions with content. This standard was released to the public in March 2003 and is used to provide a functional extension to a 1EdTech Content Package. It is one of the keystone standards in the Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM).

SOAP (formerly a backronym for Simple Object Access Protocol) is a messaging protocol specification for exchanging structured information in the implementation of web services. It uses XML for its message format, and relies on application layer protocols, most often Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), for message negotiation and transmission. The Web Services Description Language (WSDL) is often used to provide a machine readable form of SOAP-based web services. Some of the earlier 1EdTech service-based specifications, e.g. Learner Information Services (LIS), are WSDL/SOAP based.

Another word for interoperability standards. We use the word "specification" when the text can get confusing between "Academic Standards" and technical standards.

The abbreviation for a student information system. 

A student information system (SIS) is a management information system used by educational institutions to manage student data. Student information systems provide capabilities for registering students in courses, classes, modules and programs (through rostering); documenting grading (through gradebooks), learner records, results of student tests and other assessment scores; building student schedules; tracking student attendance; and managing many different student-related data needs in the institution. In institutions with one or more learning management systems (LMS), there is a significant amount of information exchanged between the SIS and the LMS.

The 1EdTech standards OneRoster and Learning Information Services can be used to support such systems. 

the Student Learning Data Model provides a complete view of a digital ecosystem interconnected with real-time data. 1EdTech ecosystem standards fuel the analytics needed to guide your digital transformation now and into the future.

one of the Metric Profiles defined in the 1EdTech Caliper Standard. The Caliper Survey Profile provides a vocabulary for describing events associated with a respondent's participation in online surveys. A key use case involves instrumenting platforms that offer online surveys that explore the student learning experience, student engagement, learning activities, learning progress, and learning performance. The profile models a person–typically a respondent or a rater—participating in a survey in order to provide feedback on their learning and academic experiences.

Technical Advisory Board (TAB)  - a member-only committee who reviews and approves the activities of its working bodies - Task Forces and Project Groups - which are working for specification chartering and development. 

Example: The TAB will need to review the next candidate final for the CLR Standard before it can be considered a final release. 

The Technical Advisory Board (TAB) operates as a committee of the whole to review and approve the activities of its various Task Forces and Project Groups which are the primary working bodies of the TAB for initial specification chartering and development. The TAB contributes to the technical excellence of 1EdTech solutions for education interoperability by providing advice and consultation on recommended technical directions; suggesting improvements and updates to 1EdTech Working Group practices when appropriate; identifying and actively participating in resolving inter-specification issues or conflicts; identifying areas of overlapping responsibility or conflict between Project Groups; and helping staff technical research projects required to evaluate new technology options, by going beyond the resources on the technical working groups and leveraging their organization or network more broadly.

Thin Common Cartridge® (Thin CC) is a standard developed by 1EdTech. Thin CC is a standardized way to package and exchange Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) Links, Web Links and metadata. It is a subset of Common Cartridge. The content within a Thin CC is remotely hosted so that all that is transmitted in the Thin CC is metadata and information about how to access the content that is remotely hosted. See the Common Cartridge/Thin Common Cartridge Project Group Activity for more information.  Learn more about this work: https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/common-cartridge

this is one of the core components in the LTI Advantage specification. In LTI parlance, the tool serves as the service provider as they are the application granting access to the resources or activities. 

Tool is also commonly used as a shorthand when someone means “any learning application”

 In prior versions of LTI this was called the ‘tool provider’ but that verbiage does not align with industry standard terminology and was retired. 

1EdTech interoperability design relies on two important roles, consumer and provider. Consumers and providers can be related to tools, content, or services. In LTI 1.x terminology, a Tool Consumer consumes or ingests the tool. A Tool Consumer typically would be a learning management system, virtual learning environment, or another learning platform. In LTI Advantage a Tool Consumer is now termed the Platform.

To make your ecosystem interoperable, suppliers have to exchange content packages or frameworks. Tool consumers are the suppliers that have the ability to accept (consume) a connection to digital objects from another supplier, or a ingest a package from another supplier. 

For example: CASE "consumers" are platforms that ingest the States' CASE-formatted learning standards (or CASE frameworks). The platform has been built it can "consume" the frameworks and use them to tag lessons, activities, or quizzes.

one of the Metric Profiles defined in the 1EdTech Caliper Standard. The Caliper Tool Launch Profile intends to capture the utilization of learning tools from a centralized location, such as an LTI Platform (often an LMS). As such, it is distinct from the Caliper Tool Use Profile, also defined in this specification, which captures tool usage as reported by the individual tools themselves, i.e., decentralized capture.

1EdTech interoperability design relies on two important roles, consumer and provider. Consumers and providers can be related to tools, content or services. In LTI 1.x terminology, a Tool Provider provides or hosts the tool to be used in the tool consumer.  Examples of Tool Providers include an externally hosted testing platform or servers containing an adaptive learning platform or a virtual lab simulation. In LTI Advantage a Tool Provider is now termed the Tool.

A tool "provider" has code to authorize a connection with another tool (a digital bridge.)  

For example, a CASE Provider opens a digital bridge, so the LMS or LOR can consume (ingest) the CASE frameworks (or states standards.)

one of the Metric Profiles defined in the 1EdTech Caliper Standard. The Caliper Tool Use Profile models an intended interaction between a user and a tool. In other words, when a person utilizes an application/tool in a manner that the application determines to be its intended use for learning. An app that implements the Tool Use Profile can send events indicating such usage. The Tool Use Profile enables the gathering of basic usage information. It provides an easy way to get started with a base level of instrumentation by allowing the learning tool to determine its use. Any learning app can be instrumented using this profile to detect when a learner accesses the tool and uses it in the way it was intended.

TLS allows client/server applications to communicate over the Internet in a way that is designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering, and message forgery. The 1EdTech Security Framework mandates the use of either TLS 1.2 (defined in IETF RFC 5246) or TLS 1.3 (defined in IETF RFC 8446).

TrustEd Apps^TM is a standards first program is aimed at facilitating digital ecosystem interoperability. The program consists of three key components:

• Continuous support services, including targeted technical resources and training for both edtech suppliers and school districts
• A new compatibility certification for edtech suppliers and school districts enabling verification of live product integrations
• A pledge of support for making open standards the first and primary choice for integrations.

A set of software tools and dashboards provided by 1EdTech that help institutional members make smart choices regarding their software ecosystem.

Learn more here.

The TrustEd Apps program is the 1dTech process of vetting applications and certifying them for data privacy using the rubric which was collaboratively developed by the 1EdTech community. The TrusteEd App Vetting Rubric covers the base set of questions that K-12 districts and higher ed institutions need to ask when vetting an application's data privacy policy and terms of use. To establish this series of "must ask" questions, the participants compared all of the questions collected from K-12 districts, higher education institutions, and external organizations and selected all of the questions that were similarly being asked by each group. The main objective of the rubric is to develop a baseline for evaluating a product's data privacy protections that an institution may use as a component of its own application review process.

the abbreviation for Uniform Resource Identifier.

URI is a unique sequence of characters that identifies a logical or physical resource used by web technologies. URIs may be used to identify anything, including real-world objects, such as people and places, concepts, or information resources such as web pages and books (from Wikipedia). Some URIs provide a means of locating and retrieving information resources on a network (either on the Internet or on another private network, such as a computer filesystem or an Intranet); these are URLs.

the abbreviation for Uniform Resource Locator.

URLs, colloquially termed a web address, is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it (Wikipedia). A URL is a specific type of URI, although many people use the two terms interchangeably. URLs occur most commonly to reference web pages (http) but are also used for file transfer (ftp), email (mailto) and many other applications.

The process of checking that a piece of content/data adheres to a technical specification. This is commonly a subset of certification. Some examples are content based specifications like QTI or Common Cartridge. 

Verifiable Credentials is an open standard by W3C for digital credentials. The credentials can represent information found in physical credentials, such as a passport or license, as well as new things that have no physical equivalent, such as ownership of a bank account, Comprehensive Learner Records, and Open Badges. They have numerous advantages over physical credentials, most notably that they're digitally signed, which makes them tamper-resistant and instantaneously verifiable. Holders of verifiable credentials can generate verifiable presentations and then share these verifiable presentations with verifiers to prove they possess verifiable credentials with certain characteristics.

The collection and definition of the principles to be applied when assigning version numbers to the specifications, documents and other artifacts created by 1EdTech. These principles are based upon Sematic Versioning. It is not unusual for a document and other artifacts to have more than one versioning component so that the relationship to the associated 1EdTech specification version can be maintained.

Example: There are several released versions of the OneRoster specification: 1.0 (deprecated), 1.1, and most recently, 1.2 which was released in the fall of 2022. 

this is a web-based educational technology platform for the digital aspects of courses of study, usually within educational institutions. It is more commonly known as a learning management system.

the 1EdTech Vocabulary Definition Exchange (VDEX) standard defines a grammar for the exchange of value lists of various classes: collections often denoted "vocabulary." Specifically, VDEX defines a syntax for the exchange of simple machine-readable lists of values or terms, together with information that may aid a human in understanding the meaning or applicability of the various terms. VDEX may be used to express valid data for use in instances of 1EdTech Metadata, 1EdTech Learning Information Services, 1EdTech Common Cartridge, etc., for example. In these cases, the terms are often not human language words or phrases but more abstract tokens. VDEX can also express strictly hierarchical schemes compactly while allowing for more loose networks of relationships to be expressed if required.

The W3C is the World Wide Web Consortium, an international community where member organizations, a staff, and the public work together to develop web standards.

Web Accessibility Initiative within the W3C.

WAI-WCAG standards for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, these are a series of guidelines for improving web accessibility. These guidelines help make web content useful to all users.

WSDL is an XML format for describing network services as a set of endpoints operating on messages containing either document-oriented or procedure-oriented information. The operations and messages are described abstractly and then bound to a concrete network protocol and message format to define an endpoint. Related concrete endpoints are combined into abstract endpoints (services). WSDL is extensible to allow the description of endpoints and their messages regardless of what message formats or network protocols are used to communicate. The binding used, primarily, is WSDL in conjunction with SOAP 1.1, HTTP, and MIME. The 1EdTech standards that have services expressed using WSDL are Learning Information Services (LIS) and Resource List Interoperability (RLI).

Extensible Markup Language (XML) Schema Definition is a World Wide Web Consortium recommendation that specifies how to describe the elements in an XML document formally. An XSD is used to verify that the content of an instance adheres to the definitions established for that object. 1EdTech creates XSDs for those standards that will use XML as the data exchange format. These XSDs are used as part of the conformance and certification testing process. The 1EdTech standards that use XML/XSD include Metadata, Common Cartridge, QTI/APIP, and OpenVideo Metadata.

Yet Another Markup Language (YAML) – is a human-readable data-serialization language. It is commonly used for configuration files and in applications where data is being stored or transmitted. YAML targets many of the same communications applications as XML but has a minimal syntax which intentionally differs from SGML. In 1EdTech specifications the use of YAML occurs when OpenAPI and AsyncAPI files are produced to provide machine readable definitions of a service. Both JSON and YAML formats of service API definitions are produced by 1EdTech.