This document discusses the need to develop standards from the standpoint of education. It is suggested that developing standards will result in the following:

• free educational systems from barriers encountered with finding and incorporating content in learning environments
• make moving between institutions easier for students
• aid technology consultants or specialists in supporting the teachers and staff who use content for teaching and administrative purposes

The article points out not only the diverse ways interoperability will affect the creation of learning objects but also the way they are packaged and sequenced. Implications for transferability between platforms and environments are also noted. This document also emphasizes the need for administrative systems to work with one another to achieve goals of standardization. The tension between suppliers' preferences and users' preferences is noted, and the fact is pointed out that suppliers prefer to have as little standards as possible because they represent both implementation and protection costs, while users want a broad and well-defined set of standards for flexibility and choice.

A very brief but interesting history of IMS explains how an interest in standards became popular and organized. Related bodies and user-led bodies are referenced but no descriptions are given. This is a very short, introductory article to standards. What it lacks in detail it makes up in clarity.

For the full text, see http://www.cetis.ac.uk/static/standards.html

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