The international agricultural research centres of the CGIAR have established a repository for agricultural learning resources in collaboration with the ARIADNE Foundation. To make it easier to find these resources, an application profile, CG LOM Core, was developed on the basis of the IEEE Learning Object Metadata (LOM) standard. It defines the collection of metadata elements and value spaces drawn from other namespaces, adapted to the requirements of the CGIAR in describing and sharing their learning resources with an international audience. It maintains increased semantic interoperability within the CGIAR community and preserves compatibility with other repositories outside of the CGIAR.

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A B S T R A C TE-learning is likely to be an increasingly important element in teaching agriculture and related subjects at universities in Sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this study was to explore the factors involved in determining the readiness and intention to adopt e-learning by faculty members at member institutions of the African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE). The study was based on the decomposed theory of planned behavior (DTPB) to predict intentions on the use of elearning. DTPB draws on constructs influencing the attitude to use technology from two frequently investigated models in this area, that is, the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the technology acceptance model (TAM). Valid responses were collected from 70 faculty members with a survey questionnaire. Validated scales from previous research were used to measure the variables of interest. The results revealed that the majority of the respondents have only limited access to ICT infrastructure and support services. However, they perceived e-learning to be very useful in general and to have the potential to enhance their teaching-related activities.

PurposeThe paper seeks to introduce a process for assuring the creation of quality educational metadata based on the ISO/IEC 19796‐1 standard to describe the agricultural learning resources in the repository of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes the general notion of quality in education and in the creation of educational metadata. It introduces a quality framework based on the ISO/IEC 19796‐1 standard on quality management and quality assurance for learning, education and training. This standard consists of a reference framework for the description of quality approaches (RFDQ) to describe, compare, and analyze quality management and quality assurance approaches, which has been adapted to the creation of educational metadata in the context of the learning object repository of the CGIAR.FindingsIn order to achieve consistency in the description of learning resources in a repository through quality educational metadata, a standardized process for metadata creators is essential. The reference framework of the ISO/IEC 19796‐1 standard provides a flexible approach that allows the optimization of the metadata creation process while assuring quality of the descriptive information.Practical implicationsThe paper proposes a standardized process for the creation of learning object metadata based on the ISO/IEC 19796‐1 standard, and makes suggestions on how to use the reference framework when adapting a quality model for educational metadata.Originality/valueISO/IEC 19796‐1 is a very recent standard with a flexible reference framework to develop a quality model in education and training. It provides a novel approach for organizations maintaining learning repositories that are interested in standardizing the educational metadata creation process, especially when multiple stakeholders are involved.

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