Abstract-An IMS Learning Design Expert Workshop was held at the University of Vienna on November 20 & 21,2008. This report contains a description of the purpose of the workshop, its methodologies and results. Participating experts first brainstormed visions and problems of IMS Learning Design (IMS LD), and then developed potential solutions to some of the identified problems. Three groups formed to work on two of the identified problems in more depth: the usability and utility problem, and the life cycle of a unit of learning problem. The proposed solutions regarding the usability and utility problem were to investigate how teachers' and learners' representations of a learning design can be brought together, and to set up a research program to identify how teachers cognitively proceed when designing courses and to map this knowledge to IMS LD. In regard to the life cycle of a unit of learning problem, the group suggested a system that continually exchanges information between runtime and editing systems so that units of learning can be updated accordingly.

In knowledge management, the act of telling stories is utilized to capture and convey knowledge. Spoken language is the basis for telling stories. Collaborative audio-based storytelling uses the act of verbally telling stories in groups. In this paper, we explore how to utilize verbally told stories for informal knowledge management. To identify the requirements for an information system that supports collaborative audio-based storytelling, we review the body of knowledge in relation to storytelling and knowledge management. After reviewing the state of the art, we present the CASTing information system. CASTing (Collaborative Audio-based StoryTelling) addresses the identified requirements and supports a process for collaborative audiobased storytelling. CASTing consists of a client application which supports nomadic work as well as a web portal which aims at building a storytelling community. We present CASTing along our process for collecting, structuring, linking and using verbally told stories. We conclude with a report on first experiences as well as an outlook on future directions.

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Hagen. Beside distance education as an obvious area of research and teaching, his research focuses on knowledge acquisition and knowledge transfer in the context of cooperative work processes and corporate training. Bernd J. Krämer is heading the Chair of Data Processing Technology of FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany. His research interests include software engineering, learning technology, service-oriented computing, and social software. Annett Zobel holds an M.S. degree from the Bauhaus University of Weimar, Germany, in the field of computer science and management. She works with metaVentis GmbH, an e-learning company based in Weimar. She was project manager for the metacoon open source LMS project and has administratively managed the CampusContent project. AbstractFor technology-enhanced learning, the idea of learning objects transfers the technologies of content management, methods of software engineering and principles of open access to educational resources. This paper reports on CampusContent, a research project and competence centre for e-learning at FernUniversität in Hagen that designed and developed an integrated portal to a repository network named edu-sharing. This portal facilitates sharing, joint development and reuse of learning material and pedagogical knowledge. CampusContent focused on essential challenges concerning use and utility of learning objects and developed principles, methods and tools that support educators in the process of contextualising learning objects within educational settings. Our model offers three levels of contextualisation: configurable objects, learning scenarios and an integrated work environment for educators.

It is a generally accepted truth that without a proper educational system no country will prosper, nor will its inhabitants. With the arrival of the post-industrial society, in Europe and elsewhere, it has become increasingly clear that people should continue learning over their entire lifespans lest they or their society suffer the dire consequences. But what does this future lifelong learning society exactly look like? And how then should education prepare for it? What should people learn and how should they do so? How can we afford to pay for all this, what are the socio-economic constraints of the move towards a lifelong-learning society? And, of course, what role can and should the educational establishment of schools and universities play? This are questions that demand serious research efforts, which is what this paper argues for.