An approach to the quality and reusability of metadata specifications for e‐learning objects

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss research that leads to identifying new metadata for learning objects and extending the SCORM standard. Design/methodology/approach – The research involves a questionnaire to collect data from users of e‐learning resources and a statistical analysis of that data. The discussion employs concepts from such areas as e‐learning, didactics, and statistics. Findings – The main finding is the identification of several learning objects metadata, including those that are not defined in current e‐learning standards. Some of the new metadata could be introduced to the existing standard metadata categories; the others could be used to form completely new categories. Research limitations/implications – The general solution has been developed but more work is still necessary. Practical implications – The ideas discussed in the paper, especially the identified metadata, could be used to extend the standard metadata (e.g. in the SCORM standard). Originality/value – The paper presents both a method for identifying learning objects metadata and conclusions that, after further development, could be applied to extend the metadata parts of e‐learning standards. Both new categories and modification to some existing ones could offer additional support for users who need to choose a suitable resource.