Pricing of Learning Objects in a Workflow-Based E-Learning Scenario

Standards in e-learning have been developed to support authoring, assembly, and execution of learning objects. Nevertheless, pricing of learning objects still plays a minor role in current e-learning research. So far, standards for learning objects lack concepts for the integration of prices. In this paper, we present an approach to support pricing of e-learning objects on different abstraction levels. The approach is based on combining price models and learning objects by extending the learning objects' XML metadata on the one hand and on the representation of processes as exchanges and manipulations of XML documents on the other hand. Consideration of price models in a workflow-based learning-object management system thus allows for explicitly modeling processes for pricing such as price negotiations between learners and learning object providers or mediators. Moreover, pricing processes can be integrated into learning, teaching, and administration processes and thereby enhance the cooperation of all participating actors.