Outline use cases

Schema Course Extension Wiki Navigation
Main Page
Outline use cases
Example sites
Other useful links
Community group home page
email list for group
schema.org Git hub issue

These are not full use cases as we are not developing a system, they are just a name and description of some search action that we want the course extension to help support. The requirements refer to what the course extension model should be able to support, i.e. what data we should be able to identify with schema.org mark-up. It is not assumed that all use cases are equally important, or that all use cases will be possible to support.

use case 1 finding a course that covers a subject that a person is interested in

description: the searcher is interested in knowing more about a specific subject (or is acting on behalf of someone who is). They identify that subject by some means (could be free text key-word search, could be selection from a controlled list) and are shown a list of courses that might be suitable.

requirement a) must be able to identify web pages that describe courses

requirement b) must be able to search for text that identifies the subject of the course

use case 1.1 refining course search from UC1 by cost

description: an extension to use case 1, where the searcher is concerned about the cost of the course.

note: where a course is offered in different modes of study, e.g. full time or part-time, face-to-face or at distance, the cost may vary by mode

requirement p) must be able to identify web pages that describe specific instances of a course being offered

requirement c) must be able to identify cost of course in each mode of study offered.

use case 1.2 refining UC1 by location

description: an extension to use case 1, where the searcher is concerned about the location of the course.

note: the same course may be offered in different locations

requirement p) must be able to identify web pages that describe specific instances of a course being offered

requirement d) must be able to identify the location where a course is offered.

use case 1.3 refining UC1 by time of events

description: an extension to use case 1, where the searcher is concerned about the date & time at which course events are offered

note: the same course may be offered at different dates and times

note: there are two aspects to this, the date and times of individual events associated with the course and the time span over which the course as a whole runs.

requirement p) must be able to identify web pages that describe specific instances of a course being offered

requirement e) must be able to identify the dates and times at which individual course events are offered

requirement f) must be able to identify the period over which the course events are offered.

use case 1.4 refining UC1 by provenance

description: an extension to use case 1, where the searcher is concerned about the provenance of a course, e.g. the institution which is offering it.

note: the significant factors in provenance may need further unpacking.

requirement g) must be able to identify the organisation/s which is/are offering/have developed/have endorsed the course

use case 1.5 refining UC1 by teacher

description: an extension to use case 1, where the searcher is concerned about the teacher(s) of the course

requirement p) must be able to identify web pages that describe specific instances of a course being offered

requirement h) must be able to identify the teacher(s) of the course

use case 1.6 refining UC1 by mode of study

description: an extension to use case 1, where the searcher is concerned about the means of delivery, e.g. wants to take a MOOC, wants to study at home by distance learning, study online, study face-to-face.

requirement p) must be able to identify web pages that describe specific instances of a course being offered

requirement i) must be able to identify the mode of study

note: controlled/agreed/suggested terms for some of these means of delivery will greatly facilitate filtering.

note: mode of study has some overlap with location in some cases (e.g. online)

use case 1.7 refining UC1 by accessibility issues

description: an extension to use case 1 where the searcher is concerned about physical and cognitive accessibility features, controls, API, hazards.

requirement j) must be able to identify accessibility features, controls, API, hazards of resources used in delivering the course (=> must be able to identify resources used)

requirement k) must be able to identify accessibility features, controls, API, hazards of associated events that are part of the course (=> must be able to identify the events)

requirement l) must be able to identify accessibility features, controls, API, hazards of associated locations related to the course (=> must be able to identify the locations)

use case 1.8 refining by duration of course

description: an extension to use case 1 where the searcher is concerned about the amount of time required to complete the course.

requirement l’) must be able to identify the typical learning time or duration of the course

use case 1.9 refining by type of assessment

description: an extension to use case 1 where the search is concerned by the type of assessment, e.g. if they have to take quizzes, write papers, complete an activity, demonstrate a skill, etc.

note: I guess we mean summative assessment

Use case 9 find a course based on career opportunities

description: the searcher is interested (or is acting on behalf of someone who is interested) in taking a course that would allow them to pursue some career, e.g. accountancy, welding, computer programmer.

requirement a) must be able to identify web pages that describe courses

requirement w) must be able to search for text that identifies the career options that are opened by successful completion of the course.

Use cases 9.1 - 9.9

refining UC9 by the same factors as use cases 1.1 - 1.9

Use case 2 find a course that offers a qualification the searcher would like to acquire

description: the searcher is interested in acquiring a specific qualification (or is acting on behalf of someone who is). They identify that qualification by some means (could be free text key-word search, could be selection from a controlled list) and are shown a list of courses that might be suitable.

Note: this could be seen as a variation of Use case 9 where the career requires a specific qualification (hence the odd ordering)

requirement a) must be able to identify web pages that describe courses

requirement m) must be able to search for text that identifies the qualification offered to those completing a course.

Use cases 2.1 - 2.9

refining UC2 by the same factors as use cases 1.1 - 1.9

Use case 3 find information about a specific identified course.

description: The searcher is interested in information about known course, for example one on which they have already enrolled. The course may be identified by provider/name or by a course code.

note: specifying the information should be provided about courses for such cases seems out of scope (unless it is a requirement arising from another use case).

requirement n) must be able to identify courses by provider and name

requirement o) must be able to identify courses by code used by the provider

Use case 4 find information about specific instance of a course

description: when initially searching or after having found a course, the searcher is interested in information about upcoming instances or offerings of that course.

note: courses may be offered repeatedly at different times or locations, information about past offerings of a course may be available on the web (and of interest).

requirement p) must be able to identify alternative instances / offerings of a course.

note: identifying whether constraints above relate to the general description of a course or specific instances (or both) will require some modelling; time of sessions probably can only be associated with instances/offerings.

Use case 5 find the resources that are associated with a specific course

description: the searcher is interest in information about resources that are associated with a specific course for example in order to understand better the approach taken and the nature of the material covered (including accessibility issues, see uc1.7), or in order to access resources for course on which they are already enrolled.

requirement q) must be able to identify resources that are associated with a specific course.

note: similar requirement may arise from course validation by third party and from those interested in resource management, but these are outwith the main scope

Use case 6 find the events that are associated with a specific course

description: the searcher is interest in information about events that are associated with a specific course offering, for example in order to understand better the approach taken and the nature of the material covered (including accessibility issues, see uc1.7), or in order to attend events for course on which they are already enrolled.

note: I don’t think it makes sense to associate events to the course except to specific instances.

requirement r) must be able to identify events that are associated with a specific course offering/instance.

note: similar requirement may arise from course validation by third party and from those interested in course management (timetabling etc.), but these are outwith the main scope.

Use case 7 student on one course wants to find courses to which they can transfer

description: the searcher is already taking a course and they wish to transfer, perhaps to continue an equivalent course at a different location, or with a different mode of study, perhaps having completed a course they wish to continue studying in more depth.

requirement s) must be able to identify information about the direct relationships between courses, such as “equivalent course” “continuation course” or other “related course”

note: An example of facilitating transfer to equivalent courses: Texas State Transfer Course Equivalency system.

note: In some cases different instances of the same course would be appropriate for transfer, so this reinforces use case 4

note: “continuation course” is not quite the same as having the first course as “pre requisite”. Inverse of pre-req course is a broader term than this, covering direct continuations and other types of course, for example a course on “Logic fundamentals” may be a pre-req for a course on AI, but AI is not just “Advanced Logic”

note: In the many cases there is no information about equivalent & related courses, the generic course discovery use case (use case 1) describes the fallback option.

Use case 8 a student wants to find a set of courses that build on each other

description: the searcher’s desires to learn something/acquire a qualification which requires more than one course. These aggregations of courses are variously called "tracks" "specializations" "programmes" etc.

requirement t: To be able to identify aggregations of courses

requirement u: For an aggregation, to be able to identify which courses are parts of it

requirement v: For a course, to be able to identify which aggregations it is part of

note: open questions--is the set of courses different to a course (is it still a sequence of events and/or creative works…)? Is it necessary / possible to describe the sequencing.

note: examples of sets of course--“Specializations” in Coursera, UK University courses/programmes.

Use case 9 find a course based on career opportunities

see above

Use case 10 having found and instance of a course, someone wants to find the Course description

description: the searcher has come across a listing of course instance and wishes to find more information about the Course of which it is an instance, for example in order to find other instances of it.

requirement x: need a relationship from CourseInstance to Course.