edilr

edilr is an open standard and reference implementation intended for interoperable exchange of educational data among learning management systems, content repositories, and analytics platforms. It specifies a unified metadata model for learning resources and a stream-based protocol for recording learner interactions. The aim is to enable institutions to catalog, discover, reuse, and analyze educational content across diverse software environments while maintaining data ownership and user privacy.

edilr traces its origins to collaborative standardization efforts in higher education and edtech during the early 2010s, with consortiums of universities, libraries, and vendors contributing requirements. Versioned editions have since evolved to address interoperability, access control, and privacy concerns, with the most recent release series emphasizing ease of integration, streaming metadata, and offline synchronization.

Core components include a JSON-LD based resource schema, a set of canonical resource identifiers, and an event protocol for learner actions such as view, start, complete, and assessment attempts. The standard supports resource catalogs, versioning, licensing metadata, and fine-grained access control. Integrity is upheld through digital signatures, auditable logs, and optional anonymization.

Several reference implementations exist in Python, JavaScript, and Java, accompanied by test suites and documentation. Pilots have been conducted across universities and open educational resource platforms, with collaborating LMSs and content repositories reporting improved resource discovery and cross-system analytics. Adoption remains uneven, reflecting legacy system inertia and the need for migration planning.

Critics cite complexity, mapping challenges from legacy formats, and concerns about data portability vs. vendor lock-in. Proponents point to improved interoperability and governance. Edilr competes with other standards and protocols for educational data exchange, such as LTI, xAPI, and Caliper, which contributes to a crowded standards landscape.

See also: Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI), Experience API (xAPI), Caliper Analytics, Learning Record Store (LRS), e-learning standards.