The Project considered six areas of standards relevant to the online delivery of training.

The six standards areas were

• management systems (including data storage and transmission, training delivery platforms, and training management platforms) - AVETMISS, IMS, AICC, etc,
• groupware (document management, workflow management, scheduling, calendar, chat, application sharing, whiteboard, forums, email) - ODMA, ODMA workflow extensions, Workflow Coalition distributed workflow architecture, iCalendar, vCalendar, T120, vCard, SMTP, IMAP4, MIME, etc
• web protocols - XML, HTML, HTTP, Java, Javascript, etc
• multimedia - delivery standards: SDP, RTSP, H320, H323, gateways for H320 and H323, RTCP, RTP, HTTP; coordination standards: SMIL; encoding standards: hinted quicktime, MPEG; compression schemes: H261, sorenson, etc; data types: MPEG, AVI, AU, GIF, JPEG, PDF, etc
• resource locator technologies (meta data, search engines, and directory services) - LDAP, X400, X500, Dublin Core, EdNA Metadata, IMS Metadata, etc, and
• hardware (for client computers) - processor power, main memory, disk storage, monitor resolution, graphics memory, modem speeds, etc.

The Project Manager worked with the Steering Committee to appoint the Consultant. The Project Manager prepared a Consultancy Brief for approval by the Steering Committee. The Project Manager advertised tenders in the national press. DSTC Pty Ltd was appointed as Consultant after consideration of tenders by a Sub Committee of the Steering Committee.

Work on the Project commenced in July 2000.

Initially, DSTC research staff authored Discussion Papers on the six standards areas assigned to the Working Groups. For each of the standards areas, an email list was used for discussion by members of the relevant Working Group. Documents were placed on the project web site.

The Project Manager proposed candidate recommendations to be discussed on the email list. DSTC staff extended the Discussion Papers to cover the technologies in the candidate recommendations and produced the Workshop Papers. DSTC research staff worked with the Project Manager in further developing the candidate recommendations for discussion at the workshops. Comments from the email lists were also incorporated into the Workshop papers.

Workshops involving the Working Groups for the selected standards areas were held in early October with attendance from all jurisdictions. The workshops were chaired by the Project Manager. The workshops were extremely productive. Participants brought to the Workshops a variety of backgrounds, expertise, experience, and current interests. The Working Group memberships were complemented by observers from the Schools Sector. All attendees participated actively. The results of the workshops were incorporated into the Workshop Papers. The Workshop Papers were presented to the Steering Committee in November. The requirements of the Steering Committee were implemented.

A Communication Plan was developed to disseminate and encourage the uptake of the Preferred Standards. A draft was produced in July. Feedback was obtained from the Steering Committee via the email list and the October and November meetings.

A User Guide for the Preferred Standards was prepared.

As part of this project, DSTC developed proof-of-concept demonstrations. The aim of the demonstrations was to introduce possibilities for the technology to the project stakeholders. At the October Steering Committee meeting, DSTC demonstrated the transfer of a student record between two registered training providers. The transfer used an XML schema consistent with AVETMISS. DSTC demonstrated the use of the SMIL language for choreographing multimedia presentations. Also demonstrated was DSTC's learning management system (under development).

A survey was conducted to gather information about the use of the 1998 Preferred Standards, specifically

• the relevance of standards within projects,
• initiatives and projects that have used the standards,
• opportunities for improving the preferred standards, and
• constraints and barriers to the use of the preferred standards.

The Steering Committee met on 3rd November to consider all results from the Project. The Steering Committee accepted the recommendations subject to some changes in wording which were subsequently made by the Project Manager and the Consultant.

The EdNA VET Advisory Group Secretariat was requested on 22nd November to forward the recommendations to the EdNA VET Advisory Group for consideration out of session and for endorsement for approval by Australian National Training Authority CEOs.

The Project Manager prepared

• this Summary and Recommendations for the Australian National Training Authority CEOs,
• the Tables summarising the relationship between the Standards and the circumstances under which each Standard is relevant,
• the consolidated list of Operational Guidelines,
• additions to the User Guide,
• the consolidated list of Recommendations, and
• the Preferred Standards Web Site at http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au (this web site).