Authenticity and versioning of learning objects using the digital signature infrastructure of Costa Rica

Abstract

There are a large number of educational resources available on the Internet through different repositories. However, authenticity methods of learning objects has not been widely adopted by repositories, making it difficult to verify the authors of the content. To solve this problem, our goal is to aid users and authors of learning objects to have a trusted verification of authenticity and versioning of learning objects by applying digital signatures into the lifecycle of learning objects. In our propose, after a learning object is uploaded to a repository, the author presents his/her digital certificate, a special LOM record is created with the information from the author’s certificate, and then it is signed to prove its authenticity. The signature is produced using digital certificates issued by the digital signature infrastructure of Costa Rica, which guarantees legal binding and trust over time. We hope to propose a generic framework than can be implemented in any repository.