The BELTS may be used as both a centralised and distributed model for content delivery. The centralised model involves a single BELTS system servicing a number of schools, which access content over a wide area network. The distributed model involves multiple BELTS systems deployed along the distribution chain, including at school level, and delivering content via the local area network.

The diagram illustrates a particular scenario where three systems are linked together in a content distribution chain illustrating how the BELTS can be used as a centralised system (the middle BELTS) and a distributed system (the top BELTS). The Exchange interfaces with a central BELTS deployment, which in turn interfaces with another BELTS deployment at a school. The BELTS will be capable of supporting a range of different distribution scenarios that are based on these concepts.

The central education system or sector BELTS system is hosted in an application hosting environment (not distinguishing between education systems and sectors, ASPs and ISPs in terms of functionality provided) and this environment is used to manage the discovery and distribution of content from the Exchange repository to a central BELTS repository. This requires interfaces between the Exchange and BELTS that allow the discovery and transfer of content.

The diagram also illustrates a BELTS system deployed at the school. In the school environment the BELTS system's responsibility is to manage the distribution of content from the central education system or sector BELTS repository to the school BELTS repository and enable basic e-learning tools to be available to teachers and students. This creates a chain of BELTS systems, which requires BELTS to have interfaces that allow inter-BELTS-repository communication and transfer of content.

It is feasible with this model that any number of BELTS systems may be “chained” together, creating a parent-child type relationship between BELTS systems deployed at different points in the distribution chain, and that the role of each BELTS deployment may differ. For example, in the diagram above, illustrating a distributed BELTS deployment, the central education system or sector's BELTS must enable the interface between the BELTS and the Exchange and the search and discovery tools, but not necessarily enable any e-learning tools. In contrast, the school's BELTS must enable the interface between the BELTS repositories and the basic e-learning tools. In a different scenario, a central BELTS system may be used by many schools that do not have their own BELTS deployment and thus enable both the discovery and download tools and the basic e-learning tools.

As BELTS is a single system with multiple functional modules that comprise the total functionality, it is also feasible that other applications could be integrated with a BELTS system at any point in the distribution chain, and extend its functionality, represented as Application 1 and Application 2 in the diagram.

A core principle behind the system is that it supports open industry standards to enable the greatest opportunity for interoperability. A second principle is to provide an open source framework that enables other parties, such as education systems and sectors, to further build upon the framework and contribute to the development of an open source learning management system for the benefit of all education systems and sectors.