Under the theme “Employability and Lifelong learning in the knowledge society” this year’s ePortfolio conference took place over three days (October 17th-19th) at the Maastricht Exhibition and Conference Centre (MECC) in the Netherlands.

The event was co-organised by TENCompetence and Eifel as well as a number of other organisations including: SURF, CWI, Kennisnet, Kenteq, the City of Maastricht and the Province of Limburg.

 

 Whilst the TENCompetence project does not focus exclusively on e-Portfolios, they (ePortfolios) are included as one of seven major usage profiles that currently define the intended functionality of the infrastructure. In the context of the project, the portfolio is intended to help users reflect on their accomplishments and to help publish the profile to relevant communities.

 

 In addition to issues relating to portfolios, the scope of the conference covered a wide range of subject areas including three sessions devoted to the TENCompetence related theme of “Lifelong learning Networks”.

 

The majority of the TENCompetence contributions were made by members of project staff based at the Open University of the Netherlands under the respective sub-headings of:

 

• Context and content
• The role of learner profiling
• Personalised peer support

 

Context and content

The first of these sessions comprised three separate presentations beginning with an analysis of the functionality of social web applications (del.icio.us, Flickr and YouTube) by Berlanga et al.[1].

The presentation looked at ways in which such functions could be used to encourage better management, organisation and regulating of Learning Networks among participants, a subject which is increasingly pertinent to the project as functionalty and services continue to be added to the developing infrastructure.

The need to establish consistent and meaningful descriptions of learning paths has arisen in response to plans to enable comparisons and exchange of differnt types of learning action (course, programme etc.) in the context of flexible lifelong learning.  

In their paper “Towards a learning path specification”, Jansen et al.[2] identify the requirements for a learning path specification and map them on two existing specifications designed to describe learning programmes, XCRI and IMS-LD. They went on to identify the main elements of the learning path specification.

In the third and final presentation included under the umbrella of “Context and Content”, Sodhi et al. [3]  consider alternatives to current approaches employed in today’s IMS LD authoring tools with a view to enabling non-experts to better design e-learning courses, activities etc.

The integration of IMS LD into the TENCompetence infrastructure currently forms the focus of research within the project.

 

The role of learner profiling

"Processing learner profiles for smart indicators" by Glahn et al. [4] is the first of two papers dealing with the issue of learner profiling. As e-learning systems develop so do the possibilities they afford and the complexities these entail with the result that the need to help learners navigate through complex learning environments is growing in importance. The TENCompetence project recognises this need and addresses the problem through work on smart system indicators which are intended to provide contextual information relevant to the performance of learning tasks.

 

In the second of the learner profiling presentations Brouns et al. [5] takes a look at the role personal profiling and context portfolio information are expected to play the TENCompetence infrastructure. This paper addresses the issues implicit in helping to meet a person’s learning needs through social interaction with peers in learning communities.

 

Personalised Peer Support

"Question-answering through Selecting and Connecting Peer-students" by Van Rosmalen et al.[6] invokes a model earmarked for integration in the TENCompetence infrastructure. The model is designed to help students obtain answers to questions which tutors don’t have the time to answer. This student based solution draws on the knowledge and skills of peers who are briefly brought together for the purpose of a question and answer exchange.

In their case study on "Enabling flexible recognition of prior learning competences using the EVC-toolbox electronic support system". Bitter-Rijpkema et al.[7] present their vision for the design of the EVC box, a tool designed to enable e-guidance in the portfolio building process for all actors involved in the Assessment of Prior Learning, a process which is fundamental to any competence development system.

In the final presentation relating to Personalised Peer Support, Berlanga et al. [8] look "Towards a Model for Navigation Support in Learning Networks." In this paper, the authors present work in progress in the form of simulations intended to reveal the characteristics needed for more efficient and effective individualized support in completing learning activities in a Learning Network.

 

The TENCompetence project made a number of further contributions in the form of of a three day exhibition featuring a running demo of the Personal Competence Manager (PCM). The exhibition was complimented by a presentation on the PCM run jointly by project leader Rob Koper (OUNL) and Chris Kew (University of Bolton) which presented the aims of the TENCompetence infrastructure and an overview of its functionality and services via an explanation of the TENCompetence domain model and a subsequent walk-through of the client software.

 

Watch this space for links to the conference proceedings. Below you can find links to the TENCompetence papers and presentations at the e_Potfolio conference.

 

[1] Berlanga, A., Sloep, P.,  Brouns, F., Van Rosmalen, P., Bitter-Rijpkema, M., Koper, R. (2007) Functionality for Learning Networks: Lessons Learned from Social Web Applications.

 

[2]  Janssen, J., Berlange, A., Vogten, H., 

 Koper., R  (2007) Towards a learning path specification

 

[3] Sodhi,T.,  Brouns,F.,  Miao,Y., Koper, R. (2007) Supporting the non-expert in the authoring of personalized learning using IMS LD

 

[4] Glahn, C., Specht, M., Koper,R. (2007) Processing learner profiles for smart indicator

 

[5] Brouns, F., Bitter-Rijpkema. M.E., Sloep, P.B., Kester, L., van Rosmalen, P., Berlanga, A., Koper, R. (2007) Profiling mechanisms to stimulate participation in learning networks

 

[6] Van Rosmalen, P; Brouns, F; Sloep, P; Kester, L., Berlanga, A; Bitter, M; Koper, R. (2007) Question-answering through Selecting and Connecting Peer-students

 

 [7]  Bitter-Rijpkema, M., Wolters M., Rutjens, M.,  Van der Sanden., P. (2007) Enabling flexible recognition of prior learning competences using the EVC-toolbox electronic support system"

 

[8]  Berlanga, A., Van den Berg, B., Nadolski,R.,  Drachsler, H., Hummel, H.G.K., Koper, R. (2007) Towards a Model for Navigation Support in Learning Networks.