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The ROLE Test-beds: Visions, Outcomes, and Outlooks

Alexander Mikroyannidis

The Open University, UK

The ROLE Test-beds: Bundle 1

• Bundle 1: LMS Users

• Test-beds:• Open University (OpenLearn)• Festo (Virtual Academy)

• Offering learners a richer and more personalized experience, by implementing a transition from the traditional Learning Management System (LMS) towards the Personal Learning Environment (PLE) paradigm.

• This transition bears significant benefits for learners, as it puts emphasis to their needs and preferences, providing them with a wider choice of learning resources to choose from, both from internal as well as external sources.

The ROLE Test-beds: Bundle 2

• Bundle 2: Higher-Education Students

• Test-beds:• Shanghai Jiao Tong University• RWTH Aachen University

• Implementing a more active and interactive teaching style and enabling learners to train their speaking and writing competencies by solving real-life tasks and enacting real-life situations.

• Integration of widgets providing communication/collaboration tools (like FlashMeeting) and Knowledge Maps into a mashup platform (like Google Wave).

The ROLE Test-beds: Bundle 3

• Bundle 3: Life-long Learners

• Test-beds:• British Institute for Learning and Development (BILD)

• For the life-long learner, learning activities are less formal and organized than for LMS users or higher education students. This means that you cannot rely on there being a course plan, a dedicated teacher, or a well defined list of fellow students.

• This bundle focuses on finding solutions for the life-long learner to fill in the blanks when needed, for example to find fellow students, set up goals, and locating teachers or a replacement using for instance peer learning in combination with suitable learning material.

The ROLE cloud of tools & services

ROLE Space with sample widgets

Where do we go from here?

• Targeted learning scenarios, addressing existing learning processes

• Niche selection of gadgets, embedded in environments familiar to the learner, e.g. iGoogle, Clix, Moodle

• Mashups with third-party widgets

• PLE templates

• Guidance and support throughout the learning process

ROLE PLE template in OpenLearn

ROLE PLE scenario in OpenLearn

• Ann is taking an OU course on sustainable energy. One of her group assignments is on the 10:10 climate change campaign. In order to assist the class in this assignment, her tutor has setup a special page in OpenLearn, with introductory OER from OU learning units, iTunesU albums, and YouTube videos.

• Ann studies this material first, and then decides to explore more. Her tutor has suggested a set of widgets in the form of a pre-configured PLE. Ann starts off with the ObjectSpot search gadget to discover more OER on sustainable energy, coming from OpenLearn, iTunesU, Wikipedia, SlideShare, and YouTube. She takes notes on the Etherpad gadget, which she shares with her group members. She then has a videoconference with them, through the FlashMeeting gadget, revising their joint notes on the Etherpad gadget at the same time. Finally, she is off to Google docs to collaboratively create the final document, by expanding and formatting the group's Etherpad notes.