Pixel International Conferences

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are becoming increasingly important for the modern learning experience. Companies and Universities rely on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and e-learning courses to accompany or even replace traditional methods of teaching.

Roles in educational scenarios are changing too: teachers are becoming facilitators by supporting the students’ work, while learners are no longer passive content-consumers but need adaptive contents and act more and more as content-makers. Platform developers need to be aware of this situation and thus provide customized education.

So, which are the best ways to create a learning environment based on OERs making use of adaptivity criteria?

We’ve been asking ourselves this question for a very specific reason. We’re working on Lead3.0 Academy, an Erasmus+ project aiming to estabilish deep connections between the academic world and business. By 2018, the Academy will provide a learning model and training programmes for teachers, managers and students, delivered through a virtual learning environment using OERs and MOOCs and involving communities of practice.

One initial answer to our question could be the adoption of a lean production approach to designing the platform. This method is based on the concept of minimum viable product, meaning that the developer already starts collecting feedback during the design and the development phases. This makes it possible to meet the specific needs of the end-users without having to wait for the release of the finished product.

Learning analytics are another technique we are considering for achieving customization. Collecting data to track specific preferences, achievements, habits and weaknesses allows the developer to design a system that interacts with learners by suggesting paths, sharing results or connecting them with other users. Offering a wide range of different media and learning strategies such as gamification, scenario-based lessons, interactive exercises, webinars or audio-lessons is fundamental for engaging users as co-designers of their learning journey.

This approach will allow students to proceed at their own pace while building their personal learning journey on Lead3.0 Academy, while, at the same time trainers will be able to access a community of practice and a tool-kit to support and empower their lessons.