Customized PLE implementations for test-bed scenario ... - ROLE

structured course with pre-defined materials. Guidance within the learning platform is
restricted to the pre-given courses, while teachers point to helpful resources and tools.
Personalised learning experiences are mainly realised by the teachers who offer
materials beyond the course content and recommend next instructions, background
literature or other resources (e.g. cultural artefacts like music, helpful tools for
mathematics, etc). Additionally, learner monitoring is done on a technical level (log files
of school LMS and PLE platform) and by teachers (feedback in class and through
homework). Reflection of learning is mainly supported by quizzes for self-assessment.
Collaborative learning is considered to be beneficial, as learners get support from peers.
Thus, teachers try to foster collaboration but face different problematic issues (varying
levels of social competences and skills of students, traditional teacher-centred setting).
In the SJTU test-bed learners as well as learning outcomes are assessed by teachers
and through exams (multiple-choice quizzes and free text answers), whereby the
learning platform is not used for this purpose. Course-related skills and competences
are assessed by teachers manually and rather informally while competences beyond
the course domain are not considered at all. A learner profile is not given in this testbed.
Learning is primarily planned by the administration of the university and the
teachers. The learning outcomes (goals) of the courses are defined by the teachers in a
formal and explicit way. Restrictions of ROLE concepts in the test-bed are given through
the size of classes, a lack of tools and time, differences in the skills of learners, and a
lack of self-directedness of students. Training materials comprise slides, written
homework artefacts, course books, video files, and lecture streams. Materials are not
customizable, not based on a content model, or being analysed through ICT.
With respect to the community perspective, learning is restricted to the organisation,
the university, and to the context of formal education, i.e. learners are supposed to get
an academic degree. Students are learning on their own and in groups but they are also
motivated to collaborate, e.g. by being encouraged to solve exercises together. In the
test-bed, new media technology is applied. Precisely, in some courses mash-up
technology is used. Teachers suggest appropriate learning tools in the form of pre-built
PLEs while there is no focus on recommending peers or artefacts within the learning
activities. The SJTU test-bed utilises two platforms, a learning management system
(LMS) provided by the university and a PLE solution called Liferay and introduced by
teachers (cf. appendix B.2). Various Web 2.0 platforms are blocked by the Chinese
government; other applications are not accessible at the learners’ workplaces.
Learner interactions are captured in the form of log files within the two platforms and
CAM data within Liferay as given by the OpenApp mechanism (see also ROLE
deliverable D3.4: ‘Prototypical implementations’). Thereby, OpenApp provides
information on user interactions through events, i.e. the activity a learner is involved in,
the tool (gadget) that is used, and some details on the event (type, time, etc). This data
is used for analysing simple aspects, like the number of students using the platforms,
and for novel approaches like PLE recommendations, as explained later. From the
organisational perspective, it is possible to collect and analyse user data, to install any
kind of software, to open up the environment, and to store data externally (e.g. in Web
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