The ROLE project is an EU-funded project involving 16 partners across 7 countries that aims to empower learners to build their own responsive open learning environments. The project developed a technical framework and psycho-pedagogical model to support self-regulated learning in personal learning environments. This includes tools like a widget store, mashup recommender, and widgets to support learning activities. The framework was tested in various educational settings from academic to professional learning. Lessons learned include the need for usability, guidance materials, fostering innovative technology use, domain-specific tools, and supporting changes to learning culture.

1. © www.role-project.eu
ROLE Project
I-KNOW Synergy Workshop
4 September 2013
Graz, Austria
Supporting Self-regulated Learning in
Personal Leraning Environments
Alexander Nussbaumer (1), Milos Kravcik (2), Ralf Klamma (2), Dietrich Albert (1)
(1) Graz University of Technology, Knowledge Technologies Institute
(2) RWTH Aachen University, Informatik 5

2. © www.role-project.eu
Consortium: 16 partners
• 1 Coordinator (Fraunhofer, Germany)
• 7 Technical partners
• 4 Pedagogical and psychological partners
• 3 Industry partners
• 5 Testbed partners
• 7 countries
Project and Consortium
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop
Europe China
Responsive Open Learning Environments (ROLE)
• Project Type: EU funded, FP7 - ICT, Integrated Project (IP)
• Duration: Feb. 2009 - Jan 2013 (4 years)

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Consortium
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop
• 16 partners from 7 countries and 15 cities
● Fraunhofer-Institut für Angewandte Informationstechnik (FIT) Germany
● RWTH Aachen University (RWTH) Germany
● Graz University of Technology (TUG) Austria
● Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U.LEUVEN) Belgium
● University of Koblenz-Landau (UNI KO-LD) Germany
● Uppsala University (UU) Sweden
● Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Switzerland
● University of Leicester (ULEIC) UK
● Open University UK (OU) UK
● Vienna University of Economics & Business Administr.(WW) Austria
● Festo Lernzentrum (FESTO) Germany
● Information Multimedia Communication AG (IMC) Germany
● The British Institute for Learning and Development (BILD) UK
● Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) China
● Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI) Austria
● U&I Learning NV (UIL) Belgium
Austria Vienna Graz
Belgium
Leuven Gent
China Shanghai
Germany
St.Augustin Aachen
Koblenz Saarbrücken
St.Ingbert
Sweden Uppsala
Switzerland
Lausanne
United Kingdom
London Leicester
Bristol

4. © www.role-project.eu
Vision and Objectives
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop
ROLE Vision • Empower the learners to build their own
responsive open learning environment
Responsiveness • Support awareness of the own learning process
Openness • Open up and use learning resources on the Web
Objectives • Psycho-pedagogical framework for supporting
the individual composition of learning services
and its usage
• Technical framework that also enables
contributions to ROLE from learner and
developer communities from outside the project

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ROLE SDK / ROLE Platform
• Users create ROLE Space consisting of widgets and resources
• Widgets (apps) for different purposes and learning activities
• Features:
– inter-widget communication,
– contextual attention metadata (logging)
– user data storage
– peers and collaboration
– flexible and adaptable
– sharable
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop

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ROLE Widget Store
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop
• Repository of widgets and bundles of widgets
• Metadata and pedagogical information
• Web interface
• SPARQL interface

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ROLE Technical Infrastructure
• open and modular technical approach
• enabling a community to create widgets and bundles
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop

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Psycho-Pedagogical Framework
• Supporting self-regulated learning (SRL) in personal learning
environments (PLE)
• Self-regulated learning process model
• Models and ontology of learner, learning activities, and competences on
cognitive and meta-cognitive level
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop

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Psycho-Pedagogical Framework
• Operationalisation for technical support
• Ontology of educational and technical components and their interactions
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop

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Psycho-Pedagogical Framework
• Technical approach for supporting SRL
– Recommenders: guidance for creating PLE and learning process
– Monitoring: observation of learning behaviuour
– Feedback: feedback of tracked and analysed information
– Widgets: for conducting learning activities
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop

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Mashup Recommender
• Support for creating learning environments suitable for SRL
2013-04-23 ROLE Presentation

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Activity and Mashup Recommender
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop

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Mashup Recommender
• System Architecture: Services in the background
2013-04-23 ROLE Presentation

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SRL Text Reader Widget Bundle
• Bundle to support Self-regulated learning
– based on a domain model
– widgets for text reading and annotation, self-evaluation, information
search, self-reflection
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop

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Supporting Material for SRL
• SRL Video
• Online Course
• E-Book
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop

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ROLE testbeds
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop
• Focus on institutions and organisations
RWTH
FESTO
BILD
OU
SJTU
From academic to
professional learning
From un-
employment
or a job to jobs
From formal
to informal
learning
From a position
to positions or
accreditations
From
individual
to shared
competences

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Lessons Learned
• Accepting new technology
– Accessible and easy to use tools (usability)
– Multi-format introductory and guidance learning course materials
– Fostering a culture where the community is willing to engage with
new innovative technology
• Subject Domain
– Tailored tools to meet the needs of specific subject audiences
– Tools that harvest information from appropriate repositories /
platforms
• Change in learning culture
– Support and motivation for Self Regulated Learning
– Target the role of the teachers
• Evaluation
– Effective evaluation and feedback mechanisms
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop

18. © www.role-project.eu
ROLE Project
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop
Further Information:
• ROLE Website http://www.role-project.eu/
• ROLE SDK https://sourceforge.net/projects/role-project/
• Sandbox http://role-sandbox.eu/
• Widget Store http://www.role-widgetstore.eu/
• Social Media http://www.role-project.eu/Web-2_0-Access
• SRL Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTa1vOH6JjA
Any Questions?
http://kti.tugraz.at/css/

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ROLE Website
4 September 2013 ROLE Presentation @ I-KNOW Synergy Workshop
http://www.role-project.eu/