Education and training : project fact sheets.
Date: 2002-04-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for the Information Society and Media
Subjects: education, information society, information technology, project management, vocational training

European  Commission 

information 
society 
technologies 

Education and Training 

P R O J E CT  F A CT  S H E E TS 
second updated and enlarged edition 

J 

j 

Λ  r 

\  r 

Λ  Γ 

information  Society 

m 

European  Commission 
Education  and Training,  1ST Programme 
Information  Society  DG,  D/3 

Bâtiment Jean  Monnet 
Rue Alcide  De  Gasperi 
L-2920  Luxemburg 

E-mail:  Alma.Cardi@cec.eu.int 
Tel.(352)43  01-38184 

Internet: 
http://www.cordis.lu/ist/ 
http://www.proacte.com/ 

Foreword 

Information  and  communication  technologies  are 
changing  dramatically  the  way in  which  individuals  live 
and  work  and  organisations  operate,  creating  the  basis 
for  the  Information  Society  in  which  we  live  today. 
This  was  explicitly  acknowledged  in  the  title  of  the 
so-called  "Information  Society  Technologies"  research 
programme.  Nowadays  there  is  a shift  towards  a  more 
ambitious  concept:  the  knowledge  society,  recognising 
the  crucial  role  that  the  skills  of  the  citizens  will  play 
in  the  future  competitiveness  of  the  emerging 
knowledge-based  economy. 

This  has  been  equally  acknowledged  by the  Council  of  the  EU at  the  launch  of 
the  e-Europe  initiative.  Indeed  when  setting  out  the  objective  for  Europe  to 
become  the  most  competitive  and  dynamic  economy  in  the  world  particular 
attention  was  paid  to  digital  literacy  and  skills  in  general  as  preconditions. 

E-learning  is  recognised  as essential  to  this  transition  and  will  soon  become  its 
engine.  Indeed  e-learning  technologies  will  play  a fundamental  role  in  ensuring 
that  the  all-pervasive,  and  sometimes  overwhelming  information  available 
nowadays,  is  converted  into  relevant  knowledge  for  Europe's  citizens,  industries, 
communities  and  organisations,  the  way  they  need  it,  personalised  and 
accessible,  whenever  and  wherever  needed. 

The  European  Commission  has  launched  several initiatives  in  order  to  create a 
critical  mass  of  "resources"  able  to  support,  guide  and  stimulate  research, 
technological  development  and  innovation  in  education  and  training.  The  main 
one  is  the  1ST  (Information  Society  Technologies)  research  programme,  where 
education  and  training  is  one  of  the  key  priorities  and  is  leading  to  the 
development  of  new  open  platforms  for  e-learning  and  applications  for  schools, 
corporate  training,  universities  and  lifelong  learning  in  general.  The  activities  in 
this  area  cover  both  R&D work  on  common  methodologies  and  tools  and  specific 
demonstrations  in  several  market  sectors. 

As  horizontal  activities,  some  accompanying  measures  have  been  launched. 
These  projects  will  support  R&D  projects  in  their  clustering,  reinforcing 
validation,  evaluation  and  dissemination  activities.  Some  of  the  topics 
addressed  are  standards  in  multimedia  technologies,  re-elaboration  of  R&D 
results  of  education  communities  and  market  watch  of  learning  technologies. 

I 

The  nature  of  all  the  projects  involved  in  this  initiative  is  described  succinctly 
in  this  document. 

The  European  Commission  also  promotes  some  complementary  initiatives  in  the 
field  of  education  and  training  which  complement  and  support  the  research 
activities  carried  out  within  the  1ST programme.  Among  these  it  is  worth 
highlighting  the  initiative  on  standardisation  of  learning  technologies  (CEN-
ISSS workshop)  -  it  is  broadly  admitted  that  standardisation  is  important  to 
ensure  that  a critical  mass of  learning  systems,  services  and  contents  can be 
established  in  a  cost-effective  way,  taking  into  account  Europe's  cultural  and 
linguistic  diversity.  Ensuring  a  critical  mass  of  actors  for  the  deployment  of 
these  technologies  is  the  key  remit  of  the  Memorandum  of  Understanding, 
PROMETEUS  (Promoting  Multimedia  in  Education  and  Training  in  the  European 
Society),  which  provides  a  platform  for  reaching  consensus  and  bridging  current 
research  with  actual  implementation.  An  exchange  of  experience  and  knowledge 
takes  place  through  the  international  activities. 

The  stakes  are twofold:  on the  one  hand  e-learning  is  an  enabling  application 
area  with  a strong  potential  impact  on  the  continuous  education  and  training 
of  individuals,  on  the  quality  of  life  and  the  competitiveness  of  European 
industry;  on  the  other  hand  it  is  an  emerging  market  which  is  going  to  boom  in 
upcoming  years  according  to  all  forecasts.  The  outstanding  quality  of  education 
and  training  systems  in  Europe  should  be  coupled  with  information  and 
knowledge  technologies,  to  ensure  that  Europe  will  be  able  to  meet  the  growing 
demand  for  lifelong  learning  and  will  become  a key  player  in  this  market. 

Luis Rodríguez-Roselló 
Head of Unit 
Multimedia Applications for  Education and Training 
Directorate General Information  Society 

Information  and  communication  technologies  (ICTs)  are  now  widely  used  in 
education  and  training,  enabling  the  implementation  of  new  pedagogical 
paradigms  (e.g.  distance  learning,  sharing  of  course  materials,  virtual 
laboratories).  While  there  are  many  practical  benefits  in  the  use  of  ICT,  the 
production  of  learning  content  is  expensive.  At  the  same  time,  new  learning 
requirements  are  emerging,  with  a  shift  towards  personalised  learning 
services  flexibly  delivered.  Thus,  more  cost-effective  learning  environments 
are  required  based  on  open  standards  and  reusable  learning  objects. 

Significant  contributions  to  reusable,  interoperable  and  platform-independent 
approaches  have  already  been  made  under  previous  EU RTD programmes.  For 
example,  ARIADNE,  a TAP  FP4  project,  developed  a  distributed  repository  of 
learning  objects  based  on  open  platforms  and  metadata  standards.  Project 
participants  share  their  educational  resources  through  interconnected 
educational  databases  known  as  the  Knowledge  Pool  System  (KPS).  Teachers  can 
combine  content  selected  from  the  KPS with  their  existing  materials  to  create 
courses  online  relatively  quickly  and  easily.  Learners  and  authors  can  work  from 
anywhere  provided  there  is  Internet  access  to  the  nearest  KPS node. 

ARIADNE,  together  with  other  FP4 projects  such  as  REM, has  been  closely 
involved  international  standardisation  activities,  such  as  IEEE  LOM  (Learning 
Object  Methodology)  and  the  IMS  project  (Instructional  Management  Systems). 

This  work  is  being  continued  under  IST's  action  line  on  Open  Platforms  and  Tools 
for  Personalised  Learning. This  aims  to  prove  the  concept  of  re-usable  learning 
objects  and  open  platforms  as  a cost-effective  way  of  implementing  and 
maintaining  flexible  learning  services.  It  also  aims  to  further  develop  an  open 
architecture  for  building  education  and  training  applications  and  services. 
Active  contributions  to  international  standardisation  activities  and  to  European 
best  practice  are  also  key  objectives. 

The work  focuses  on  the  development  and  validation  of  reusable  components, 
and  is  closely  linked  to  component  software  engineering.  New tools  and 
processes  are  being  developed  for  producing  and  maintaining  reusable  learning 
objects  at  different  levels  of  detail  ("granularity").  Tools  and  processes  for 

A  repository  for  learning 

resources 

The  EASEL project  is  addressing  the 
standards-based  provision  of  online 
learning  based  on  state-of-the-art 
repository  technologies.  The objective 
is  to  offer  educators  an environment  in 
which  they  can  readily  combine 
existing  learning  objects  to  create  new 
online  educational  offerings.  The work 
involves  the  development  of  an XML 
metadata  repository  for  storing 
descriptions  of  learning  objects, 
assessment  modules  for  interrogating 
objects,  a  Web-based  search  gateway 
and a construction  kit.  The project  is 
working  closely  with  the  IEEE Question 
& Test working  group, which is 
developing  classification  and 
management  systems  for  learning 
objects. 

locating  and  sharing  learning  objects  are  also  being  developed,  including 
solutions  for  operational  issues  such  as  intellectual  property  rights, 
accreditation  and  payments.  Another  area  of  interest  is  the  assembly  and 
maintenance  of  new  types  of  flexible  learning  environments  based  on  reusable 
learning  objects.  The  work  also  feeds  into  longer-term  research  on  advanced 
learning  environments  and  innovative  pedagogical  approaches. 

In  technological  terms,  the  main  development  areas  include:  learning  object 
manipulation  (metadata  generators  and  retrieval  systems);  learning  object 
authoring  systems;  security  and  trust  infrastructures  (APIs,  smartcards); 
knowledge  repositories;  and  language  translation. 

The  CODEX-IP  project,  for  example,  is  researching  tools  to  develop  and  maintain 
language-independent  learning  objects  across  IP-based  networks.  TELENET  is 
developing  a smart  card  based  secure  infrastructure  for  the  exchange  and 
delivery  of  learning  materiel.  An  advanced  lecturing  system  that  uses the  high 
bandwidth  available  to  academic  institutions  to  deliver  real-time,  specialised 
courses  to  students  in  different  locations  is  being  developed  by  VIRTUAL 
BLACKBOARD. 

Further  info 

1ST Action  Lines: 

IST1999  Hl.3.1 

Project  References: 
3DE 
CODEX-IP 
DIVILAB 
EASEL 
EMBER 
FM-Ultranet 
FREETEXT 
KOD 
MYTHE 
TRAIN.ME 
TRIAL-SOLUTION 
Twr-u 
UP-ARIADNE 
UPLOADED IT 
VIRTUAL  BLACKBOARD 

WEBSET 

Commission  Contacts: 
Joseph  Bremer 

! 

Open  Platforms  and  Tools  for  Personalised  Learnins 

IST-1999-10697 
IST-1999-12021 
IST-1999-12017 
IST-1999-10051 
IST-2000-20469 
IST-1999-20865 
IST-1999-13093 
IST-1999-12503 
IST-1999-12395 
IST-2000-21036 
IST-1999-11397 
IST-1999-20325 
IST-1999-20407 
IST-1999-20359 
IST-1999-12670 
IST-1999-10632 

http://www.3DEproject.com 
http://www.codex-ip.com 

http://www.fd3r0up.com/easel 
http://www.bioinf.man.ac.uk/ember/ 

http://www.latl.uni3e.ch/freetext/ 
http://www.kodweb.org/ 
http://mythe.ilsp.gr/ 
http://www.train-me.org 
http://www.trial-solution.de 
http : //www.myTWT. net 

http://www.3xodus.com/virtualblackboard 
http://www.man.ac.uk/MVC/ 

Joseph, breme 

r@cec.eu.int 

With  higher  education  now  a global  market  and  knowledge  transfer 
increasingly  seen  as the  key  driver  of  wealth  creation,  universities  are 
having  to  reinvent  themselves.  To  compete  in  an  increasingly  commercial 
and  international  market,  European  higher  education  institutions  are 
collaborating  in  developing  competitive  curricula.  They  also face  a  major 
new  challenge  as  knowledge  providers  in  individuals'  lifelong  learning. 

For  universities  to  offer  flexible  easy  access, they  need  more  open  technological 
solutions.  Information  and  communication  technologies  (ICTs)  offer  the 
prospect  of  flexible  learning  services  that  meet  user  needs  in  terms  of  range, 
access  and  costs  while  adopting  innovative  learning  processes.  ICTs  allow 
learning  to  be  effective  and  cost-efficient  and  tailored  to  the  needs  of 
individuals  who  are  demanding  and  increasingly  mobile.  It  allows  institutions 
across  Europe  the  opportunity  to  collaborate  in  producing,  managing  and 
delivering  the  curricula  and  skills  required  by future  students.  ICT is  critical  for 
universities  in  their  emerging  role  as "knowledge  centres"  for  lifelong  learning. 

Tomorrow's  universities  will  be  very  different  from  those  of  today:  increasingly, 
virtual  institutions  are  serving  a  much  wider  client  base.  Curricula  will  be 
produced  collaboratively  from  distributed  educational  resources,  and  flexibly 
managed  and  delivered  to  learners  worldwide.  The  boundaries  between  academic 
education  and  vocational  training  will  become  increasingly  blurred  as  learners 
access  personalised  and flexible  learning  services,  available  as and when  they 
want  them,  as  part  of  a continuum  of  lifelong  learning.  Students  will  no  longer 
be  confined  to  one  curriculum  but  will  be  able  to  build  their  own  based  on 
courses  from  multiple  institutions. 

IST's  action  line  on  the  Flexible  University  aims  to  integrate  and  demonstrate 
emerging  ICT technologies  in  higher  education.  The  approach  focuses  on 
applications-oriented  research  involving  innovative  learning  processes  and 
delivery  methods.  Aspects  covered  include:  collaborative  learning  and  self-
assessment;  broadband  networks  and  new  Internet  technologies;  and  standards-
based  solutions  for  co-operative  development,  sharing  and  reuse  of  educational 
objects.  The  aim  is  for  a set  of  compelling  ICT-based  demonstrations  that 
contribute  to  open  standards  and  build  cross-sectoral  links  and  partnerships. 
The  best  practices  studied  will  be  disseminated  through  Europe. 

Several  projects  focus  on  personalised  course  delivery.  LEDA,  for  example,  is 
developing  a  networked  system  to  support  post-graduate  education  in  the  field 
of  digital  media.  The  project  will  generate  an  international  knowledge  base  on 
digital  media  production  processes,  methods  and  techniques,  which  will  be  used 
by  universities  and  industry  to  access  research  results  and  learning  materials 
interactively.  PEARL is  developing  a  collaborative  environment  for  science  and 
engineering  students  to  undertake  experiments. 

Design  your  own  courses 

UNIVERSAL is  investigating  the 
feasibility  of  an  open  exchange  system 
for  academic  course  units.  The aim is 
to  develop  a  brokerage  platform, 
based  on  common  models  and 
standards,  that  will  enable  lecturers  to 
enrich  their  curricula  with  remotely 
sourced  units.  Different  classes  of 
course  units  will  be covered  including 
live,  person-to-person  units  and 
packaged,  person-machine  units. The 
system  will  be compatible  with a 
variety  of  current  business  models 
including  open  universities.  Students 
will  benefit  from  a wider  choice  of 
course  units  and from  virtual  mobility 
based  on  mutual  recognition. 

A  virtual  design  school 

A virtual school of  architecture,  civil 
engineering  and  environment  design is 
being  set  up  under  WINDS. The system 
comprises  a  networked  tutoring 
environment  for  teaching  design 
involving  contributions  from 23 
universities  in  10  European  countries. 
Students  will  have  access to  services 
through  the  Internet  by  means of 
shared  tools,  Web-browsers  and 
commercial  CAD systems.  Co-operation 
between  students  (peer  tutoring)  and 
between  students  and  teachers 
(remote  tutoring)  will  be supported  by 
groupware  tools. 

Another  area  of  interest  is  collaborative  course  production.  A Web-based 
framework  for  sharing  high-quality  learning  material  over  the  Internet  is  being 
developed  by  0R-WORLD. An  important  issue  in  this,  and  other  projects,  is  the 
"granularity"  of  the  educational  content  -  at  what  level  should  the  teaching 
resources  be reusable  (course,  lecture,  media  elements,  etc.)? 

User-friendly  brokerage  systems  for  university  courses  is  also  an  emerging  area. 
CUBER  is  developing  a  system  to  support  individuals  and  corporations  in  finding 
a three-dimensional  match  in  courses  between  vocational  demands,  academic 
offers  and  individual  learning  conditions.  Using  brokering  middleware,  it  will 
integrate  European  universities  within  a virtual  network  through  a  common 
knowledge  base  of  standardised  course  descriptions. 

|  Further  info 

1ST Action  Lines: 
IST-1999  III.3.2 

Project  References: 
CANDLE 
CUBER 
LEDA 
OR-WORLD 
PEARL 
UNIVERSAL 
VOEU 
WINDS 

The  Flexible 

IST-1999-11276 
IST-1999-10737 
IST-1 999-10567 
IST-1999-11124 
IST-1999-12550 
IST-1999-11747 
IST-1 999-13079 
IST-1 999-10253 

Commission  Contacts: 
Wim  Jansen 

Wim.Jansen 

http://www.candle.eu.org/ 
http://www.cuber.net/ 
http://www.ledanet.org 
http://www.or-world.com 
http://www.kmi.open.ac.uk/projects/pearl/ 
http://www.ist-universal.org 
http://voeu.vitamib.com/ 
http://www.winds-university.org 

The  smart  instructor 

Α-TEAM is  developing  a new approach 
to  advanced  training  for  complex 
technical  domains.  Artificial 
intelligence  technologies  are  being 
integrated  with  dynamic  simulation 
modelling  to  create  a fully  interactive 
real-time  knowledge-based  system  for 
emergency  management  applications. 
The  system  guides  the  learner  through 
a simulated  emergency  and  monitors 
student  reactions,  providing  additional 
help  and  feedback  where  necessary. 
Embedded  evaluation  functions  monitor 
the  student's  progress. 

As the  world  of  work  becomes  ever  more  complex  and  portfolio  careers 
become  the  norm,  on-the-job  training  is  increasingly  important.  Future 
learning  environments  will  have  to  address  moves in  and  out  of  work  and 
between  working  tasks  in  a world  where  skills,  disciplines  and jobs  mutate 
rapidly.  Increasingly,  organisations  require  a  flexible  workforce  with  broad 
competencies  rather  than  workers  trained  in  a  specific  but  limited  skill  set. 

Current  approaches  to  ICT-supported  vocational  training  mainly  address  the  use 
of  new  technology  within  traditional  training  settings.  The  benefits  sought  are 
mostly  cost  reductions  with  little  or  no  added  value  in  the  learning  process 
itself.  Users  often  fail  to  see the  benefits  of  ICT-based  training  solutions,  which 
are  developed  with  little  involvement  of  pedagogical  experts.  Current  solutions 
also  tend  to  focus  mainly  on  technical  subjects  and  to  be  applied  in  Large 
industrial  organisations. 

IST's  Advanced  Training  Systems  action  line  is  developing  and  validating 
radically  new  approaches  to  ICT-based  vocational  training.  The  work  aims  to 
demonstrate  improvements  in  learning  processes  through  ICT,  including 
evidence  of  the  benefits  of  just-in-time,  just-as-required  on-the-job  training. 
This  research  puts  the  learner  at  the  centre  of  a web  of  innovative  learning 
processes  and  leading  edge  technologies.  The  outputs  will  be  innovative, 
prototype  training  environments  which  are  adaptive  to  the  learner  -  their  style, 
knowledge  level etc.,  and  provide  support  where  and  when  required. 

Research  areas  include  new  learning  environments  for  complex,  high-tech 
industrial·  situations  using  advanced  simulation  and  immersive  VR,  collaborative 
training  environments,  and  co-operative  team-based  training  using  corporate 
knowledge  networks. 

The  CORONET  project,  for  example,  is  integrating  corporate  knowledge  networks 
and  group  learning  processes  for  software  engineers.  DERIVE is  combining  the 
use  of  robotics  and  informatics  within  virtual  reality-based  training  systems.  A-
TEAM focuses  on  advanced  training  systems  for  emergency  management  (see 
box).  VirTEPPE  is  creating  a fully  integrated  learning  and  teaching  channel  for 
workers  in  the  printing  industry  based  on  satellite,  ISDN-DSL  and  Internet 
technologies.  Other  industry-specific  applications  include  aircraft  maintenance 
(AITRAM)  and  aviation  training  (ASIMIL  and  ADAPT-IT). 

Barriers  between  work  and  learning  are  disappearing:  in  the  future  the  emphasis 
will  shift  from  "training"  to  "job-related  learning".  As individuals  take  greater 
responsibility  for  their  own  professional  development  they  will  need to  access 
work-related  learning  opportunities  throughout  their  lives.  People  will  be 

c 
O 

Ό 
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looking  to  learn  where,  when  and  how  they  need  to  -  at  the  office,  in  the 
factory,  on  the  road.  Such  learning  will  be  self-determined,  tailored  and  specific 
to  their  skill  needs,  but  at  the  same time  will  bring  the  benefits  of  collaborative, 
team-based  approaches. 

From the  employer's  perspective,  the  challenge  is  to  integrate  learning  into  day-
to-day  working  processes  as  part  of  an  overall  approach  to  managing  knowledge 
and  leveraging  the  organisation's  intellectual  capital.  The  increasing  relation  to 
work  implies  the  application  of  knowledge  to  real tasks  with  an  element  of 
"learning-by-doing". 

Thus,  we  should  think  in  terms  of  flexible  individual  learning  solutions  available 
on  a  ubiquitous  basis  and  with  complete  mobility.  Mobility  is  a  complex 
concept,  not just  a  question  of  the  use  of  portable  devices.  It  may  include 
movement  between  jobs  and the  ability  to  learn  either  on  or  off-the-job,  as  well 
as learning  flexibly  at  different  times  or  in  different  places.  Research  priorities 
include  new  methods  of  learning,  as opposed  to  well-understood  patterns  of 
computer-based  training,  and  the  application  of  innovative  learning  methods 
within  companies. 

Further  info 

1ST Action  Lines: 

IST1999-III.3.3 

Project  References: 

ADAPT-IT 

AITRAM 

ASIMIL 

A - T E AM 

CBLPET 

CORONET 

DERIVE 

ELSA 

ENORM-VLC 

GAMBIT 

ICIS 

InTraServ 

INVITE 

KITS 

MOPLE 

TELENET 

VIDL 

VIRTEPPE 

Advanced 

IST-1999-11740 
IST-1999-12241 
IST-1999-11286 
IST-1999-10176 
IST-2000-28520 
IST-1999-11634 
IST-1999-10417 
IST-2000-29340 
IST-2000-29422 
IST-2000-28275 
IST-2000-29323 
IST-2000-29377 
IST-1999-11722 
IST-1999-13078 
IST-1999-13460 
IST-1999-10459 
IST-2000-29390 
IST-1999-10953 

Commission  Contacts: 
Elena  Coello 

elena.coe 

http://www.aitram.de 
http://www.aerogates.com/francais/asimil/htm 
http://www.ess.co.at/A-TEAM/ 

http://www.iese.fhg.de/coronet 
http://www.derive.uni-bremen.de 

http://invite.fh-joanneum.at 
http://kits.edte.utwente.nl/ 
http://www.cimne.upc.es 
http://www.telenet-platform.com 

http://www.virteppe/net/dev/main.html 

Learning  today  is  no  longer  confined  to  institutions  such  as schools, 
colleges,  universities,  companies  or  training  centres.  New  technologies  and 
tools  offer  learners  greater  flexibility,  easier  access  to  information  and  the 
opportunity  to  match  learning  to  their  specific  needs,  circumstances  and 
learning  profile.  The  home  is  increasingly  important  as a  learning 
environment  for  many  citizens,  including  disadvantaged  groups  such  as  the 
unemployed  or  people  with  special  needs,  and  those  in  remote  and  isolated 
locations.  The  challenge  is  to  bring  together  educators  and  service 
providers  to  use the  available  technology  and  take  on  a  new  supportive, 
motivating  and  affordable  way  of  learning  that  can  benefit  many groups  in 
society. 

Initial  work  has  already  been  undertaken  under  FP4. Amongst  others,  DOMITEL, a 
TAP project,  delivered  a  range  of  courses  directly  to  the  home,  allowing  learners 
to  interact  with  the  tutor  via  a two-way  video  link.  A  series  of  prototypes  were 
developed  utilising  technologies  such  as  cable  television  and  ISDN. In  Ireland, a 
30-hour  course  was  delivered  live  by  cable  from  a purpose-built  interactive 
classroom  to  60  learners  based in  learning  centres  and  at  home. In  Portugal, a 
prototype  interactive  learning  service  was  used to  deliver  an  IT  course,  also  over 
cable  TV. And  in  The  Netherlands,  a distance  learning  solution  was  developed  for 
a speech  therapy  course  for  people  with  hearing  implants. 

Under  1ST, the  role  of  new  ICT-based  approaches  in  enhancing  and  facilitating 
lifelong  learning  for  individuals  is  being  addressed  under  the  Learning  Citizen 
action  line.  The  research  addresses  intelligent,  user-friendly  solutions  with 
innovative  integration  of  technologies.  Projects  address  research  into  how 
people  define  their  learning  goals  and  manage  the  learning  process  and 
solutions  will  be  supportive  and  motivating.  The  easy  and  widest  possible  access 
to  innovative  learning  environments  from  remote  and  isolated  locations  is  also a 
key issue.  Projects  will  investigate  the  brokerage  of  relevant  learning  services 
and  support  the  assessment  and  recognition  of  the  acquired  skills.  New  projects 
will  address  rehabilitation  of  young  offenders,  support  to  marginalised  groups, 
others  will  address  general social skills  and  some  offer  portals  with  aggregation 
of  educative  services.  WAP technology  will  also  be  part  of  some  projects. 

A  holistic  and  multi-disciplinary  approach  is  emphasised  including  a 
comprehensive  evaluation  of  the  appropriateness  of  the  used  technology  and 
benefits  for  the  user.  When  fully  implemented  the  work  is  expected  to  result  in 

scalable  solutions  and  European-level  best  practice  guidelines  and 
recommendations. 

Among  the  FP5  projects  looking  at  the  Learning  Citizen,  there  is  EDCOMNET 
which  is  developing  a virtual  learning  community  Web  portal  for  adult  citizens. 
FELLOWS will  develop  and  validate  new  distant  learning  services  for  user  groups 
who  need  access  to  education  and  training  outside  formal  education  settings. 
The  main  objective  of  HERO is  to  promote  the  rehabilitation  of  offenders  while 
HOPE aims  to  improve  the  learning  process  of  socially  excluded  individuals  such 
as young  prisoners.  NEMO will  improve  the  life  long  learning  process  for  deaf, 
mentally  disordered  and  elderly  people.  METACAMPUS aims  at  fulfilling  the  life 
long  learning  needs  of  European  citizens  by  providing  flexible  access  to  services 
for  personal  development.  M-Learning  will  develop  and  test  prototype  products 
and  services  which  will  provide  information,  advice  and  guidance  and  portfolios 
of  very  small  modules  of  learning  via  technologies  which  are  inexpensive, 
portable  and  accessible  to  the  majority  of  EU citizens. 

Further  information 

1ST Action  Lines: 
IST-2000  III.2.2 

Project  References: 
DOMITEL 
EDCOMNET 
FELLOWS 
HERO 
HOPE 
LCCN 
METACAMPUS 
m-learning 

NEMO 
Ped-Care 
PROMENTHEA 

The  Learning  Cit 

ET-1008 
IST-2000-26037 
IST-2000-26247 
IST-2000-26274 
IST-2000-26271 
IST-2001-33539 
IST-2000-26314 
IST-2000-25270 

IST-2000-25308 
IST-2000-25417 
IST-2000-26204 

http://www.cet.hut.fi/domitel 

http://www.hope-project.org 
http://www.arttic.fr 

http://www.ultralab.ac.uk/projects/ 
m-learning/home.shtml 
http://www.alamosistemas.com/nemo/ 

Commission  Contacts: 
Jens  P.  Christensen 

jens.christensen@cec.eu.int 

The  school  plays  an  essential  role  in  the  education  of  younger  generations. 
An  obvious  aspect  of  this  role  is  the  provision  of  the  knowledge  and  skills 
that  are  necessary  to  make  them  active  citizens  of  the  Information  Society, 
expressed  by  some  experts  through  the  concept  of  digital  literacy.  However, 
to  be  able  to  cope  with  a scenario  of  almost  continuous  change,  these  skills 
go  beyond the  traditional  acquisition  of  information  about  facts  and 
techniques,  giving  greater  emphasis  to  the  higher  level  cognitive  activities 
(e.g.  autonomy,  creativity,  problem  solving,  team  work). 

The  societal  changes  intervened  in  the  recent  decades  also  demand  the  ability 
to  support  more  differentiated  groups  of  learners,  providing  the  teacher  with 
the  means  to  better  take  into  account  their  individual  needs.  This  diversity 
goes  beyond  the  physical  limits  of  the  classroom  promoting  a  more  inclusive 
view  of  the  school,  bringing  together  children  irrespective  of  their  geographic 
location. 

The  ubiquitous  presence  ofinformation  and  communication  technologies  is  also 
at  the  origin  of  new  forms  of  interaction  and  expression  leading  to  the 
emergence  of  what  has  been  referred  to  as the  culture  of  interactivity.  This 
evolution  challenges  the  typical  communication  processes  of  the  classical 
classroom,  calling  for  more  innovative  learning  materials  combining  pedagogical 
effectiveness,  with  easy-to-use  mechanisms  supporting  interaction  between 
learners,  tutors  and  other  peer  groups. 

The  quest  for  the  knowledge  about  the  cognitive  mechanisms  associated  with 
the  use  of  ICT in  schools  and  the  development  of  the  tools  supporting  more 
effective  pedagogical  approaches  started  in  the  later  stages  of  FP4, and  more 
particularly  through  the  Education  Multimedia  Task  Force.  There  were  a  number 
of  projects  aiming  at  bringing  together  the  main  actors  of  the  school  and 
supporting  the  gradual  introduction  of  ICT  in  the  teaching  and  Learning  of 
various  disciplines. 

Among  these  projects  carried  out,  special  mention  should  be  given  to  the 
European  Multimedia  School  Network  (EUN),  a virtual  teachers'  college  for  the 
professional  development  of  teachers,  with  extensive  learning  resources  for 
pupils  in  European  schools.  This  network  of  more  than  500  schools  covers  all  the 
EU Member  States,  Iceland,  Norway  and  Switzerland. These  schools  act  as a test 
bed,  providing  best  practice  and  good  examples  and  supporting  other  European 
schools  wishing  to  employ  multimedia  telematics,  offering  them  appropriate 
tools  to  both  ease  and  speed  up  the  transformation  process. 

Other  interesting  projects  focusing  on  the  development  of  multimedia  resources 
for  primary  and  secondary  schools  include  EURODELPHES, MEDIAKIDS,  PEDACTICE 
or  VES. In  all  cases  great  attention  is  given  to  teachers  as their  active 
involvement  is  critical  in  making  multimedia  telematics  into  useful  pedagogical 
tools  supporting  the  learning  process.  This  perspective  is  particularly 
emphasised  in  REPRESENTATION, which  conducts  a  more  systematic  analysis  of 
the  pedagogic  aspects  of  multimedia  use  in  schools  and  their  impact  in  the 
design  of  new  products. 

Other  projects  focused  on  the  development  of  Learning  resources  addressing  the 
specific  needs  of  language  learning  (FABULA,  MALTED, VIRLAN, VALASPI), LOGO 
language  (NETLOGO)  or  environmental  aspects  (PLANET). 

The  concern  with  a  more  inclusive  school is  also  present  in  projects  such  as FLEX 
or  ISLIL.  The  Flexible  Learning  Environment  Experiment  takes  into  account  the 
needs  of  communities  (e.g.  circus,  fairground  and  bargee  families)  for  which 
travelling  is  simply  part  of  their  everyday  professional  lives.  In  the  Integrated 
System  for  Long  Distance  Intercultural  Learning,  pupils  have  the  possibility  of 
creating,  assembling  and  consulting  new  intercultural  products  with  the  help  of 
the  teacher,  raising  their  awareness  and  sensitization  to  the  issues  of  cultural 
diversity. 

The  project  PARLEUNET is  an  example  of  how  ICT  can  be  used to  facilitate  a 
better  understanding  of  political  institutions  (the  EU  parliament)  by  students  in 
secondary  schools,  promoting  the  concept  of  EU  citizenship. 

This  work  is  expected  to  be  pursued  with  a  new  group  of  projects  exploiting  the 
more  recent  advances  of  technology  in  the  areas  of  virtual  reality  and  online 
collaboration  in  the  school  context.  Among  those  that  deserve  a  special 
mention  is the  development  of  virtual  labs,  a tool  of  great  value  to  help  the 
teaching  of  scientific  disciplines.  A  more  in-depth  analysis  of  the  pedagogical 
and  cognitive  issues  associated  with  the  use  of  these  novel  technological  tools 
is  also  the  focus  of  some  of  the  new  projects.  It  is  expected  that  the  results  of 
this  research  will  contribute  to  better  understanding  of  how  ICT  can  be  used  to 
promote  the  development  of  the  high-level  cognitive  abilities  required  by  the 
Information  Society. 

Another  aspect  to  be  covered  is  the  need  to  provide  schools  with  more  effective 
ICT platforms,  that  are  easier  to  manage  and  more  adequate  to  their  specific 
environment  and  constraints. 

The  ITALES  project,  for  example,  aims  to  develop  a  European-wide  virtual 
teaching  and  learning  community  whose  key  aims  are the  promotion  of 
pedagogic  content  sharing  and  re-use,  exchange  of  opinions  and  innovation 
and  the  provision  of  both  pedagogic  and  pastoral  support  for  learners.  METIS 
will  create  a  cooperative,  multimedia,  multilingual  educational·  resource  centre 
for  primary  and  secondary  schools.  The  Lab  of  Tomorrow  project  wiLL develop 
tools  that  will  allow  for  as many  links  of  teaching  of  natural  sciences  as  possible 
with  everyday  life.  YoungNet  intends  to  set  up  an  integrated  real-time  virtual 
education  environment  offering  both  synchronous  and  asynchronous 
communication  based  on  leading  edge  ICT  technology.  The  Modelling  Space 
project  will  permit  modelling  activities  by  young  students,  supporting  them  to 
express  their  ideas,  to  design  and  test  models  of  various  situations  and 
collaborate  with  other  students  and  teachers  via  the  Internet. 

Further  info 

1ST Action  Lines: 
IST-2000  III.2.1 

Project  References: 
5D 
European  Multimedia 
Co-Lab 
ITALES 
ITCOLE 
LAB of  TOMORROW 
METIS 
MODELLING  SPACE 
OASIS 
School+ 
SEED 
YoungNet 

School  of  Tomorrow 

Schools  Network 

http://www.5d.org 
http://www.eun.org 

http://www.LTScotland.com 
http://www.euro-cscl.org 

IST-2000-25435 

IST-2000-25035 
IST-2000-26356 
IST-2000-26249 
IST-2000-25076 
IST-2000-25175 
IST-2000-25385 
IST-2000-26216 
IST-2000-25162 
IST-2000-25214 
IST-2000-25104 

Commission  Contacts 
Carlos  Oliveira 

carlos. oliveira®cec. eu. int 

Telematics  and  multimedia-based  applications  and  tools  are  widely  seen as 
offering  important  benefits  for  learning  and  training.  But  consensus  on  the 
nature  of  the  benefits,  and  how  users  can  maximise  their  potential,  tends 
inevitably  to  lag  behind  the  technological  and  scientific  developments. 
Researchers  alone  cannot  decide  on  the  applicability  or  usefulness  of  their 
innovations:  this  requires  a  consensus  view  expressed  in  terms  of  technical 
standards,  social  regulations  or  conventions. 

In  such  a  context  European  Commission  promotes  several  initiatives  in  order  to 
create  a critical  mass  of  "resources"  able  to  support,  guide,  stimulate  and 
disseminate  both  knowledge  and  innovation  in  the  education  and  training 
world.  Such  initiatives  anticipated  needs  expressed  in  the  eEurope  Action  Plan 
endorsed  in  June,  2000  by the  European  Council in  Feira:  "to  become the most 
competitive  and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of 
sustainable economic growth  with  more and better jobs  and greater social cohesion". 

To  become  a  knowledge-based  economy  will  be  a  powerful  engine  for  growth, 
competitiveness  and jobs  capable  of  improving  citizens'  quality  of  life  and 
environment.  But  to  foster  the  Information  Society  for  all, it  is  necessary  to 
create  a  consensus  on  education  and  training  innovative  tools,  methodologies, 
technologies  etc.,  in  order  to  allow  European  youth  and  workers  to  live  and  work 
in  the  upcoming  knowledge-based  society. 

Anticipating  that  view,  in  March  1999  the  European  Commission  promoted  the 
PROMETEUS initiative,  an  open  forum  that  bridges  the  gap  between  research  and 
actual  use  of  learning  technologies,  content  and  services  in  European  education 
and  training.  The  PROMETEUS initiative  already  has  over  500  members,  including 
trainers  and  educators,  educational  authorities,  researchers,  content  producers 
and  service  providers. 

PROMETEUS  develops  guidelines  and  best  practice  handbooks,  as well as 
recommendations  which  are  submitted  to  national  and  EU authorities  and 
international  standards  bodies.  Eleven  special  interest  groups  have  also  been 
established  in  areas  such  as:  interoperability  and  reusability  of  educational 
media;  best  practices  in  higher  education;  learning  environments  for  primary 
and  secondary  schools;  and  broadcast-based  learning. 

Consensus  buiLding  led  the  Commission  to  also  promote  the  European 
Multimedia  School  Network  (EUN),  a virtual  teachers'  college  for  the  professional 
development  of  teachers  with  extensive  learning  resources  for  pupils  in  European 
schools.  Settled  up  under  the  Education  Multimedia  Task  Force  in  FP4,  EUN is a 
network  of  networks  in  the  EU Member  States,  Iceland,  Norway  and  Switzerland, 
working  for  the  development  and  validation  of  multimedia  tools  and  services 
and  offering  access  to  high  quality  information  and  services  of  European 
interest.  The  participating  schools  act  as  a test  bed,  providing  best  practice 
and  good  examples  while  being  key  animators  of  the  European  School  Network. 
They  provide  support  to  other  European  schools  wishing  to  employ  multimedia 
telematics,  offering  them  appropriate  tools  to  both  ease  and  speed  up  the 
transformation  process. 

A  strategic  role  on  consensus  building  is  played  by  standardisation.  The 
European  Commission  gives  a  strong  contribution  in  this  sense  through  the 
CEN/ISSS  workshop  on  learning  technologies  and  the  IEEE standards  group. 

Efforts  on  standardisation  of  learning  technologies  are  essential  to  ensure  that  a 
critical  mass of  learning  systems,  services  and  contents  can  be established  in a 
cost-effective  way.  It  helps  to  respect  Europe's  culture  and  linguistic  diversity  in 
the  global  context,  to  benchmark  learning  innovation  at  European  level  and  to 
disseminate  good  practice  related  to  learning  technologies.  This  is  an 
important  contribution  to  help  move  Europe  forward  through  strategic 
investments  in  Learning. 

The  following  projects  will  support  clustering,  validation,  evaluation,  or 
dissemination  activities  within  the  Education  and  Training  area: 

1)  the  EUN-Valnet  project  is  establishing  a validation  network  involving  schools 
in  the  EU member  states  and  some  associated  countries.  To achieve  this 
objective  EUN counts  on  the  privileged  relationship  with  the  Ministries  of 
Education. 

2)  the  LCCN project  supports  projects  in  the  action  line  Learning  Citizen  to 
develop  synergies,  to  make full  use  of  commonalities,  to  disseminate  results  of 
the  single  projects  as well as of  the  LCCN network. 

3)  the  K2  project  supports  projects  in  the  action  line  Advanced  Training 
Systems  to  capture  and  capitalise  on  lessons  learnt,  to  optimise  knowledge 
sharing,  to  disseminate  results  and  to  carry  out  cluster  activities. 

the  L-Change  project  is  collecting  and  analyse  figures  about  the  demand  and 

4) 
supply  of  ICT based  E&T in  Europe  and  the  USA. 

5)  the  LEARN  project  that  promotes  the  dissemination  of  selected  1ST research 
results  to  European  learners,  and,  more  specifically,  setting-up  an  educational 
multilingual  online  service  for  schools,  universities,  open  learning  centres 
including  science  museums  and  for  learners  all  over  Europe. 

6)  the  PROACTe  project  that  provides  a  structured  dissemination  activity, 
consolidating  the  results  of  RTD  projects  and  disseminating  them  to  a wide 
audience  of  professionals  and  decision-makers  in  the  education  and  training 
world. 

7)  the  SCHEMAS project  collects  requirements  and  raises  awareness  about  the  use 
of  metadata  standards  in  Education  and  Training  and  other  areas. 

8)  the  SEN-IST-NET is  a thematic  network  that  brings  together  the  knowledge 
resources  of  a large  group  of  researchers,  professionals  and  practitioners  on  "Special 
Educational  Needs". This  network  is  expected  to  emerge  as the  natural focal  point 
for  activities  related  to  "Special  Educational  Needs" across the  1ST programme. 

Further  info 

1ST Action  Lines: 
IST-2000  III.2 

Education  and  Training 

Project  References: 
European  Multimedia  Schools  Network 
EUN-Valnet 
LCCN 
K2 
LEARN 
L-Change 
PROACTe 
PROMETEUS 
SCHEMAS 
SEN-IST-NET 

IST-2000-14025 
IST-2001-33539 
IST-2000-25017 
IST-1999-12371 
IST-2000-26226 
IST-1999-12292 

IST-1999-10010 
IST-2000-26449 

Commission  Contacts: 
Marco  Marsella 

marco.marsella@cec.eu.int 

http://www.eun.org 

http://www.arttic.fr 
http://www.know-2.org 
http://www.dbcons.com/learn 

http://www.proacte.com 
http://www.prometeus.org 
http://www.schemas-forum.org/ 

Table of Projects 

Foreword 

Introduction 

Open Platforms and Tools for Personalised Learning 

3DE 
CODEX-IP 
DIVILAB 
EASEL 
EMBER 
FM-Ultranet 
FREETEXT 
KOD 
MYTHE 
TRAIN.ME 
TRIAL-SOLUTION 
TWT-U 
UP-ARIADNE 
UPLOADED IT 
VIRTUAL BLACKBOARD 
WEBSET 

The Flexible University 

CANDLE 
CUBER 
LEDA 
OR-WORLD 
PEARL 
UNIVERSAL 
VOEU 
WINDS 

IST-1999-10697 
I ST-1999-12021 
IST-1999-1201 7 
IST-1999-10051 
IST-2000-20469 
IST-1999-20865 
IST-1999-13093 
IST-1999-12503 
IST-1999-12395 
IST-2000-21036 
IST-1 999-11397 
IST-1999-20325 
IST-1999-20407 
IST-1 999-20359 
IST-1999-12670 
IST-1999-10632 

IST-1999-11276 
IST-1999-10737 
IST-1999-10567 
IST-1999-11124 
IST-1999-12550 
IST-1999-11747 
IST-1999-13079 
IST-1999-10253 

Advanced Training Systems 

ADAPT-IT 
AITRAM 
ASIMIL 
A-TEAM 
CBLPET 
CORONET 
DERIVE 
ELSA 
ENORM-VLC 
GAMBIT 
ICIS 
InTraServ 
INVITE 
KITS 
MOPLE 
TELENET 
V1DL 
VIRTEPPE 

IST-1999-11740 

IST-1999-13078 
IST-1999-13460 
IST-1 999-10459 
IST-2000-29390 
IST-1999-10953 

http://www.3DEproject.com 
http://www.codex-ip.com 

http://www.fdgroup.com/easel 
http://www.bioinf.man.ac.uk/ember/ 

http://www.latl.unige.ch/freetext/ 
http ://www. kodwe b .org/ 
http://mythe.ilsp.gr/ 
http://www.train-me.org 
http://www.trial-solution.de 
http://www.myTWT.net 

http://www.3xodus.com/virtualblackboard 
http://www.man.ac.uk/MVC/ 

http://www.candle.eu.org/ 
http://www.cuber.net/ 
http://www.ledanet.org 
http://www.or-world.com 
http://www.kml.open.ac.uk/projects/pearl/ 
http://www.ist-universal.org 
http://voeu.vitamib.com/ 
http://www.winds-university.org 

http://'www. < 

is/asimil/htm 

http://www,virteppe/net/dev/main.html 

υ 

O 

α 

10 

The Learning Citizen 

EDCOMNET 
FELLOWS 
HERO 
HOPE 
LCCN 
METACAMPUS 
m-learnlng 
NEMO 
Ped-Care 
PROMENTHEA 

School of Tomorro 

IST-2000-26037 
IST-2000-26247 
IST-2OO0-26274 
IST-2000-26271 
IST-2001-33539 
IST-2000-26314 
IST-2000-25270 
IST-2000-25308 
IST-2000-25417 
IST-2000-26204 

ORROW 

SPACE 

http://www.hope-project.org 
http://www.arttic.fr 

http://www.ultralab.ac.uk/projects/m-learning/home.shtml 
http://www.alamosistemas.com/nemo/ 

http;//www 

http://www. LTScotland.cor 
http:/'www. e uro-cscl.org 

YoungNet 

IST-2000-25104 

Consensus-building for education and training (Accompanying measures) 

K2 
LEARN 
L-Change 
PROACTe 
SCHEMAS 
SEN-IST-NET 

IST-2000-25017 
IST-1999-12371 
IST-2000-26226 
IST-1999-12292 
IST-1999-10010 
IST-2000-26449 

http://www.know-2.org 
http://www.dbcons.com/learn 

http://www.proacte.com 
http://www.schemas-forum.org/ 
http://www.european-agency.org/ 

3DE 

The global digital space for  learning and  training 
3DE is a  project  that  is  defining,  designing  and  building  a  learning 
environment,  tailor-made  for  individual  learners.  Each time  a course is 
created,  it  can  be  customised  specifically  for  the  needs  of  each  learner.  This 
unique  system  will  build  up  its  "learner  packages"  from  a  library  of 
micromodules  worked  out  specifically  for  each  learning  style.  This  will  be 
based  on  their  competence  and  their  final  educational  goals. 

The  usual approach  in  the  development  of  multimedia  courses  is  to  build  teacher 
or  institution-specific  courses.  With  3DE,  courses  can  be  tailor-made  for  the 
individual  learners  improving  the  effectiveness  of  current  computer-based 
teaching  and  training  packages,  and  reducing  the  cost  for  the  development  of 
high-quality  interactive  multimedia  educational  packages. 

Adapting to  the needs of the learners 
At  the  heart  of  the  3DE system  is the  Custom  Course  Compiler  which  translates 
the  learning  goals  into  deliverable  educational  packages  specifically  designed 
for  the  individual  learner  needs,  taking  into  account  the  personal  learning  style. 

The  packages  are  built  from  a  library  of  micromodules  in  an  automated  way. 
Several  different  custom  packages  can  be  built  from  the  same  pool  of 
micromodules.  The  key  characteristics:  automated  construction,  re-use  of  parts 
and  educational  effectiveness,  cut  both  the  development  time  and  the  time 
required  to  learn,  which  brings  a  significant  cost  reduction. 

The  environment  works  with  tools  to  analyse  the  learner  as an  individual. These 
tools  look  at  the  learning  style  preferences,  competence  analysis  and  the 
analysis  of  prior  learning  in  other  environments  (e.g.  schoolwork).  Other  inputs 
the  system  can  take  include  the  goals  of  the  learner  in  terms  of  final  competence 
and  skills.  All  these  data  are  fed  to  the  Custom  Course  Compiler,  and the  output 
is  a truly  personal  custom  course.  The  personalisation  covers  both  the  contents 
and  the  user  interface  (such  as  the  appearance,  commands  and  languages). 
Special interfaces  for  disabled  people  will  also  be  made  available. 

The  project  consists  of  a definition  and  design  phase,  followed  by  two 
implementation-distribution-assessment  cycles.  From  the  results  of  the  first 
cycle  the  implementation  will  be  revised,  and  a second  implementation/ 
distribution/assessment  cycle  will  be  carried  out. 

In  more  detail,  the  sequence  of  activities  is: 

definition  of  the  pedagogical  design  framework; 
analysis  of  existing  standards; 
specification  of  database  and  micromodules; 
development  of  micromodules  for  the  pilot  projects; 
detailed  specifications  of  the  Custom  Course  Compiler; 
implementation  of  the  Custom  Course  Compiler,  test  and  assessment; 
development  and  distribution  of  pilot  courses; 
analysis  of  educational  effectiveness  and  change  request. 

Contribution  to  standards 
3DE  is  using  engineering  methodologies  with  re-usable  modules  compliant  with 
international  standards  for  design  and  development.  The  use  of  standards  for 
interfaces  and  metadata,  either  existing  or  in  developments  is  being  enforced  to 
reduce  the  costs. 

The  modularity  and  re-usability  of  packages  built  within  3DE  will  contribute  to 
the  establishment  of  a  global  digital  space  for  Learning  and  training,  with 
emphasis  on  adaptability  to  different  needs  of  the  learner  and  to  specifications 
and  constraints  of  educational  institutions  and  companies. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-10697 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  Training  Providers 

Action  Line: 
Open  Platforms  and  Tools  for  Personalised 
Learning 

Full  Title: 
Design,  Development,  and  Delivery  -  Electronic 
Environment  for  Educational  Multimedia 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 

01/03/2000 

End  Date: 

28/02/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
The  goal  of  the  3DE  project  is  to  define, 
design,  build,  and  make  usable  a  development 
environment  for  interactive  educational 
multimedia  packages  able  to  build,  in  an 
automated  or  guided  way,  courses  customised 
for  the  needs  of  each  learner 

Target  Audience: 
Education  and  training  providers,  designers  and 
developers  of  ICT-based  educational  packages 

Keywords: 
Learner-centred  education,  automated  tools, 
modularity,  re-use  of  parts,  educational 
effectiveness,  competence  and  learning 
preferences 

Technology: 
ICT technologies  (Web,  database),  pedagogical 
analysis  and  methodologies 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Prof.  Dante  Del  Corso 
POLITECNICO  DI  TORINO 
COREP 
Corso  Duca  degli  Abruzzi,  24 
1-10129 Torino,  Italy 

Tel: +39-011-5644044 
Fax: +39-011-5644099 
E-mail:  delcorso@pollto.it 
URL:  http://www.3DEproject.com 

Project  Participants 
POLITECNICO  DI TORINO  (IT) 
ARDEMI (FR) 
STI (ES) 
VAASA  (Fl) 

CODEX-IP 

The problem with tools 
Tools  for  developing  ICT-based  courses  in  open  learning  platforms  have  two 
structural  problems.  Course  development  tools  are  restrictive  and  provide 
insufficient  guidance  for  training  centres  to  develop  quality  and 
personalised  interactive  courses,  and  no  standard  methodology  and  tool  is 
available  that  enables  training  centres  in  different  language  areas  to  co 
operate  in  course  development. 

The  CODEX-IP  project  is  overcoming  these  problems  by  developing  a  cost-
effective  tool  and  methodology  that  enables  the  development  and  maintenance 
of  language  independent  re-usable  learning  objects  to  be  distributed  within  IP-
based  open  learning  platforms.  RTD will  provide  insight  into  best  practice 
models  for  collaborative  interactive  learning  as  a basis  for  developing  an 
innovative  model  (based  on  exemplary  learning)  and  Web-based  development 
toolset  (integrated  workflow,  authoring  and  machine  translation). 

Modelling  best  practice 
Codex-IP  is  researching  into  best  practice  learning  models  for  collaborative 
interactive  learning.  This  will  set  out  a  baseline  for: 

Developing  an  innovative  learning  model  (based  on  exemplary  learning); 
A  methodology  to  structure  ICT  based  courses  derived  from  the  new  learning 
model; 
A  blueprint  for  a  new  development  process  for  the  collaborative  development 
of  re-usable  learning  objects  between  training  centres  in  different  language 
areas; 
A  completely  new  integrated  development,  environment-based  on  the  new 
learning  model  and  development  methodology. 

The  innovation  is  the  development  of  three  building  blocks  and  their 
integration,  an  authoring  tool  to  support  all  phases  in  the  development  process, 
a  common  database  structure  to  store  and  retrieve  re-usable  learning  objects 
and  modules,  and  a "Memory  Based  Translation  Engine",  a  newly-developed 
concept  in  language  engineering.  It  will  support  the  identification  and 
development  of  re-usable  learning  objects  and  modules  in  a transnational  and 
multilingual  environment. 

The  blueprint  for  the  collaborative  development  process  will  be tested  at  a group 
of  three  European  training  centres,  SPC Training  (NL),  Professional  Training  (ES) 
and Trefz  &  Partner  (DE). The resulting  course  material  based  on  the  new 
exemplary  learning  model will  be  tested  and  didactically  validated  at  trial  groups 
(a  multinational  and  an  SME)  at  Teldat  (ES)  and  another  company. 

The  CODEX-IP  project  renders  results  which  are  very  interesting  for  all 
organisations  in  Europe  who  wish  to  establish  efficient  and  effective  co 
operation  at  a  European  level  (both  course  development  and  training  activities). 
The  focus  is  on  ICT training,  but  the  tools  and  insights  will  be  profitable  for 
other  sections  within  the  training  and  educational  sector.  The  experiences  of 
this  project  and  the  acquired  results  of  the  project  will  therefore  be 
disseminated  through  seminars  and  through  commercial  exploitation  of  the  final 
products. 

Two  major  aspects  which  distinguish  this  project  from  other  1ST projects  are  the 
multilinguality  within  the  development  environment  and  the  didactic  model 
Exemplary  Based learning. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-12021 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  Training 

Action  Line: 
Open  Platforms  and  Tools  for  Personalised 
Learning 

Full  Title: 
Collaborative  Language  Independent 
Development  Environment  for  Exemplary  based 
Re-usable  Learning  Objects  In  IP  Learning 
Platforms 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2000 

End  Date: 
31/03/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
The  CODEX-IP  project  overcomes  the  structural 
problems  of  creating  open  platforms  for 
learning  by  developing  a  cost-effective  tool  and 
methodology  that  enables  the  development 
and  maintenance  of  language  independent  re 
usable  learning  objects  to  be  distributed  within 
IP-based  open  learning  platforms 

Target  Audience: 
Knowledge  managers  in  SMEs  and  large 
companies 

Keywords: 
Integrated  workflow,  authoring  and  machine 
translation,  ICT training  Institutes,  exemplary 
based  learning,  e-learning,  re-usable  learning 
objects,  language  independent  development 
environment,  memory-based  translation 
engine,  development  environment,  open 
platform  course  development 

Technologies: 
MS  Office  2000,  Windows  2000,  MS  Discussion 
server,  Index  Server 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Mr  Marcel  de  Leeuwe 
SPC TRAINING 
P.O.  Box  107 
NL-5201  AC 
Tel:  +31-73-6921692 
Fax:  +31-73-6921601 
E-mail:  m.de.leeuwe@codex-ip.com 
URL:  http://www.codex-ip.com 

's-Hertogenbosch 

Project  Participants 
SPC Training  (NL) 
SPC Group  (NL) 
Lernout  &  Hauspie  (BE) 
Professional  Training  (ES) 
Trefz  &  Partner  (DE) 
SCO-Kohnstamm  Institute  (NL) 
Teldat(ES) 
F.O.R.T.H.  (GR) 

DIVILAB 

D I VI LAB 

Distributed 

Virtual 
Laboratory 

The changing face of  learning 
Providing  high-quality  education  and  training  to  all  the  European  citizens  is 
one  of  the  big  challenges  of  the  next  decades. 

For  supporting  these  necessary  changes  there  are two  complementary  strategies: 

The  first  one  is  to  favour  emergence  of  new  actors,  new  services  and  a new 
economy  for  education  and  training,  using  the  potential  of  Information  and 
Communications  Technologies; 
The  second  strategy  is  to  favour  changes  in  the  traditional  education  and 
training  domains  whether  it  be  organised  from  pupils  to  students,  or  for 
continuing  education  or  lifelong  learning. 

The  Divilab  project  is  focusing  on  the  second  strategy,  aiming  at  transforming 
the  traditional  educational  system  by  bridging  instructional  gaps,  locally  or  at a 
distance,  rather  than  creating  new  ones.  The  project  is  focusing  on  the 
increasing  disinterest  of  the  new  generations  for  scientific  and  basic 
technologies  studies. 

Supporting  Science  and  Technology 
Science  and  technology  is  a  knowledge  domain  often  required  as the  basis  or 
pre-requisite  of  more  professional  qualifications  in  many  industrial  and 
economic  human  activities. 

The  problem  is  the  poor  quality  in  the  personal  construction  of  this  domain  of 
knowledge  and  weak  efficiency  of  the  learning  process,  especially  in  the  first 
years  of  the  universities  or  colleges  or  even  in  the  last  years  of  the  high  schools 
or  "lycées".  The  consequence  of  this  is  the  subsequent  dropout  effect  or  the 
change  in  the  orientation  towards  less  scientific  domains  often  more  attractive 
such  as  management,  law,  and  media.  This  problem  is  exacerbated  by  the  rapid 
growth  of  the  whole  scientific  knowledge  and  the  increase  in  volume  of  the 
curriculum  relative  to  this  knowledge  domain. The  learning  process,  as  has  been 
supported  in  most  of  the  situations  -  i.e.  a top-down  approach,  mostly 
deductive,  of  sciences  -  reinforces  mainly  the  surface  knowledge,  with  often  a 
lack  in  the  real  mastering  of  the  underlying  concepts. 

Approaching  the  problem 
The  DiViLab  project  focuses  on  the  experimental  activities  of  the  learner.  These 
computer-mediated  activities  are  supported,  whatever  the  place  and  time 
constraints,  the  nature  of  the  experimental  systems  (real,  simulated  or  artificial), 
the  organisational  and  pedagogical  models.  At  the  conceptual  level  DIVILAB  is 
choosing  a "learner  activity  centred  design"  based  on  results  from  learning 
sciences,  distributed  cognition,  computer  supported  co-operative  work  and 
theory  of  activity.  Due  to  the  knowledge  domain  selected  and  the  consensus  on 
some  generic  approaches  of  the  experimental  scientific  way  of  thinking,  models 
for  individual  or  collective  contexts,  based  on  re-use  of  the  functions  of  a 
Virtual  Campus  platform  are being  devised.  These  models  will  be "tailorable".  An 
educational  "component  system  architecture"  has  been  chosen  at  the  design 
level  with  the  potential  for  co-operation  and  interoperability  of  these 
components,  or  agents,  provided  by  the  Web-object  approach.  This  gives 
possibilities  to  provide  component  interfaces  with  lightweight  coupling  and 
higher  semantics  through  the  sharing  of  a  domain  ontology,  compatible  with 
the  progress  of  the  learning  technologies  international  standardisation  efforts. 

Design and  Evaluation 
Different  user  interfaces  and  prototypes  are  being  designed  and  evaluated. The 
aim  is  to  support  affordable  multimedia  communication  tools  for  remote  access 
to  facilities  or  services  and  more  reflective  cognitive  learner  activities  through 
cognitive  and  collaboratory  tools.  Several  trials  are  being  conducted  to  measure 
the  user's  acceptance,  the  usability  and  the  learning  efficiency  in  various 
contexts.  Scalability  of  the  solution,  its  openness  and  the  management  of  the 
necessary  changes  in  the  learning  process  are  also  addressed. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-12017 

Duration: 
33  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  -  Continuing  Learning 

Action  Line: 
Open  Platforms  and  Tools/Flexible  Universities 

Full  Title: 
Distributed Virtual  Laboratory 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/03/2000 

End  Date: 
01/12/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
DiViLab  is solving  the  critical  problem  of 
education  and  training  in  experimental 
sciences  and  basic  technologies.  This  problem 
has  two  affects:  the  visible  decrease  of  interest 
for  studies  in  these  knowledge  domains  and  a 
too  superficial  knowledge  due  to  the  growth 
of  the  relative  curriculum 

Target  Audience: 
Students;  rural  zones;  continuing  training;  part 
time  course 

Keywords: 
Collaborative  work,  scientific  education, 
schools,  universities,  distance  learning 

Technology: 
Under  development 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Mr  O  Etienne 
ARCHIMED 
Place  du  Concert,  2 
F-59800  Lille  Cedex 
France 
Tel:  +33-3-20131060 
E-mail:  o.etienne@archimed.fr 

Project  Participants 
ARCHIMED  (FR) 
France  Telecom  CNET (FR) 
University  of  Aveiro  (PT) 
Gerhard-Mercator-Universität  (DE) 
Fundación  Unversidad  Empressa  (ES) 
Instituto  de  Engenharia  de  Sistemas  e 
Computadores  (PT) 
Université  des  Sciences  et  Technologies  of  Lille 

(FR) 

EASEL 

Sharing educational  resources 
For  online  learning  to  become  a  widespread  alternative  to  more  traditional 
forms  of  learning, it  is  vital  that  educators  have  available  high  quality, 
pedagogically  sound  resources,  which  they  can  tailor  and  recombine  to 
produce  new  course  offerings. 

The  EASEL project  is  exploring  technologies  which  can  be  brought  together  to 
offer  course  constructors  an  environment  in  which  they  can  readily  combine 
existing  learning  objects  to  create  new  online  courses. 

The  project  combines  state-of-the-art  research  into  high  quality  adaptive 
content  with  a sound  business  model  for  the  exchange  and  re-use  of  online 
content.  The  resulting  course  offerings  will  be  capable  of  being  used  across 
many  learning  management  systems,  driving  down  the  cost  of  online  learning 
provision. 

To  make  re-usable  learning  objects,  EASEL is  differentiating  between  core 
learning  resources,  interactive  assessments  and  background  resources,  which 
may  be offered  as reference  material from  a range  of  sources. The  project  will 
prototype  novel  technology  for  supporting  course  constructors  in  locating  these 
resources, irrespective  of  where  they  are  and  who  they  belong  to.  The 
development  of  the  infrastructure  required  to  support  this  mode  of  cross-domain 
searching  forms  a  key  activity  within  the  project  and  will  allow  feedback  both  to 
the  learning  technology  community  and  the  wider  Web  development  forums  such 
asW3C. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-10051 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  Training 

Action  Line: 
Open  Platforms  and  Tools  for  Personalised 
Learning 

Full  Title: 
Educator  Access  to  Services  in  the  Electronic 
Landscape 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/02/2000 

End  Date: 
31/01/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
The  EASEL  project  will  explore  technologies 
which  can  be  brought  together  to  offer  course 
constructors  an  environment  in  which  they  can 
readily  combine  existing  learning  objects  to 
create  new  online  educational  offerings 

Target  Audience: 
Individual  citizens,  corporate  searching  for 
continuing  education  and  training,  universities 
and  other  training  and  education  providers 

Keywords: 
Course  broker,  non-text  based  search  engine, 
virtual  university  portal,  educational  marketplace 

Technology: 
Internet,  LOM  (learning  object  metadata) 
standard,  XML,  database  technology,  advanced 
search  techniques 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Mr  Ricky  Kay 
FRETWELL-DOWNING  EDUCATION 
Brincliffe  House 
Sheffield  S11  7AE 
United  Kingdom 
Tel:  +44-114-2816000 
Fax:  +44-114-2816001 
E-mail:  Ricky.Kay@fdgroup.com 
URL:  http//www.fdgroup.com/easel 

Project  Participants 
FRETWELL-DOWNING  EDUCATION  (UK) 
Institut  für  Psychologie,  Karl-Franzens-Universität 
Graz  (AT) 
South  Bank  University  (UK) 
University  of  Bristol  (UK) 
T.C.D  (IE) 
The  Open  University  (UK) 
Interactive  Labs  S.r.l  (IT) 
SEMA  Group  sae  (IT) 
ARPA-Università  di  Napoli  Federico  II (ES) 

Building  on  experience 
EASEL takes  a  holistic  approach  to  courseware  construction.  By  combining  and 
enhancing  several  crucial  strands  of  educational  technology  research,  EASEL will 
establish  and  validate  solutions  to  support  standards-based  seamless 
construction  of  courseware,  which  can  take  advantage  of  both  local  and  external· 
learning  objects  and  resources. 

EASEL is  adopting  a  metadata-driven  approach  to  this  configurability  and 
manageability.  By  extending  and  enhancing  techniques  and  models  for  learning 
objects,  e.g.  Dublin  Core  and  IEEE  LOM,  EASEL will  provide  significant  research 
contribution  to  effecting  re-usable  learning  objects. 

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EMBER 

Is"'* 

I 

EUROPEAN MULTIMEDIA 

EMBER 

BIOINFORMATICS EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE 

A  coherent  bioinformatics  multimedia  educational  package 
Helping  European  scientists  to  build  strength  in  bioinformatics  is a 
prerequisite  for  progress  in  many  "post  genome"  research  areas.  However, 
there  is  a current  European  skills  shortage  in  bioinformatics.  EMBnet 
members,  with  expertise  in  biology,  bioinformatics  and  computer  science, 
have  been  involved  in  teaching  bioinformatics  for  the  last  ten  years. They 
are  helping  to  develop  a  bioinformatics  textbook  and  integrated  website. 
However,  the  wealth  of  teaching  material  currently  available  exists  in 
disparate  formats  and  in  different  European  locations. This  project  aims  to 
meet  these  challenges  through  developing  a  coherent,  standard  package  of 
multimedia  educational  materials,  collectively  termed  EMBER.  EMBER will 
draw  on  the  complementary  strengths  of  project  partners,  principally 
members  of  EMBnet,  to  complete  the  following  components: 

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A survey  of  training  needs  and  desired  learning  outcomes; 
Collation  and  revision  of  existing  training  materials; 
Unification  of  these  text  and  Web-based  materials  to  form  a  new  integrated 
course; 
The creation  and  use of  formal  assessment  tools  to  trial  the  course 
throughout  Europe; 
The  offer  of  a standardised  course  in  Web-based  and  CD-ROM formats. 

Building strength  in  bioinformatics 
Ember  will  help  European  scientists  to  build  strength  in  bioinformatics  through 
providing: 

a  cost-effective,  interactive  multimedia  bioinformatics  educational  resource 
that  will  help  to  determine  a  standard  of  education  that  is  acceptable  to 
industrial  and  academic  worlds,  based  on  the  collation  and  expertise  of 
existing  resources; 
an  introductory  bioinformatics  text; 
an  interactive  course  on  the  Web; 
an  equivalent  course  on CD-ROM. 

Developing the  multimedia  teaching  package 
The initial  phases  will  tailor  the  proposed  courses  to  the  requirements  of 
academic  and  industrial  employers,  specifically  by  identifying  the  nature  of  the 
current  skills  shortfall,  defining  a  standard  of  required  knowledge,  and 
establishing  the  optimum  delivery  method.  This  will  be  achieved  by  surveying 
the  most  up  to  date  training  currently  available  through  EMBnet  Nodes  and 
using  the  considerable  combined  experience  of  the  partners  to  distil  a  new 
syllabus  from  the  survey. 

The  collated  material  will  be  used  to  expand  an  existing  bioinformatics  textbook 
and  to  add  new  chapters  as appropriate.  The  current  book  is  already  integrated 
with  a Web  practical  that  runs  at  the  University  of  Manchester.  New  will  be 
amalgamated  with  old  to  provide  an  updated,  uniform  Website  and  CD-ROM  that 
will  trial  in  stand-alone  and  tutor-supported  contexts. 

Trials  will  be  conducted  in  research  and  teaching  institutions  across  Europe.  The 
feedback  obtained  will  allow  a course  to  be  provided  which,  appropriate  for 
personal  learning,  will  meet the  needs  of industrial  and  academic  researchers. 
The  final  evaluated  product  will  be  offered  via  the  Web and  mass-produced  on 
CD-ROM. 

Building on a network of  expertise 
EMBER  brings  together  members  of  EMBnet,  with  expertise  in  biology, 
bioinformatics  and  computer  science. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-20469 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  sector: 
Bioinformatics 

Action  line: 
Trial  and  best  practice  addressing  advanced 
solutions  for  on-the-job  training  sen/ices  in 
SMEs,  including  development  of  sustainable 
business  models 

Full  t i t l e: 
European  Multimedia  Bioinformatics  Educational 
Resource 

Project  type: 
Take-up  measures 

Start  date: 
01/05/2001 

End  date: 
30/04/2003 

Project  objectives: 
Address  the  current  European  skills  shortage  in 
bioinformatics  by  developing  a  coherent, 
standard  package  of  multimedia  educational 
materials  (EMBER),  drawing  on  the  experience 
of  project  partners  to  help  develop  and  test 
materials 

Target  audience: 
Industrial  and  academic  researchers 

Keywords: 
Bioinformatics,  multimedia  educational 
resource,  Web  and  CD-ROM  based 

Technology: 
Internet  &  CD-ROM 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Professor  Teresa  K  Attwood 
2.205  Stopford  Building 
University  of  Manchester 
Oxford  Road 
Manchester  M13  9PT 
United  Kingdom 
E-mail:  Attwood@bioinf.man.ac.uk 
URL:  http://www.bioinf.man.ac.uk/ember/ 

Project  Participants 
University  of  Manchester  (UK) 
Swiss  Institute  of  Bioinformatics  (CH) 
University  of  Nijmegen  (NL) 
University  of  the  Western  Cape  (SA) 
European  Bioinformatics  Institute  (UK) 
Instituto  Gulbenkian  de  Ciencia  (PT) 
University  of  Bruxelles  (BE) 
Canada  Institute  for  Marine  Biology  (CA) 
Research  Institute  for  Genetic  Engineering  and 
Biotechnology  (TR) 
Expert  Centre  for  Taxonomie  Identification  (NL) 

FM-Ultranet 

Integrating new technology  into  ultrasonography 
FM-Ultranet  aims  to  integrate  state-of-the-art  techniques  in  the  fields  of 
Case-based  Reasoning  (CBR),  medical  image  analysis,  multimedia  tools  and 
computer-based  training  to  help  ultrasonographists  improve  early  detection 
of  foetal  malformations.  The  result  will  be  an  on-the-job  training  platform 
which  will  be  disseminated  through  DVD and  Computer  Supported 
Collaborative  Working  (CSCW).  The  project  will  be  undertaken  in  five  stages: 

Analysis  of  user  requirements,  feasibility  mock-up,  and  requirements 
validation; 
Development  of  a case database  of  foetal  malformations; 
Development  of  the  ultrasonographist  environment; 
Assessment,  trials  and  evaluation; 
Dissemination  and  exploitation. 

On-the-job  training  platform 
The  result  will  be  an  on-the-job  training  platform,  applying  CBR techniques  on 
ultrasound  sequences  to  train  practitioners  in  diagnosing  foetal  abnormalities. 
It  will  be  made  up  of  the  following  components: 

A database  containing  reference  clinical  cases  related  to  foetal  malformation 
and the  most  frequently  met  malformations  (month  9); 
Tools  to  train  the  ultrasonographist  in  recognising  and  analysing  a  case 
under  study  from  the  database  with  guidance  in  diagnosis  -  on-the-job 
training  tool  (month  12); 
Experimentation  with  15  end-users  (months  12  to  18). 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-20865 

Duration: 
18  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Medical,  e-Learning 

Action  Line: 
Integration  of  state-of-the-art  technologies  for 
on-the-job  training  in  early  detection  of  foetal 
malformations 

Full  Title: 
FM-Ultranet 

Project  Type: 
Take-up  measures 

Start  Date: 
1/12/2000 

End  Date: 
31/05/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
Develop,  experiment  and  disseminate  an  on-
the-job  training  platform  for  ultrasonographists 
to  improve  early  detection  of  foetal 
malformation  during  pregnancy  surveillance 

Target  audience: 
Ultrasonographists 

Keywords: 
Pregnancy  surveillance,  Case-based  Reasoning 
(CBR),  Multimedia  platform,  Medical  training, 
Medical  image  analysis 

Technology: 
Case-based  Reasoning  (CBR),  Multimedia 
platform 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Pr.  Anne  Strauss 
Université  de  Pierre  et  Marie  Curie-(UPMC) 
Paris  6-4,  Place  Jussieu 
75005  Paris 
France 
E-mail:  Strauss@ccr.jussieu.fr 

Project  Participants 
Université  de  Pierre  et  Marie  Curie  (FR) 
Tec  :inno  -  Empolis  (DE) 
Université  de  Montpellier  1 (FR) 
Université  de  Liège  (BE) 

Applying CBR techniques to  training for  ultrasonographists 
The case  database  of  foetal  malformations,  on  which  the  CBR engine  will  work, 
will  be  developed  to: 

include  enough  parameters  to  encode  the  description  of  malformations, 
clinical  data  and  outcome  of  pregnancy; 
include  the  case's  ultrasound  sequences,  bibliography  references,  links  to 
international  classification  of  diseases  (e.g.  ICD  10)  and  the  international 
Web  servers  on  genetics  (Orphaet,  OMIM,  etc.),  physiopathology,  evolution 
of  diseases,  differential  diagnosis  and  prognosis  of  the  diseases; 
define  the  similarity  measure  which  will  facilitate  comparison  of  cases; 

The  CBR tool  will  then  be  integrated  within  the  ultrasonographist  environment. 
The  system  will  then  be  capable  of  assisting  ultrasonographists  to: 

build  a  case  from  an  obstetrical  ultrasound  examination; 
guide  the  analysis  of  the  case  under  study; 
get  recommendation  on  the  possible  medical  decisions  and  further 
examination; 
store  information  for  further  exploitation  and  training; 
produce  the  report  synthesising  the  suggested  diagnosis  as  well  as  further 
medical  follow-up. 

The training  platform  will  be trialed  starting  with  experts  (initial  scientific 
validation)  and  then  with  "standard"  ultrasonographists  (10  in  France  and  5  in 
Belgium)  who  will  use the  training  platform  daily  for  6  months  to  evaluate  the 
approach  and  refine  the  pedagogical  aspect  of  the  tool. 

On  completion,  the  results  will  be  promoted  among  the  ultrasonographist 
community,  including  the  CBR  approach  for  computer-based  training.  This 
training  environment  will  be  made  available  on  DVD ROM and  will  be  integrated 
in  the  standard  ultrasonographist  working  environment. 

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FREETEXT 

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«OTÍIVERS.TÉ  DE  GENÈVE 

A new way of  learning French 
FreeText  is  a  new  project  which  is  developing  a  hypermedia  computer-
assisted  language  learning  system  for  intermediate  to  advanced  learners  of 
French.  FreeText  uses  natural  language  processing  (NLP)  tools  and  relies  on 
a  communicative  approach  to  second  language  acquisition  through 
meaningful  tasks-based  activities. 

The  FreeText  project  entails  the  following  operations: 

Developing  typologies  of  errors  typical  of  learners  from  various  linguistic 
backgrounds  (Germanic  vs.  Romance  languages),  on  the  basis  of  several 
learner  corpora  to  be collected  and  made  available  for  automated  error 
coding; 
Developing  communicatively-oriented  content  materials  featuring  meaningful 
learning  tasks  which  make  use of  authentic  documents.  These  materials  will 
consist  of  tutorials,  interactive  learning  procedures,  text  comprehension 
exercises  as well  as controlled  and  free  text  production  exercises; 
Developing  and/or  adapting  various  natural  language  processing  (NLP)  tooLs 
able  to  treat  free  productions  and  available  at  any  point  in  the  system, 
among  which  a  large  coverage  syntactic  anaLyser,  a speech  synthesiser,  a 
sentence  structure  viewer,  a  sentence  reformulator,  a  sentence  translator,  and 
an  error  diagnosis  system  for  spelling,  grammar,  and  semantic  errors; 
Producing  and  providing  reference  aids  such  as  dictionaries  and a 
linguistically-motivated  reference  grammar; 

Creating  an  authoring  tool  allowing  teachers  to  add  their  own  materials  into 
predefined  formats  to  tailor  the  system  to  their  students'  specific  needs; 
Developing  evaluation  components  using  the  learner's  navigation  patterns 
and  performance; 

Integrating  these  tools  and  contents  into  an  attractive,  ergonomically-
sound  hypermedia  software. 

cui.  tïtee 

Software tools for  learning 
The  software  under  development  will  incorporate  authentic  documents  and 
sentence  processing  tools  (hearing,  structure  viewing,  reformulating, 
translating)  that  will  incite  learners  to  actively  involve  themselves  in  the  foreign 
language  structure  discovering  process.  Using  an  efficient  and  robust  error 
diagnosis  system,  FreeText  incorporates  error  typologies  based  on  statistical 
French  learner  corpus  analysis,  handles  free  text  productions,  and  provides  the 
user  with  meaningful  feedback.  The  system  will include  reference  aids  such as 
dictionaries  and  a  linguistically-motivated  reference  grammar,  teacher-oriented 
authoring  capabilities  as well  as evaluation  routines  using  the  learner's 
navigation  patterns  and  performance. 

The  FreeText  project  will  result  in  a complete  hypermedia  NLP-based  CALL system 
for  French  which  will  include  five  tutorials  exploring  different  text  types, a 
reference  grammar,  NLP-based  tools,  and  numerous  exercises.  These  exercises  will 
focus  on  the  identification,  the  modification,  and  the  utilisation  of  the  salient 
linguistic  features  characteristic  of  the  retained  text  genres  within  spoken  and 
written  environments,  both  controlled:  word,  part  of  sentence,  sentence;  and 
free:  part  of text,  whole  text.  This  system  will  make the  most  effective  use of  all 
the  NLP tools  available,  for  tutorials  and  exercises  alike.  It  will  also  be 
authorable,  allowing  teachers  to  complement  it  with  their  own  contributions. 
The  system  will  be  able to  run  on  two  different  platforms  with  the  same 
capabilities:  on  the  Internet  for  remote  learning,  and  on  PCs for  individual  and 
closed-environment  uses. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-13093 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  sector: 
Education  anr1  training  software  technology 

Action  line: 
Open  Platforms  and  Tools  for  Personalised 
Learning 

Full  title: 
French  in  Context:  An  Advanced  Hypermedia 
CALL  System  featuring  NLP Tools for  a Smart 
Treatment  of  Authentic  Documents  and  Free 
Production  Exercises 

Project  type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  date: 
1/04/2000 

End  date: 
31/03/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
The  FreeText  project  aims at  developing  a 
hypermedia  computer  assisted  language 
learning  system  for  intermediate  to  advanced 
learners  of  French  that  relies  heavily  on  natural 
language  processing  tools  and  communicative 
approaches  to  second  language  acquisition 

Target  Audience: 
The  target  audience  of  the  product  is  adult 
intermediate  to  advanced  learners  of  French 
and  any  institution  providing  services  for  that 
category  of  learners 

Keywords: 
Computer  assisted  language  learning,  natural 
language  processing,  free  productions, 
authentic  documents,  hypermedia  corpus 

Technology: 
1.  Communicative  approaches  to  second 
language  acquisition 
2.  Computer  assisted  language  learning 
3.  Natural  language  processing 
4.  Error  typologies  based  on  the  analysis  of 
extended  learner  corpora 
5.  Hypermedia  technology 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Dr  Catherine  Walther  Green 
Département  de  Linguistique 
Université  de  Genève 
Rue  de  Candolle,  2 
CH-1211  Genève  4 
Tel:  +41-22-7057320 
Fax:  +41-22-7057931 
E-mail:  Catherine.Walther@lettres.unige.ch 
URL:  http://www.latl.unige.ch/freetext/ 

Project  Participants 
Université  de  Genève  (CH) 
University  of  Manchester  Institute  of  Science 
and  Technology  (UK) 
Université  Catholique  de  Louvain  (BE) 
Softisslmo  (FR) 

KOD 

K N O W L E D GE 

ON 

D E M A ND 

KOD outlined 
The  main  scope  of  KOD is  to  contribute  to  the  thematic  area  of  "Open 
Platforms  and  Tools  for  Personalised  Learning"  by  the  design,  development 
and validation  of  a novel dynamic  and  adaptive  learning  environment. 

The  key  objectives  of  the  KOD project  can  be  summarised  as follows: 

Tools for  Personalised  Learning:  To design,  develop  and test  the  KOD  learning 
environment,  as  a dynamic  and  adaptable  on-line  environment  which  allows 
the  individual  learner  to  acquire  knowledge  according  to  his/her  personal 
learning  needs; 
Didactic  Method:  To  provide  the  methodological  framework  to  support  both 
front-end  users  (learners)  and  back-end  users  (educational  content  authors, 
publishers,  e-learning  service  providers,  etc),  and  their  organisations,  in 
achieving  their  educational  and  training  objectives  through  the  use  of  KOD 
technology,  in  a  cost-effective  and  efficient  way; 
Learning  Resources:  To  provide  reusable  learning  material  of  European  added-
value  in  order  to  support  the  pilot  implementation  and  the  demonstration  of 
the  KOD System; 
Assessment  and  Validation:  To  provide  evidence  for  issues  such  as  efficiency, 
scalability  and  cost-effectiveness  from  the  pilot  implementation  and  use  of 
the  KOD system  in  two  different  learning  settings  with  two  different 
discipline  subjects; 
Dissemination:  To  contribute  to  the  emerging  European  and  international 
standardisation  efforts  in  the  area,  to  interact  with  other  EU  initiatives 
towards  the  sharing  of  best  practice  examples  and  methodologies  at a 
European  level,  and  to  demonstrate  the  achievements  of  the  project  to  the 
public; 
Exploitation:  To investigate  possible  opportunities  for  market  exploitation 
and  commercialisation  of  the  KOD Project  Results. 

The  KOD project  aims  to  address  the  needs  of  the  following  user  categories: 

> 

front-end  users,  i.e.  learners,  interested  in  accessing  educational  e-content 
(mainly  through  the  internet  and  the  world  wide  web)  in  a  personalised  way 

>  back-end  users:  including  Knowledge  providers,  willing  to  publish  learning 
material  in  a common,  re-usable  and interchangeable  format;  Knowledge 
brokers  mediator  (e-learning)  services,  willing  to  provide  value-added 
matching  between  learner  requests  and  content  providers;  and  Knowledge 
deliverers,  e.g.  educational  service  providers,  willing  to  provide  end  users 
(learners)  with  personalised  learning  services 

The  KOD project  aims  to  deliver  a vertical  learning  portal,  which  supports  the 
above  user  categories  to  define,  access,  interchange  and  re-use  adaptive 
educational  e-content. 

The  KOD approach  is  centred  on  the  extension  of  current  educational  content 
interchange  formats  (e.g.  the  Content  Packaging  Specification  currently  under 
extension  by  international  e-learning  bodies  such  as the  IEEE  LTSC, CEN/ISSS 
LTW, IMS  and  ADL SCORM)  to  facilitate  the  definition  of  adaptive  and 
conditional  navigation  rules  taking  into  account  user  characteristics  (user 
profiles,  testing  sessions,  etc).  These  navigation  rules  are  described  together 
with  the  learning  assets  within  a single  content  packaging  format,  called  the 
Knowledge  Packaging  (KP)  format. 

The  aim  of  such  a notation  is  to  enable  instructional  designers  to  describe  (in  a 
common,  reusable,  interoperable  and  machine  readable  way)  navigational  logics 
which  define  how  knowledge  packages  (i.e.  educational  courses,  sets  of  learning 
assets,  etc)  can  be  disaggregated  and  presented  in  a different  way  according  to 
different  learner  characteristics.  As a result,  e-learning  applications  and  services 
can  provide  different  knowledge  routes  to  each  individual  learner,  according  to 
his/her  characteristics  and  needs. 

The  KP format  is  used  as the  interchange  format  between  the  specific 
architectural  modules  which  are  developed  during  the  project,  which  address  the 
needs  of  all  envisaged  players  of the  e-learning  arena,  namely  learners  and 
educational  content  and/or  applications  and  services  providers. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-12503 

Duration: 
30  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  Training 

Action  Line: 
Open  Platforms  and  Tools  for  Personalised 
Learning 

Full  Title: 
Knowledge  on  Demand 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2000 

End  Date: 
30/09/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
KOD aims to  facilitate  the  definition  of  adaptive 
educational  e-content  in  a  common  format,  so 
that  it  can  be  easily  Interchanged  and  re-used 

Target  Audience: 
Educational  technology  experts,  educators, 
pedagogical  experts,  public  and  private 
educational  technology  organisations, 
educational  content  providers 

Keywords: 
Personalised  learning,  individualised  learning, 
adaptable  and  adaptive  learning  environments, 
eLearning  services 

Technology: 
Learning  technologies  specifications  and 
standards,  software  agents,  vertical  learning 
portals 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Dr  Demetrios  Sampson 
Informatics  and  Telematics  Institute,  Centre  for 
Research  and  Technology  Hellas  (ITI-CERTH) 
1,  Kyvernldou  Str. 
Thessaloniki 
GR-54639 
Tel:  +30-31-868324,  868785,  868580, 
Internal  105 
Fax:  +30-31-868324,  868785,  868580, 
internal  213 
E-mail:  sampson@iti.gr 
URL:  http://www.kodweb.org/ 

Project  Participants 
ITI-CERTH (GR) 
Fretwell-Downlng  Education  (UK) 
GIUNTI Interactive  Labs SRL (IT) 
Asociación  Centro  Alta  Technologla  En  Analisis 
Imagen  (ES) 
PROFit  Gestion  Informatica  SA  (ES) 

MYTHE 

Learning to  be  multilingual 
In  a  growing  multilingual  modern  society,  language  training  and  foreign 
language  acquisition  are  basic  conditions  for  any  form  of  communication  and 
mutual  understanding  of  EU citizens.  In  addition, young  European  citizens 
with  multilingual  skills  are  better  prepared  for  entering  into  the  job 
market.  It  is  important  for  children  to  start  learning  languages  early  enough 
in  order  to  be  able  to  think  in  those  languages,  as is  the  case  in  their 
mother  tongue. 

The  purpose  of  the  MYTHE project  is  to  design  and  develop  a  multilingual 
interactive  environment  for  language  teaching  to  young  children. 

The  system  is  expected  to  set  three  languages  in  a  common  interface  and  put 
the  educational  methodology  and  experience  of  the  respective  countries 
together. 

This  will  unify  the  users  regardless  of  their  geographical  residence  and  national 
or  social  barriers  and  provide  good  knowledge  for  all. 

The  interactive  environment  of  MYTHE is  being  designed  specifically  for  6 to  8 
year-olds  and  is  capable  of  creating  an  enjoyable,  stimulating  and  engaging 
learning  platform  for  young  children,  incorporating  advanced  language,  speech, 
3D  modelling  and  animation  tools. 

It  will  support  the  promotion  and  development  of  key  skills  such  as  creativity, 
self-expression  and  learning  by  providing  the  conditions  that  will  inspire 
children  to  think  creatively,  take  risks  and  implement  good  ideas. 

Improved  language  learning for  kids 
It  will  facilitate  the  linguistic  development  of  young  children  by  encouraging 
them  to  better  learn  their  language  and  other  European  languages.  Moreover,  it 
will  encourage  both  learning  through  collaborative  effort  and  personal 
achievement  by  designing  and  developing  an  interdisciplinary  learning  system, 
adaptable  to  the  needs  and  abilities  of  the  learner  and  the  learning  situation. 

It  will  also  empower  the  active  participation  of  teachers,  parents  and  other 
members  of  the  community  by  incorporating  meaningful  roles  in  the  learning 
process. 

3D  models  and  animations  will  be  used  to  elicit  a deeper  engagement  of  the 
child  and  offer  the  child  tools  for  viewpoint  manipulation,  and  the  teacher  tools 
to  add  new  content. 

Finally,  a  robust  speech  recognition  system  for  children  capable  of  coping  with 
noisy  environments  and  multiple  pronunciations  of  the  words  will  be 
incorporated. 

The  scientific  and  technological  objectives  of  the  project  are  focusing  on  the 
following: 

Developing  an  environment  to  be  used  for  the  teaching  and  learning  of  both 
the  mother  tongue  and  foreign  languages;  providing  additional  value  to 
Computer  Assisted  Language  Learning  (CALL)  with  the  incorporation  of 
advanced  Linguistic  and  Imaging  tools  (LIM); 
Eliciting  a deeper  engagement  of  the  child,  by  showing  realistic  3D  models 
and  animations;  enhancing  multilinguality  in  Europe; 
Developing  a  unified  methodological  approach  for  the  teaching  of  three 
different  European  languages;  offering  learners  of  different  educational  and 
cultural  backgrounds  a common,  well-tested  and  effective  platform  for 
language  learning; 
Constructing  a  platform  that  can  easily  be  localised  for  the  teaching  of  other 
European  languages. 

The  MYTHE platform  aims  to  restore  the  delicate  balance  between  advanced 
technology  and  current  trends  in  language  education.  It  is  based  on a 
multilingual  approach  involving  LIM  tools  and  language  teaching.  Features  of 
advanced  technology  and  language  education  are  expected  to  constitute  a 
European  breakthrough  in  the  field  of  CALL. The  harmonic  co-existence  of  both 
technological  and  educational  entities  guarantees  the  overall  quality  of  the 
attempted  enterprise.  Aggregated  experience  will  be  gained  during  the 
validation  phase  of  the  project  that  will  take  place  at  primary  schools  in  the 
three  countries.  It  will  provide  invaluable  feedback  and  trigger  future 
exploitation  plans  in  order  to  lead  the  demonstrator  to  product  maturity. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-12395 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Educational  software,  private  and  public 
schools 

Action  Line: 
Open  Platforms  and  Tools  for  Personalised 
Learning 

Full  Title: 
Multimedia  Young  Children  Thesaurus  for 
Educational  Purposes 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
06/03/2000 

End  Date: 
05/03/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
To  design  and  develop  a  multilingual  interactive 
environment  for  language  teaching  in  young 
children 

Target  Audience: 
6-8  year-old  children 

Keywords: 
Language  learning,  language  tools,  3D 
animation,  open  platform,  multilinguality,  myth-
fable,  pan-European  values 

Technology: 
The  language,  speech,  3D  modelling  and 
animation  tools  will  be  developed  and/or 
adapted  for  educational  purposes  and  consist 
of  the  core  technologies  of  the  platform.  The 
organisation  of  the  language  material  (simple 
grammar  books,  exercises  and  dictionaries)  will 
be  built  upon  a  fable  that  is  based  on  the 
thematic  fields  of  environment,  health,  science 
and  technology,  culture  and  democracy 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Dr Vassills  Katsouros 
INSTITUTE  FOR  LANGUAGE  AND  SPEECH 
PROCESSING  -  ILSP 
Artemidos  6  &  Epidavrou  Streets 
GR-15125  Marousi,  Athens 
Tel:  +30-1-6800959 
Fax:  +30-1-6854270 
E-mail:  vsk@ilsp.gr 
URL:  http://mythe.ilsp.gr/ 

Project  Participants 
ILSP (GR) 
Katholieke  Universiteit  Leuven  (BE) 
Televirtual  Ltd.  (UK) 
Eyetronlcs  N.V.  (BE) 

TRAIN.ME 

Developing a personalised  learning system 
The  Train.Me  project  aims  to  boost  the  competitiveness  of  Small  and 
Medium  Enterprises  through  the  trial,  evaluation  and  documentation  of 
the  impact  of  implementing  a  personalised  learning  system  in  an 
association  of  SMEs.  The  system  will  integrate  two  different  existing 
developments  that  currently  meet  the  requirements  of  two  different 
users,  content  providers  and  education  companies,  but  which  share  the 
use  of  Web-based  technology: 

An  offline  content  creation  and  authoring  tool,  consisting  of  re-usable 
software  components.  This  tool  is  the  product  of  the  Multimedia  Broker 
Telematics  project  (IE2093). 
An  online  learning  environment,  with  personalisation  permitting  online,  on-
demand  auto  learning. 

Improving the training resources available to SMEs 
The  one-year  Train.Me  project  will  assist  the  training  needs  of  SMEs  through 
producing  the  following  results: 

An  online  learning  environment  in  Spanish,  Italian  and  English; 
An  XML tool  for  content  generation; 
An  evaluation  report  detailing  the  use  of  the  system  in  terms  of 
effectiveness,  cost  benefit  and  re-usability,  and  a  report  considering  its 
exploitation  potential  and  market  analysis. 

Constructing the  personalised  learning system 
To  achieve  the  objectives  of  Train.Me,  steps  will  be  taken  to: 

Ensure  that  the  project  participants  acquire  a  sufficiënt  competency  in  the 
baseline  technology,  through  technology  transfer; 
Define  the  course  content  (the  course  content  will  deal  with  Total  Quality 
Management); 
Define  and  adapt  the  learning  methodology  and  to  define  the  user  group  and 
test  scenarios; 
Adapt  the  interface  to  English  and  Italian; 
Integrate  the  necessary  software  components  from  the  online  and  offline 
tools; 
Define  the  workflow  and to  configure  the  system  accordingly,  both  in  the 
content  creation  process  and  the  learning  process; 
Create  the  course  content  using  the  system  author  tools; 
Undertake  a detailed  evaluation  with  the  user,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
learning  effectiveness,  usability  and  cost/benefits; 
Gather,  analyse  and  consolidate  the  results; 
Prepare  and  actively  disseminate  the  Final  Report. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-21036 

Duration: 
12  months 

Economic  Sector: 

SMEs 

Action  Line: 
Trial  and  best  practice  addressing  advanced 
solutions  for  on-the-job  training  services  in 
SMEs,  including  development  of  sustainable 
business  models 

Full  Title: 
Personalised  learning  on-demand  and  on-the-
job 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  training  research 

Start  Date: 
01/03/2001 

End  date: 
28/02/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
Trial,  evaluate  and  document  the  impact  of 
implementing  a  personalised  learning  system  in 
an  association  of  SMEs 

Target  Audience: 

SMEs 

Keywords: 
SMEs,  personalised  learning  system,  online 
learning  environment 

Technology: 
Web-based  technologies,  XML,  Java,  HTML 

Project  co-ordinator 
Araceli  Muñoz 
IBERMATICA 
Av.  Partenón,  16-18 
E-28042  Madrid 
Tel:  +34-91-3849100 
Fax:  +34-91-3849144 
E-mail:  a.munoz@ibermatica.com 
URL:  http://www.train-me.org 

Project  participants 
IBERMATICA  (ES) 
OIKOS  (IT) 
Ingeneria  Informatica  (Engineering)  (IT) 

TRIAL-SOLUTION 

'fx AL-SOWTU 

What do  learners and teachers actually need? 
The  project  will  start  with  a thorough  analysis  of  the  actual  needs  of 
learners  and  teachers  for  personalised  teaching  materials  and  of  their 
abilities  to  express  these  needs. This  investigation  will  be  done  at  six 
European  universities  from  four  countries.  Similarly,  possibilities  for 
authors  to  provide  descriptions  of  relevant  properties  of  small  learning 
objects  will  be  investigated.  In  parallel,  high-quality  teaching  materials 
provided  by  participating  publishers  and  universities  will  be  analysed  in 
order  to  select  which  is  best  suited  for  the  intended  purpose.  Emphasis  will 
be  given  to  the  reuse  of  printed  materials  in  electronic  form  in  connection 
with  interactive  and  multimedia  materials.  Based  on  tests  with  an  existing 
prototype,  costs  for  the  preparation  of  documents  in  varying  forms  will  be 
estimated.  These  investigations  will  lead  to  a  detailed  specification  of  the 
system  to  be  developed. 

In  the  second  phase,  the  "granularity"  with  which  the  selected  documents  will 
be  sliced  and  how  the  resulting  learning  objects  will  be  described  within 
appropriate  metadata  systems  will  be  decided. Then  detailed  descriptions  of  the 
components  to  be  developed  will  be  agreed  on  as a  basis  for  a  consistent 
implementation  in  the  next  phase. 

The  selected  materials  will  be  modularised  and  augmented  with  the  required 
metadata  so that  automated  tools  can  be  implemented.  The  resulting  collections 
of  small  annotated  learning  objects  will  be  revised  manually,  after  the  authoring 
tools  needed  for  this  revision  have  been  implemented.  Within  the  project,  a 
centre  of  competence  for  document  re-engineering  will  be  established. 

The  delivery  tool  to  be implemented  wiLl  combine  knowledge  on  various 
metadata  with  knowledge  on  the  user  to  decide  which  learning  objects  are  to  be 
retrieved  from  the  distributed  library.  The  resulting  system  will  be  evaluated  at 
the  participating  universities. 

Dissemination  will  demonstrate  the  potential  of  the  technology  and  provide 
knowledge  for  the  use  and  extension  of  the  resulting  open  system. 

Technology  on  trial 
Traditional  teaching  institutions  and  organisations  using  supported  open 
learning  and  integrated  learning  services  will  be  used  to  show  the  wide 
organisational  applicability.  Trials  across  a wide  range  of  disciplines,  particularly 
those  that  involve  science,  technology  and  mathematics,  will  demonstrate  the 
scope  of  the  technology.  The  project  will  also  demonstrate  significant  benefits 
over  traditional  methods,  particularly  in  terms  of  pedagogy,  ease  of 
implementation,  maintenance,  cost-effectiveness,  service  quality  and  scalability. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-11397 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Publishing,  Education 

Action  Line: 
Open  Platforms  and  Tools  for  Personalised 
Learning 

Full  Title: 
Tools  for  Reusable,  Integrated,  Adaptable 
Learning  systems/Standards  for  Open  Learning 
Using  Tested,  Interoperable  Objects  and 
Networking 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/02/2000 

End  Date: 
31/01/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
To  use  open  platforms  and  tools  to  develop 
and  then  validate  a  powerful  new  way  of 
creating,  delivering  and  managing  personalised 
education  and  training.  The  scalability  of  the 
approach  will  be  demonstrated  by  carrying  out 
trials  in  a  range  of  learning  settings  across  the 
EU,  from  small-group  work,  through  to  mass-
audience  systems 

Target  Audience: 
Authors,  students,  lecturers,  publishers 

Keywords: 
Electronic  publishing,  personalised  documents, 
interoperable  learning  objects 

Technology: 
Slicing  Book  Technology  to  combine  various 
media,  notably  print  and  electronic  publishing 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Dr  Bernd  Ingo  Dahn 
UNIVERSITAET  KOBLENZ-LANDAU 
Institute  for  Computer  Science 
Rheinau  1 
D-56075  Koblenz 
Tel:  +49-261-2872771 
Fax:  +49-261-2872731 
E-mail:  dahn@uni-koblenz.de 
URL:  http://www.trial-solutlon.de 

Project  Participants 
Universitaet  Koblenz-Landau  (DE) 
Springer-Verlag  (DE) 
Harri  Deutsch  GmbH  (DE) 
Universitaet  zu  Köln  (DE) 
Technische  Universitaet  Chemnitz  (DE) 
The  Open  University  (UK) 
Stichting  Mathematisch  Centrum  (NL) 
Fachinformationszentrum  Karlsruhe  GmbH  (DE) 
Heidelberger  Akademie  der  Wissenschaften 
(DE) 
Trinity  College  Dublin  (IE) 
Universite  de  Nice  Sophia  Antipolis  (FR) 
Slicing  Information  Technology  GmbH  (DE) 

TWT-U 

TWT-U 

An integrated approach to  launching TWT (Training Web Toolkit) 
This  project  seeks  to  exploit  and  build  a  market  foundation  for  the TWT 
learning  platform  through  pursuing  the  following  related  objectives: 

The  promotion  of  TWT's  further  development  and  its  preparation  as a  final 
product,  through:  software  optimisation  (compiling  modules);  pedagogical 
re-adjustments;  international  interface;  standardisation  efforts;  upgrading  to 
version  4.0;  enhancement  of  technical  documentation;  usability  evaluation; 
formal  coherence  in  final  packaging; 
The  reinforcement  of  TWT's  development  process  within  an  R&D scope, 
through:  trials-based  monitoring  and  evaluation  of  TWT's  performance  in 
delivering  courses  within  different  university  learning  environments.  The 
results  will  contribute  to  areas  such  as standardisation  of  learning 
technologies  and  technological  innovation; 
The  production  of  a  business  plan  for  TWT,  analysing  its  cost-effectiveness 
and  strengthening  its  use  in  tested  commercial  areas  -  continuous  training, 
edition  of  institutional  sites  and  intranets  management  -  while  widening  its 
acceptance  and  use  by  targeting  new  end-users  (higher  education)  and 
preparing  the  spread  out  to  global  markets; 
The  dissemination  of  TWT, as well  as the  project's  results,  through  a 
comprehensive  set  of  actions  within  an  1ST framework,  including  adjusting 
to  a "mainstream"  policy  in  buiLding  systems  and  services  for  education  and 
training. 

A market ready learning resource 
The  project  will  assist  in  promoting  the  development,  market  viability  and 
dissemination  of  the  TWT platform  through: 

Production  and  implementation  of  a  package  for  training  of  trainers; 
Production  of  TWT international  version  and  manuals; 
Re-design  of  courses; 
Definition  of  evaluation  instruments  and  sampling; 
Publication  of  intermediate  results; 
Launch  and  conclusion  of  experiments/trials; 
Produce  business  plan; 
Upgrade  to  TWT 4.0  final  version; 
Holding  national  seminars; 
Publication  of  results  in  Conferences  and  Journals 

The TWT platform  in education and training 
The  project  incorporates  seven  complementary  Work  Packages,  distributed  as 
follows: 

Set-up  of  the  proposed  methodology  for  the  application  of  TWT  environment 
in  universities.  A technical  and  pedagogical  best  practises  manual  will  be 
produced  to  support  a training  action  for  TWT facilitators/trainers  in  the 
four  universities; 

Two  courses  per  university,  in  environment  (UCP  and  IHIE)  and  information 
systems  (CTU and  UM)  will  be  chosen.  Each  university  will  run  a course  with  a 
set  of  subjects  common  between  partners,  and  an  independent  one,  both 
using  the  TWT tool.  The  courses  will  have  to  be  re-engineered  to  run  under 
TWT. This  pedagogical  re-engineering  is  supported  by  a facilitator  in  each 
university,  centraLised  services  in  AESBUC,  and  informative  actions  to  be  held 
in  each  university; 

After  the  courses  are  launched,  they  will  be  monitored  and  a service  of 
technical  support  installed  (help  lines:  INESC  line,  TWT line)  to  help  students 
and  teachers; 
During  the  whole  project,  TWT will  be improved  and  optimised  in  terms  of 
efficiency  and  usability  -  interface,  design  and  navigation  tools.  An 
international  version  will  be  launched,  as well  as TWT upgraded  version  4.0. 
User  and  technical  documentation,  both  on  paper  and  online,  will  be  revised 
and  translated.; 

Concomitant  with  the  project,  an  evaluation  process  will  take  place, 
collecting  feedback  and  conclusions  and  integrating  them,  by  means  of  re-
feeding  the  whole  process; 
A business  plan  will  be  produced  in  order  to  strategically  define  a  commercial 
basis  to  launch  TWT in  the  European  market,  while  widening  its  scope  to  a 
future  acceptance  in  international  markets,  by  enlarging  its  use  to  new 
targeted  end-users; 

Several  dissemination  actions  will  be  undertaken,  namely:  organisation  of a 
seminar  per  country  for  broad  dissemination  of  the  project  and  its  results,  and 
to  introduce  TWT to  the  new  target  group  (higher  education  organisations); 
participation  in  conferences;  leaflet  production  for  mailing  and  information 
purposes  production;  and  distribution  of  a  product  information  pack. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-20325 

Duration: 
18  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  Training 

Action  Line: 
Content  and  Multimedia  Tools,  Education  and 
Training,  Open  Plataforms  for  a  Personalised 
Learning 

Full  Title: 
Tools for  Distributed  Learning at  the  University 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/01/2001 

End  Date: 
30/06/2002 

Project  objectives: 
To  promote  TWT further  development  and 
deployment,  to  reinforce  TWT's  market 
approach  and  development  within  an  R&D 
scope,  to  produce  a  business  plan  for  TWT,  to 
disseminate  TWT as well  as TWT-U's  results 

Target  audience: 
Teachers  and  Trainers 

Keywords: 
Learning  environments,  trials-based  monitoring 
and  evaluation,  dissemination,  market 
preparation 

Technology: 
Web-based  learning  environment,  Active  Server 
Pages,  Database, VBScript  and  Java  Script 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Mr  Eduardo  Luís  Cardoso 
Universidade  Católica  Portuguesa  - ESB 
Portugal 
E-mail:  elc@esb.ucp.pt 
URL:  http://www.myTWT.net 

Project  Participants 
AESBUC  (PT) 
Universidade  Católica  Portuguesa  -ESB  (PT) 
Czech  Technical  University,  FEE, Dept.  of 
Computer  Science  and  Engineering  (CZ) 
Institute  D'Hygiene  Industrielle  et  de 
L'Environnement  -  CNAM  de  Lyon  (FR) 
Universidade  do  Minho  -Departamento  de 
Sistemas  de  Informação  (PT) 
INESC  Porto  -  Instituto  de  Engenharia  de 
Sistemas  e  Computadores  do  Porto  (PT) 
SONAE,  Redes  de  Dados,  SA  (PT) 

UP-ARIADNE 

Open  Ε-Learning Platform, a Community of Educators and a 
European  Knowledge  Pool of  Re-usable  Learning Objects 
ICTs are  widely  advocated  -  and  should  become  widely  used  -  in  education 
and  training. They  should  support  both  existing  and  new  pedagogical 
paradigms  such  as distance  learning,  sharing  of  course  materials,  and  virtual 
laboratories.  However,  the  production  of  learning  content  remains  expensive 
and  new  learning  requirements  demand  increasingly  personalized  and 
flexible  services. The  ARIADNE  Project  dealt  with  these  challenges  by 
developing  a  cost-effective  learning  environment  based  upon  open 
standards,  interoperability  and  a  repository  of  re-useable  learning  objects. 
This  system  enables  exchange  of  educational  resources  through  a 
distributed  database  known  as the  Knowledge  Pool System,  and  allows 
simple  creation  of  online  courses.  Such  courses  incorporate,  in  a  simple 
session  paradigm,  both  learning  content taken  from  the  KPS and 
communication ressources,  referenced  by  an  URL.  UP-ARIADNE  aims  to 
further  boost  re-usable  and  interoperable  learning  approaches  through  (i) 
establishing  and  expanding  an  ARIADNE  Foundation,  (ii)further  developing 
the  ARIADNE  tools  and  (iii)  ensuring  the  ARIADNE  Foundation's  economic 
feasibility  during  the  first  three  years,  after  which  it  should  reach  self-
sustainability. 

UP-ARIADNE  aims  to  further  boost  re-usable  and  interoperable  learning 
approaches  through: 

establishing  and  expanding  an  ARIADNE  Foundation; 
further  developing  the  ARIADNE  tools; 
ensuring  the  ARIADNE  Foundation's  economic  feasibility  during  the  first 
three  years. 

The  wider  societal  objectives  are  to  set  up  and  exploit  a truly  European 
Knowledge  Pool,  while  adopting  an  approach  that  will  favour  multilinguality  and 
multiculturalism  and  promote  the  European  states'  social  responsibility  in 
education. 

Expanding  and  sustaining ARIADNE 
An  ARIADNE  Foundation  and  European  Knowledge  Pool  will  be  nurtured  and 
expanded,  and  societal  objectives  met,  through  increasing: 

the  Foundation's  membership; 
the  number  of  represented  countries; 
the  number  of  operational  nodes  in  the  KPS; 
the  number  of  electronic  documents  in  the  KPS; 
the  number  of  electronic  courses  created; 
the  number  of  ARIADNE tool  releases; 
demand  for  training  from  the  Foundation's  members. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-20407 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  &  Training 

Action  Line: 
Open  platforms  and  tools  for  personalized 
learning;  The  flexible  university  ;  Advanced 
training  systems 

Full  Title: 
UP-ARIADNE 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training/Take-Up 

The  Foundation's  scientific  and  technical  objectives  aim  at  the  maintenance  and 
further  development  of  the  various  tools  that  together  form  the  ARIADNE  system 
and  to  contribute  to  international  consensus  building  on  which  aspects  of  ICT-
based  formation  should  be standardized  and  which  should  be  left  local. 

Start  Date: 
01/03/2001 

End  Date: 
28/02/2004 

These  objectives  will  be  attained  : 

a)  by a steady  flow  of  new tool  releases  and 
b)  by  fostering  a  growing  demand  for  training  from  the  Foundation's  Members. 
c)  by  participating  in  the  Education-related  Standardization  work  of  relevant 

European  and  international  Bodies 

UP-ARIADNE  Workplan 
The workplan  comprises  five  workpackages: 

WP1 corresponds,  as  usual, to  coordination;  financial  administration  & 
management  (no  deliverable). 

WP2 will  cover  activities  and  results  transversal  to  the  life  of  the  international 
association  through  2  sub-WPs: 

InfoCom tools:  Creation/maintenance  of  Web site, software  server & 
discussion  lists  (3  yearly  sub-deliverables) 
PR work:  Participation  in  exhibitions;production  of  information  brochures, 
other  PR efforts  (3  yearly  sub-delv's) 

WP3, WP4  and  WP5 will  cover  time-dependent  activities  and  results  of  the 
Association  during  the  first,  second  and  third  year  of  the  project.  Each  'yearly 
WP' will  be  subdivided  in  4 sub-WPs: 

efforts  devoted  to  and  assessment  of  cultural  and societal results  (membership 
evolution,  represented  countries  and  languages,  number  of  KPS nodes,  of 
documents  and  courses  created)  as  compared  with  the  objectives; 
efforts  devoted  to  and  assessment  of  economic and  financial  results  (evolution 
of  spendings,  of  income  sources  and  of  the  balance  sheet  of  the 
Association); 
efforts  devoted to  and assessment  of  technical,  scientific,  and pedagogic results 
(software  releases,  papers  and  technical  publications,  ARIADNE  Conference 
proceedings,  ARIADNE Training  Workshop  results) 
efforts  in  educational  standards  work. 

Project  objectives: 
Prove  the  viability  and  assist during  take-up  and 
expansion  of  the  ARIADNE Foundation: 
this 
non-profit  association  endeavours  to  exploit 
the  results  of  the  two-phases  of  ARIADNE, a 
successful  European  RTD project,  namely  a 
suite  of  authoring  tools,  an  open  E-Learning 
platform  and  an  EU-wlde  repository  of  re-usable 
learning  objects.  The  Foundation  aims  at 
fostering  co-operation  between  educational 
bodies,  preserving  the  social/citizenship 
aspects  of  education,  and  will  contribute, 
through  international  consensus,  to  the 
standardization  of  certain  aspects  of  ICT  in 
education 

Target  audience: 
Teachers,  ICTE  Researchers,  E+T  Managers, 
Learners 

Keywords: 
Open  and  distance  learning,  ARIADNE, 
European  Knowledge  Pool 

Technologies: 
Distributed  databases,  Metadata,  Web-based 
Learning  Tools,  XML,  JSP, Java,  LDAP,  Linux, 
MSWindows,  MacOS 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Dr Eddy  Forte 
Ecole  Polytechnique  Fédérale  de  Lausanne 
(EPFL) 
LEAO,  Ecublens 
CH-1015  Lausanne 
Tel:  +41-21-6934755 
Fax:  +41-21-6934770 
E-mall:  Eddy.forte@epfl.ch 
ariadne@ariadne-eu.org 

Project  Participants 
Ecole  Polytechnique  Fédérale  de  Lausanne 
(CH) 
Katholieke  Universiteit  Leuven  (BE) 
Université  de  Lausanne  (CH) 
Université  Joseph-Fourier  Grenoble  2,  (FR) 
Université  Paul-Sabatier  Toulouse  (FR) 

UPLOADED IT 

Exploiting the ARIADNE open  and distance  learning  platform 
UPLOADED  IT  aims to  exploit,  trial  and  establish  the  distance  learning 
technologies  that  were  developed  through  the  ARIADNE  project.  The 
ARIADNE  project  developed  a  cost-effective  learning  environment  based 
upon  open  architecture  and  a  repository  of  re-useable  learning  objects  to 
help  meet  the  demand  for  increasingly  personalised  and  flexible  distance 
learning  services.  Exploiting  these  technologies,  UPLOADED  IT  seeks 
specifically  to: 

offer  four  distance  learning  courses,  leading  to  an  increased  re-usability  of 
learning  objects  and  access  to  knowledge  pools  of  learning  objects  across 
Europe  and  internationally; 
set  up  cost-effective  and  high  quality  Interactive  Terrestrial  Digital  Television 
(DVB-T)  as the  broadband  communication  platform,  with  the  wider  aim  of 
validating  its  use in  distance  learning  to  help  improve  mobility  of  learners 
and  tutors  and  deliver  learning  to  a  higher  proportion  of  the  population; 
contribute  to  the  wider  acceptance  of  the  concepts,  standards  and  tools  for 
re-useable,  ICT-based  learning  environments,  and  thereby  break  barriers  to 
exploitation. 

The  project  has  been  designed  to  reflect  the  full  life  cycle  of  distance  learning 
course  development,  implementation  and  evaluation.  Each  of  the  four  courses 
reflects  diversity  in  level  and  content.  This  lifecycle  includes  the  following 
stages: 

a  definition  of  user  needs; 
set  up  of  the  learning  and  communication  platforms; 
re-designing  courses  according  to  the  ARIADNE  platform; 
giving  the  courses; 
evaluation  of  the  trials; 
dissemination  of  the  results. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-20359 

Duration: 
18  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Distance  learning,  Education 

Action  Line: 
Trial  and  best  practice  addressing  advanced 
solutions  for  on-the-job  training  services  In 
SMEs  Including  development  of  sustainable 
business  models. 

Full  Title: 
User-Based  Personalisation  of  Learning 
Objectives  and  Activities  in  Distance  Education 
through  Digital  Interactive  Television 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  training  research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2001 

End  Date: 
30/09/2002 

Project  objectives: 
The  trial  and  publicity  of  ARIADNE  open 
architecture  technologies,  with  the  aim  of 
increasing  the  re-usabillty  and  access  to 
knowledge  pools  of  learning  objects.  Also  the 
validation  of  the  use  of  Interactive  Terrestrial 
Digital  Television  (DVB-T), thereby  providing  the 
means  to  deliver  distance  learning  to  a  far 
higher  proportion  of  the  population 

Stimulating demand for open  and distance  learning 
This  project  will  capitalise  on  ARIADNE  project  technologies  and  contribute  to 
the  wider  acceptance  of  the  use  of  ICTs in  education  and  training  as  well as 
distance  learning  through  achieving  the  following  results: 

website  running; 
verified  communication  through  DVB-T; 
ARIADNE  platform  and tools  working; 
Four  courses  held  and  data  collected; 
Evaluation  report  and  exploitation  plan  finalised; 
Wider  acceptance  of  re-usable  learning  objects,  access  to  knowledge  pools  of 
learning  objects,  lower  costs,  and  higher  quality; 
Validation  of  DVB-T  as  communication  platform  in  the  distance  learning 
domain. 

Incorporating  ICT distance  learning technologies  into  education 
The  main  elements  of  the  UPLOADED IT  project  include: 

Target  audience: 
Teachers 

Key words: 
Open  and  distance  learning,  ARIADNE,  DVB-T 

Technology: 
Sending  knowledge  administrated  in  the 
Ariadne  platform  modules  in  the  high 
bandwidth  digital  terrestrial  television  network 
(DVB-T),  i.e.  the  same  signal  as for  digital  TV, for 
the  downlink 

A  definition  of  user  needs,  necessary  to  identify  the  educational  outcomes 
and  processes  expected  from  the  project,  and  to  ensure  that  the  project  is 
soundly  based  on  an  understanding  of  learners'  needs; 
Set  up  of  the  learning  platform,  i.e.  the  concepts  and  tools  of  the  ARIADNE 
project,  and  the  set  up  of  the  broadband  communication  platform  to  be 
used  (DVB-T); 
Re-designing  courses  according  to  the  ARIADNE  platform  and  the  emerging 
standard  for  metadata,  in  order  to  meet  the  project  objectives; 
Giving  the  courses,  using  existing  or  redesigned  course  materials  and  the 
ARIADNE  platform.  This  will  be  accompanied  by  gathering  of  appropriate 
metrics  for  the  evaluation; 
An  evaluation  of  the  outcomes  of  the  trials  compared  to  the  objectives.  This 
will  give  the  basis  for  carrying  out  a full-scale  deployment  and  exploitation; 
Dissemination  of  the  results  of  the  trials  both  to  general  and  targeted 
audiences,  with  a  view  to  encouraging  exploitation  of  re-usable  learning 
objects,  new  learning  platforms,  and the  DVB-T  based  Internet  access. 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Gun  Ohman-Mattsson 
EC-gruppen 
Box  14 
376  23  Svängsta 
Sweden 
E-mail·,  gun.mattsson@ec.se 

Project  Participants 
EC-gruppen  (SE) 
Interactive  labs  (IT) 
Kristianstad  University  (SE) 
Region  Skåne  (SE) 
Skånekanalen  (SE) 
Teracom  (SE) 

VIRTUAL  BLACKBOARD 

Lecturing  online 
Lecture  theatres  around  the  world  come  in  a  wide  variety  of  shapes and 
sizes.  Modern  halls  come  with  a  range  of  teaching  aids  to  help  the  lecturer 
and  ultimately  facilitate  the  teaching  process.  However,  in  essence  they 
have  remained  unchanged  for  centuries. 

The  VIRTUAL  BLACKBOARD  project  intends  to  contribute  to  the  emerging 
distributed  learning  environments  in  higher  education  by  creating,  testing  and 
disseminating  a  consistent  lecturing  environment  using  emerging  technologies 
such  as  MPEG4 and  taking  advantage  of  the  high  bandwidth  infrastructure  of 
the  academic  institutions. 

Subsequently,  the  resulting  tools  and  methodologies  will  be  put  to  a  number  of 
uses.  These  include  delivering  highly-specialised  course  content  for  joint 
courses  for  example,  when  the  participants  and  tutors  do  not  reside  in  the  same 
institution.  Other  possible  uses  are  to  support  distributed  lectures  when  one  of 
the  tutors  is  actively  engaged  in  the  field  of  research  (i.e.  in  an  excavation 
area)  or  when  the  physical  presence  of  the  student  is  not  possible  (i.e. 
specialised  medical  operation). 

Lecturing tools  go  electronic 
More  specifically,  the  project  will  provide  specifications  and  guidelines  for 
setting  up  a  suitable  communication  and  equipment  infrastructure  for 
implementing  a virtual  Lecture  theatre.  This  will  follow  user  needs  analysis  to 
identify  the  best  educational  concept  to  be  adopted,  taking  into  account  the 
optimal  way  of  setting  up the  VIRTUAL  BLACKBOARD  environment  and  the 
available  university  infrastructure. 

A set  of  lecture  building  tools  wilL  be  developed  to  allow  instructors  to 
maintain,  set  up,  categorise  and  store  the  element  of  the  lecture. 

Conducting  the  class, the  lecturer  will  be  assisted  by  a set  of  lecture 
management  tools  that  will  allow  the  management  of the  actual virtual  lecture 
while  the  student  management  tool  will  allow  students  to  interact  with  the 
participants  in  the  scene.  To  hold  it  all  together  will  require  a  network 
management  mechanism  that  will  also  be designed. All these  tools  will 
incorporate  modules  for  designing  the  lecture  in  terms  of  scenes,  giving  access 
rights  to  the  users,  supporting  distributed  lectures  with  two  (or  more)  tutors 
from  different  locations. 

Taking state-of-the-art technologies to the classroom 
VIRTUAL  BLACKBOARD  will  investigate  established  and  emerging  technologies 
(XML,  etc.)  which  will  be  utilised  in  disciplines  where  heavy  multimedia  content 
and  3D  object  manipulation  is  required.  As  such,  the  project  will  be  tested  to 
deliver  lecturing  content  to  students  of  combined  mechanical  and  electrical 
engineering  courses  from  all  three  participating  universities. 

Based  on  the  feedback  received,  following  the  results  of  the  testing,  evaluation 
and  validation  phase,  the  tools  and  environment  will  be revised. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-12670 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  Training 

Action  Line: 
Open  Platforms  and  Tools  for  Personalised 
Learning 

Full  Title: 
Distributed  Lecturing  Environment 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2000 

End  Date: 
31/03/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
To  contribute  to  the  emerging  distributed 
learning  environments  in  higher  education  by 
creating,  testing  and  disseminating  a  consistent 
distance  lecturing  environment 

Target  Audience: 
Universities  and  educational  institutions 

Keywords: 
Virtual  lecture,  online  lecturing 

Technology: 
XML,  3D  objects,  live  and  full  interactive 
conference 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Mr  Yiannis  Sagias 
EXODUS  SA 
Farantaton  6-10 
GR-11527  Athens 
Greece 
Tel:  +30-1-7450300 
Fax:  +30-1-7450399 
E-mail:  ¡nfo@exodus.gr,  sagias@exodus.gr 
URL:  http://www.exodus.gr 
Virtual  Blackboard  URL:  http://www.3xodus.com/ 
vlrtualblackboard 

Project  Participants 
Exodus  SA  (GR) 
University  of  Stuttgart  (DE) 
Fraunhofer  Gesellschaft  -  IAO  (DE) 
National  Technical  University  of  Athens  (GR) 
University  of  Sunderland  (UK) 

WEBSET 

Weaving a web of  learning 
The  Web is  expanding  at  a  frenetic  pace.  It  now  extends  into  every  facet  of 
life  as developers  apply  it  to  all  walks  of  life  while  users  learn  of  its 
potential.  As a  shared  network,  its  educational  value  is  immense.  WebSET 
aims  to  harness  that  power.  Recognising  the  need  for  interoperability,  it  will 
develop  advanced  Web-based  technologies  to  implement  innovative  cost-
effective  learning  tools  that  can  be  run  on  any  workstation  platform 
including  a  standard  PC of  average  capacity.  The  technology  developed  will 
be  generic  and  applicable  to  a  wide  range  of  learning  disciplines. 

Assessing the needs of the user 
Continuous  assessment  performed  by  targeted  user  groups  has to  guarantee  that 
the  WebSET  environment  lives  up  to  the  required  user  needs. WebSET plans  to 
provide  an  e-commerce  outlet  on  the  Web to  display  and  sell the  objects, 
generated  by  the  project. 

WebSET is  using  Extensible  Markup  Language  (XML)  to  generate  document 
objects  for  the  production  of  re-usable  information  material,  Virtual  Reality 
Modelling  Language  (VRML)  ISO  standard  for  the  creation  of  3D  graphics,  and 
Web3D  technologies  to  design  interactive  features,  constitute  the  programming 
tools  to  build  the  virtual  multi-user  environment.  Fully  integrated  with  the 
specific  learning  contents,  the  set-up  will  result  in  a series  of  comprehensive 
training  packages  for  local as  well  as  distributed  use via  the  Web. The 
development  of  sophisticated  avatars  in  order  to  represent  the  learning  sessions 
participants  in  their  different  roles  will  facilitate  collaboration  among  users. 

WebSET enables  trainees  to  access  the  learning  tools  anywhere  and  at  any  time, 
either  alone,  in  which  case there  is  no-one  to  check  errors,  or  interacting  with  a 
teacher  or  other  learners. 

As for  the  surgical  training  aspect,  the  WebSET team  intends  to  support  and 
augment  both  pre-qualification  lessons,  learnt  by  surgeons  during  training  and 
in  performing  actual  procedures,  and  refresher  training  for  infrequently  executed 
interventions.  In  this  regard,  the  consortium  is  working  with  major  European 
learning  centres,  such  as the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  in  England  and  the  Royal 
Belgian  College  of  Surgeons.  Minimally  invasive,  thoracic,  and  vascular  surgery, 
and  neurosurgery  are the  initially  selected  specialities.  The  clinical  partners  in 
WebSET indeed  include  a  neurosurgical  and  laparoscopic  surgery  unit, 
respectively  at  Leeds  General Infirmary  and  at  St.  Mary's  in  the  United  Kingdom. 
Although  the  training  will  not  be  as  realistic  as the  actual  operations  or as 
complete  as totally  immersive  virtual  reality,  the  fidelity  will  be  quite  sufficient 
for  cost-effective  learning  and  practising  of  procedures. 

A surgical taxonomy 
One of  the  project  goals  consists  of  identifying  both  a standard  taxonomy  for 
surgical  learning  and  associated  metadata  for  surgical  learning  objects.  In 
addition,  a  library  of  VRML anatomic  and  user  interface  components  will  be 
designed  for  re-usability  purposes.  The  aspect  of  physiological  education  will  be 
addressed  by  the  Faculty  of  Engineering  at  the  University  of  Ljubljana  in 
Slovenia.  Researchers  will  develop  virtual  worlds  and  Web  pages  to  describe  the 
morphology  and  the  physiology  of  organs  and  living  beings.  In  turn,  the 
Slovenian  Ministry  of  Education  and  Sport  is  responsible  for  the  organisation  of 
tests  and  evaluations  of  the  training  packages  in  schools  via  teachers  and 
students,  by  making  use  of  standard  metadata  in  the  physiology  discipline. 

The WebSET team  strongly  insists  on  receiving  assessment  information  from  key 
end-user  groups  in  their  fields  at  regular  intervals,  as the  project  evolves.  In 
this  respect,  a special  user  group  of  appropriate  participants  from  all  over 
Europe, for  example  the  Medical School  at  the  University  of  Athens,  will  be 
established.  The  hospital  partners  from  their  side  have  the  task  of  defining  the 
WebSET exemplar  application  and  provide  clinical  imaging  as  well  as  expertise  in 
the  design  of  the  simulators.  They  will  also  determine  target  groups  and  validate 
the  simulators.  The  overall  project  management  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Victoria 
University  of  Manchester  Visualisation  Centre,  that  will  co-ordinate  the  end-to-
end  utilisation  scenario  from  authoring  to  use in  five  milestones.  The  Belgian 
and  Austrian  industrial  partners,  Space  Application  Services  and  Uma,  will 
implement  the  3D visualisation  and  interactive  multimedia  technologies,  in 
close  collaboration  with  the  Manchester  Visualisation  Centre. 

Composing through XML 
The  finishing  WebSET  touch  will  consist  of  a  composition  tool  based  on  XML,  to 
enable  the  creation  of  packaged  introduction  texts,  documentation  files  to 
accompany  the  module,  and the  establishment  of  an  overall  structure.  This  tool 
will  equally  serve  as a framework  for  presenting  the  generated  objects  to 
potential  buyers  by  means  of  an  e-commerce  outlet  on  the  Internet.  First,  the 
interested  public  will  have  the  opportunity  to  browse  demonstration  previews  of 
the  available  WebSET objects.  IDEC,  a Greek  industrial  development  and 
education  centre,  will  install  this  service  as  a  distributed  application  on  the 
Web,  mirroring  the  other  partners'  sites  to  enhance  e-commerce  facilities. 
Genias,  as the  Dutch  XML expert,  will  be actively  involved  in  all the  stages  of 
implementation,  integration,  exploitation  and  dissemination. 

WebSET will  take  surgery  training  as their  exemplar  application  for  development. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-10632 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Health 

Action  Line: 
Open  Platforms  and  Tools  for  Personalised 
Learning 

Full  Title: 
Web-based  Standard  Educational  Tools 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/05/2000 

End  Date: 
30/04/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
Develop  and  exploit  technology  applicable  to  a 
wide  range  of  science  disciplines, 
demonstrated  by  an  application  to  surgery 
training  and  re-used  for  physiology  teaching  in 
schools  and  higher  education; 
Develop  a  cost-effective  and  widely  available 
training  package; 

Develop  generic  technology  components  that 
can  be  Integrated  to  produce  high  quality 
collaborative  training  packages,  delivered  both 
locally  and  across  the WWW; 
Facilitate  multi-user  collaboration  for  training 
with,  for  example,  advanced  avatar 
representations  for  different  roles; 
Contribute  to  standards  development  in  open 
learning  systems,  and  pioneer  the 
establishment  of  standards  for  Web-based 
learning  tools  In  the  targeted  application  areas 

Target  Audience: 
Medical  students,  physiology  students,  content 
providers 

Keywords: 
WWW,  virtual  environments,  medical  education, 
simulation,  surgical  training,  components, 
community  and  collaboration  tool 

Technology: 
XML,  VRML,  X3D,  Web3D 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Dr  Nigel  W.  John 
MANCHESTER  VISUALISATION  CENTRE 
Manchester  Computing 
University  of  Manchester 
Manchester  M13  9PL 
United  Kingdom 
Tel:  +44-161-2756096 
Fax:  +44-161-2756800 
E-mail:  n.w.john@man.ac.uk 
URL:  http://www.man.ac.uk/MVC/ 

Project  Participants 
Manchester  Visualisation  Centre  (UK) 
Space  Application  Services  (BE) 
uma  holding  gmbh  (AT) 
Faculty  of  Engineering,  University  of  Ljubljana 

(SI) 
Dept  of  Neurosurgery,  Leeds  General  Infirmary, 
Leeds  University  (UK) 
The  Imperial  College  of  Science,  Technology 
and  Medicine  at  St.  Mary's  (UK) 
Industrial  Development  &  Education  Centre  (GR) 

CANDLE 

Preparing for the future 
The  Internet  and  the  Web  are  changing  the  way  work,  business  and  leisure 
operate.  European  companies  are  competing  within  a  knowledge  economy 
where  competitiveness  and  profitability  are  mainly  determined  by an 
organisation's  intellectual  capital,  both  in  terms  of  knowing  what  and 
knowing  how. The  digital  revolution  is  fuelling  many  of  today's  new 
innovations.  To  prepare  for  this  changing  world,  citizens  need  to  develop 
new  competences  and  skills,  especially  in  the  ICT  area. 

CANDLE aims  to  use the  Internet  to  improve  the  quality  and  reduce  the  cost  of 
ICT teaching  in  Europe  by  using  Web  and  multimedia  technology  and  to  enable 
co-operation  between  universities  and  industry  in  creating  and  re-using 
learning  material  and  improving  the  quality  of  delivery.  However,  what  they 
propose  is  not  designed  to  obstruct  academics  and  trainers  developing  their 
own  courseware.  CANDLE guarantees  this  flexibility  through  the  use  of 
component  architectures,  toolkits  and  pedagogical  frameworks  that  allow 
individual  teachers  to  combine  course  objects  to  create  their  own  courses 
designed  to  meet  their  learner's  particular  needs. 

For example,  CANDLE will  develop  a pedagogical  model that  supports  a full  range 
of  different  learning  situations,  target  groups  (both  suppliers  and  users,  learners 
and  teachers)  and  learning  styles,  approaches  and  strategies.  Key  principles, 
guidelines  and  heuristic  support  to  end-users  in  developing  acceptable 
educational  or  training  courseware  will  be established.  A  set  of  guidelines  for 
the  design,  development  and  customisation  of  course  components,  as well  as a 
taxonomy  on  collaborative  distance  learning  will  similarly  be  created. 

Search and retrieve 
Besides  the  creation  of  course  components,  CANDLE will  generate  a  metadata 
framework.  This  will  facilitate  the  search  and  retrieval via  a search  engine  which 
may,  for  example,  be  used to  indicate  that  a course  module  is  written  in  English, 
includes  Java  applets,  includes  exercises  and  describes  a  routing  algorithm.  An 
information  broker  capable  of  interpreting  the  metadata  using  an  open 
distributed  architecture  is  also  part  of  this  project's  aims. 

9HI9 

CANDLE  envisages  developing  authoring,  navigation  and  course  organisation 
tools  that  can  meet  the  varied  needs  of  the  users  and  their  organisations  in  a 
flexible  and  pedagogically  sound  manner.  Re-engineering  of  existing  courseware 
in  the  area  of  ICT will  provide  sufficient  content  for  the  testing  of  the  CANDLE 
approach.  However,  the  re-engineered  content  must  satisfy  the  needs  of 
different  user  groups  including  offering  different  pathways  through  the  content 
which  will  result  in  different  sets  of  courseware  being  created  from  essentially 
the  same  content. 

Meeting the user's requirements 
The  CANDLE approach  brings  together  pedagogical  experts  and  engineers  who 
provide  the  technical  system  to  efficiently  support  re-engineering  of  existing 
courseware.  Therefore  either  pedagogical  and  technical  requirements  must  be 
met.  The  method  which  is  applied  in  CANDLE to  derive  these  requirements  is 
called  "Scenario-based  User  Needs  Analysis"  (SUNA), a strongly  user-centred 
approach  to  analyse  user  needs  and  transform  them  into  detailed  requirements 
for  the  system  architecture  development.  This  method  combines  a  number  of 
well-known  analysis  elements,  such  as  Describing  a  Product  Opportunity  (DPO) 
from  USTM  methodology,  USE case  descriptions  (from  the  USE  methodology), 
scenarios,  storyboards  and  functional  matrixes  to  deduce  an  extensive  and 
comprehensive  understanding  of  the  user's  requirements. 

Learning from results 
Developing  a flexible  university  with  an  open  platform  is  necessary  but  not 
sufficiënt.  The  project  also  addresses  the  question  of  usability  and  acceptability 
of  its  proposed  solution.  A further  key  objective  is  therefore  to  evaluate  the 
impact  of  the  system  on  individual  learners, their  organisations  and  on  more 
general  socio-economic  factors  such  as improved  competitiveness.  This  will 
cover  evaluation  activities  ranging  from  the  early  inspection  of  design 
concepts,  the  testing  of  prototypes,  to  field  trials  of  the  completed  system  in 
three  different  environments  (universities,  in  industry  and  within  small  and 
medium  enterprises). 

The  project  will  disseminate  their  findings  to  a wider  audience.  This  includes 
liaising  with  standardisation  organisations  with  respect  to  metadata,  organising 
workshops  and  feeding  other  search  engines  and  directories  with  proper 
references  to  the  work.  The results  of  the  project  will  also  be  made  available 
under  the  open  courseware  licence. 

> 

c: 

ZJ 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-11276 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  Training 

Action  Line: 
The  Flexible  University 

Full  Title: 
Collaborative  and  Network  Distributed  Learning 
Environment 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/06/2000 

End  Date: 
31/05/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
The  objective  of  this  project  is to  use  the 
Internet  to  improve  the  quality  and  reduce  the 
cost  of  ICT teaching  in  Europe  by  using  Web 
and  multimedia  technology  and  to  enable  co 
operation  between  universities  and  industry  in 
creating  and  re-using  learning  material  and 
improving  the  quality  of  delivery 

Target  Audience: 
Teachers,  authors  and  learners  in  universities, 
corporate  and  small-to-medium  enterprises 

Keywords: 
eEducation  system,  re-use  of  learning  material, 
metadata  framework,  scenario-based  user 
analysis,  pedagogical  framework,  taxonomy, 
tools  for  Web  and  related  applications, 
evaluation  framework 

Technology: 
Web  technology,  standardised  middleware, 
distributed  database 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Prof.  Dr  Sebastian  Abeck 
Universität  Karlsruhe 
Department  Institute  for  Telematics 
Zirkel  2 
76128  Karlsruhe 
Germany 
Tel:  +49-721-6086391 
Fax:  +49-721-6084046 
E-mail:  Sebastian.Abeck@cooperation-
management.de 
URL:  http://www.candle.eu.org 

Project  Participants 
Universität  Karlsruhe  (DE) 
British  Telecommunications  pic  (UK) 
GET  -  Ecole  Nationale  Supérieure  des 
Télécommunications  de  Bretagne  (FR) 
Norwegian  University  of  Science  and 
Technology  (NO) 
Universität  Politecnica  de  Catalunya  (ES) 
University  College  London,  Institution 
incorporated  by  Royal  Charter  (UK) 
University  of  Twente  (NL) 
Institut  National  des  Telecommunications  (FR) 
Institute  of  Education,  University  of  London  (UK) 
Politecnico Torino  (IT) 
Siemens  (DE) 
Suffolk  College  (UK) 
Universität  Stuttgart  (DE) 

CUBER 

C 
CUBER 

Y O UR  G A T E W AY 

to  H I G H ER 

E D U C A T I ON 

Towards a federated  European virtual  university 
The  Information  Society  will  change  working  and  living  conditions  quite 
substantially,  increasing  the  demand  for  higher  flexibility  and  mobility.  The 
aim  of  the  CUBER  project  is  to  build  an adaptive  high-precision  information 
system  for  information  technology  (IT)  courses  of  European  universities, 
broadening  the  access  to  learning  resources  and  services  for  all.  Special 
emphasis  will  be  placed  on  distance  learning  courses  and  other  methods  of 
"just-in-time"  and  "just-in-place"  learning. 

The  CUBER system  will  use  standardised  descriptions  of  courses  based  on a 
common  metadata  standard.  However,  it  will  not  standardise  the  content  and 
presentation  of  the  courses  that  are  distributed  across  a  multitude  of  European 
universities  and  taught  in  a  host  of  languages.  In  this  way,  CUBER will  be  able 
to  preserve  the  identity  of  each  and  every  university's  teaching  and  tutoring 
system,  style  of  delivery  and  business  model,  but  still  provide  a  unified  single-
system  view  of  the  rich  variety  of  course  offerings. 

ÍÊ%k 

'..' 

Providing standardised  information  on  higher education  courses 
CUBER will  integrate  information  on  the  university  course  offers  through  a 
"broker  middleware",  which  will  comprise  three  main  technical  components: 

An  authoring  interface  that  supports  course  providers  in  entering  and 
maintaining  their  course  metadata  through  provision  of  descriptors  and 
checks  for  plausibility  and  completeness; 
A  knowledge  base  of  standardised  course  descriptions,  learner  profiles,  and 
commonly  used  search  patterns; 
A  user-centred  customisable  search  engine. 

The  knowledge  base  will  be the  central  storage  and  management  tool  for  all  data, 
knowledge  and  information  in  the  CUBER system  such  as  course  descriptions, 
thesauri  and  controlled  vocabularies  to  generate  the  descriptions,  user  profiles 
and  search  strategies.  It  has  to  guarantee  secure  storage  and  ensure  privacy  of 
user  data.  It  has  to  be able  to  handle  large  numbers  of  course  descriptions  and 
parallel searches.  Finally,  the  storage  and  management  system  has  to  be 
adaptable  to  changes  in  the  metadata  scheme  due to  new  developments.  The 
metadata  authoring  interface  and  the  search  engine  will  be the  tools  to 
conveniently  access  the  knowledge  base,  the  former  for  course  providers,  the 
latter  for  users' searching  courses. 

Matching vocational  needs and learning patterns to  courses 
The  broker  will  offer  individualised  and  demand-oriented  guidance  in  the  search 
for  courses  and  course  packages  according  to  the  learners'  goals,  prior 
knowledge,  and  restrictions  in  time  and  resources.  Its  interaction  style  will  be 
based  on  the  analysis  of  common  course  selections,  learner  profiles  and  search 
patterns  described  in  behaviour  models.  These  models  will  be  used to  provide 
recommendations  and  guidance  for  users  with  similar  backgrounds  and  interests. 

The  project  will  include  a study  on  the  usability  of  the  European  Credit  Transfer 
System  (ECTS)  to  make  courses  from  different  universities  exchangeable.  This 
would  allow  students  to  build  their  own  curriculum  combining  courses  of  various 
European  universities.  The  CUBER  system  will  support  this  combination  of 
courses  to  coherent  packages. 

Increasing transparency in the  education  market 
CUBER will  serve  European  citizens  and  industries  through: 

the  easy  choice  among  IT  course  modules; 
provision  of  a  basis  to  compare  and  combine  courses  throughout  Europe; 
custom  curriculum  building  and  career  development  through  lifelong 
learning; 
synergy,  competition  and  specialisation  of  education  providers. 

The  project  will  achieve  this  by  involving  all  actors  with  a stake  in  ICT-based 
higher  education  and  lifelong  learning,  such  as  universities,  students  interested 
in  distance  learning  programmes,  industries  looking  for  flexible  education  and 
training  schemes,  and  citizens  interested  in  continued  education. 

The  CUBER system  wiLl open  access  to  educational  services  across  networks  of 
universities  and  other  education  providers  and  support  the  retrieval  of 
knowledge  resources;  in  this  way  it  will  broaden  the  opportunities  for  citizens  in 
virtual  learning  environments  to  achieve  greater  mobility  through  lifelong 
learning  in  a  multinational  context. 

Project  No: 

IST-1999-10737 

Duration: 
30  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  Training 

Action  Line: 
The  Flexible  University 

Full  Title: 
Personalised  Curriculum  Builder  In  the 
Federated  Virtual  University  of  the  Europe  of 
Regions 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2000 

End  Date: 
30/09/2002 

Project  Objectives: 

To develop  a broker  service  that  provides 
access  to  the  vast  collection  of  courses  from 
European  distance  universities  and  helps  the 
citizens  to  find  courses  that  match  their 
vocational  demands  and  individual  learning 
conditions 

Target  Audience: 
Individual  citizens,  companies  searching  for 
continuing  education  and  vocational  training, 
universities  and  other  training  and  education 
providers 

Keywords: 
Course  broker,  non-text  based  search  engine, 
virtual  university  portal,  educational  marketplace 

Technology: 
Internet,  database  technology,  information 
retrieval,  metadata  standards  (LOM  =  Learning 
Object  Metadata),  user  models 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Prof.  Bernd  Krämer 
FernUniversität  Gesamthochschule  in  Hagen 
DVT 
Felthstrasse  140 
D-58084  Hagen 
Tel:  +49-2331-987371 
Fax:  +49-2331-987375 
E-mail:  management@cuber.net 
URL:  http://www.cuber.net 

Project  Participants 
FernUniversität  Gesamthochschule  in  Hagen 
DVT (DE) 
CNED  -  Centre  National  d'Enseignement  à 
Distance  (FR) 
Universität  Oberta  de  Catalunya  (ES) 
University  of  Helsinki  (Fl) 
EuroPACE  2000  (BE) 
Stiftung  Fernstudien  Schweiz  (CH) 
Universität  Linz  (AT) 
IMAGO  -  Institut  für  Marketing  und 
Unternehmenskommunikation  (DE) 
European  Association  of  Distance  Teaching 
Universities  (EADTU)  (NL) 
Symbia  Ltd  (UK) 
Université  de  Poitiers  (FR) 

LEDA 

u A*  < OI  ^ Jl 

Learning  Environment  for  the  Digital  Academy 

L E DA 

Learning how to go digital 
In  the  information  age  it  has  often  been  said  that  the  world  is  becoming 
smaller  and  more  accessible  to  many.  With  a global  knowledge  pool,  the 
learning  potential  is  immense,  if  leveraged  correctly. 

The  LEDA  project  aims  to  define,  develop  and  test  a  networked  system  and  the 
underlying  pedagogical  procedures  to  facilitate  and  promote  active  learning 
experiences  in  the  context  of  international  student-centred  post-graduate 
education.  It  will  facilitate  the  international  exchange  of  learning  experiences 
stimulating  co-operative  learning  by  considering  students  to  be  important 
actors  in  the  learning  process. 

As subject  matter,  the  system  will  focus  specifically  on  the  quality  of  education 
in  the  field  of  design  for  digital  media,  especially  multimedia  asset  storage  and 
retrieval mechanisms. 

Configurable  middleware  will  be  designed  which  will  generate  learning 
environments  that  meet  differing  personal  needs  in  different  educational 
contexts.  These  environments  will  be formatted  to  promote  the  articulation  of 
key  components  of  tacit  knowledge  that  comprises  such  an  important  part  of 
the  knowledge  that  is  so  necessary  in  design. This  will  facilitate  the  learning 
processes  by  mimicking  as  closely  as  possible  production  processes  in  the 
thus  catering  to  the  changing  demands  from  industry  and  society. 

field, 

Guidance  all the way 
LEDA will  support  both  teachers  and  students  in  monitoring  and  guiding 
learners  throughout  the  educational  process.  LEDA  will  cater  for  the  needs  of 
different  types  of  users.  It  will  also  enable  academic  staff  to  closely  monitor 
educational  processes  independent  of  time  and  place  constraints.  Academic  staff 
will  be  able  to  access  individual  and  collective  portfolios  in  order  to  provide 
them  with  qualitative  coaching  instruments.  Students  can  learn  from  the 
experiences  and  knowledge  of  others  and  reflect  on  their  own  personal 
development.  This  focus  on  the  exchange,  storage  and  retrieval  of  articulated 
learning  experiences  between  students,  academic  staff  and  industry  will 
capitalise  on  knowledge  generated  by  students  within  research  and  design 
programmes.  For the  industry,  this  will  be  a  considerable  boon  as they  will  have 
access  to  an  expanding  database  with  just-in-time  knowledge,  in  a  rapidly 
changing  professional  field,  regarding  university-based  research  results,  state-
of-the-art  technology,  and  innovative  design  processes. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-10567 

Duration: 
30  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  Training 

Action  Line: 
The  Flexible  University 

Full  Title: 
Learning  Environment  for  the  Digital  Academy 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2000 

End  Date: 
31/10/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
To  define,  develop  and  test  a  networked 
system  and  the  underlying  pedagogical 
procedures  to  facilitate  and  promote  active 
learning  experiences  for  international  student-
centred  postgraduate  education 

Target  Audience: 
Educational  facilitators,  universities,  research 
departments 

Keywords: 
Knowledge  management,  student-centred 
education,  learning  environments 

Technology: 
Java-based  dynamic  Web  technology,  LDAP, 
dynamic  data  warehousing 

International  Technology  & 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Mr  Emile  Bijk 
Centre  for 
Education  (C.I.T.E.) 
HKU,  Faculty  of  Art,  Media  &  Technology 
Oude  Amersfoortseweg  131 
PO  Box  2471 
NL-1200  CL  Hilversum 
Tel:  +31-35-6836464 
Fax:  +31-35-6836480 
E-mail:  emile.bijk@kmt.hku.nl 
URL:  http://www.ledanet.org 

Project  Participants 
CITE (NL) 
Stichting  Centre  for  International  Technology 
and  Education  (UK) 
GX  creative  online  development  B.V.  (NL) 
Dublin  Institute  of  Technology  (IE) 
Merz  Akademie  GmbH  (DE) 
University  of  Portsmouth  Higher  Education 
Corporation  (UK) 
Utrecht  School  of  the  Arts  (NL) 

Leveraging  and capitalising  knowledge 
The  LEDA  programme  will  consist  of  configurable  middleware,  formatted  by 
educational  experts  based  on  specific  educational  processes.  Based  on  database-
middleware  communication,  personalised  Learning  environments  will  be 
generated,  enabling  students  to  articulate  critical  steps  in  their  development 
and  publish  their  research  and  project  outcomes.  To  aid  students,  LEDA  will 
incorporate  data  managers  to  support  and  facilitate  the  online  storage  and 
retrieval  of  knowledge-assets  using  standardised  data  formats  and  advanced 
metadata  retrieval  methods. 

All this  will  enable  LEDA to  generate  an international  knowledge-base  on 
production  processes,  methods  and  techniques  in  the  field  of  digital·  media 
aLLowing  institutions  of  higher  education  and  industry  to  interactively  access 
research  outcomes,  product  demonstrators,  student  portfolios  and  learning 
materials. 

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OR-WORLD 

MM 

Encouraging Web-based flexible  learning and  information 
sharing 
OR-World  aims  to  respond  to  today's  need  for  continuing  and  flexible 
learning  and  develop  a  Web-based  framework  for  sharing  high-quality 
learning  material  between  universities,  educational  institutes,  self-learners, 
and  interested  companies,  in  different  countries.  It  will  also  support 
individualised  post-secondary  education  for  young  learners  and  support 
lifelong  learning  for  adults  within  a flexible  virtual  university  context. 

This  framework  will  encourage  learning  through  user-friendly  tools  for 
constructing  interactive  media  elements  such  as  animations,  simulations,  text, 
video,  and  audio,  as well  as their  hyperlink  structure.  These  learning  objects  can 
be  combined  in  flexible  ways  to  create  learning  hyperspaces  as  a web  of 
networks  according  to  a  metastructure  to  be  defined  within  the  project. 

One  of  the  long-term  goals  of  the  project  is  to  develop  a digital  network 
offering  flexible  courses,  based  on  standardised  electronic  contents  that  can  be 
adopted  by  all  universities  involved.  This  system  will  encourage just-in-time  and 
just-in-place  learning.  The  framework  will  be  configured  and  tested  with 
contents  of  the  interdisciplinary  subject  Operations  Research/Management 
Science  (OR/MS),  but  it  will  be  generally  extendable  to  cover  other  knowledge 
domains as well. 

An  innovative approach  to  learning 
Interactive  learning  is  also  facilitated  by  the  use  of  case  studies,  offering  an 
innovative  virtual  learning  technique.  The  project  OR-World  will  generate  tools 
for  building  interactive  case  studies  for  distributed  use  and  facilitate  their 
solution.  Learning  with  case  studies  will  be  supported  by  computers,  but  ideally 
involves  human  tutor-student  and  student-student  interaction  as  well. 

The framework  will  encompass  an  interactive  component  for  self-assessment  and 
grading.  It  will  be  possible  for  an  instructor  to  collect  self-assessment  results 
and  thus  be  able  to  judge  the  status  of  a given  student  or  a group  of  students. 

Creating a flexible  learning framework 
OR-World  will  work  on  different  hierarchic  granularity  levels,  facilitating  the 
construction  of  a  personalised  learning  environment  through  the  re-use  of 
existing  materials.  The  levels  will  be  defined  as follows,  according  to  the  type 
and  size  of  learning  object: 

Media  element  (typically  one  third  of  a computer  screen  of  text); 
Learning  element  (typically  one  to  two  computer  screens  of  text); 
Content  module  (typically  about  two  to  six  learning  objects  belonging  to 
similar  content;  flexibly  combinable); 
Thematic  network  as a  final  learning  environment,  again  combining  content 
modules  in  a flexible  way into  a  kind  of  learning  hyperspace,  such  as  a course 
about  a  certain  topic. 

The  framework  will  provide  a structured  environment  to  input  new  (structured  or 
semi-structured)  learning  materials.  Objects  at  each  level  will  be tagged  with 
metadata  to  facilitate  their  flexibLe  use in  different  contexts.  This  framework  will 
be  usable  in  a  multilingual  environment  and  support  networked  communication 
between  tutors  and  learners  outside  the  classroom. Teachers  will  be  able  to  use 
the  framework  in  creating  their  own  specific  learning  environments  where  they 
can  combine  their  own  learning  objects  with  those  generated  by  others.  As a 
result  of  this  framework,  there  wiLl  be  a metastructure  above the  hyperspace  of 
learning  objects,  allowing  the  user  to  approach  the  same  subject  from  different 
angles. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-11124 

Duration: 
30  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  in  University  and  Industry, 
Dissemination  of  Structured  Information 

Action  Line: 
The  Flexible  University 

Full  Title: 
Learning  and  Teaching  Operations  Research 
and  Management  Science  with  a  Web-based 
Hypermedia  Learning  Environment 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2000 

End  Date: 
01/10//2002 

Project  objectives: 
Develop  a  Web-based  framework  for  flexible 
learning  and  sharing  of  high-quality  learning 
material  between  universities,  educational 
Institutes,  self-learners  and  interested 
companies  in  different  countries 

Target  audience: 
Universities,  commercial  education  providers, 
university  associations  and  networks 

Keywords: 
Learning  objects,  metadata,  XML,  hypermedia 
framework 

Technology: 
XML,  JAVA,  Learning  Objects  Metadata  standard 
by  IEEE WG  12 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Prof  Leena  Suhl 
University  of  Paderborn 
Department  of  Business  Computing 
Decision  Support  &  OR  Lab 
Warburger  Strasse  100 
D-33098  Paderborn 
Tel:  +49-5251-603723 
Fax:  +49-5251-603542 
E-mail:  suhl@uni-paderbom.de 
URL:  http://www.or-world.com 

Project  Participants 
University  of  Paderborn  (DE) 
Helsinki  University  of  Technology  (Fl) 
Lappeenranta  University  of  Technology  (Fl) 
Regioworld  (DE) 
Technische  Universiteit  Delft  (NL) 
Dualis  GmbH  (DE) 
Lufthansa  Systems  (DE) 

PEARL 

.. — ~ : i-,  A 

r» —. .—. .-«. x.... 

Pearl 

Access to  a flexible, high quality  learning experience  in science 
and engineering for all 
This  project,  led  by  the  Open  University,  has the  main  objective  of  providing 
high  quality  learning  experiences  in  science  and  engineering  education  by 
bringing  the  teaching  laboratory  to  the  students,  giving  flexibility  in  terms 
of  time,  location  and  special  needs. The  project  aims  to  develop  a system  to 
enable  "real  world"  teaching  experiments  to  be  undertaken  by  students 
working  collaboratively  over  the  Internet.  A  key  objective  is  improving 
access  to  science,  engineering  and  mathematics  courses  for  students  with 
disabilities,  where  the  provision  of  practical  elements  is  frequently 
inadequate,  which  means  that  their  participation  in  practical  work  is  often 
passive  or  they  are  excluded  altogether. 

PEARL will  also  have  more  general implications  for  campus-based  and  distance 
teaching  and  learning  in  these  subjects  and  also  Web-based  educational  services 
provided  by  museums  and  libraries.  The  provision  of  the  practical  elements  of 
science  and  engineering  courses  for  students  with  disabilities  is  frequently 
inadequate.  PEARL  presents  an  opportunity  to  widen  access  to  real  experiments 
that  might  otherwise  only  be  offered  to  those  able  to  get  to  a  suitably  equipped 
laboratory.  Access  to  laboratory  equipment  might  be  restricted  for  such  reasons 
as  geographical  location,  resource  restrictions  in  an  institution,  inflexible 
scheduling,  or  because  it  is judged  impossible  to  offer  the  facility  to  students 
in  a safe way. 

The  project  will  provide  flexibility  for  studying  in  terms  of  time,  location,  or 
special  needs  by  bringing  the  teaching  laboratory  to  the  students  and  give 
students  access  to  expensive  and  safety  critical  experimental  facilities.  It  will 
also  provide  Internet-based  solutions  that  allow  students  to  collaborate  at  a 
distance  while  conducting  experiments  to  facilitate  the  learning  of  science  as a 
process  using  Computer-Based  Learning  (CBL)  systems. 

Experimental work  and collaboration  over the  Internet 
Experimental  work  is  a vital  component  of  science  and  engineering  teaching  at 
all  levels.  The increasing  use  of  multimedia  packages  or  "virtual  science"  has 
much  to  offer  in  terms  of  teaching  scientific  facts  and  principles,  but  does  not 
generally  focus  on  teaching  the  process  of  scientific  enquiry  or  engineering 
practice.  The  system  being  developed  in  the  PEARL project  will  deliver  practical 
experimentation  where  students  will  have  the  opportunity  to  work  together  over 
the  Internet  (or  campus  intranet),  interact  with  the  remote  experiment,  change 
parameters  and  in  some  cases  modify  and  design  experiments.  Students  will  also 
be  able  to  discuss  their  actions  and  expectations  of  the  results  of  the 
experimentation,  as  welL as  observing  and  analysing  the  results. 

The  remote  laboratory  created  will  have  a common  control  and  communications 
channel for  all  components  and  experimental  elements.  It  will  have  standard 
modules  from  which  much  of  a  particular  installation/experiment  will  be 
constructed  and  be  able  to  rapidly  integrate  new  items  of  equipment.  All 
features  of  the  system  can  be  made  available  through  the  students'  and  tutors' 
PCs and  are fully  accessible  using  single  switch  control  only  with  any  visual/ 
audio  interfaces  being  each  fully  sufficient  on  their  own.  The  project's 
educational  software  can  be  readily  integrated  into  Web-based  courses  (with 
Instructional  Management  Systems  compliance). 

Partnership  in  educational  technology 
The  Open  University  (UK)  leads  the  project,  represented  by  the  Institute  of 
Educational  Technology,  the  Knowledge  Media  Institute  and  the  Faculty  of 
Science.  They  contribute  expertise  in  the  areas  of  pedagogy  and  evaluation  of 
educational  technology,  and  the  development  of  educational  software  and  user 
interfaces  to  support  effective  learning.  PEARL will  also  involve: 

The  Department  of  Applied  Computing  at  the  University  of  Dundee  (Scotland) 
co-ordinates  the  system  developments  and  the  user  interface  design  in  the 
project.  They  have  prime  responsibility  for  the  server  architecture  and  the 
integration  of  the  collaborative  learning  environment. 
The  Computer  Science  Department  at  Trinity  College  Dublin  (Ireland)  has a 
key  role  in  the  system  development  within  the  project  and  in  the  integration 
of  the  remotely  controlled  modules  into  the  laboratory  server.  It  will  host  an 
experiment  in  manufacturing  engineering  designed  to  facilitate  the  training 
of  engineering  undergraduates  and  line  engineers  in  remote  locations. 
The  Department  of  Computers  and  Electronic  Engineering,  Faculdade  de 
Engenharia  da  Universade  do  Porto  (Portugal),  has  prime  responsibility  for 
developing  the  remote  laboratory  infrastructure,  integrating  the  chosen 
control  and  instrumentation  protocols.  FEUP will  host  an  experiment  in 
electronic  engineering  where  students  will  be  able  to  construct  and  test  a 
range  of  digital  circuits  on  a  remote  digital  electronic  bench. 
Zenon,  SA (Greece)  is  the  industrial  automation  company  which  will  be 
responsible  for  the  development  of  the  remote  laboratory. 
Open  University  Worldwide  (UK)  has  its  expertise  in  marketing  innovative 
distance  learning  materials  to  both  the  general  public  and  professionals  in 
the  fields  of  education  and  training.  The  OU currently  provides  a  series  of 
experiments  at  the  residential  schools  for  its  popular  foundation  science 
course.  PEARL students  will  access  this  equipment  remotely  to  test,  record, 
analyse  and  interpret  data. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-12550 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Educational  Media  for  Education  in  Science 
and  Engineering 

Action  Line: 
The  Flexible  University 

Full  Title: 
Practical  Experimentation  by  Accessible  Remote 
Learning 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/03/2000 

End  Date: 
28/2/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
Enable  students  to  conduct  real-world 
experiments  as  an  extension  of  computer-
based  learning  and  distance  learning  systems 

Target  Audience: 
Students  in  science  and  engineering,  in 
particular  from  disabled  groups 

Keywords: 
R&D,  computer-based  and  distance  learning 
systems 

Technology: 
Campus  intranet 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Ms  Joanna  Mutlow 
The  Open  University 
KMi 
Walton  Hall 
Milton  Keynes  MK7  6AA 
United  Kingdom 
Tel:  +44-1908-654698 
Fax:  +44-1908-653169 
E-mail:  j.mutlow@open.ac.uk 
URL:  http://kml.open.ac.uk/projects/pearl 

Project  Participants 
The  Open  University  Worldwide  (UK) 
Faculdade  de  Engenharia  da  Universade  do 
Porto  (PT) 
Trinity  College  Dublin  (IE) 
University  of  Dundee  (UK) 
ZENON  SA  -  Industrial  Automation  (GR) 

UNIVERSAL 

Ni 

Universal 

Exchanging  knowledge  worldwide 
In  Europe  and  elsewhere  in  the  world,  with  the  sheer  number  of  higher 
education  institutions,  there  exists  a  vast  body  of  knowledge  out  there. 

This  European  project,  UNIVERSAL,  aims  to  demonstrate  the  feasibility  of  an 
open  exchange  system  for  course  units  between  institutions  of  higher  education 
(HE)  across  Europe  and  beyond.  It  is  envisaged  that  the  system  will  embrace 
offers,  enquiries,  booking  and  actual  delivery  of  course  units.  It  will  develop  and 
validate  a  model  and  standards  that  could  later  be  widened  to  embrace  other 
groups  of  higher  education  institutions  and  that  could  be  transplanted  into  the 
market  for  training  in  industry,  commerce  and  government. 

Open for all 
The  key  innovation  will  be  to  create  and  manage  an  open  market  by  introducing 
a  brokerage  platform  with  a  standard  way  of  describing  the  pedagogical, 
administrative  and  technical  characteristics  of  course  units.  Institutions  can 
then  further  enrich  their  curricula  with  remotely  sourced  material. 

The  system  will  be  compatible  with  a variety  of  business  models  pursued  by 
different  institutions,  including  open  universities  and  alliances  between  peer 
institutions.  With  the  common  catalogue  and  continuous  assessment 
mechanisms,  institutions  will  be  able  to  selectively  grant  credits  for  course  units 
delivered  through  UNIVERSAL.  For  students,  they  will  ultimately  benefit  from  a 
wider  choice  of  course  units  both  within  their  own  institutions  and  from  virtual 
learner  mobility  between  institutions. 

From theory to  practice 
The  project  will  define  the  service  elements  needed  to  support  an  open 
exchange  of  course  units.  To  do  this,  different  classes  of  course  units  will  be 
covered,  including  live,  person-to-person  units  and  packaged,  person-machine 
units. 

Integrating  existing  technologies,  including  the  results  of  earlier  EU and 
national  projects,  will  create  a  brokerage  platform  through  which  units  can  be 
offered,  searched  for,  booked  and  assessed.  It  will  be  possible  to  link  the 
brokerage  system  to  a variety  of  delivery  systems  to  control  delivery  and  capture 
feedback.  The  project  will  test  and  demonstrate  this  by  adapting  a  number  of 
existing  delivery  systems  to  inter-work  with  the  brokerage  system.  The  delivery 
systems  within  the  project  will  be  only  a sample  of  a range  of  possible  systems 
that  might  be  used  for  different  classes  of  content,  but  they  will  be  sufficient  to 
prove  the  openness  of  the  UNIVERSAL  concept.  The  brokerage  platform  and 
delivery  systems  will  exploit  academic  and  commercial  networks,  including  links 
with  guaranteed  quality  of  service. 

Tried and tested 
To  demonstrate  the  UNIVERSAL  concept,  the  project  will  carry  out  service  trials 
with  two  groups  of  institutions,  namely,  engineering  schools  and  business 
schools.  Trials  will  progressively  link  delivery  systems  to  the  brokerage  platform 
and  will  include  the  use  of  complex  pedagogical  materials  such  as  interactive 
lectures,  simulations  and  case  studies. 

As the  project  will  not  create  its  own  materials,  it  will  seek  out  existing 
packaged  content  and  live  courses  for  trial  purposes.  The  cataloguing  of  this 
material  in  the  brokerage  system  will  give  us a  pragmatic  base to  examine  the 
problems  of  exchange  standards  and  selective  recognition  for  credits.  The  actual 
course  content  (as  opposed  to  the  catalogue  entries)  will  remain  with  the 
donators  within  a  distributed  architecture. 

A  marketing  and  dissemination  activity  will  facilitate  the  acquisition  of  course 
units  and  the  commitment  of  HE institutions  to  the  exchange  system. 
Administrators,  teachers  and  students  wilL  be  enrolled  to  convince  them  of  the 
value  of  participation  and  to  help  them  to  use the  systems. 

As part  of  a system  of  continuous  assessment,  there  will  be a separate  evaluation 
activity  to  assess  how  well the  project  meets  its  objectives  against 
predetermined  and  quantifiable  measures. The  service  trials  will  be also  evaluated 
from  both  the  technological  and  pedagogical  viewpoints.  Assessments  of  course 
units  will  be  fed  back  to  the  brokerage  system  to  improve  its  transparency  to 
the  marketplace. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-11747 

Duration: 
35  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Higher  Education/Industrial  Training 

Action  Line: 
The  Flexible  University 

Full  Title: 
Universal  Exchange  for  Pan-European  Higher 
Education 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/03/2000 

End  Date: 
31/01/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
Demonstrating  the  feasibility  of  an  open 
exchange  system  for  course  units  between 
institutions  of  higher  education  across  Europe 
and  elsewhere,  embracing  offers,  enquiries, 
booking  and  actual  delivery  of  course  units 

Target  Audience: 
1.  Teachers,  administrators  and  students  in 

higher  education  institutions 

2.  Training  departments  of  industrial  companies 
and  training  organisations  selling  to  industry 

Keywords: 
Computer-assisted  learning,  brokerage,  higher 
education 

Technology: 
Logically  centralised  brokerage  system  linked  to 
distributed  repositories  of  actual  course 
materials.  Conforming  to  IEEE LTSC  architecture 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Mr  Grégoire  Besnier 
Bureau  for  International  Research  and 
Technology  Co-operation  (BIT) 
Wiedner  Hauptstrasse  76 
A-1040  Vienna 
Tel:  +43-1-5811616136 
Fax:  +43-1-581161618 
E-mail:  besnier@bit.ac.at 
URL:  http://www.ist-unlversal.org 

Project  Participants 
BIT  (AT) 
Wirtschaftsuniversität  Wien  (AT) 
Institut  National  des  Télécommunications  (FR) 
University  of  Lancaster  (UK) 
NCSR Demokritos  (GR) 
Hellenic  Open  University  (GR) 
Iceland  Telecom  (IS) 
Universidad  Politecnica  de  Madrid  (ES) 
Hautes  Etudes  Commerciales  (FR) 
Helsinki  University  of  Technology  (FI) 
Warsaw  University  of  Technology  (PL) 
Infonova  (AT) 
Aachen  University  of  Technology  (DE) 
Université  Libre  de  Bruxelles  (BE) 
T-Nova  Deutsche  Telekom 
Innovationsgesellschaft  mbH  (DE) 
Institut  Jozef  Stefan  (SI) 
Eidgenössische  Technische  Hochschule  Zürich 
(CH) 

VOEU 

*** 

v 

ι 

* 

Virtual 
Orthopaedic 
European 
University 

Learning about  orthopaedics  now 
Today  the  specialist  skills  of  orthopaedics  are  learned  by the  traditional 
qualitative  apprenticeship  system.  However,  this  time-honoured  system  has 
led to  a  large  amount  of  variation  in  orthopaedic  practice  throughout 
Europe.  Some  of  the  major  issues  that  reside  with  such  an  educational 
system,  include: 

Absence  of  consensual  and  quantitatively  based  "gold  standard"; 
"Chapel effect"; 
Variance  of  surgeons'  skills; 
Limited  surgical  influence  upon  the  introduction  of  ICT  techniques. 

The bones of a Virtual University 
To  counter  these  problems,  the  VOEU  project  proposes  establishing  a  Virtual 
Orthopaedic  European  University.  It  aims  at  enhancing  student-teacher 
interaction  in  orthopaedics.  This  will  be  achieved  through: 

Enhanced  learning  material,  accessible  online  (through  Internet/intranet),  or 
offline; 
Orthopaedic  multimedia  educational  modules; 
Reviewed  IGOS expertise,  thanks  to  a virtual,  multicentric,  and  permanently 
updated  observatory  of  ICT  in  orthopaedics; 
A virtual  class,  enabling  distant  interaction  between  learning  surgeons  and 
experts; 
Simulators  of  surgical  procedures,  designed  to  facilitate  skill  acquisition  and 
evaluation,  and  providing  "procedural"  complement  to  the  "declarative" 
content  of  the  multimedia  educational  orthopaedics  modules. 

Making orthopaedic  knowledge  multimedia 
Orthopaedic  experts  will  be  exposed  to  the  potential  of  multimedia  through 
"editing  engineers",  specialists  in  multimedia  capable  of  understanding  the 
particularities  of  surgical  knowledge  editing. 

Particular  attention  will  be  paid  to  the  user  needs,  thanks  to  a  specific 
ergonomics  analysis  technique  that  will  help  identify  those  points  where 
education  is  critical. 

The  multimedia  editing  process  will  be  modelled,  resulting  in  a "template"  course 
that  will  be  proposed  to  the  expert  for  instantiation.  To  ensure  a  standard 
approach  is  adopted,  a general framework  for  integrating  several  such  courses  in 
a  homogeneous  format  shall  be  proposed. This  general framework  will  also  help  in 
integrating  these  educational  modules  with  the  other  educational  components 
of  the  university. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-13079 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Higher  education,  multimedia,  informatics 

Action  Line: 
The  Flexible  University 

Full  Title: 
Virtual  Orthopaedic  European  University 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

The  interaction  between  one  expert  and  a set  of  students  (the  classical  "class" 
paradigm)  will  be virtually  implemented.  Subsequently  its  educational  interest  in 
the  field  of  orthopaedics  learning  will  be tested. 

Start  Date: 
01/02/2000 

End  Date: 
31/01/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
To  enhance  student-teacher  interaction  in 
orthopaedics. 

Target  Audience: 
Senior  orthopaedic  surgeons,  junior 
orthopaedic  surgeons  and  students 

Keywords: 
Learning,  education,  courses,  multimedia, 
orthopaedics,  simulators,  CD-ROM 

Technology: 
Multimedia  editing  process;  simulation,-  multi 
centric  base  and  database 

Learning how to watch  orthopaedics 
A  common  evaluation  methodology  of  the  medical  and  technical  issues  of  Image 
Guided  Orthopaedic  Surgery  procedures  will  be  defined  and  implemented.  An 
evaluation  network  will  also  be designed  and  run  -  this  will  form  the  backbone 
of  a "virtual  observatory"  that  will  follow  and  observe  the  introduction  of  ICT  in 
orthopaedics. 

The  data  that  this  observatory  will  gather  will  be  periodically  reviewed  and 
analysed,  to  extract  relevant  knowledge  about  the  way  surgical  procedures 
should  be  performed.  This  will form  the  basis  of  amassing  knowledge  on  best 
practise. 

Experimenting with  students 
Using  careful  ergonomics  analysis,  surgical  simulators  will  be  developed  in  a user 
centred  strategy.  They  will  feature  the  major  available  types  of  technologies 
enabling  students  to  immerse  themselves  in  a virtual  world  where  visual 
integration  and  hand/eye  co-ordination  are  key  issues.  Evaluation  of  the 
educational  added  value  of  such  tools  for  orthopaedics  will  be  performed. 

Finally  there  will  be  a  demonstration  of  the  "Integrated  VOEU curriculum" 
providing  user-friendly  access  to  all  of  VOEU's  educational  innovations. 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Prof.  Philippe  Cinquin 
Université  Joseph  Fourier  -  IMAG 
Faculté  de  Médecine  -  Laboratoire  TIMO 
GMCAO 
Institut  Albert  Bonniot  -  Domaine  de  la  Merci 
F-38706  La  Tronche  Cedex 
Tel:  +33-4-76549507 
Fax:  +33-4-76549555 
E-mail:  Philippe.Cinquin@imag.fr 
URL:  http://voeu.vitamib.com 

Project  Participants 
Université  Joseph  Fourier  (FR) 
University  of  Hull  (UK) 
SOFAMOR  SNC  (FR) 
University  of  Bristol  (UK) 
Royal  College  of  Surgeons  (UK) 
M.  E.  Mueller  Institute  for  Biomechanics  (CH) 
MEDIVISION  (CH) 
Scuola  Superiore  di  Studi  Universitari  e 
Perfezionamento  (IT) 

WINDS 

Designing the future 
Design  is  playing  a  more  and  more  special  role  in  production  processes, 
making  it  a  key  element  for  the  development  and  sustainable  growth 
throughout  the  European  Community. 

Lately,  the  world  of  design  has  benefited  enormously  from  the  strides  made  in 
this  information  age  -  a whole  suite  of  tools  that  greatly  assist  the  design 
professional.  Computer-aided  design,  or  CAD as it  is  more  popularly  known,  is  an 
example  of  one well-known  system. 

However,  the  gains  to  be  had  from  modern  Information  and  Communication 
Technologies  (ICTs)  do  not just  apply  to  the  industry  itself.  Design  teachers  and 
students  alike  are in  line  to  reap  some  of  these  advantages. 

WINDS is  a  European  Commission  Fifth  Framework-funded  R&D  project  that  is 
looking  at  electronic  means  of  assisting  design  students.  Traditional  design 
teaching  suffers  frequent  problems  that  increase  learning  time  and  reduce 
knowledge  retention.  It  aims  at  creating  support  instruments  that  will  favour  a 
more  pedagogically-adequate  approach  to  design  teaching. 

Typically,  access  to  learning  material  is  strictly  controlled,  in  terms  of  time  and 
space.  WINDS  aims  at  improving  the  access  and  use  of  university  teaching 
resources  through  the  application  of  IT  and  Artificial  Intelligence.  It  will 
develop  a  networked  design-tutoring  environment  for  a typical  university's 
educational  resources.  This  will  incorporate  the  student's  administration  office, 
courses,  teachers,  reviews,  libraries,  and  allow  co-operation  with  other  students. 

Building the  shared  environment 
Services  are  available  to  users  through  the  Internet  by  means  of  shared 
instruments,  Web browsers  and  commercial  CAD systems. The groupware  tools 
promote  co-operation  between  students  (peer  tutoring)  and  between  students 
and  teachers  (remote  tutoring).  Built  into  the  system  are  expert  systems  and 
intelligent  tutoring,  based  on  well-established  pedagogical  models,  that  will 
autonomously  assist  students  during  their  design  courses. 

Being  a  European  project,  WINDS is  keen  to  focus  on  the  problem  of  cultural 
integration  regarding  content.  It  will  offer  education  services  to  students 
coming  from  different  nations,  with  extremely  different  cultural  and  educational 
backgrounds  through  its  review  of  the  structure  and  quality  of  educational 
content. 

Virtually a school 
At  the  implementation  phase, WINDS will  develop  a Virtual  School  of 
Architecture,  Civil and  Environmental  Engineering.  This  school  will  offer  a 
number  of  educational  resources,  such  as: 

an  administration  office  for  personalised  profile  management  for  students; 
a  Department  of  Architectural  Design  with  two  basic  courses  and  eight 
design  courses; 
a  Department  of  Environmental  and  Building  Technology  with  two  basic 
courses  and  six  design  courses; 
a  Department  of  Construction  Management  with  two  basic  courses  and  two 
advanced  courses; 
a  library  with  support  teaching  material. 

The  school  will  receive  didactic  contributions  from  23  universities  in  ten 
European  countries.  These  will  be thoroughly  assessed  and  quality  reviewed  by a 
review  board,  and  will  become  operative  in  the  third  year  of  the  project. 

Access to  the  department  courses  will  be  available  as an  option  of  the  regular 
design  courses.  Students  with  access  to  the  department  will  complete  one  or 
more  course  assignments  in  the  virtual  environment. 

The  effectiveness  of  the  educational  approach  will  be assessed  by  an  experiment. 
It  is  forecast  that  no  less than  400  students  from  20  regular  courses  will  have 
access.  The  experiment  will  be  prepared  and  will  be  conducted  with  sound 
psychological  methodologies. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-10253 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Architecture,  Construction  Industry,  Educational 
Market 

Action  Line: 
The  Flexible  University 

Full  Title: 
Web-based  INtelllgent  Design  tutoring  System 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2000 

End  Date: 
31/03/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
Contributing  to  the  reorganisation  of  the 
pedagogical,  cultural  and  functional  aspects  of 
university  design  education 

Target  Audience: 
Students  from  schools  of  architecture, 
professional  engineers,  architects 

Keywords: 
Computer  managed  instruction,  design 
teaching,  remote  tutoring,  virtual  university, 
intelligent  tutoring  systems,  education, 
cognitive  systems,  artificial  intelligence,  product 
model 

Technology: 
Java  applets  or  serviets,  CORBA,  http,  DCOM. 
Web  browsers,  tailored  database 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Prof.  Mario  De  Grassi 
Università  di  Ancona 
Instituto  di  Disegno  Architettura  e  Urbanistica 
(IDAU) 
Via  Brecce  Bianche 
1-60131  Ancona 
Tel:  +39-071-2204788 
Fax:  +39-071-2204582 
E-mail: 
URL:  http://www.winds-university.org 

degrassi@idau.unian.it 

Project  Participants 
IDAU  (IT) 
Consiglio  Nazionale  Ricerche  -  Istituto  di 
Psicologia  (IT) 
Forschungszentrum  Informationstechnik  GmbH 
(DE) 
Nemetschek  AG  (DE) 
Politecnico  di  Milano  -  Dipartimento  di  Disegno 
Industriale  e  Tecnologia  dell'Architettura  (IT) 
METE Sri (IT) 
23  universities  in  10  European  countries 

ADAPT-IT 

/ADAPTI 

What does training need? 
There  is  a  growing  realisation  that  Europe's  workforce  needs  to  continually 
train  and  upskill  to  remain  competitive.  This  tenet  of  lifelong  learning  is 
central  to  current  thinking. 

It  is  widely  acknowledged  that  tomorrow's  workforce  will  need  to  be flexible  to 
adjust  to  organisational  and  technological  changes.  Increasingly,  the  required 
skills  will  be  of  a more  complex  cognitive  nature.  At  present,  training  designers 
are  not  fully  prepared  for  developing  training  programmes  for  flexible  complex 
skills  of  the  required  level. 

Consequently,  the  ADAPT-IT  project  will  provide  ICT-based  training  design  tools 
to  guide  the  training  designer  according  to  latest  cognitive  science  and 
standardisation  principles.  Two  cognitive  principles  will  be  central  to  the 
proposed  method: 

1)  Personalised  training  based  on  "cognitive  load"  training  models; 
2)  Integration  of  knowledge  and  skills. 

Personalised  and  focused 
The  ADAPT-IT  training  design  methodology  is  generic  and  should  meet  the 
training  design  needs  of  training  centres  related  to  a wide  variety  of  economic 
sectors.  The  objectives  of  ADAPT-IT  are: 

to  create  a  harmonised  training  design  tool  for  dealing  with  tasks  requiring 
complex  cognitive  skills; 
to  focus  on  the  skills  needed  for  a particular  task  or  series  of  tasks; 
to  ensure  consistency  in  the  application  of  training  design; 
to  support  a  personalised  approach  to  learning. 

Through  avoiding  training  of  redundant  skills  while  ensuring  that  only  relevant 
learning  is  undertaken,  training  programmes  can  look  forward  to  becoming  more 
efficient  and  effective.  Similarly,  guaranteeing  that  the  software  tools  are 
accessible  to  and  usable  by  operational  designers  will  help  achieve  better 
training. 

ADAPTation is the key 
The  development  of  the  training  design  method  will  be  prepared  by  analysing 
actual  and  future  design  needs  of  training  centres  and  an  overview  of 
theoretical  concepts  and  related  technology  of  relevance  to  the  project 
objectives.  This  data  will  be used  to  update  and  refine  the  current  basis  for  the 
ADAPT  method.  A  complete  description  for  the  method,  including  user 
documentation,  tutorial,  and  relevant  design  standards  will  be  provided  and 
functional  requirements  for  the  software  tools  associated  with  the  method  will 
be  specified. 

The ADAPT-IT  Web-borne  software  will  be  developed,  and  will  include  modules  to 
be  linked  with  training  systems  for  the  intelligent  task  selection  and  the 
evaluation  procedures.  Contact  with  standards  organisations  and  bodies  will  be 
made  to  ensure  exchange  of  latest  guidelines  of  relevance  for  training  design. 

The  method  will  be  validated  in  two  domains:  aircraft  maintenance  and  air 
traffic  control.  Training  designers  within  both  domains  will  receive 
familiarisation  training  in  the  method  and in  using  the  tools.  Afterwards  they 
will  design  training  for  a complex  cognitive  skill  in  a suitable  topic.  The 
training  will  be  developed  and  implemented  on  the  basis  of  the  design  and 
compared  to  a  conventional  training.  Both  the  designer  processes  (quality, 
compliance  to  standards,  time)  as  well  as the  learning  outcomes  will  be  analysed 
and  the  results  will  be  used to  fine-tune  the  method  and  tools. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-11740 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Professional  training  (for  all  economic  sectors) 

Action  Line: 
Advanced  Training  Systems 

Full  Title: 
Advanced  Design  Approach  for  Personalised 
Training  - Interactive  Tools 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/02/2000 

End  Date: 
31/01/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
To produce  ICT-based tools  for  training 
designers,  embodying  a  validated  training 
design  methodology  for  personalised  training 
based  on  cognitive  science  and  which 
optimises  the  integrated  use  of  ICT  training 
technologies 

Target  Audience: 
Training  designers  using  computerised  learning 
environments  and  focusing  on  complex 
professional  tasks.  These  designers  may  be 
active  In  independent  training  institutes  or 
training  centres/departments  within  both  SME 
and  large  enterprises  of  any  economic  sector 

Keywords: 
Training  design  method,  training  design  tool, 
training  standardisation,  training  centres 

Technology: 
JAVA,  7M  Integrate  from  SevenMountains 
Software  A.S.,  User-centred  design  approach 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Dr Jelke  Van  der  Pal 
Nationaal  Lucht-  en  Ruimtevaartlaboratorium 
Man-Machine  Integration  Department 
Anthony  Fokkerweg,  2 
NL-1059  CM  Amsterdam 
Tel:  +31-20-5113779 
Fax:  +31-20-5113210 
E-mail:  pal@nlr.nl 

Project  Participants 
Nationaal  Lucht-  en  Ruimtevaartlaboratorium 
(NL) 
University  of  Bergen/EIST  (NO) 
Open  Universiteit  Nederland/OTEC  (NL) 
SevenMountains  Software  AS  (NO) 
Luftfartverket/Swedish  ATS Academy  (SE) 
EUROCONTROL/IANS  (LU) 
Piaggo  Aero  Industries  SpA  (IT) 

AITRAM 

A  multidimensional  approach  to  Human Factors training 
The  Human  Factor  (HF)  has  been  identified  as one  of  the  critical  areas  to 
address  in  order  to  reduce  accidents  and  incidents.  This  has  led  to  an 
increase  in  HF training  developed  by  airlines,  manufacturers  and  training 
organisations,  as  an  integrated  part  of  standard  technical  training,  rather 
than  through  the  provision  of  separate  HF courses.  In  this  context,  AITRAM 
aims  to  contribute  to  the  improvement  of  the  learning  process  for 
aeronautic  maintenance  technicians  and  provide  higher  efficiency 
maintenance  and  HF training  in  aviation,  by addressing  training  from  several 
angles,  as follows: 

Procedure  assessment  considering  HF; 
Trainee  assessment  and  self-training; 
Address  Human  Factors  training  in  a  task-oriented  environment:  increasing 
awareness  of  the  maintenance  technician  in  relation  to  hand-over  problems, 
time  pressure  problems,  slips  in  routine  tasks,  lack  of  communication, 
procedure  violation,  misdiagnosis,  lack  of  checks,  supervision); 
Improved  planning  of  tasks; 
Task  training  in  a virtual  environment. 

Improving the  learning process 
The  learning  process  will  be  improved  by: 

reducing  the  time,  cost,  risk  of  training; 
improving  the  features  to  deliver  complex  contents  to  trainees; 
more  learning  by  doing  and  learning  from  mistakes; 
improving  the  means  to  provide  a  more  general  understanding  of  the 
technical  system  as well  as relationships  and  interdependences; 
provision  of  means  to  raise  awareness  of  HF issues  as well  as  experiencing 
them  personally. 

Virtual  Reality training  in aviation 
AITRAM  aims  to  tackle  the  need  for  increased  H F  training  by  developing  an 
integrated  training  concept,  based  on  a  user  needs  assessment  and  elaborating 
a  Virtual  Reality-based  training  system,  integrating  various  pedagogic  issues 
such  as training  modes  and  competence  measures. 

The  work  focuses  on  the  following  four  main  components: 

Design  of  an  integrated  training  concept-
Modelling  and  simulation  of  HF and  environmental  conditions; 
Development  of  integrated  VR-based  training  applications 
Authoring  of  training  scenarios  to  demonstrate  and  evaluate  the  AITRAM 
training  concept. 

Project No: 
IST-1999-12241 

Duration: 
30 months 

Economic Sector: 
Aviation 

Action Line: 
Advanced Training Systems 

Full Title: 
Advanced Integrated Training In Aeronautics 
Maintenance 

Project Type: 
Education and Training Research 

Start Date: 
01/04/2000 

End Date: 
31/11/2002 

Project Objectives: 
Developing an advanced training system for 
aeronautics maintenance training, based on 
sound pedagogic principles, Innovative 
concepts, new cognitive approaches and 
simulation technologies 

Target Audience: 
Aeronautic maintenance technicians 

Keywords: 
Human Factors, Virtual Reality training, modelling 
and simulation 

Technology: 
Performer from SGI and C/C++ 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Mr  Stefan  Stuering 
FRAUNHOFER  GESELLSCHAFT  ZUR  FOERDERUNG 
DER ANGEWANDTEN  FORSCHUNG  e.V 
Fraunhofer  Institut  Fabrikbetrieb  und 
Automatisierung 
Sandtorstrasse  22 
D-39106  Magdeburg 
Tel:  +49-391-4090131 
Fax:  +49-391-4090445 
E-mail:  stuering@iff.fhg.de 
URL:  http://www.aitram.de 

Project  Participants 
FRAUNHOFER  GESELLSCHAFT  ZUR FOERDERUNG 
DER ANGEWANDTEN  FORSCHUNG  e.V  (DE) 
AIR  EUROPE SpA  (IT) 
Joint  Research  Centre,  European  Commission 
(IT) 
FLS AEROSPACE  (IRL)  LTD. (IE) 
SR Technics  Ltd.  (CH) 
Trinity  College,  Dublin  (IE) 

The project is expected to support the learning process by reducing the time, 
costs and risks of training, delivering complex training material to trainees, 
providing a more hands-on approach to the learning process and improving the 
overall understanding of the technical system. AITRAM can potentially raise the 
awareness of HF issues by experiencing them personally. 

Unique expertise in training for industry 
The AITRAM project brings together a unique European expertise to address 
industry needs in an innovative way. Over the past four years the Aerospace 
Psychology Research Group (APRG) of Trinity College Dublin (TCD) has led two 
major projects looking at Human Factors in the area of aviation maintenance. 
They provide the HF results which form the basis of this project. 

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ASIMIL 

Training and  retraining through  emerging  technologies 
The  new Joint  Aviation  Requirements  (JAR)  applicable  in  2000/2001  for 
people  working  on  aircraft,  compel  them  to  get  a  qualification  assessed  by 
the  civil  aviation  national  authorities  and to  keep  their  skills  up to  date. 
These  European  regulations  concern  both  professional  pilots  and  aircraft 
mechanics. 

From  multimedia  courses  already  available  in  STAR  (e.g.  AeroGATES)  the  question 
is  to  increase  their  pedagogical  and  didactical  components,  and  to  better  take 
into  account  each  trainee's  personal  profile  and  background.  Consequently,  the 
ASIMIL  scaffolding  ( 1- Simulation,  2-  Intelligent  Agents,  3-  Virtual  Reality) 
addresses  the  major  issues  of  current  CBT systems. 

Simulation  techniques  address  the  lack  of  realism  issue  of  "classical  CBT" courses. 
Thus,  adding  simulation  sequences  will  add  interactive  exercises  in  these  courses 
and  will  contribute  to  a  better  understanding  of  operational  know-how. 

Your own  personal  intelligent  agent 
Intelligent  Agents  are  personal  assistant  software  entities  for  both  trainees  and 
instructors. 

Each trainee  will  be  assisted  by  his  own  intelligent  agent.  An  agent  is  intelligent 
in  the  sense that  he  knows  precisely  the  trainee's  profile  and  background,  he 
tracks  every  trainee's  mistake  and  he is  knowledgeable  in  the  learning  domain. 
He is  able  to  give  the  trainee  advice  and  help  in  an  intelligible  way  closely 
related  to  the  actual  mistake  causes  and  understanding  level  of  the  trainee. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-11286 

Duration: 
30  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Aeronautics 

Action  Line: 
Open  Platforms  and  Tools  for  Personalised 
Learning 

Full  Title: 
Aero  user-friendly  SIMulation-based  distant 
Learning 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research  Project 

Start  Date: 

01/04/2000 

End  Date: 
01/11/2002 

Project  objectives: 
ASIMIL aims to  develop  radically  new  approaches 
for  improving  the  future  training  and  retraining 
of  the  workforce  in  aeronautics,  through  utilising 
emerging  technologies.  The  project  covers 
intelligent,  adaptable  learning  environment  and 
new  multimedia  content,  supporting  the 
processes  applied  in  real  training  situations 

Target  audience: 
airlines,  regional  airlines,  maintenance  centres, 
training  centres,  aircraft  and  engine 
manufacturers,  professional  pilots,  aircraft 
mechanics,  learners,  instructors 

Keywords: 
Distance  learning, virtual  reality,  intelligent 
agents,  multi-agent  systems,  desktop  simulators 
(flight  and  maintenance) 

Technology: 
Multimedia,  Virtual  Reality, full-fidelity  Simulation, 
3D  visualisation,  Virtual  assistant  agents 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Prof.  Roger  Laianne 
SPECIALISED  TRAINING  IN  AERONAUTICS  AND 
RESEARCH  (STAR) 
Rue  Marcel  Issartier 
F-33700  Mérignac 
Tel:  +33-5-56133150 
Fax:  +33-5-56133152 
E-mail:  roger.lalanne@star-ima.com 

Project  Participants 
STAR (FR) 
IMA  (FR) 
KHBO  (BE) 
CLAIRIS  Technologies  (FR) 
Università  di  Bologna  (IT) 
Université  de  Pau  et  des  Pays de  l'Adour  (FR) 
Interactive  STAR (FR) 
Technical  University  of  Szczecin (PL) 
SOCATA  Aerospatiale  (FR) 
Virtuel  Âge  (CA) 
Istituto  Svizzero  di  Pedagogia  per  la  Formazione 
Professionale  (CH) 

Each  instructor  will  be  assisted  by  his  own  intelligent  agent.  An  instructor's 
agent  will  assist  the  instructor  in  providing  synthetic  views  on  trainee's  path 
along  the  courses  (errors,  successful  parts,  and  main  difficulties...)  thanks  to 
network  communications  with  trainees'  agents. 

Virtual  reality  will  be  a  first  importance  complement  in  order  to  design  a new 
range  of  cheap  cost  simulators  with  high  fidelity  realism. 

Using  these  emerging  technologies,  the  ASIMIL  project  will  develop  new 
tutoring  approaches  and  flexible  learning  environments  dedicated  to  the  future 
training  and  retraining  of  the  workforce  in  aeronautics. 

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A-TEAM 

A  new approach to advanced technical  training 
Improved  efficiency  and  effectiveness  of  the  learning  and  teaching  process 
is  an important  contribution  towards  a technological  and  Information 
Society.  The  Α-TEAM  proposal  directly  addresses  the  central  objective  of  Key 
Action  III.3.3,  Advanced  Training  Systems,  "to  develop  and  demonstrate 
radically  new  approaches  for  improving  the  future  training  and  retraining  of 
the  workforce,  building  on  new  cognitive  approaches  enabled  by  emerging 
technologies".  It  does  this  through  the  combined  use  of  artificial 
intelligence,  knowledge-based  systems  and  advanced  simulation  techniques, 
together  with  the  related  visualisation  for  the  dynamic  and  interactive 
generation  of  multimedia  content.  Nine  partner  institutions  from  six 
countries  co-operate  in  Α-TEAM,  providing  a  rich  combination  of  academic 
excellence,  software  engineering  and  practical  safety  management 
experience. 

The  overall  objective  of  Key  Action  I II  "to  improve  the  functionality,  usability 
and  acceptability  of  future  information  products  and  services"  is  the  starting 
point  for  the  proposed  project.  Α-TEAM  is  building  a  better  training  system  for  a 
technically  demanding  application  domain  by  integrating  advanced  information 
technologies  such  as  knowledge-based  systems  including  a  real-time  expert 
system,  case-based  reasoning,  and  advanced  simulation  modelling  with  dynamic 
3D  codes  and  associated  visualisation  and  animation  methods. 

The  use  of  modern  tools  and  standards  based  on  a  client-server  architecture 
using  TCP/IP,  http,  CORBA,  the  use  of  XML/CSS,  VRML and  Java  3D is  designed 
to  achieve  these  objectives  as well  as interoperability  and  the  possibility  to  also 
include  multimedia  content.  At  the  same  time,  it  opens  the  way  to  exploit 
future  development  of  the  Internet  with  a  distributed  architecture  based  on 
intelligent  agents.  The  use  of  artificial  intelligence  methods  integrated  with 
simulation  models  for  dynamic  and  interactive  content  generation  addresses  the 
requirement  that  "the  multidisciplinary  RTD should  cover  intelligent,  adaptable 
learning  environments  and  new  multimedia  content,  supporting  the  processes 
applied  in  real training  situations."  The  focus  will  be  on  the  application  of 
simulation  and  animation,  3D  visualisation  and  immersive  virtual  reality. 

A-TEAM: from design to multidiscipline implementation 
User requirements are compiled and a functional specification and framework is 
developed which will be followed for implementation. The components are 
integrated into common tools at this stage, then thoroughly tested before 
evaluation and dissemination. 

The final training modes will have three possible formats: 

1. Traditional classroom teaching, supervised by a tutor, where the interactive 

software provides one element in the course delivery; 

2. Unsupervised learning which can also involve remote access through the 
Internet, thus opening the possibility of the flexibility for the student to 
choose the times for accessing the system freely; 

3. Learning on demand, which is a simple extension of the normal use of the 
system for problem solving, with the possibility to explore additional 
background and in-depth information in the context of a specific 
application. 

Project No: 
IST-1999-10176 

Duration: 
36 months 

Economic Sector: 
Chemical Industry, Governmental Institutions, 
Civil Defence Organisations 

Action Line: 
Advanced Training Systems 

Full Title: 
Advanced Training System for Emergency 
Management 

Project Type: 
Education and Training Research 

Start Date: 
01/02/2000 

End Date: 
31/01/2003 

Project Objectives: 
The main objective of the Α-TEAM project is to 
improve the learning process in complex, technical 
domains, using the example of technological 
emergency management. This is achieved through 
integrating information technology within an 
innovative didactic framework that fully exploits the 
potential of multimedia information systems. 
The project is developing and testing a new 
approach to advanced technical training using an 
integration of artificial Intelligence (Al) 
technologies and dynamic simulation modelling to 
create fully interactive multimedia content within a 
real-time knowledge-based system framework for 
the domain of emergency management 
applications 

Target Audience: 
Chemical industry, governmental institutions, 
civil defence organisations 

Keywords: 
Improved learning, traditional classroom 
teaching, unsupervised learning through the 
Internet, learning on demand, emergency 
management, dynamic simulation, visualisation, 
GIS, expert systems, case-based reasoning 

Technology: 
Artificial intelligence (Al) simulation modelling 
technologies, Internet/intranet, Extensible 
Markup Language (XML), Cascading Style 
Sheets (CSS), Virtual Reality Markup Language 
(VRML), Java 3D 

Project Co-ordinator 
Dr Kurt Fedra 
Environmental Software & Services GmbH 
Kalkgewerk 1 
A-2352 Gumpoldskirchen 
Tel: +43-2252-633050 
Fax: +43-2252-633059 
E-mail: info@ess.co.at 
URL: http://www.ess.co.at/A-TEAM/ 

Project Participants 
(ESS) Environmental Software & Seivices GmbH (AT) 
Chiron Sistemas de Informação (PT) 
DNV, UK - Der Norske Veritas (UK) 
CSALT - Centre for Studies in Advanced Learning 
Technologies (UK) 
Universität Politecnica de Catalunya (ES) 
Environment, Transport and Planning (ES) 
Syreco (IT) 
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR) 
ASIT, Safety and Information Systems in 
Transport Ltd (CH) 

CBLPET 

Comparing  paper-based  and online  learning 
The  project  identifies  and  analyses  the  environment  within  which  training  is 
delivered  through  the  development  of  a  set  of  user  requirements  based  on 
pedagogical,  organisational,  and  technical  issues.  The  framework  developed 
is  used  to  deliver  two  modules  of  the  distance  learning  M.Sc.  course  in 
petroleum  engineering  over  the  Internet. 

The  candidates  nominated  to  undertake  the  courses  on  offer  are  also  identified 
and  assessed  with  respect  to  their  knowledge  about  the  subject.  At  the  same 
time,  the  students  undertaking  the  course  using  the  paper-based  material  are 
also  identified  and  interviewed.  The  students  take  the  examinations  after 
having  studied  for  the  course  using  either  process.  The  costs  and  savings 
associated  with  a transfer  of  paper-based  distance  learning  material  to  a 
computer-based  delivery  are  also  investigated  during  the  trial. 

Collecting  information  for  evaluation 
The  students  are  monitored  continuously  both  by  the  staff  within  the  SME and 
at  Heriot-Watt  University  and  the  breadth  and  depth  of  the  material  accessed  by 
the  students  using  the  computer-based  process  is  recorded  automatically  by  the 
learning  environment  software.  The  number  of  times  each item  is  accessed is  also 
monitored  for  analysis  of  the  clarity  of  the  content  and  structure  of  this 
material.  The  Internet  traffic  regarding  both  content  and  structure  of  the 
learning  materials  is  recorded  for  evaluation  during  the  trial. 

After  the  examinations  and  the  study  period  is  over,  the  supervisory  and  IT 
managerial  staff  within  the  SMEs are  interviewed  with  respect  to  the 
educational,  organisational,  and  technical  challenges  encountered  during  the 
trial.  Thus,  these  issues  associated  with  the  delivery  of  distance  training  are 
evaluated,  as is  the  effectiveness  of  this  mode  of  training. 

Applicability  to  other  disciplines 
A  market  survey  and  an  assessment  of  the  challenges  encountered  during  the 
implementation  of  Internet-based  Learning  products  in  the  petroleum  industry  is 
also  carried  out  during  the  trial,  investigating  business,  organisational  and 
technical  issues  associated  with  the  introduction  of  these  products.  The  results 
of  these  investigations  are  generalised  with  a  view  to  their  application  to 
European  and  international  SMEs in  other  industries  with  similar  challenges  to 
those  of  the  petroleum  industry. 

A  final  synthesis  report  will  disseminate  these  outcomes  and  the  educational, 
organisational,  technical,  and  business  costs  and  benefits  arising  from  the 
deployment  of  training  material  and  services  over  the  Internet,  through  a 
structured  plan. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-28520 

Duration: 
1 2  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Petroleum  industry,  SME trainers,  e-publishers 

Action  Line: 
Trials  and  best  practice  addressing  advanced 
solutions  for  on-the-job  training  in SMEs 

Full  Title: 

CBLPET 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/10/2001 

End  Date: 
30/09/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
Evaluation  of  the  effectiveness,  and  the 
pedagogical,  organisational,  technical,  training, 
business,  and  financial  issues,  associated  with 
delivery  of  distance  training  to  SMEs over  the 
Internet,  particularly  within  the  petroleum 
engineering  market 

Target  Audience: 
SMEs in  the  petroleum  industry 

Keywords: 
SMEs,  distance  learning,  the  Internet, 
petroleum  engineering  SMEs 

Technology: 
Internet 

Project  Co-ordinator 
John  Ford 
Herlot-Watt  University 
Department  of  Petroleum  Engineering 
Edinburgh  EH14  4AS 
United  Kingdom 
Tel:  +44-131-4513138 
Fax:  +44-131-4513127 
E-mail:  john.ford@pet.hw.ac.uk 

Project  Participants 
Herlot-Watt  University  (UK) 
Learning  Technology  Centre  (UK) 
Network  of  Excellence  In  Training  Ltd.  (UK) 
Edinburgh  Petroleum  Services  (UK) 
GRAM  Petroleum  Consultants  A.S.  (NO) 

CORONET 

CDFiEiriET 

The best of software  engineering 
The  competitiveness  of  most  products  and  services  is  determined  more  and 
more  by  quality,  time-to-market  and  cost  of  the  integrated  or  related 
software.  To  be  competitive,  European  companies  have  to  produce  best 
quality  software  at  a low  price  in  a very  short  time.  This  can  only  be 
achieved  by  using  best  software  engineering  practices.  However,  in  Europe 
there  is  a great  quantitative  deficit  of  appropriately  educated  software 
engineers  who  are  able  to  apply  these  practices.  Universities  and  classroom-
based  professional  education  and  training  courses  play  a  crucial  role  for 
introducing  these  innovative  software  engineering  technologies  and  for 
preparing  personnel  for  the  increasing  and  fast  changing  demands  of 
information  technology.  However,  they  cannot  solve  the  problem  alone 
because  of  the  restricted  number  of  people  reached.  CORONET comes  in  at 
this  point.  It  provides  the  platform  and  the  knowledge  for  unrestricted 
professional  education  and  training  in  best  software  engineering  practices. 
It  thereby  improves  the  competitiveness  and  the  working  conditions  of 
European  companies  as well  as the  employment  prospects  and  living 
conditions  of  European  citizens. 

Improving  competitiveness  in  European  companies 
To  keep  up  with  their  competitors  from  America  and  from  Asia,  European 
companies  more  and  more  have  to  apply  best  software  engineering  practices. 
However,  there  is  a  significant  lack  of  appropriately  educated  software 
engineers.  Furthermore,  software  engineering  knowledge  evolves  in  shorter  and 
shorter  cycles.  That  is, the  knowledge  of  most  currently  employed  software 
engineers,  who  received  their  education  10-15  years  ago,  is  outdated.  All  in  all, 
there  is  a great  demand  on  innovative  software  engineering  knowledge  that  can 
only  be  satisfied  by  an  Internet-based  education  platform  like  CORONET. 

CORONET  provides  unrestricted  access  to  up-to-date  software  engineering 
knowledge  at  any  place  and  time  in  Europe.  That  is,  every  interested  company 
can  train  their  employees  in  software  engineering  technology  at  low  cost. 
Employees  do  not  have to  leave  their  workplace  to  attend  classes  elsewhere  but 
can  learn  whenever  they  have time,  wherever  they  want  (even  at  home),  and as 
fast  as they  want. 

The innovative  idea  of  the  CORONET project  is  to  develop  and  implement  an 
approach  for  integration  between  corporate  knowledge  networks  and  group 
learning  processes.  Based  on  most  recent  resuLts  in  didactics  and  pedagogics  of 
Web-based  training  of  the  workforce,  a  cognitive  approach  of  collaborative 
learning  is  developed  and  implemented  for  training  on  methods  and  techniques 
of  software  engineering.  The  project  will  develop  a completely  new  integrated 
training  approach,  which  is  based  on  a new  and  flexible  learning  platform.  While 
studying  a  specific  topic,  the  student  can  communicate  with  other  students  of 
the  same  topic  in  order  to  talk  about  problems  and  their  solution  as  well as  to 
exchange  ideas. This  will  bring  people  with  the  same  interests  together  to 
enable  them  to  create  research  groups.  In  the  end, the  solutions  developed  by 
these  groups  will  improve  the  competitiveness  of  the  European  software 
industry. 

Benefits 
The  lifelong  learning  and  qualification  possibilities  provided  by  CORONET  will 
contribute  to  the  further  qualification  of  all  European  citizens.  Its  qualification 
features  will  be  provided  via  the  Internet  and  are therefore  accessible  in  a 
ubiquitous  manner.  This  will  lead  to  a  higher  qualification  of  individuals  in  all 
European  countries  by  continuous  further  education,  which  also  improves  their 
employment  prospects.  They  can  start  to  compete  for jobs  requiring  higher 
qualification.  People  with  a profession  other  than  software  engineering  can  also 
apply  for  jobs  in  the  prosperous  software  industry.  Therefore  further  education 
in  innovative,  up-to-date  software  engineering  is  one  of  the  key  factors  for  an 
increased  growth  of  the  software  industry.  It  will  reduce  the  unemployment  rate 
and  improve  the  living  conditions  all  over  Europe. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-11634 

Duration: 
27  months 

Economic  Sector: 
IT Industry 

Action  Line: 
Advanced  Training  Systems 

Full  Title: 
Corporate  Software  Engineering  Knowledge 
Networks  for  Improved  Training  of  the 
Workforce 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/02/2000 

End  Date: 
30/04/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
To  improve  efficiency  of  Web-based  training  of 
the  workforce  in  the  domain  of  innovative 
software  engineering  methods  and 
techniques.  The  project  will  develop  a 
completely  new  integrated  training  approach, 
which  Is  based  on  a  new  and  flexible  learning 
platform 

Target  Audience: 
Software  producing  units  of  corporations  and 
of  SMEs;  private  industry  seeking  to  improve 
learning  patterns  and  corporate  knowledge 
transfer 

Keywords: 
Corporate  knowledge  base,  training  of  the 
workforce,  training  on  the  job,  Web-based 
training,  software  engineering  training 

Technology: 
Internet 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Dr  Dietmar  Pfahl 
FRAUNHOFER  GESELLSCHAFT  FÜR ANGEWANDTE 
FORSCHUNG  e.V 
Institute  for  Experimental  Software  Engineering 
Sauerwiesen  6 
D-67661  Kaiserslautern 
Tel:  +49-6301-707120 
Fax:  +49-6301-707203 
E-mail:  pfahl@iese.fhg.de 
URL:  http://www.iese.fhg.de/coronet 

Project  Participants 
Fraunhofer  IESE  (DE) 
Fraunhofer  IGD  (DE) 
University  of  New  South  Wales  (AU) 
DaimlerChrysler  (DE) 
IICM  (AT) 
CCG  (PT) 
Comunicación  Interactiva  (ES) 
Highware  Group  (FR) 

DERIVE 

The need for  multidimensional training system in mechatronics 
The  DERIVE  project  developed  as  a  result  of  the  emergence  of  a  new  type  of 
job  profile,  requiring  a  mix  of  electrical,  mechanical  and  IT  skills,  called 
mechatronics,  leading  to  increasing  pressure  to  combine  vocational  training 
in  schools  with  more  practical  working-environment  exposure  for  trainees. 
Work  in  mechatronics  requires  knowledge  of  structure,  behaviour  and 
functioning  of  mechatronic  systems,  as well  as cognitive  and  operational 
knowledge  about  building  systems,  diagnosis  and  maintenance.  A  significant 
innovation  is,  however,  the  fact  that  working  processes  now  are  essentially 
characterised  by  the  use  of  telemedial  systems.  In  the  professional  field 
users  need  the  ability  to  achieve  their  aims  in  (tele)  co-operation  with 
others,  and  they  should  be  able  to  co-operate  in  virtual  and  supranational 
forms  of  organisation.  In  this  context,  the  project  aims  to  create  bridges 
between  reality  and virtuality  with  integrated  simulation  and  the  possibility 
to  freely  replace  virtual  parts  with  real  ones  and  vice-versa. 

Overall,  the  project  responds  to: 

new  demands  resulting  from  the  key  role  of  mechatronics  and  teleservice  in 
automation  technology; 
the  need  for  increased  co-operation  between  vocational  schools  and  industry 
in  view  of  a  better  integration  of  learning  and  working; 
the  need  to  encourage  greater  collaboration  between  technicians  with 
different  language,  cultural  and  professional  backgrounds  in  a  pan-European 
dimension. 

DERIVE will  apply  an  incremental  development  strategy  by  means  of  installing  an 
iterative  process  of  analysing  user  needs,  creating  and  evaluating  prototypes 
together  with  external  experts  and  redefining  the  user  requirements.  Through 
this  project,  the  market  for  innovative  training  systems  for  mechatronics  will  be 
initialised  and  extended. 

Combining real and virtual, local and remote  media 
The  learning  environment  used  for  vocational  training  in  mechatronics, 
including  first  steps  towards  teleservice  for  production  systems,  will  consist  of a 
combination  of  real  and  virtual,  local  and  remote  media.  A  construction  kit 
(suite  of  modular  building  blocks)  will  enable  students  and  teachers  to  link  by 
means  of  a  new  kind  of  telecoupling  mechanism.  The  project  will  extend  the 
concept  of  local  coupling  of  real  and  virtual  worlds  by  video  recognition  and 
light  projection  to  the  distributed  learning  application  with  telepointing  and 
grasping. 

The  emergence  of  remote  diagnostic  systems  has  an  appeal to  companies 
because  it  allows  the  maintenance  and  service  of  equipment  to  be  undertaken 
with  greater  efficiency.  Problems  can  be  diagnosed  off  site,  and  the 
appropriately  qualified  staff  and  equipment  can  be  despatched  to  solve 
problems.  The  tele-cooperation  functionality  in  the  learning  environment  will 
allow  companies  to  use  the  training  facilities  of  vocational  schools  and/or  other 
providers  for  training  their  employees. 

The  new  environment  will  allow  groups  of  staff  at  remote  locations  to  take  part 
in  training  courses. Trainees  will  be  able  to  work  in  a collaborative  way  to  solve 
problems  and  explore  learning  situations.  This  new  kind  of  interaction  will  allow 
the  systematic  support  of  skilled  workers  and  engineers  by  educators  in 
vocational  schools. 

The  project  introduces  a  new  kind  of  complex  objects,  which  have  one  real  part 
and  several  virtual  counterparts  coupled  by  a  graspable  user  interface.  With 
these  complex  objects,  we  build  new  environments  that  support  the 
synchronous  and  asynchronous,  local  and  remote  construction  and  service  of 
real systems  together  with  their  simulation  models. 

With  a  special  kind  of  electronic-electro-pneumatic  coupling  between  the 
computer  and  a  mechatronic  hardware  kit,  it  will  be  possible  to  build  Hybrid-
Hyper-Systems,  being  a free  mixture  of  real  parts  and  virtual,  light  projected 
ones.  The  system  may  be  distributed,  having  one  real  part  at  one  place  and  its 
virtuaL  counterpart  at  remote  places  coupled  by  Internet  links.  By  means  of 
telepointing,  it  will  be  possible  to  communicate  within  an  interdisciplinary 
group  of  distributed  experts  about  real  and  virtual  parts  of  a  system.  This  new 
kind  of  communication  will  be subject  to  a systematic  support  in  vocational 
education  of  skilled  workers  and  engineers. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-10417 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Educational  Media  for  Vocational  Education  and 
Training,  Mechatronics,  Teleservice  Equipment 

Action  Line: 
Advanced  Training  Systems 

Full  Title: 
Distributed  Real  and  Virtual  Learning 
Environment  for  Mechatronics  and  Teleservice 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2000 

End  Date: 
31/03/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
Developing  a  new  learning  environment  for 
mechatronics  and  teleservice,  coupling  real 
and  virtual  learning  spaces 

Target  Audience: 
Education  and  Training  Institutes  for 
Mechatronics  and  Teleservice 

Keywords: 
Coupled  real  and  virtual  reality,  mechatronics, 
teleservice,  remote  pointing  and  grasping, 
distributed  simulation  and  learning 
environments,  vocational  training 

Technology: 
User-driven  systems  development;  process 
integrated  evaluation;  multiperspective  design 
groups  (pedagogical,  psychological,  technical, 
economical,  organisational,  work-oriented) 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Prof.  Wilhelm  Bruns 
UNIVERSITAET BREMEN 
Forschungszentrum  Arbeit  und  Technik  (ARTEC) 
Enrique-Schmidt-Strasse  7  (SFG) 
D-28334  Bremen 
Tel:  +49-421-2182712 
Fax:  +49-421-2184259 
E-mail:  bruns@artec.uni-bremen.de 
URL:  http://www.derlve.uni-bremen.de 

Project  Participants 
UNIVERSITAET  BREMEN  (DE) 
Escola  Superior  de  Tecnologia  e  Gestao  (PT) 
Stockport  College  of  Further  Education  (UK) 
Eidgenössische  Technische  Hochschule  Zürich 
(CH) 
Festo-Didactic  GmbH  &  Co.  (DE) 
Schulzentrum  Im  Holter  Feld  (DE) 

ELSA 

Innovative  eLearning  portai 
The  ELSA project  aims  to  demonstrate  the  added  value,  for  supply  companies 
operating  in  the  automotive  sector,  of  the  innovative  eLearning  and  training 
portal  ELSA. It  is  based on  the  multilingual  intranet-based  platform  named 
Virtual  Learning  Environment  (VLE)  developed  by the  ESPRIT TQM-online 
project. 
suite  of  value-added  services,  supporting  collaborative  training  sessions, 
online  tutor  guidance,  and  knowledge  sharing. 

It  offers  training  courses,  course  management  functions,  and  a  full 

In  the  first  place,  their  user  requirements  are  analysed  and 

Three  SMEs  based  in  three  different  European  countries  participate  in  the 
consortium. 
combined  with  the  requirements  originating  from  other  SME members  of  national 
associations,  so  as to  tailor  the  product  to  meet  these  needs. 
the  training  applications:  "Quality  Management  Systems"  and  "Capable  Process", 
other  training  courses  indicated  by  the  SMEs are  included  in  the  system  where 
appropriate.  The  ELSA  project  fine-tunes  the  VLE platform  for  the  Internet  and, 
thus,  the  platform  allows  automotive  SMEs to  create  their  own  eLearning  sites 
with  customised  features. 

In  addition  to 

Encouraging use of ELSA 
The  usability,  efficiency,  and  effectiveness  of  the  ELSA  portal  is  tested  during 
training  pilot  sessions  in  real  industrial  contexts.  These  training  pilot  sessions 
are  attended  by  employees  of  the  automotive  supply  SMEs involved  in  the 
project  and  a  detailed  evaluation  plan  is  produced  as guidelines  and  reference 
for  these  sessions.  This  evaluation  plan  includes  a detailed  data  collection  plan 
for  gathering  the  results  of  the  training.  Emphasis  is  on  the  measurement  of 
usability,  efficiency  and  effectiveness  of  the  proposed  eLearning  solution,  and 
on  the  economic  viability  of  the  underlying  business  model. 

Analysis,  evaluation,  and  dissemination  of  the  findings  and  feedback  from  the 
training  sessions  allows  finalisation  of  the  eLearning  solution  for  market 
exploitation. 

The  pilot  sessions  are  closely  monitored  and the  empirical  results  analysed  and 
compared  to  the  target  objectives  outlined  in  the  evaluation  plan.  A  survey  of 
the  trial's  results  provides  the  final  assessment  of  the  eLearning  training 
solution's  effectiveness  and  its  impact  on  the  SMEs involved  in  the  trial.  This 
survey  is  then  widely  disseminated  throughout  Europe  to  demonstrate  the 
results  of  the  Web-based  training  in  automotive  SMEs.  European  and  national 
associations  of  SMEs are  directly  involved  in  this  stage  of  the  project  and,  in 
parallel,  the  feedback  collected  from  the  trials  is  used  to  refine  and  finalise  the 
ELSA portal. 

The eLearning  offerris  detailed  for  market  exploitation  in  a business  plan,  which 
describes  the  pricing  and  partner's  alliance  strategies.  Thus,  the  effective 
dissemination  strategy  implemented  ensures  the  widest  cascading  of  the  project 
results.  The  key  challenge  of  this  project  is, therefore,  to  encourage  SMEs to 
make  use  of  the  ELSA  solution  and  to  measure  the  impact  of  its  introduction  in 
order  to  refine  the  service  offered  to  customise  the  technological/organisational 
infrastructure  for  an  eLearning  portal  meeting  the  requirements  of  European 
automotive  SMEs. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-29340 

Duration: 
20  months 

Economic  Sector: 

SMEs 

Action  Line: 
Trials  and  best  practice  addressing  advanced 
solutions  for  on-the-job  training  in  SMEs 

Full  Title: 

ELSA 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Dcte: 
01/09/2001 

End  Date: 
30/04/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
Demonstrating  the  added  value,  for  supply 
companies  operating  in  the  automotive  sector, 
of  the  innovative  eLearning  and  training  portal 
ELSA 

Target  Audience: 
SMEs in  the  automotive  sector 

Keywords: 
SMEs,  customised  online  training,  automotive 
sector,  European  reach 

Technology: 
Intranet-based  platform,  Internet 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Amalia  Distefano 
Clepa 
Boulevard  Brand  Whitlock,  87/B1 
B-1200  Brussels 
Tel:  +32-2-7439135 
Fax:  +32-2-7320055 
E-mail:  a.distefano@clepa.be 

Project  Participants 
Clepa  (BE) 
Syndicat  des  Fabricants  d'Equipements  et  de 
Pieces  pour  Automobiles  (FR) 
GRIFO Multimedia  Sri (IT) 
Synergie  GmbH  (DE) 
Aces  Université  de  Lyon  (FR) 
REED Automotive  Ltd  (UK) 
San Valeriano  (IT) 
HB-Plastic  Kunstoff  produckte  (AT) 

ENORM-VLC 

New Virtual Learning Centre 
The  ENORM-VLC  project  is implemented  in  an  SME environment  in  order  to 
improve  the  learning  process  compared  to  existing  possibilities  available  for 
learning  and  knowledge  sharing. Scientific  quality  and innovation  is 
improved  through  the  project,  as it  establishes  an  open,  interactive,  virtual 
learning  environment  in  an  international  company-based  setting  in  which 
knowledge  intensive  professionals  in  SMEs are  brought  together  in 
structured  collaborative  learning  networks  facilitated  by  ICT  technologies. 
Furthermore,  an  interactive  triangle  of  expertise  in  content,  technology  and 
pedagogy  is  created  in  order  to  accelerate  the  process  of  innovation  in 
training. 

In  order  to  achieve  this,  user  needs  and  functional  specifications  are 
determined  through  analysis  and  confirmation  of  the  requirements  and 
production  of  a  final  functional  specification  of  the  project's  solution.  This 
allows  customisation  of  the  tool  to  these  needs  and  requirements  of  the 
targeted  SME user  companies  in  the  trial  project.  Through  the  tailoring  of  the 
integrated  environment  into  the  specific  needs  of  the  SME user  companies,  their 
use  of  the  Virtual  Learning  Centre  is  facilitated. 

Validation, evaluation and dissemination  of  the VLC 
The Virtual  Learning  Centre  environment  is  implemented  for  a selected  group  of 
users  for  their  online  on-the-job  training.  A  short  introductory  course  is  also 
prepared  to  inform  the  user  group  on  the  different  functionalities  of  the  tool. 
The  project  tests  and  evaluates  the  VLC environment  and  the  TNU  methodology 
and,  in  order  to  do  so,  it  is  implemented  at  the  Network  University  and is 
accessible,  through  the  use  of  the  ASP model, to  three  SME companies  involved 
directly  in  the  validation  and  evaluation  of  the  VLC. The  SME employees 
participate  in  an  online  course  on  eCommerce. 

The  experimentation  application  of  the  VLC to  the  actual  learning  process  of 
SME employees  allows  measurement  and  evaluation  of  the  concept  proving  that 
it  can  be  deployed  in  an  SME environment  and  that  it  improves  the  learning 
process.  The  gathered  data  is  compared  to  a reference  case that  is  characteristic 
for  the  currently  applied  learning  methodologies  within  SMEs.  As  such,  all 
advantages  and  disadvantages  of  the  VLC and  TNU  methodology  are  registered 
and  analysed.  The  outcomes  are  structured  and  registered  in  an  evaluation 
report  disseminated  within  the  consortium.  In  addition,  the  know-how  resulting 
from  the  trial  project  is  actively  disseminated  to  other  organisations  and 
companies  that  may  profit  from  the  experiences  gained  during  the  trial. 

Additional  packages running in parallel to  ensure  smooth 
implementation  of the  project 
A separate  work  package,  concerned  with  project  management,  is  also  run  in 
parallel  to  foster  conscientious  project  execution.  Project  management  is  carried 
out  by  a  management  team  comprising  the  project  mangers  of  Pulse  Interactive, 
TNU,  and  Spherion,  and  representatives  of  the  involved  SME user  companies. A 
separate  development  package,  entailing  all  development  activities  necessary  for 
the  smooth  implementation  of  the  VLC but  not  defined  as  content  generation 
and  fine-tuning  of  the  environment,  is  also  introduced  at  the  beginning  of  the 
project.  However,  the  activities  of  this  project  are  not  included  in  the  budget 
as  they  are  not  subject  to  Community  funding. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-29422 

Duration: 
18  Months 

Economic  Sector: 

SMEs 

Action  Line: 
Online  training 

Full  Title: 

ENORM-VLC 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  training  research 

Start  Date: 
01/01/2002 

End  Date: 
30/06/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
Establish  an  open,  interactive,  virtual  learning 
environment  and  create  a  triangle  of  expertise. 
Prove  that  a  new  Virtual  Learning  Centre  (VLC) 
concept  can  be  deployed  In  an  SME 
environment,  and  that  this  concept  improves 
the  learning  process 

Target  Audience: 

SMEs 

Keywords: 
SMEs,  customised  online  training,  Interactive 
virtual  learning  environment,  interactive  triangle 
of  expertise 

Technology: 
Virtual  technology 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Yuri  Dokter 
Pulse  Interactive 
Roemer  Visscherstraat  42  -
Amsterdam  1054 
The  Netherlands 
Tel:  +31-20-5962500 
Fax:  +31-20-5962536 
E-mail:  yuri@pulse.nl 

Claire.H.J  Intvelt 
PNO  Breda  BV 
The  Netherlands 
Tel:  +31-76-5212122 
Fax:  +31-76-5210777 
E-mail:  clalre.intvelt@pno.nl 

Project  Participants 
Pulse  Interactive  (NL) 
PNO  Breda  BV  (NL) 
Interim  Technology  Maintain  SQM  BV (NL) 
Stichting  The  Network  University  (NL) 
Motivaction  International  Holding  BV (NL) 
Novare  Consutl  BV (NL) 
Akustik  Technologie  Göttingen  (DE) 

GAMBIT 

SMEs needs for management training 
The  GAMBIT  project  aims  to  evaluate  the  effectiveness  of  the  online  training 
in  delivering  appropriate  on-the-job  training  for  SME managers.  To  realise 
this,  there  will  be  an initial  consultation  phase,  which  includes  input  from 
20  target  end  users  and  an  analysis  of  already  existing  market  research. This 
allows  a  rigorous  examination  of  the  needs  of  the  SME market  for 
management  training  and  determines  whether  online  training  should  be 
combined  with  other  support.  This  also  allows  a  comparison  between  online 
training  and  conventional  training  methods. 

The  results  of  this  initial  phase  of  the  project  yield  a detailed  evaluation  plan 
drawn  up  by  evaluation  experts  and  also  allow  the  creation  of  a  mentor  for  the 
duration  of  the  project. 

Furthermore,  to  objectively  identify  the  areas  where  managers  would  most 
benefit  from  training,  a detailed  training  needs  analysis  and  benchmarking 
questionnaire,  designed  by  LEDU  and  based  on  the  European  Foundation  for 
Quality  Management  Quality  ModeL,  is  drawn  up  and  converted  into  an 
interactive  online  questionnaire.  This  helps  evaluate  the  potential  to  encourage 
higher  levels  of  participation  in  training  by  SME managers,  and  allows  better 
targeting  of  the  training  products  to  the  needs  of  SME  managers. 

Online  training  modules 
Online  modules  are  designed  using  KnowledgeBuilder,  drawing  on  existing 
training  material  and  publications  on  human  resources  management,  small 
business  finance  and  marketing,  which  have  been  delivered  by  the  consortium 
for  many years.  The  conversion  of  existing  course  materials  into  online  materials 
is  carried  out  by  a specialist  firm,  Active,  who  have  extensive  experience  in 
producing  high  quality  multimedia  training,  including  Internet-based  packages. 

Training  modules,  which  include  flash  animation,  are  given  an  international 
dimension  through  input  from  experienced  small  business  advisors  from  MCEB 
and  are  adapted  under  their  direction  to  meet  the  needs  of  Irish  managers. 
Course  production  also  involves  training  specialists  from  the  consortium 
organisations,  supported  by  Active's  online  design  staff. 

Dissemination  throughout  Europe 
Forty  company  managers  from  the  UK and  Ireland  are  taking  part  in  the  online 
training  in  small  business  marketing,  finance,  or  human  resources  management. 
This  trial  intends  to  assess the  project  and  the  assessment  focuses  on: 

comparisons  with  the  effectiveness  of  conventional  training; 
user-friendliness; 
the  ability  to  encourage  participation; 
the  potential  of  online  training  to  contribute  to  regional  and  European 
economic  development. 

The  exploitation  potential  of  the  complete  system,  which  is  intended  to  be  sold 
using  the  Application  Service  Provider  Model,  is  also  evaluated  through  this 
assessment. 

The  results  are  disseminated  throughout  the  EC by joining  in  clusters  of  similar 
projects,  submitting  papers  to  appropriate  conferences,  and  other  publicity 
activities. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-28275 

Duration: 
18  months 

Economic  Sector: 
SMEs 

Action  Line: 
Trials  and  best  practice  addressing  advanced 
solutions  for  on-the-job  training  in  SMEs 

Full  Title: 
GAMBIT 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/09/2001 

End  Date: 
28/02/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
To  evaluate  the  effectiveness  of  the  online 
training  system,  KnowledgeBuilder,  in  delivering 
appropriate  on-the-job  training  for  SME 
managers  and  analysing  their  needs  in  order  to 
better  encourage  management  training 

Target  Audience: 
SME  managers 

Keywords: 
SME  managers,  online  modules,  management 
training 

Technology: 
Internet,  CBT,  Multimedia 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Reg  Rea 
Active  Training  Systems 
Brussels 
Belgium 
Tel:  +32-2-779-91-76 
Fax:  +32-2-779-91-76 
E-mail:  reg@acktiv.com 

Project  Participants 
Active  Training  Systems  (UK) 
Local  Enterprise  Development  Unit  (LEDU)  (UK) 
Monaghan  County  Enterprise  Board  (MCEB)  (IE) 
Mentor  (UK) 
Visionology  (UK) 

IOS 

ICT HR development  using an integrated  solution 
The  ICIS  project  integrates  emerging  1ST technologies  with  existing  mature 
building  blocks  in  an  effort  to  modernise  and  enhance  the  development  of 
human  resources  (HR)  for  specific  job  assignments  in  the  ICT sector.  This 
prototype  system  provides  support  to  the  baseline  process  by  allowing  easy 
use  of  an  integrated  solution  including  tools  such  as  RDA  assessment,  ITPro 
skills  profile,  career  path  development,  and  online  training  and  recruitment. 

The  main  aims  of  the  project  are  to: 

increase  rapidity  of  development  of  HR in  the  ICT  sector  by  50%  using  this 
prototype  online  support  system; 
measure  the  added value  as a result  of  these  personal assessments, 
professional  skilLs  profiles,  career  development  paths,  and  online  training  to 
support  the  whole  cycle  of  HR development  online  through  trial  and 
validation  in  a  real-life  on-the-job  situation. 

The  project  is  implemented  in  three  target  countries:  Italy,  The  Netherlands  and 
Portugal,  after  evaluation  of  a trial  pilot  with  a small  group  of  users. 

Piloting the  project 
Initially,  a pilot  project  is  carried  out  first  with  a small  pilot  user  group.  At  this 
stage,  user  requirements  are  determined  and  the  overall  solution  is  specified 
with  all  users involved:  SME software  developing  companies,  and  professional 
software  producers.  This  also  includes  establishing  metrics  to  measure  success  or 
failure  of  the  trial  project. 

The  trial  solution  is  then  fine-tuned  towards  a  complete  solution  through  the 
addition  of  content  such  as  dedicated  training  modules  and  the  evaluation  of 
user  friendliness  and  its  functionalities. 

The  third  stage  of  the  project  sees the  real-life  online  trial  as the  system  goes 
live  on  the  Internet  and is  tested  by  the  pilot  users  which  helps  measure, 
evaluate,  and  independently  validate  the  results.  The  project  is  disseminated  in 
the  three  target  countries  where  the  six  SME users  perform  the  trial. 

Targets and validation of the  project 
Many  aspects  are  measured  and  continuously  monitored  throughout  the 
implementation  of  the  pilot  project,  enabling  the  project's  validation.  The  main 
aspects  to  be  measured  are: 

reduced  lag  time  for  a compLete  human  resource  development  cycle,  the 
target  being  50%  reduction; 
increased  leveL  of  success  in  training  programmes  based  on  examination: 
increased  grades  and  reduced  failure  rates; 
comparing  online  and  of  line  personal  assessments  and  individual 
satisfaction  tests; 
coherence  of  career  path  development  by  comparing  the  number  of  changes 
of  online  training  modules  followed  by  a test  group  of  ICT  professionals  and 
their  peers. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-29323 

Duration: 
18  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Human  resources  development 

Action  Line: 
Trials  and  best  practice  addressing  advanced 
solutions  for  on-the-job  training  in SMEs 

Full  Title: 
ICIS 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/01/2002 

End  Date: 
30/06/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
Trial  of  a Web-based  platform  founded  on 
prototype  IST technologies  and  validated 
against  a typical  SME  baseline  process  of 
developing  human  resources  (HR),  to  be 
developed  Into  an  online,  lifelong  support 
system  of  integrated  tools  for  development  of 
HR in  the  ICT sector 

Target  Audience: 
SMEs,  HR  Managers 

Keywords: 
SMEs,  online  human  resource  development, 
ICT, IST technologies,  HR tools 

Technology: 
Internet,  Intranet,  Web-based  training 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Vittorio Goletti 
EIDOS  Sistemi  di  Formazione  srl 
Via  dei  Marnili,  11 
1-00175  Rome 

Tel: +39-06-76980642 
Fax: +39-06-76985251 
E-mail:  v.goletti@eidosis.com 

Project  Participants 
EIDOS  Sistemi  di  Formazione  srl  (IT) 
Quality  Communication  Management  (NL) 
University  of  Twente  (NL) 
Innova  (IT) 
Sintesi  Software  (IT) 
Novabase  (PT) 

InTraServ 

Br 
•má-  j d Br 

/n TroServ 

Customising the training  platform 
InTraServ  proposes  an  innovative  Web-based  intelligent  training  solution  for 
SMEs operating  in  different  fields.  In  the  beginning  all  project  partners  will 
focus  on  SME training  needs  and  on the  knowledge  domain  that  is  covered 
by the  management  training  service.  Then  the  learning  material  preparation 
and  system  customisation  starts,  so that  the  product  can  be tailored  to  SME 
requirements. 

The  proposed  solution  is  based  on  an  already  existing  training  platform 
prototype  obtained  through  the  integration  of  the  results  of  two  research 
projects:  InTraSys  and  DiSiMa,  carried  out  by  CRMPA.  This  existing  platform  is 
customised  by  the  integration  of  a set  of  business  games  already  available  as a 
result  of  other  research  projects.  The  proposed  solution  includes  several  state-
of-the-art  technologies  such  as  metadata  and  ontologies  for  knowledge 
manipulation,  fuzzy  learner  modelling  and  case-based  reasoning. 

Courses  are  divided  in  learning  objects,  that  is,  small training  modules  covering 
a small set  of  specific  arguments.  These  are  indexed  using  metadata  and 
ontologies. 

Four  courses  covering  several  aspects  of  the  managerial  training  are  implemented 
in  three  languages  (Italian,  English,  Spanish): 

Business  Decision, 
Marketing  Management, 
Marketing  Research, 
Management  Control. 

The  first  one  is  implemented  during  the  project  duration  while  the  others  are 
completed  after  its  end  during  the  exploitation  of  the  product. 

From implementation  to  evaluation 
The  platform  will  be installed  on  a  centraLised  server  and  the  InTraServ  service 
will  start  for  all  partners.  A detailed  evaluation  plan  will  be  defined  and  made 
ready  at  the  start  of  the  system. The  experimentation  phase  will  commence  in 
SME environments  through  the  application  of  this  plan  and  by  letting  experts 
collect  empirical  data  in  order  to  evaluate  the  impact  of  the  project  and  to  what 
extent  InTraServ  fulfils  training  requirements. 

Based  on  the  experimentation  results,  a sustainabLe  business  model  and  the 
related  business  plan  will  be defined.  All the  trial  results  will  then  be 
disseminated  throughout  the  European  Community  by joining  clusters  of  similar 
projects  and  the  results  extended  to  the  scientific  community  by  the  submission 
of  papers  to  conferences  on  the  theme. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-29377 

Duration: 
18  months 

Economic  Sector: 

SMEs 

Action  Line: 
Trials  and  best  practice  addressing  advanced 
solutions  for  on-the-job  training  in  SMEs 

Full  Title: 
Intelligent  Training  Service  For  Management 
Training  in  SMEs 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/12/2001 

End  Date: 
31/05/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
The  main  objective  of  InTraServ  is to  try  and 
evaluate  an  Innovative  Web-based  intelligent 
training  solution  for  manager  upgrading  in  real 
SME  environments  operating  in  different  fields 

Target  Audience: 

SMEs 

Keywords: 
SMEs,  management  training 

Technology: 
metadata  and  ontologies  for  knowledge 
manipulation,  fuzzy  learner  modelling  and  case 
based  reasoning 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Nicola  Capuano 
CRMPA  c/o  DUMA -  Università  di  Salerno 
Via  Ponte  don  Melillo 
I-84084  Fisciano  (SA) 
Tel:  +39-089-964189 
Fax:  +39-089-964191 
E-mail:  niccap@crmpa.unisa.it 

Project  Participants 
CRMPA  (Centre  for  Research  in  Pure  and 
Applied  Mathematics)  (IT) 
ASIMAG  (Alonso  Y Garay  S.L)  (ES) 
9ICTA  (Iniciatives  de  Comunicado  I  Telematica 
Aplicada  S.A.L)  (ES) 
Metafore  ed  Analogie  S.r.l.  (IT) 
CAVAMARKET  S.p.A.  (IT) 
PASI S.r.l  (IT) 

INVITE 

ΙΓM  V 

ι  3 

Distributed virtual  learning  environments 
INVITE  aims  to  develop  a collaborative  learning  environment  for  distance 
education  via  distributed  and  shared  virtual  environments.  It  particularly 
aims  to  address  the  needs  of  companies,  which  co-operate  very  closely  from 
different  locations.  The  project  works  by  developing  a  platform  for 
synchronous  telelearning,  providing  users  with  the  functionality  to  support 
social  learning  processes  through  distributed  virtual  environments.  The 
platform  can  be  interfaced  with  standardised  content  management  and/or 
instructional  management  systems.  Existing  learning  environments  providing 
the  content  management  structures  and  asynchronous  services  should  be 
integrated  into  this  platform. 

The  project  aims  to  achieve  these  aims  through  the  following  tasks: 

Identifying  the  relevant  cognitive  and  social  processes  in  collaborative 
learning  situations  and  extraction  of  those  factors  into  user  requirements; 
Developing  an  integrated  system  based  on  distributed  virtual  environment 
technologies,  including  intelligent  agents'  real-time  translation  facilities, 
realistic  avatar  representation  and  enhanced  interactivity  of  avatars; 
Evaluating  the  prototype  within  different  learning  contexts; 
Researching  results  on  social  learning  processes  within  virtual  environments. 

Structuring the  collaborative  learning  experience 
The  project  is  structured  according  to  a  typical  software  development  project, 
including  three  iterative  cycles  within  its  development  process.  The  project 
adopts  a  rapid  prototype  development  scheme,  starting  with  a  visual  prototype 
with  no  functionality  to  allow  early  user  feedback.  The  development  work  is 
based  on  cognitive  and  pedagogical  research  regarding  collaborative  learning 
experiences  and  the  user's  response  in  virtual  learning  environments.  Intelligent 
agents,  avatar  representation  and  functionality,  audio/visual  components  as  well 
as real-time  translation  facilities  will  be  developed. The  evaluation  system  will  be 
the  base  for  end-user  evaluations,  using  INVITE  in  real  learning  situations. 

The  project  will  draw  upon  the  expertise  of  several  institutions,  including 
commercial  companies,  cognitive  and  humanistic  and  technological  research 
centres. 

Wider benefits for all 
INVITE  is  expected  to  have  wider  benefits,  contributing  to  the  development  of  a 
user-friendly  Information  Society.  It  will  do  so  by: 

enhancing  the  use  collaborative  learning  environments,  based  on  a careful 
analysis  of  cognitive  and  social  factors  influencing  the  virtual  learning 
process; 
developing  a  platform  for  synchronised  telelearning  supporting  these 
cognitive  and  social  factors. 

The  result  of  the  project  will  be the  development  of  a  multicultural  and 
multilingual  Information  Society,  creating  a collaborative  learning  platform  to 
be  interfaced  with  standardised  content  and  instructional  management  systems, 
while  supporting  the  learning  experience  at  an  individual  level. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-11722 

Duration: 
33  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Multinational  Companies 

Action  Line: 
Advanced  Training  Systems 

Full  Title: 
Intelligent  Distributed  Virtual  Training 
Environment 

Project  Type: 
Shared  Cost  RTD 

Start  Date: 
01/02/2000 

End  Date: 
01/11/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
Developing  a  collaborative  learning 
environment  for  distance  education  via 
distributed  and  shared  virtual  environments 

Target  Audience: 
Companies  involved  in  training  and 
communication,  co-operating  from  different 
locations 

Keywords: 
Synchronous  telelearning,  social  learning,  IST 
research,  training  platform,  avatars,  3D  worlds, 
speech  translation 

Technology: 
3D  worlds,  avatars,  speech  translation 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Prof.  Anni  Koubek 
TECHNIKUM  JOANNEUM  GmbH 
Centre  for  Multimedia  and  Learning 
Alte  Poststrasse  149 
A-8020  Graz 
Tel:  +43-316-54538412 
Fax:  +43-316-54538432 
E-mail:  koubek@fh-joanneum.at 
URL:  http://lnvite.fh-joanneum.at 

Project  Participants 
TECHNIKUM  JOANNEUM  GmbH  (AT) 
Ars  Electronica  Center  Linz  (AT) 
Ben  Gurion  University  of  Negev  (IL) 
Blaxxun  interactive  AG  (DE) 
Brunei  University  (UK) 
Computer  Technology  Institute  (GR) 
University  of  Stuttgart  (DE) 
Linguatec  GmbH  (DE) 
Systema  Informatics  Ltd  (GR) 
AvatarMe  Ltd  (UK) 

KITS 

' ■« * 

The learning game 
The KITS project will develop and evaluate a Learning environment that 
comprises an educationally supported distributed game in the domain of 
knowledge management. This environment is constructivist since learners 
are in charge and have to deduce the knowledge management rules from the 
game; it is situated because the circumstances presented in the game are 
realistic and placed in the practical context of the participants, and it is 
collaborative since the players need to communicate to gain optimal results. 

The overall objective of the KITS project is to develop a training system for 
active, engaged, situated, and collaborative learning in ill-defined domains. 
This is operationalised by developing a distributed learning environment for the 
domain of knowledge management. 

In order to achieve this objective, the project will develop and implement: a 
model for game-based training that includes requirements for instructional 
interventions, mechanisms for remote playing with the game, a knowledge 
management model, a knowledge management relevant business model, and a 
mechanism for adjusting part of the knowledge management relevant business 
model to organisation-specific aspects (cases). 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-13078 

Duration: 
30  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Knowledge  Management  Training 

Action  Line: 
Advanced  Training  Systems 

Full  Title: 
Knowledge  management  Interactive  Training 
System 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/05/2000 

End  Date: 
30/11/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
The  KITS project  has  two  starting  points.  First, 
the  project  builds  on  developments  in  learning 
and  instruction  that  are  enabled  by  new 
technologies  and  that  includes  constructivism, 
situationism,  and  collaborative  learning. 
Second,  the  project  sees  a  need  for  better 
training  of  people  in  knowledge  management 
which  is accompanied  by  a  need  for  more 
detailed  knowledge  management  models 

Target  Audience: 
Knowledge  managers  in  SME's  and  large 
companies 

Keywords: 
Constructivism,  situationism,  collaborative 
learning,  simulation,  gaming,  knowledge 
management,  ill-defined  problems 

Technology: 
Web-based  collaborative  technologies. 
Dynamic  generated  Web-based  instruction. 
Use will  potentially  be  made  of  the  Java 
platfrom,  Enterprise  Java  Beans  and  XML 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Prof.  Ton  de  Jong 
University  of  Twente 
Faculty  of  Educational  Science  and  Technology 
PO  Box  513 
NL-7500  AE  Enschede 
Tel:  +31-53-4893613 
Fax:  +31-53-4892849 
E-mail: 
URL:  http://kits.edte.utwente.nl/ 

jong@edte.utwente.nl 

Project  Participants 
Universiteit  Twente  (NL) 
TECNOPOLIS  CSATA  Novus  Ortus  S.c.r.l.  (IT) 
Aeronautic  Defense  &  Space  Company  EADS 

(FR) 
Universiteit  van  Amsterdam  (NL) 
Ciblt  BV (NL) 
European  Consortium  for  the  Learning 
Organisation  (BE) 

Understanding  user needs 
The  project  follows  a traditional  waterfall  lifecycle  with  one  iteration.  First, 
based  on  user  requirements  and  a  literature  study,  specifications  for  the  learning 
environment  and  the  underlying  models  are  specified.  When implemented  in  the 
first  prototype,  the  game  will  first  be  played  with  by  users  who  are  actively 
involved  in  the  project.  Then  the  game  will  be  played  by  users  outside  the 
consortium  who  are  subcontracted  for  playing  once  and  will  be  selected 
according  to  organisational  and  culturally  relevant  variables.  The  feedback 
received  will  be incorporated  in  a  final  version  of  the  learning  environment.  In 
parallel,  investigation  and  implementation  of  metaphors  for  visualising  the 
models  and  game  results  will  be carried  out  and  implemented. 

Attention  is  also  paid  to  promoting  the  awareness  of  the  KITS  interactive 
learning  environment  across  Europe  and  the  preparation  of  post-project 
exploitation  plans. 

C 

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MOPLE 

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Educating engineers 
The main objective of this project is to develop an innovative integrated, 
open learning platform (the MOPLE framework) based on state-of-the-art 
Internet, and multimedia technology, and to implement, validate, and 
disseminate a computational engineering learning application (a MOPLE 
application) based on the MOPLE framework, sophisticated engineering 
simulation programmes, available educational software, and components 
which will be developed during this project. The project will also 
investigate the effectiveness of different pedagogical approaches to 
computer-aided distance learning, using a computational engineering MOPLE 
application as an investigative tool. 

The MOPLE application developed in the project will strongly influence the 
actual methodology for personalised education of engineers in topics related to 
computer-aided engineering. Typically, engineers will be able to combine 
traditional teaching procedures (such as courses and seminars) with intensive 
follow-up self-training sessions at work or home using the didactic tools 
developed in the project. The integration of educational software, multimedia, 
virtual reality and the Internet will help to create an open collaborative learning 
environment in which students will be personally engaged in the process of 
building and testing or applying their own invented models of the engineering 
system under consideration. 

The MOPLE framework 
The  MOPLE framework  will,  as a minimum  requirement,  be able to  deal with  the 
classic  tutelage  triangle  Theory-Example-Exercise,  but  will  also  provide 
authoring  facilities  for  more  advanced  training  material  such  as  interactive 
tutorials.  Furthermore,  the  framework  will  for  instance  enable  the  project  to 
implement  more  complicated  feedback  patterns,  or  provide  us  with  virtual 
classrooms  where  multiple  people  -  students  and/or  tutors  -  can  interact  on a 
real-time  basis. The terminology  already  suggests  that  the  Internet  will  play a 
central  part  in  our  approach,  and  indeed,  without  the  World  Wide  Web 
technology,  such  a  project  would  be  severely  constrained,  if  not  rendered 
purposeless. 

The  scope  of  the  project  will  allow  us to  develop  the  fully  adaptive  and  re 
usable  MOPLE framework,  and  a first  prototype  of  a  MOPLE application  geared 
towards  the  educational  needs  of  engineers,  both  from  industry  and  academia, 
in  the  area  of  computational  structural  mechanics,  fluid  dynamics,  geo-
mechanics,  and  specific  manufacturing  areas  such  as  metal sheet  forming.  By 
adaptive  we  mean  that  the  application,  by  means  of  the  tools  provided  in  the 
MOPLE framework,  can  be adapted  to  the  personal  needs  of  the  individual 
student.  In  fact,  knowledge-based  rules  will  allow  the  application  to  some 
extent  adapt  itself  to  the  needs  of  the  individual  students.  By  re-usable, we 
mean  that  the  MOPLE framework  can  be used as a delivery  mechanism  for  a wide 
variety  of  educational  topics. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-13460 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Information  Technology,  eWork 

Action  Line: 
Advanced  Training  Systems 

Full  Title: 
Development  of  Modular  Open  Platform  and 
Tools  for  Personalised  Learning  in 
Computational  Engineering  Methods 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2000 

End  Date: 
31/03/2002 

Project  objectives: 
Integrated,  open  learning  platform  based  on 
Internet  technology 

Target  audience: 
Industry  (foremost),  educational  institutions, 
engineers  in  Industry,  university  students 

Keywords: 
distance  learning,  open  system,  training 
authoring 

Technology: 
Computational  engineering  methods 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Prof.  Eugenio  Onate 
Dipl.-Ing.  Gilbert  Peffer 
INTERNATIONAL  CENTRE  FOR  NUMERICAL 
METHODS  IN  ENGINEERING 
Gran  Capitan,  s/n 
Edificio C-1, 
Campus  Norte  UPC 
E-08034  Barcelona 
Tel:  +34-93-4016038 
Fax:  +34-93-4016517 
E-mail:  gilbert@cimne.upc.es 
URL:  http://www.cimne.upc.es/projects/mople 
http://mople.cimne.upc.es 

Project  Participants 
INTERNATIONAL  CENTRE  FOR  NUMERICAL 
METHODS  IN  ENGINEERING  (ES) 
QUANTECH  ATZ  SA  (ES) 
Rockfield  Software  Ltd.  (UK) 
NAFEMS  (UK) 
University  of  Padova  (IT) 
Engine  Soft  Trading  (IT) 
ISD  (Institute  for  Statics  and  Dynamics  of  Space 
Structures) 
RUS  (Regional  Computing  Centre  University  of 
Stuttgart)  (DE) 

TELENET 

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Telematics and training 
TELENET aims to  develop  and  validate  a modular  and interoperable  tele-
training  platform  that  will  address  the  needs  of  training  centres,  of  users 
and  of  instigators  (e.g.  local,  regional  authorities)  of  training  programmes. 

TELENET will  provide  a solution  enabling  training  service  providers  to  create 
training  offers  (or  to  adapt  existing  ones)  to  the  changing  environment  created 
by  the  Information  Society,  which  means  in  particular  to  take  into  account  the 
potential  of  the  Internet  and  related  standards,  and  to  implement  electronic 
commerce  concepts  in  training  service  market  sectors. TELENET will  develop a 
teletraining  platform  creating  a trusted  environment  meeting  these  needs. 

Two  market  segments  will  be  investigated:  Vocational  Education  and  Training 
oriented  to  the  public  and  the  corporate  training  focused  on  company  internal 
needs  for  staff  training. 

Raising the  platform 
In  order  to  achieve  the  project  objectives  TELENET  will: 

identify  the  requirements  of  training  centres,  users  (trainees,  trainers, 
administrators)  and  instigators  in  a  secure,  user-friendly  and  interoperable 
teletraining  platform; 
develop  a  distributed  infrastructure  based  on  a  local  modular  platform  in 
each  training  centre  -  this  will  consist  of  three  desktops:  for  the  trainee,  the 
trainer  and  the  administrator; 
the  integration  of  these  desktops  will  enable  the  teacher  to  personalise  the 
learning  path  for  the  trainees  depending  on  the  training  objectives,  pace 
and  results  of  each  person; 
develop  a trusted  environment  based  on  smartcard  technology  and  a  central 
services  platform  to  provide,  in  particular,  management  of  user 
authentication,  of  e-payment,  of  IPR  of  course  material,  of  privacy  and  users' 
rights.  A  certification  feature  will  also  be  provided  to  certify  that  exchanges 
between  teachers  and  learners  really  take  place.  This  will  allow  the  training 
centres  to  validate  their  training  programmes  for  their  instigators; 
develop  the  platform  by  the  integration  of  existing  technology,  by  taking 
into  account  established  and  emerging  standards; 
validate  the  Specific  Services  for  Training  Centres  and  the  Common  Network 
Services  in  field  tests  carried  out  by  professional  users  in  Italy  and  Poland, 
representing  the  two  most  promising  market  segments  for  TELENET: 
Vocational  Education  and  Training  and  corporate  training; 
prepare  a technical  implementation  plan  in  order  to  start  the  economic 
expansion  of  the  platform  and  achieve  the  critical  mass  needed  for  a wide 
deployment. 

Secure and  interoperable 
TELENET aims  to  develop  and  validate  a secure,  user-friendly  and  interoperable 
teletraining  platform  addressing  the  needs  of  training  centres,  users  and 
instigators  of  training  programmes.  TELENET will  provide  a solution  for  training 
centres  to  create  teletraining  offers  adapted  to  the  changing  environment  of 
the  Information  Society,  taking  into  account  the  potential  of  the  Internet  and 
related  standards  and  implementing  e-commerce  concepts  in  training  market 
sectors.  TELENET will  rely  on  smartcards-based  state-of-the-art  security 
technology  to  implement  conditional  access,  IPR  management  of  multimedia 
course  material,  generation  of  proofs,  privacy  and  electronic  payment.  Industrial 
companies,  specialists  in  security  technology  and  teletraining  solutions,  experts 
in  ergonomics  and  two  training  centres  as  users  (a  large  corporate  training 
service  and  a  public  training  service  operator)  will  ensure  market-oriented 
project  results. 

The  electronic  delivery  chain  will  be  based  on  a  public  key  infrastructure. 
TELENET solutions  will  give  organisations  the  power  and  security  necessary  to 
deliver  quality  online  education  to  trainees  in  the  most  cost-effective  manner, 
taking  into  account  needs  for  mobility  and  course  assessment. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-1 0459 

Duration: 
30  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Educational  Media  for  Vocational  Education  and 
Training 

Action  Line: 
Advanced  Training  Systems 

Full  Title: 
TELEtraining  Platform 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
06/03/2000 

End  Date: 
30/08/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
TELENET aims to  develop  and  validate  a  modular 
and  interoperable  teletraining  platform  that  will 
address  the  needs  of  training  centres,  of  users 
and  of  instigators  (e.g.  local,  regional 
authorities)  of  training  programmes 

Target  Audience: 
Corporate  training  centres,  content  providers 

Keywords: 
Distant  training,  Internet  security,  smartcard, 
certificates 

Technology: 
Web  design  tools,  database  management,  PKI 
technology  (Public  Key  Infrastructure), 
smartcards 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Lydia  Montandon 
SEMA  (ES) 
Albarracín  25 
E-28037  Madrid 
Tel:  +34-91-440-8800 
Fax:  +34-91-754-3252 
E-mail:  lydia.montandon@sema.es 
URL:  http://www.telenet-platform.com 

Project  Participants: 
GEMPLUS  S.C.A.  (FR) 
Centro  Studi  E Laboratori  Telecomunicazioni 
S.p.A  (IT) 
ENEL (IT) 
Osrodek  Informatyki  - Terenowy  Bank  Danych 
Pomorskiego  Urzedu  Wojewodzkiego  w 
Gdansku  (PL) 
SEMA  Group  (ES) 

VIDL 

High quality virtual training for SMEs 
The VIDL product provides unique on-the-job training. This solution includes 
an artificial intelligent model that simulates the behaviour of a human 
trainer and thus adapts to each trainee and adjusts according to the level 
and progress of the trainees. It is probably as close as possible to a human 
teacher as any other product that exists on the market today. Hence, this 
project involves the trial of an online training product that simulates a 
human teacher. 

/ 

It is probably best suited for, and especially appealing to, SMEs as it offers high 
quality individual training, which can be out of reach for SMEs as they may not 
have a training organisation or infrastructure. 

• 

1 

Tried and tested 
The approach is implemented in TrainVision's technology-based product. A 
detailed list of indicators is collected and set in the final list of trainees, i.e. 
SME employees that take part in the project, and the product is installed on the 
two user premises: People & Computers (a computer journals publisher) and 
Israel Discount Bank (a bank). 

■ 

I 

M Ü S F^ 

During  the  use  of  the  product,  the  trainees  report  any  technical  issues 
discovered  which  are  discussed  and  reviewed  throughout  the  length  of  the 
project  in  weekly  reports  and  meetings.  The trainees  also  comment  on  the 
effectiveness  and  acceptance  indicators  are  collected  and  integrated  into  a 
monthly  report,  where  the  overall  performance  of  the  product  is  reflected. 
Decisions  on  product  changes  are  taken  and  carried  out  quarterly  following  the 
reports. 

The  evaluation  includes  the  impact  of  the  product  according  to  various  criteria: 

business  results; 
training  efficiency; 
human  resources  aspects,  such  as  turnover; 
end-user  satisfaction. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-29390 

Duration: 
13  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Training;  HR  development 

Action  Line: 
Trials  and  best  practice  addressing  advanced 
solutions  for  on-the-job  training  in  SMEs 

Full  Title: 
Virtual  Intelligent  Distance  Learning 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/11/2001 

End  Date: 
30/11/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
Evaluation  of  a  low  cost,  high  quality,  and 
completely  Innovative,  artificial  intelligence 
based  approach  to  on-the-job  e-training  that 
adjusts  to  the  level  and  the  progress  of  the 
trainee 

Target  Audience: 

SMEs 

Keywords: 
Artificial  intelligence,  model,  online  adjusted 
training,  virtual  teacher,  distance  learning,  SMEs 

Technology: 
Multimedia,  database  technologies,  graphical 
user  Interface,  Internet,  CBT 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Zohar  Segal 
Train  Vision  Intelligent  Education 
P.O.  Box  1116 
Ramat  Yishai  30095, 
Israel 

Tel: +972-4-9930484 
Fax: +972-4-9930614 
E-mail:  zsegal@tralnvision.com 

Project  Participants 
Train Vision  Intelligent  Education  (IL) 
People  &  Computers 
Israel  Discount  Bank  (IL) 

VIRTEPPE 

The VirTEPPE  classroom 
VirTEPPE  will  carry  out  research  into  and  develop  an  integrated  learning-
teaching  delivery  channel  that  integrates  satellite,  ISDN-DSL  lines  and  the 
Internet.  These  technologies  will  be  combined  into  a  single  virtual 
classroom,  knowledge  acquisition  and  interactive  learning  system  accessible 
through  an  easily  used  PC user  multimedia  and  firmware  interface.  It  will 
provide  European  print  industry  SME workers  with  access  direct  from  their 
own  PCs through  a  single  interface  that  provides: 

the  teaching  of  environmental  management  topics  via  satellite  broadcast  and 
ISDN-ADSL-based  interactive  remote  teaching  methods; 
an  environmental  management  interactive  learning  programme; 
a  dedicated  multilingual  environmental  website; 
a  knowledge  acquisition  system  that  accesses  various  environmental 
information  sources; 
the  provision  of  an e-commerce  system  for  the  payment  of  or  access  to  the 
on-demand  services  and  information. 

After  research  and  development,  VirTEPPE will  be  promoted  both  through  the 
European  Print  Federation(s),  enabling  European  print  industry  SME's  to  benefit 
from  the  environmental  teaching-learning,  and  to  other  industries  as an 
advanced  environmental  and  vocational  training  model,  methodology  and 
system. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-10953 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  Sector: 
European  Print  Industry 

Action  Line: 
Advanced  Training  Systems 

Full  Title: 
Virtual  Training  in  Environmental  Protection  for 
Printers  in  Europe 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/02/2000 

End  Date: 
31/01/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
VirTEPPE has  5  primary  objectives  -  research  into 
and  development  of: 
1.  Virtual  classroom  created  at  the  Print  Workers 

own  PC  desktop  that  combines  satellite 
broadcast  interactive  teaching  and  teaching 
through  remote  interactive  classrooms  based 
on  ISDN-DSL  landllnes. 

2.  Interactive  learning  and  knowledge 

acquisition  programme  that  accesses  a 
dedicated,  multilingual  environmental 
management  website  developed  by  the 
project. 

3.  Content  rich  interactive  learning  and 

knowledge  acquisition  programme  that  will 
provide  European  print  workers  with  the 
ability  to  learn  environmental  best  practice 
directly  from  their  own  PC. 

4.  Integrated  "package"  that  can  be  rolled  out 
to  all  print  workers  through  the  European 
Print  Federation. 

5.  Continuous  improvement  system  through 
regular  testing  with  a  number  of  print 
workers. 

Target  Audience: 
European  print  workers  and  managers 

Keywords: 
SME workers,  printers,  vocational  distance 
teaching,  remote  learning,  learners,  satellite, 
terrestrial  DSL, pedagogy,  models,  best  practice 

Technology: 
Satellite,  ISDN-DSL  lines,  Internet 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Mr  John  Everett 
PSYLON LTD 
East  Linton,  Keycol  Hill 
Newington,  Kent  ME9  8NA 
United  Kingdom 
Tel:  +44-1795-842334 
Fax:  +44-1795-842524 
E-mail:  jbe@intelearn.co.uk 

Participants 
Psylon  Ltd  (UK) 
Business  Eco  Network  (UK) 
Ecole  Nouvelle  d'Ingénieurs  en  Communication 
(FR) 
University  of  Plymouth  (UK) 
University  of  Malaga  (ES) 
BPIF -  British  Printing  Industries  Federation  (UK) 
GA  -  Graphjc  Association  of  Denmark  (DK) 
Valor  &  Ting^  (DK) 

Benefits of VirTEPPE 
The  citizen  benefits  of  the  scheme  will  be  reduced  pollution  from  the  print 
industries,  while  the  consequent  reduction  in  industrial  and  motor  vehicle 
pollution  along  with  the  development  of  virtual  training  and  universities  will 
contribute  to  EU  policies. 

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Α virtual learning community  platform 
Nowadays,  lifelong  learning  is  increasingly  important  in  enhancing  the 
integration  of  citizens  into  society.  EDCOMNET is  an  educational  communal 
net,  a virtual  learning  community  platform  for  adult  citizens. The  primary 
objective  of  the  project  is  the  development  and  implementation  of  the 
virtual  platform  for  communal  learning  and  communication,  which  is  based 
on  guidelines  stemming  from  the  integration  of  two  categories  of  theories: 

Autonomy  oriented  education  and  the  methodology  of  autonomy  oriented 
tutoring  stemming  from  it 
Theories  about  self-organising  social  groups 

The  net  acts  as a  portal  stimulating  the  active  learning  of  social skills,  thus 
enhancing  the  social  integration  of  individuals  within  urban  communities.  This 
will  empower  the  individual  citizens  to  be  a  self-reliant  part  of  society,  fostering 
creativity  and  autonomous  opinion  forming,  as  well  as  decision  making. 

The next generation  education  and  lifelong  learning 
EDCOMNET focuses  on  three  aspects  of  lifelong  learning: 

Vocational  training 
Family  life 
Functioning  of  the  individual  citizen  in  the  communal  society 

The  implementation  of  this  virtual  platform  for  lifelong  learning,  using  ideas 
from  humanistic  empowerment  theory,  autonomy  oriented  tutoring  and  the 
newest  vocational  training  practices,  allows  an  insight  into  new  forms  of 
organisation  in  which  the  citizen  is  more  autonomous  and  creative,  as  well as 
more  active  in  taking  part  in  social  activities.  This  underlying  research  and 
technological  development  project  also  enables  new  models  and  concepts 
specific  for  citizens  for  lifelong  learning  and  the  next  generation  education  to 
be tested  and  a  knowledge  management  system  relying  on  virtual  ways  of 
knowledge  acquisition  to  be  developed.  This  platform  for  lifelong  learning  is 
active,  developed  as  part  of  a  novel  multi-agent  infrastructure  and  using  the 
newest  products  in  multimedia  communication,  which  results  in  a set  of  tools 
that  enables  information  retrieval  to  be integrated  to  the  user's  needs  and  will 
support  learners  through  mediating  processes. 

Implementation  throughout  Europe 
The  EDCOMNET system  is  a network-based  information  system  implemented  on a 
number  of  local servers  throughout  EL) Member  States.  The  different  servers 
communicate  through  the  Internet  but  operate  in  the  local  language  and  are 
embedded  in  the  regional  cultural  context.  The  novel  multi-agent  infrastructure 
developed  enables  users to  retrieve  relevant  information  to  the  needs  of  the 
average  citizen.  The  EDCOMNET activities  are  spread  throughout  Europe  and  in 
time  will  be  set  up  in  associated  countries. 

Therefore,  focusing  on  three  aspects  of  lifelong  learning,  EDCOMNET  contributes 
to  the  Community's  social  objectives  on  three  levels: 

Dissemination  of  humanistic,  democratic  values  in  Europe 
Assisting  the  integration  of  the  European  citizen  into  society 
Enabling  pan-European  and  intercultural  exchanges 

The  project  develops  an  active  virtual  platform,  using  humanistic  and 
democratic  values,  for  education  of  citizens  in  urban  communities,  enabling 
them  to  take  part  in  lifelong  learning  activities  that  enhance  their  autonomous 
functioning  and  integration  into  a  European  society. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-26037 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Lifelong  learning  and  training 

Action  Line: 
Learning  Citizen 

Full  Title: 
Educational  Communal  Net 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/12/2001 

End  Date: 
30/11/2004 

Project  Objectives: 
EDCOMNET  looks  to  develop  a  virtual  learning 
community  Web  portal  for  adult  citizens  and 
focuses  on  lifelong  learning.  The  ultimate 
objective  of  the  project  is to  design,  develop 
and  implement  a virtual  platform  for  communal 
learning  and  communication  in  a  community. 
This virtual  platform  is  based  on  guidelines 
stemming  from  the  integration  of  two 
categories  of  theories:  autonomy  oriented 
education,  and  the  methodology  of  autonomy 
oriented  tutoring  stemming  from  it,  and 
theories  about  self-organising  social  groups 

Target  Audience: 

Individuals  and  Communities 

Keywords: 
Autonomy,  Democracy,  Sustainable  lifelong 
learning 

Technology: 
Portal 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Dr Aharon  Avlram 
Ben-Gurion  University 
The  Center  for  Futurism  in  Education  (CFE) 
Israel 
Tel:  +972-8-6461887 
Fax:  +972-8-6461721 
E-mail:  futuredu@bgumail.bgu.ac.il 

Project  Participants 
Ben  Gurion  University-  Center  for  Furturism  in 
Education  (CFE)  and,  as  a  major  subcontractor 
to  CFE:  ETE (Empowerment  Through 
Electronics)  Ltd. (IL) 
Groupo  CEAC  S.A.  (ES) 
INSEAD/CALT  (European  Institute  of  Business 
Administration/  Centre  for  Advanced  Learning 
Technology)  (FR) 
CTI (The  Computer  Technology  Institute)  (GR) 
Ferrini  Valle  & Associates  (IT) 

FELLOWS 

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Promoting distance learning 
There are a number of groups of people who cannot take full advantage of 
education and training provision as a result of their personal circumstances. 
The FELLOWS project aims to develop and test out distance learning services 
for such hard-to-reach groups. The project will be implemented through a 
user-friendly ODL training service, tailored to the needs of trainers and 
learners alike. 

Specific objectives of the project include: 

developing an ODL training service centred around its users (trainers and 
learners); 
training those "hard to reach" groups; 
providing technical· knowledge transfer to the trainers to make sure they feel· 
some ownership of the ODL environment and system; 
creation of an environment that facUitates European-wide co-operation and 
sharing of resources by trainers and training institutes; 
development of the required ODL infrastructure from common Internet 
standards to ensure general compatibility and easy access from any terminal. 

Getting the project under way 
Implementation of the project can be separated out into 4 main activities: 

Specification and development of the ODL infrastructure accessible from any 
terminal, through the exploitation of XML and artificial intelligence techniques, 
and allowing: 

the monitoring of the trainees' work and tracking of their progress 
communication between trainees and trainers 
course design by the trainers through user friendly authoring facilities. 
Specification and design of HCl (Human Computer Interfaces) adapted to the 
FELLOWS target groups (trainers and trainees); 

Training the trainers and course design: 

Training  the  trainers  to  use the  ODL pLatform  and  to  design  training  course 
material· for  the  FELLOWS environment 
Selection  and  deveLopment  of  the  training  courses  and  suitable  educational 
approaches  to  be  used  in  the  pilot  for  the  target  groups,  ensuring  these  are 
transferable  to  other  user  groups  and  countries 

Evaluation  in a Pilot  environment 
Set-up of a pilot to try out the FELLOWS ODL environment: 

with  4  different  socially  fragile  target  groups:  women  at  home, young  people 
in  dual  training  system  who  are  on  the  verge  of  dropping  out,  unemployed 
young  people  (incL.  immigrants),  semi-Literate  peopLe, 
in  4  different  countries:  France,  Germany,  Austria  and  the  UK. 

Evaluation  will  be  a key  part  of  the  pilot  process  and  technical  as well as 
pedagogical  aspects  will  be assessed to  measure  the  impact  of  FELLOWS  learning 
services  on  trainees  and  trainers. 

These  4  activities  will  not  be  carried  out  in  a  linear  way,  but  with  an  iterative 
approach  to  provide  feedback  from  users  to  the  technology  provider  on  an  on 
going  basis  : trainers  and  trainees,  will  play  a  major  role  in  this  process  to 
ensure  they  feel full  ownership  of  the  new  learning  environment. 

Guidelines  will  be  developed  to  ensure  further  deployment  of  the  project  results 
in  the  future. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-26247 

Duration: 
30  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Vocational  training 

Action  Line: 
The  Learning  Citizen 

Full  Title: 
Facilitating  and  Enhancing  access  to  Lifelong 
Learning  solutions  for  a Wide  variety  of  Social 
categories 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2001 

End  Date: 
30/09/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
To  develop  and  validate  new  distance  learning 
services  for  user  groups  who  do  not  have  easy 
access  to  education  and  training 

Target  Audience: 
Groups  of  people  with  no  easy  access  to 
training 

Keywords: 
Learners  outside  formal  education,  ODL 
platform,  accessibility  from  various  terminals, 
HCl,  XML 

Technology: 
Internet,  XML,  Multi  Agent  System 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Tracey  Hipperson 
College  of  West  Anglia 
Tennyson  Avenue 
Kings  Lynn 
PE30  2QW  Norfolk 
United  Kingdom 
Tel:  +44-1553-761144 

Fax:  +44-1553-766961 

E-mail:  thlpperson@col-westanglia.ac.uk 

Project  Participants 
College  of  West  Anglia  (UK) 
La  Ligue  Française  de  l'Enseignement  et  de 
l'Education  Permanente  (FR) 
Internationaler  Bund  (IB)  Bildungszentrum 
Stuttgart  (DE) 
Berufsfoerderunginstitut  Oberoesterreich  (BFI) 
(AT) 
University  of  Leeds  (UK) 
@rc-en-web  (FR) 
ΐπΐ  (PL) 

HERO 

Promoting the  rehabilitation  of  offenders 
Prisons  are  a  challenging  test  for  1ST, for  reasons  such  as  access,  data 
protection,  social isolation  and  poor  motivation.  HERO will  attempt  to 
promote  the  rehabilitation  of  offenders  through  the  use  of  1ST applications 
to  provide  health  promotion  and  learning  services. The  project  is  aimed  at 
the  rehabilitation  of  "first  offenders"  between  18  and  25  years  old 
(typically  awaiting  sentence  or  "on  remand")  and  prisoners  due  for  release. 

The  services  aim  to  prepare  ground  for  the  rehabilitation  of  offenders  by 
creating  a "learning  environment"  within  which  (a)  first  offenders  can  be 
empowered  to  more  productively  manage  their  health  and  educational  needs  "on 
the  inside"  and  (b)  prisoners  due  for  release  can  make  more  strategic 
preparations  for  life  "on  the  outside".  Moreover,  a  key  objective  of  the  project  is 
to  help  towards  the  promotion  of  a  common  content  framework  for  health 
promotion  and  learning  within  rehabilitation  programmes  for  Member  States. 

The main aims of the project are: 

The  development  and  delivery  of  an  integrated  package  of  personal  health 
systems,  focusing  on  depression,  drugs  harm  minimisation  and  risk  reduction 
behaviour  support  for  HIV/STD; 
The  development  of  customised  learning  programmes  for  offenders,  using 
scaffolded  pedagogic  models  and  multimedia  authoring  applications; 
Skills  auditing  and  skills  assessment  tools,  which  will  interface  user  skills 
profiles  with  online  "job  opportunities"  websites  and  "back  to  work" 
initiatives. 

The  creation  of  the  Interactive  Content  Repository  -  an  evolving  knowledge 
base  of  core  information  resources  -  which  will  provide  a "knowledge  bank" 
for  health  promotion  modules  and  other  training  courses.  The  ICR will  be 
supported  by  data  management  and  data  mining  tools  to  ensure  the  services 
are  tailored  to  user  needs,  and  to  ensure  integrity  and  data  security. 

The  services  will  be  delivered  in  an  innovative  way  through  interactive  user 
monitoring  and  virtual  case  conferencing  tools  to  facilitate  decision  support  for 
users,  and  collaborative  working  between  users  and  professionals.  They  will  be 
delivered  primarily  through  the  Internet  but,  if  problems  develop,  other  delivery 
approaches  (involving  DTV and  hybrid  platforms)  will  be  developed. 

HERO  will  be  piloted  in  eight  sites  in  the  UK,  Greece,  Italy  and  Germany. The 
pilot  sites  represent  a  range  of  correctional  environments  and  rehabilitation 
approaches  within  the  European  criminal justice  system. 

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Project  No: 
IST-2000-26274 

Duration: 
30  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  training 

Action  Line: 
Learning  Citizen 

Full  Title: 
Health  Promotion  and  Educational  Support  for 
the  Rehabilitation  of  Offenders 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2001 

End  Date: 
31/10/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
To develop,  demonstrate  and  evaluate  IST 
applications  and  services  to  promote  the 
rehabilitation  of  offenders.  The  project  involves 
targeting  "first  offenders"  and  prisoners  due  for 
release  with  learning  and  health  promotion 
services 

Target  Audience: 
Prison  and  rehabilitation  services 

Keywords: 
Prisons;  rehabilitation;  lifelong  learning,-  health 
promotion 

Technology: 
HERO  integrates  standard  client-server 
technology  to  facilitate  the  'co-production  of 
knowledge'  that  will  enable  health  promotion 
and  learning  services  to  be  tailored  to  the 
needs  of  individual  prisoners  within  a  particular 
rehabilitation  context.  The  technology  platform 
centres  on  an  evolving  distributed  knowledge 
base  or  'repository'  (ICR)  of  resources  that  will 
provide  the  building  blocks  for  content 
development  and  service  delivery  for  HERO 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Dr  Joe  Cullen 
Tavistock  Institute 
Scientific  Affairs 
United  Kingdom 
Tel:  +44-207-4573940 
Fax:  +44-207-4170567 

E-mail:  j.cullen@tavinstitute.org 

Project  Participants 
Tavistock  Institute  (UK) 
Oxford  Computer  Consultants  (UK) 
MWA  Consulting  (UK) 
National  School  of  Public  Health  (GR) 
SCIENTER (IT) 
FIM Psychologie,  Friedrich-Alexander-Universitat 
Erlangen-Nurnberg  (DE) 
Departimento  Scienze  Dell'Educazione, 
University  of  Bologna  (IT) 
Therapy  Centre  for  Dependant  Individuals  (GR) 
UPM,  Universidad  Polltechnica  de  Madrid  (ES) 

HOPE 

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Promoting social inclusion through learning 
European Union policy sees the objectives of learning as social integration, 
the enhancement of employability and personal fulfilment. The HOPE project 
aims to contribute to these objectives and to the economic development of 
the community and the strengthening of its social fabric by providing 
services for enhancing and facilitating lifelong distant learning for socially 
excluded individuals. By providing these individuals with access to learning, 
HOPE aims to improve their qualifications and employment prospects, 
thereby improving their quality of life. It will not only facilitate their 
educational rehabilitation but also develop the necessary skills for an equal 
participation in Europe's labour force. 

An interactive learning package 
The HOPE project attempts to promote the inclusion of these socially 
disadvantaged individuals, in particular young offenders, through the creation 
of interactive training packages. The training packages will be designed so that 
they can be easily adapted to the targeted learning group or individual learning 
needs. The training programme will involve a high level of interaction and 
feedback between the learner and provider in order that training material can be 
modified and enhanced in connection with the learning goals and progress of 
the learner. Similarly, interactive training sessions will incorporate highly 
sophisticated methods of self-assessment and progress evaluation. These consist 
of experiments, exercises, electronic guestionnaires and interactive video. The 
training packages themselves will be delivered using various presentation 
modules, for example text, interactive video and virtual reality environment. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-26271 

Duration: 
30  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  Training  Sector 

Action  Line: 
Learning  Citizen 

Full  Title: 
Distant  Learning  Brokerage  Environment  for 
Lifelong  Training  of  Individuals  with  Emphasis  in 
Socially  Excluded  Communities 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/03/2001 

End  Date: 
30/09/2003 

Project  objectives: 
The  creation  of  an  interactive  training  package 
for  socially  excluded  individuals,  which  can  be 
tailored  to  the  individual's  profile  and  needs 

Target  audience: 
State  prisons,  orphan  &  drug  addict  institutes, 
educational  organisations,  government  bodies, 
broadcasters,  cybermediaries,  etc.,  that  wish  to 
offer  specialised  training  to  their  social  groups 
or  target  markets 

Keywords: 
Training;  Information/studies/analyses;  Special 
education;  New  competences;  Education  and 
Training Market;  Standardisation; Virtual Reality; 
Metadata;  Interoperability;  3D eLearning  Community, 
Open  Source; Open  Platform  & Tools;  Authoring 
Tools;  Personalised  Learning; Learning  Technology 
Standardisation;  Re-use;  Learning  Objects 

Technology: 
HOPE will  integrate  various  alternative 
presentation  modules  (e.g. text,  interactive 
video,  virtual  reality  environment,  etc.).  The 
multi-layer  architecture  will  be  open  to 
continuously  enrich  its  content  and  services.  It 
comprises  presentation  modules,  functional 
components  and  multimedia  data  models  (e.g. 
MPEG4, WRL, QML  &  databases)  for  meta 
modelling  and  representation  of  the  training 
material.  An  intelligent  agent  for  the  dynamic 
updating  of  course  contents  will  be  in  the 
system  architecture.  The  agent  will  be  constantly 
activated  and  its  functionality  will  be  based  on 
newly  acquired  content  with  existing  courses. 
Each  course  will  be  characterised  by  parameters 
and  values.  Intelligent  functional  components 
will  support  the  group  evaluation  and  self-
assessment  services 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Jose  Estévez  Garda 
SchlumbergerSema 
Madrid,  Spain 
Tel:  +34-94408835 
Fax:  +34-917543252 
E-mail:  jose.estevez@sema.es 
URL:  http://www.hope-project.org 

Project  Participants 
SchlumbergerSema  (ES) 
Pouliadis  (GR) 
University  of  Athens  (GR) 
ARSIS  (GR) 
ALPAO  (ES) 
TEI (GR) 
UnAngel  (ES) 

Delivering the  project 
Demonstration  and  verification  of  the  results  of  the  project  will  be  carried  out 
through  two  national·  piLot  projects  in  Greece  and  Spain.  During  the  pilots,  the 
project  will  be tested  using  real  data  and  real  users  (groups  of  young  offenders). 
The impact  of  the  programme  on  the  users' behaviour  and  attitudes  will  be 
studied  by  a team  of  specialised  psychologists.  Until  then,  trials  of  the 
technology  to  be  used  will  be  carried  out  through  laboratory  simulation  models. 
Findings  from  the  pilots  and trials  will  contribute  to  the  enhancement  of  the 
training  packages  ready  for  final  implementation  in  the  future. 

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LCCN 

Supporting  lifelong  learning 
Within  the  1ST programme,  the  "Learning  Citizen"  action  line  investigates 
the  role  of  new  ICT-based  approaches  in  facilitating  lifelong  learning  for 
individuals.  The  LCCN  project  supports  lifelong  learning  and  the 
development  of  social  skills  for  all  citizens,  the  rehabilitation  of  offenders, 
the  integration  of  socially  excluded  members  of  society,  and  new  methods 
of  teaching  including  for  citizens  with  special  learning  needs. 

The  project  aims  to  raise  awareness  of  potential  adopters  of  the  technology 
deveÍoped,  to  bridge  the  gap  between  technoLogy  suppliers  and  users,  and  to 
exploit  synergies  between  activities  within  the  cluster  to  disseminate  knowledge 
and  results  from  the  1ST programme  at  all  levels  particularly  for  the  LC projects. 
It  also  promotes  collaboration  and  information  flow  amongst  the  projects  and 
contributes  to  the  raising  of  the  guality  of  the  projects'  work  and  outputs 

Co-ordination 
The  co-ordination  work  carried  out  by  LCCN develops  a  synergy  amongst  the 
projects  and allows  them  to  make  full  use of  commonalities  by  performing  an 
audit  of  the  "technological  capital"  the  projects  are  developing,  how  they  relate 
to  each  other  and  how they  wilL relate  to  the  final  users. It  also  undertakes a 
global  analysis  of  user  requirements  from  the  technologies  and  solutions 
provided  by  the  development  of  each  project. 

Project  No: 
IST-2001-33539 

Duration: 
38  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  Training 

Action  Line: 
Learning  Citizen 

Full  Title: 
Learning  Citizen  Cluster  Node 

Project  Type: 
Accompanying  Measure 

Dissemination  and  Exploitation 
The  dissemination  and  exploitation  activities  communicate  the  results  of  the 
LCCN network  externally  to  obtain  an  adequate  and  professional  Level of  visibility 
and  influence.  The  dissemination  plan  will  be  carried  out  at  two  levels: 

Start  Date: 
01/12/2001 

End  Date: 
31/01/2005 

information  dissemination  of  a  general  transversal  nature  carried  out  directly 
by  the  LCCN project-
synergy  for  communication  at  the  clustered  level  project. 

This  plan  will  be established  at the  end  of  the  first  trimester  of  the  project  and 
continually  revised. 

Best practice 
The  development  of  best  practice  targets  falls  also  within  the  LCCN initiative 
objectives.  LCCN identifies  and  promotes  cross  utilisation  of  technology  blocks 
from  the  diverse  developments  by  the  projects  of  the  cluster  and  inputs  external 
knowledge  through  market,  business,  and  technology  watches  and  workshops 
from  selected  themes  in  the  learning  domain. 

Project  Objectives: 
The  Learning  Citizen  Cluster  Node 
accompanying  measure  gives  support  to  co 
ordinate  the  dissemination  of  knowledge  and 
results  of  LC projects,  promote  co-operation 
amongst  projects,  improve  validation  activities, 
and  contribute  to  raising  the  quality  of  the 
work 

Target  Audience: 
Citizens  involved  in  life  long  learning 

Keywords: 
Life  long  learning,  social  skills,  social  inclusion, 
coordination,  dissemination  of  results  and 
knowledge,  collaboration,  best  practice 

Technology: 
Internet 

rue  du  Dessous  des  Berges 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Carlos Triay 
ARTTIC 
58  A 
F-75013  Paris 
Tel:  +33-1-53945460 
Fax:  +33-1-53945470 
E-mail: triay@arttic.fr 
URL:  http://www.arttic.fr 

Project  Participants 
ARTTIC (FR) 
ARTTIC  Brussels  (BE) 
e-medlate  Limited  (UK),  (DE),  (FR) 

METACAMPUS 

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CAMPUS 

Providing a market for  life-long learning needs 
The  MetaCampus  project  aims  to  reconcile  the  increasing  learning  needs  of 
society  with  the  emergence  of  new  e-learning  services.  The  MetaCampus 
project  aims  to  fulfil  the  life-long  learning  needs  of  European  citizens  and 
provide  them  with  flexible  access  to  services  for  their  own  personal 
development.  This  will  involve  designing  and  testing  a  digital  marketplace 
for  the  selection,  purchase  and  delivery  of  those  resources  best  fitting  the 
customers'  life-long  learning  needs,  preferences  and  profile. 

Delivering the  project 

Specification  and design stage:  This  will  be carried  out  by  a set  of 
representative  learning  resource  providers  (e.g.  online  educative  service 
providers,  editors,  cultural  agents  and  broadcasters)  with  the  close  support 
of  the  technical  partners  responsible  for  the  implementation  and  integration 
of  the  MetaCampus  components  later  in  the  project.  They  will  aim  to  gather 
the  business  models  and  infrastructures  of  the  participating  content 
providers  and  specify  and  design  the  MetaCampus  guidelines  and  MetaCampus 
marketplace. 

Refinement and implementation  of guidelines:  This will  be  done as part  of a 
number  of  different  thematic  work  packages.  One will  be  concerned  with 
cataloguing  customers  and  training  offers.  The  user  catalogue  will  contain 
information  relating  to  a  user's  preferences,  gathering  a  history  and  profile  in 
order  to  be able  to  personalise  the  offers.  Another  work  package  will 
implement  the  Training  Consultant,  which  will  guide  the  customers  in  the 
search  of  the  learning  resources  best  fitting  their  needs.  A third  work 
package  will  provide  financial  operations  and  will  be  guaranteed  by  a savings 
bank.  A  final  work  package  will  develop  protocols  to  intemperate  resources 
from  different  providers  and  different  formats,  in  order  to  create  new  added 
value  learning  resources. 

Dissemination and Commercial Exploitation:  This stage will aim to  promote 
sustainability  of  the  marketplace.  Resulting  guidelines,  software  architecture 
and  components  will  be  submitted  to  the  main  standardisation  bodies  and 
working  groups  for  their  dissemination,  discussion  and  universal  deployment. 

Results of the project 
The key results are: 

MetaCampus software platform: the software platform for managing e-learning 
marketplaces as the means for storing and delivering digital resources for 
learning. It will be based in four basic components: 
The User Catalogue, the end-user relationship management tool that will help 
track personal interests, history and profile. 
The Learning Resources Catalogue, the store tool of learning resources. 
The Training Consultant, the intelligent agent that helps match the learning 
interests of individuals with learning resources. 
The Ε-payment module, the module that will compute the cost of the service 
for end-users and the revenues for the learning resource providers based on 
clearing IPR based on their content. 
MetaCampus Guidelines provides the description, technical specification and 
IPR conditions about how to publish learning resources in the MetaCampus 
marketplace. 

Marketplace website: the final prototype used for validation and demonstration 
will be left active for further dissemination and business opportunity 
assessment. 

Project No: 
IST-2000-26314 

Duration: 
30 months 

Economic Sector: 
Education and Training 

Action Line: 
The Learning Citizen 

Full Title: 
MetaCampus for Life-Long Learning 

Project Type: 
Education and Training Research 

Start Date: 
01/04/2001 

End Date: 
30/09/2003 

Project Objectives: 
Developing and testing a marketplace aimed at 
fulfilling the life-long learning needs of 
European citizens, providing them with a 
flexible access to personal development 

Target Audience: 
Learning citizens. 

Keywords: 
Life-long learning, educational marketplace, 
training consultant, interoperability 

Technology: 
Object oriented, UML, Java, XML, intelligent 
agents 

Project Co-ordinator 
Antoni Riu 
Universität Oberta de Catalunya 
Spain 
Tel: +34-93-2532400 
Fax: +34-93-4539484 
E-mail: ariu@uoc.es 

Project Participants 
Universität Oberta de Catalunya (ES) 
SchlumbergerSema Group SAE (ES) 
France Telecom R&D, (FR) 
Caixa d'Estalvis i Pensions de Barcelona (ES) 
Scienter (IT) 
Lambrakis Research Foundation (GR) 
University of Cologne (DE) 
Gestión del Conocimiento, SA (ES) 
TVC Multimedia SL, (ES) 
Ernst Klett Verlag GMBH (DE) 
Comune di Bologna (IT) 
Cultural Heritage On Line (FR) 

m-learning 

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fi 

Attracting young adults to  learning 
m-learning  is  motivated  by  concerns  about  three  social/educational 
problems  relating  to  many  young  adults  in  the EU: 

poor  literacy/numeracy; 
non-participation  in  conventional  education/training  programmes; 
lack  of  access  to  ICT  (Information  and  Communication  Technology)  creating 
a  "digitaL  divide",  resulting  from  inequality  of  opportunity  in  deprived  areas. 

The  project  aims  to  attract  young  adults  to  learning  and  help  them  to  develop 
lifelong  learning  objectives. 

The  m-learning  project  is  developing  prototype  products  that  provide 
information  and  learning  experiences  for  young  EU adults.  The  design  aim  for 
the  learning  experiences,  and  the  interfaces  between  user  and  technology,  is  to 
encourage  independent  exploration  of  the  possibilities  and  resources  offered  by 
m-learning,  to  empower  learners  and to  make  learning  fun. 

Product development  informed by research 
Prototype  products  being  developed  by  m-learning  include  small  modules  of 
learning  and  learning  games,  imaginative  interfaces  between  the  technology  and 
the  user,  e.g.  microportals  and  voice-technology  facilities,  and  an  intelligent 
tutor  system  guide. 

m-learning  product  development  is  informed  by  research  activities  throughout 
the  project  including  on-going  review  of  current  and  emerging  technologies 
and  standards.  A  literature  review  seeks  out  relevant  work  by  other  projects  and 
lessons  which  can  be  learned  from  this.  Research  investigating  the  motivation, 
preferences  and  behaviour  of  young  adults  currently  using  mobile  phones  and 
handheLd  electronic  games  will  assist  in  the  design  of  products  likely  to  be 
attractive  to  these  young  people.  The  potential  of  m-learning  for  individuals 
with  sensory  impairments  will  also  be  considered  and  a close  watch  will  be  kept 
on  research  into  possible  health  hazards  of  excessive  use  of  mobile  phones. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-25270 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education 

Action  Line: 
Learning  Citizen 

Full  Title: 
Mobile  Communications  Technologies  for 
Young  Adults  Learning  and  Skills  Development 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/10/2001 

End  Date: 
30/09/2004 

Project  Objectives: 
The  motivation  for  the  m-learning  project  is 
concern  about  high  levels  of  poor  literacy,  poor 
numeracy  and  non-participation  in  education 
amongst  young  adults  In  many  EU  countries. 
The  project  seeks  to  use  young  people's 
interest  in,  excitement  about  and  ownership  of 
mobile  phones  as  a  vehicle  for  delivering 
messages  about  learning  and  involving  young 
adults  in  mobile  learning  experiences 

Target  Audience: 
Young  adults  (16-24)  not  involved  in  education 
or  training 

Keywords: 
mobile  learning,  young  adults,  e-leamlng 

Technology: 
mobile  phones,  palmtop  computers  and  other 
mobile  communications  devices 

Project  Co-ordinator 

Jill  Attewell 
The  Learning  and  Skills  Development  Agency 
Citadel  Place 
Tlnworth  Street,  Vauxhall 
London  SE11  5EH 
United  Kingdom 
Tel:  +44-207-8405393 
Fax:  +44-207-8405401 
E-mail:  jattewell@lsda.org.uk 
URL:  http://www.ultralab.ac.uk/projects/m-
learning/home.shtml 

Project  Participants 
The  Learning  and  Skills  Development  Agency 
(UK) 
CRMPA  (IT) 
CTAD  (UK) 
Lecando  (SE) 
Ultralab, Anglia  Polytechnic  University  (UK) 

Developing skills and encouraging further  learning 
The  primary  target  of  m-learning  is  young  adults  who  are  not  taking  part  in 
education  or  training,  or  are  mobile,  casual, temporary  or  self-employed,  or  in 
low  income/skill  employment  with  literacy/numeracy  development  needs. 

The  learning  will  involve  a series  of  very  smaLl, quick  learning  experiences 
designed  to  help  development  of  literacy  and  numeracy  skills.  Users  who  enjoy 
the  learning  experiences  will  be  invited  to  log  on  at  an  Internet  café  or  local 
on-line  learning  centre  to  take  part  in  more  substantial  learning  experiences. 
the  future  access  to  these  further  experiences  may  be  via  digital  television. 

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NEMO 

Tackling social  exclusion 
The  NEMO project  aims  to  promote  the  social inclusion  of  certain  groups, 
namely  the  deaf,  mentally  disabled  and  elderly  people  through  the  provision 
of  Web-based  resources  for  education  and  learning.  It  aims  to  promote, 
among  these  particular  groups,  self-confidence,  social  inclusion,  better 
social  skills  and  the  exchange  of  experiences  among  members  of  the 
groups. 

The  project  aims  to  carry  out  a study  of  different  models,  which  aim  to  deliver 
education  and  lifelong  learning  services  to  these  groups  through  the  use  of 
Internet  technologies  and  tools. 
deliver  an  agreed  model and  test  this  model through  its  implementation  and  the 
provision  of  Web-based  education  (WBE)  services. 

It  then  aims  to  create  the  technology  to 

Delivering the  project 
The  project  will  be  delivered  in  a number  of  stages: 

The  identification  of  user  needs  for  the  three  targeted  groups; 
Definition  of  the  XML syntax,  able  to  describe  the  different  models  for  each 
of  the  three  groups  with  the  aim  of  reaching  a generic  syntax  for  model 
definition; 
Definition  of  a  methodological  approach  for  model  implementation; 
Design  of  a model for  the  overall  user  group; 
Implementation  of  the  site  where  users  can  gain  access  to  the  WBE services; 
Validation  and  testing  of  the  services  by  their  users; 
Refinement  of  the  system  and  model  according  to  user  feedback; 
Dissemination  of  project  results; 
Exploitation  of  the  results  in  other  sectors. 

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Project  No: 
IST-2OOO-25308 

Duration: 
28  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  training 

Action  Line: 
The  Learning  Citizen 

Full  Title: 
Non-Excluding  Models  for  Web-based 
Education 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2001 

End  Date: 
31/07/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
To  Improve  lifelong  learning  services  for  deaf, 
mentally-disabled  and  elderly  people  by 
providing  them  with  a greater  variety  of  Web-
based  resources  and  learning  more  focused 
towards  social  integration  issues 

Target  Audience: 
Deaf,  mentally  disabled,  elderly 

Keywords: 
Social  inclusion,  deaf,  mentally  disabled, 
elderly,  lifelong  learning,  Internet  technology 
and  tools,  web-based  education  services,  user 
needs  and  limitations,  best  practice 

Technology: 
XML  based  specification  of  syntax  language  for 
WBE,  web  Based  Education  combined  with  IMS 
standard 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Jose  Manuel  Hernandez  Mayor 
ALAMO  SISTEMAS 
Ronda  de  poniente  2,  2-D 
E-  28760  Tres  Cantos 
Madrid 
Tel.  +34-91-804-0068 
Fax  +34-91-806-0911 
E-mall:  jmhernandez@alamosistemas.com 
URL:  http://www.alamosistemas.com/nemo/ 

Project  Participants 
Alamo  Sistemas  (ES) 
Centre  for  Futurism  in  Education  of  Ben  Gurion 
University  (CFE)  (IL) 
COCLEA  (IT) 
Center  For  Research  And  Technology  (GR) 

The  overall  aim  of  the  project  is  to  provide  educational  services  to  the  three 
targeted  groups  which  are tailored  to  their  needs  and  limitations.  As  the 
targeted  groups  are  often  restricted  in  where  and  when  they  can  normally 
receive  such  services,  a Web-based  model  brings  the  services  to  them.  Although 
the  services  are  tailored  to  the  individual  groups,  it  is  hoped  that  the 
methodology  created  during  the  project  for  model  definition  will  allow  it  to  be 
used  by  similar  projects  in  the  future.  To further  this  end, the  project  will 
produce  best  practice  recommendations  for  the  definition  of  Internet-based 
educational  systems. 

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Ped-Care 

A  multi-dimensional  approach to  Human Factors training 
The  development  and  application  of  new  technologies  in  relation  to  distance 
learning  raises  new  problems  requiring  new  and  innovative  solutions  from 
both  an  educational  and technological  point  of  view.  Ped-care  aims  to 
develop  tools  and  practices  to  tackle  these  problems  and  come  up  with 
solutions  to  enhance  and  improve  distance  learning  relationships.  It  is 
hoped  that  the  project  will  stimulate  the  process  of  lifelong  learning  by 
opening  it  up to  individuals  who  are  normally  excluded  from  the  traditional 
means  of  education. The  project  will  aim  to  analyse  the  future  of  distance 
teaching  and  learning  and  create  tools  and  learning  environments  to  be  used 
for  distance  learning  in  the  future. 

The  main  objective  of  the  project  is  to  develop  a  new  methodology,  designated 
as  Learners  Relationship  Manager  (LRM),  aimed  at  improving  and  optimising  the 
relationship  between  learners  and  teachers  through  more  efficient  use  of  new 
technologies.  In  order  to  reach  the  project's  goals,  a  multidisciplinary 
consortium  has  been  created  involving  developers,  technology  providers,  final 
users,  psychologists  and  sociologists. 

Developing a methodology for  distance  learning 
The  project  work  involves  the  following  steps: 

Preparation  of  best  practice  for  implementing  distance  learning  services 
based  on  a tele-education  system; 
Development  of  tools  for  the  monitoring  and  evaluation  of  students  and  the 
teaching  services  themselves,  exploring  information  flows  and 
communication  processes  and  how  these  impact  on  optimisation  of  the 
impact  of  the  service; 
Preparation  of  pilot  courses  to  test  out  the  proposed  methods  and  tools. 
These  courses  will  aim  to  be  innovative  in  nature  providing  services  to 
students  and  teachers  which  would  otherwise  not  be  available  to  them. 

The  devised  tools  will  need to  conform  to  widely  acceptable  standards  so  that 
they  can  be  re-used  in  various  training  scenarios  and  operations. 

One innovative  element  of  the  project  is  that  it  will  aim  to  base  its  tools  on 
lessons  learned  from  customer-related  management  (CRM) techniques.  This  will 
involve  technological  transfer  from  other  strongly  competitive  sectors  such  as 
banking  and  telephone  operators  where  CRM techniques  have  provided  excellent 
results  and  use  of  which  is  essential  to  ensure  success  against  competitors. 

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Projgct  No: 
IST-2000-25417 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  training 

Action  Line: 
Learning  Citizen 

Full  Title: 
Pedagogical  Distributed  Groups  Care 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/06/2001 

End  Date: 
31/05/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
To  develop  more  efficient  use  of  new 
technologies  to  promote  distance  learning  and 
improve  and  optimise  the  relationship  between 
learners  and  teachers 

Target  Audience: 
Each  partner  will  deal  with  different  target 
groups  of  learners  that  are  widely  distributed  in 
Europe  (Spain,  Greece,  The  Netherlands  and 
Sweden).  They  each  have  different  cultures 
due  to  their  geographic  location  and  to  their 
social  position 

Keywords: 
Metadata/LOM,  mobile  devices,  intelligent 
agents,  CRM 

Technology: 
CRM,  Virtual  Campus  and  eLearning  system, 
mobile  devices,  Java, XML, WML,  Metadata/ 
LOM,  Intelligent  Agents,  Neural  networks, 
Genetic  Algorithms 

Project  Co-ordinator 

Miguel  Arjona  Villanueva 
Altran  SDB 
Ramirez  de  Arellano  15 
Planta  3 
E-10960  Madrid 
Tel:  +34-91-7440517 
Fax:  +34-91-4152457 

E-mail:  kiko@altransdb.com 

Project  Participants 
Software  de  Base  (Altran  SDB)  (ES) 
Universidad  Nacional  de  Educación  a  Distancia 
(UNED)  (ES) 
01  PLIROFORIKI  SA  (01p)  (GR) 
ACME  Training  (GR) 
VIEWROPE  AB  (SE) 
Consorzio  Universitario  in  Ingegneria  della 
Qualità  (IT) 
Partner  in  Training  &  Technology  N.O.  B.v  (PITT) 
(NL) 
Sllogic (FR) 
Fundación  Directa  (ES) 
RETEVISION  MÓVIL  S.A.  (AMENA)  (ES) 
Skeria  Utveckling  AB  (SE) 

PROMENTHEA 

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PATHWAY INTO KNOWLEDGE / RESEARCH ON O P I O NS *4 M E D I A/ 

EVOLVING of KNOWLEDGE t TECHNOLOGY / HYPERMEDIA ENVIRONMENT 

ioti ELABORATE APPLICATIONS OE STYLES AND SKILLS 

* 

Learning about learning 
As in any discipline, ideas change over time. The science of learning is no 
exception. Research now focuses on understanding how the acquisition and 
the transfer of knowledge work. In a knowledge-driven economy, 
understanding is the key to how knowledge and know-how can serve as a 
potential for the creative discovery of new areas of knowledge. In essence 
PROMENTHEA aims to delve into these related mechanisms by looking at the 
interaction between media, content and the learners' ways of accessing 
them. 

In the first year the project will first focus on specifying the overall research 
layout alongside needs-analysis. Later research will set out relevant criteria for 
learning environments, and develop a comparable structure for investigation in 
different contexts. These findings and insights will be adopted to create 
experimental settings for individual and community-based learning for 40+, 
remote access and independent learning for experienced learners with different 
goals - in the workplace and as part of a temporary job. The settings will be 
based on thorough investigation of content features and the needs of learners 
and trainers. It is assumed that tools for accessing and understanding lower the 
threshold problem with new technologies. These settings will be the subject of 
scientific observation and feedback. 

Positive feedback 
Guidance and backups for the learner will feature as part of the experimental 
setting. Each individual learner is considered a valuable source of useful 
information on how accessing and approaching techniques and ways of thinking 
and seeing mould the encounter with content and forms of presentation (media) 
and delivery (technology). It will help determine what kind of structures and 
navigation are essential. This feed-back will allow PROMENTHEA to fine-tune 
their understanding as to how arrangements of modes influence and meet the 
learners' need for self-organisation and orientation. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-26204 

Duration: 
30  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education 

Action  Line: 
Learning  Citizen 

Full  Title: 
Pathways  Into  knowledge/Research  on  Options 
in  Media/Evolving  of  kNowledge/Technology/ 
Hypermedia/Environment  for  elaborate 
Applications  of  styles  and  skills 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/08/2001 

End  Date: 
31/01/2004 

Project  objectives: 
Creation  of  individual  and  collaborative  learning 
support  environments 

Target  audience: 
the  variety  of  target  learners 

Key words: 
toollstic  processing  techniques,  presenting 
forms  and  multimedial  /  multilingual  navigation 
modes 

Technology: 
Standard  international  technology  /ASB  /  oracle 
database 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Gitta Stagi 
Lernfeld  Sprache 
Mayerhofgasse  6 
A-1040  Vienna 
Tel:  +43-1-5037779 
Fax:  +43-1-5037776 
E-mail:  lernfeld.sprache@chello.at 

Project  Participants 
Lernfeld  Sprache  (AT) 
Norfolk  County  Council  NCC  (UK) 
Sigma  Education  AB  (SE) 
Vardagsmakt  AB  (SE) 
Distansutbildningsmundigheten  DISTUM  (SE) 
Sveriges  Utbildningsradion  UR (SE) 
Folkbildningsföreningen  Alterna  (SE) 
Statens  Skola  foer  Vuxna  i Norrköping  SSVN  (SE) 
Förderungsstelle  des  Bundes  für 
Erwachsenenbildung  für  das  Burgenland  FB (AT) 
Bildungskooperative  Oberes  Waldviertel  BIKOO 
(AT) 

The settings  created  provide  the  learner  with  media  and  presentation  forms 
combined  under  the  aspect  of  "multilingual"  presentation  techniques:  using 
interactions  between  pictures,  language  and  "real"  objects,  re-using  media 
already  developed.  This  "multilingual"  approach  will  encourage  the  learner  to 
make  the  most  of  sensual experiences,  of  past  knowledge  and  skills  and  of  the 
capacity  to  find  out  what  is  best  for  a specific  learning  task.  This  study  will 
fathom  out  the  relationship  between  the  intellectual,  intuitive  and  sensory  in 
learning  and  language. 

Community  support 
The  collaborative  aspect  of  working  with  peers  and  seniors  and  as  part  of  an 
existing  learning  and  working  community  will  also  form  an  integral  part  of  study. 
This  aspect  will  help  towards  ascertaining  how  much  support  individual  learners 
need. 

This  web-based  collaborative  learning  environment,  called  COLLEEN, will  be 
externally  validated.  This  will  consist  of  experimentation  with  templates  for 
analogue  and  digital  literacy  tools  resulting  in  the  revision  and  re-modelling  of 
COLLEEN,  and  a subsequent  external  validation  of  the  advanced  version  of 
COLLEEN. The  navigation  system  will  provide  access  to  a variety  of  learning 
resources. 

PROMENTHEA  will  conclude  with  a report  on  model system  structure  for 
personalised  learning  environments  and  the  third  COLLEEN prototype.  It  will 
endeavour  to  demonstrate  the  potential  of  ICT  as  an  incentive  for  design  of 
parallel  and  complex  knowledge  forms  and  how  it  can  be  used  to  provide  tools 
and  built-in  guidance,  support  and  easy-to-use  handling  of  resources. 

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5D 

WWW.5D.ORG 

5th  dimension 
We are  all  familiar  with  the  traditional  approach  to  learning  -  a  single 
teacher  using  a  set  of  standard  textbooks.  With  rapid  developments  in  new 
technologies  and  the  development  of  new  approaches  to  learning,  made 
possible  through  computer-based  learning,  this  may  not  be  so familiar  for 
much  longer.  It  may well  be  replaced  by the  multimedia,  or  5D,  approach.  In 
parallel,  it  is  increasingly  recognised  that  local  education  benefits  from a 
community  approach,  in  which  local  universities,  colleges,  schools,  local 
organisations  and  companies  participate  and  pool  knowledge.  The  aim  of  the 
5D  project  is  to  develop  a  model  system  for  creating  new  educational 
communities  and  to  design  multimedia  components  that  can  be  used  to 
build  them. The  new  system  will  facilitate  learning  that  is  independent  of 
time  or  place. The  name  Fifth  Dimension  (5D)  refers  to  the  fact  that 
education  and  learning  go  beyond  the  three  dimensions  of  physical  space 
and the  fourth  dimension  of  time.  5D is  about  making  learning  meaningful. 

Background 
The  Fith  Dimension  (5D)  is  an  environment  of  learning  and  a community  of 
practice  where  computers  and  telecommunication  are  used  in  a  deliberate 
combination  with  all  kinds  of  suitable  artefacts.  Its  aim  is  to  develop  and 
strengthen  the  communicative  relations  between  the  menbers  of  this  "miniature 
society".  The  pedagogical  ideas  if  the  5D  activity  are  guided  by  a  socio-cultural, 
also  called  a  cultural-historical  perspective  on  learning,  implying  that  knowledge 
is  generated  in  diaologue  mediated  by  physical  and  conceptual  artefacts.  These 
theories  are  explored  and  tested  in  different  5D  sites  located  in  connection  to 
the  university,  and  to  primary  and  secondary  schools.  As  well  as children,  as  well 
as  undergraduates,  researchers  and  teachers  have  in  those  sites  opportunities  to 
find  out  new  ways  of  teaching  and  learning.  Collaboration  is  organised  between 
different  school  institutions  and  school  levels.  Co-operation  is  also  organised 
internationally  aiming  at  research  interaction  and  collaborative  writing. 

The  name  Fith  Dimension  (5D)  refers  to  the  fact  that  education  and  learning  go 
beyond  the  three  dimensions  of  physical  space  and  the  fourth  dimension  of 
time.  5D is  about  making  learning  meaningful. 

The  first  5D  learning  community  site  in  Europe  was  created  at  Ronneby  in 
Sweden.  Since  1997,  300  children  and  200  undergraduates  have  participated  in 
this  learning  community,  together  with  researchers  from  the  Blekinge  Institute 
of  Technology  (formerly  the  University  of  Karlskrona/Ronneby).  The  research 

element  of  the  Learning  Lab  project  will  attempt  to  understand,  explain  and 
describe  the  processes  of  learning  and  development,  focusing  on  the 
interdependence  of,  and  relationship  between,  the  social  context  and  the 
physical  arrangements  in  the  learning  process. The  5D site  in  Barcelona  started 
in  1998,  and  Copenhagen  launched  a  5D  site  in  September  2000.  Together  these 
sites  constitute  an  initial  attempt  to  run  5D in  Europe.  One  aim  with  the  5D 
project  is  not  only  to  secure  but  also  to  develop  and  spread  the  5D ideas  and 
practices  in  Europe. 

Building  learning  communities 
The  5D  project  is  based  on  the  concept  of  the  Fifth  Dimension  (5D)  -  local 
learning  communities  in  a global  world.  This  means  using  new  computer  and 
telecommunications  technologies  to  strengthen  communications  between 
members  of  local  communities,  to  build  meaningful  inter-generational  and  inter-
institutional  learning  environments.  The idea  of  5D started  15  years  ago  in  San 
Diego,  California,  and  today  there  are  between  40  and  50  5D sites  in  the  USA, 
Mexico,  Brazil,  Russia,  AustraLia,  Finland,  Spain, Sweden  and  Denmark.  The  key 
to  the  5D  approach  is  the  sharing  of  knowledge  among  the  participants.  The 
local  coalitions  that  create  and  operate  5D activities  may  comprise 
organisations  such  as  universities,  schools,  associations  and  companies.  These 
new  5D educational  communities  may  be  real  or  virtual.  Virtual  communities  will 
be  created  as extensions  of  real learning  communities  and  one  of  these  will  be 
the  Internet-based  5D  "Eurohouse". 

Learning tools 
The  5D  approach  is  designed  to  be  flexible  enough  to  adapt  to  the  needs  of 
individual  learners,  irrespective  of  the  time  of  day  or  the  location  where  they 
choose  to  learn.  Reflective  problem  solving  is  one  of  the  key  words  for  the  5D 
approach.  By  promoting  contacts  between  universities  and  schools,  the  ICT 
skills  of  university  staff  are applied  to  help  develop  computer-based  learning 
systems.  The technology  needed  to  build  and  operate  the  5D  communities  will 
be  developed  in  conjunction  with  computer  game  and  multimedia  companies. 
This  technology  will  be  thoroughly  tested  and  evaluated  to  determine  how  it 
enhances  communication  and  learning.  The  5D  applications  (learning  tools) 
themselves  will  be  designed  to  be  used to  produce  re-usable  lessons  and  courses 
for  a wide  range  of  users.  Innovative  aspects  of  the  project  work  planned 
include  a virtual  maze  and virtual  task  cards,  controlled  and  uncontrolled  virtual 
communities  of  learners  and  participatory  design  by  children. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-25435 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education 

Action  Line: 
School  of  Tomorrow 

Full  Title: 
5th  Dimension  -  Local  Learning  Communities  in 
a Global  World 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2001 

End  Date: 
31/03/2004 

Project  objectives: 
Develop  knowledge  about  learning  as well  as 
design  and  creation  of  new  forms  for  learning 
and  multimedia  artefacts 

Target  audience: 
Teachers,  researchers  within  the  education 
area,  people  engaged  in  development  of  new 
ways  of  learning 

Key  words: 
Facilitate  learning,  school,  education, 
multimedia  artefacts,  fifth  dimension,  5D, 
network,  communication,  interaction 

Technology: 
Multimedia  and  internet  based  applications 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Eva-Lisa  Ahnström 
Blekinge  Institute  Of  Technology 
Sweden 
Tel:  +46-457-26739, 
Mobile:  +46-709-728720 
Fax:  +46-457-26739 
E-mail:  eva-lisa.ahnstrom@bth.se 
URL:  http://www.5d.org 

Project  Participants 
Blekinge  Institute  of  Technology  (SE) 
Universität  Autònoma  de  Barcelona  (ES) 
University  of  Copenhagen  (DK) 
TicTac  Interactive  AB (SE) 

CO-LAB 

- > >· 

A  new type  of collaborative  learning environment 
In  today's  working  environment,  employees  have  to  collect,  make  sense  of 
and  use  more  and  more  information  to  keep  up with  developments  in  their 
field.  To  make  the  most  of  this  information  they  need  to  acquire  new 
knowledge  and  skills  and  develop  better  ways  to  collaborate  with  fellow 
workers  based  at  different  locations.  The  Co-Lab  project  is  designed  to 
develop  a  learning  environment  that  will  give  users  remote  access to  a 
virtual  workspace  for  collaborative  inquiry-based  learning  using 
experimentation  and  modelling.  Initially  Co-Lab  will  develop  demonstration 
software  for  the  fields  of  water  management  and  climate  control  in 
greenhouses. 

Developing a coherent  workspace 
The  objective  of  the  Co-Lab  project  is  to  design,  develop  and  evaluate  a new 
system  for  collaborative,  inquiry-based  learning.  The  design  of  Co-Lab  will  be 
tailored  to  meet  the  needs  of  learners  and  teachers  and  will  include  simulations, 
modelling  facilities,  local  laboratories  and  electronic  whiteboards  used  to  create 
virtual  classrooms  and  collaborative  workspaces  accessible  via  the  Web. The  work 
will  focus  on  integrating  the  various  components  so  learners  experience  the  Co-
Lab  learning  environment  as a single  coherent  workspace.  This  will  require 
careful  design  of  both  the  user  interface  and  the  technical  architecture.  In 
paraLlel  with  the  technical  development  of  the  new  virtual  learning  environment, 
a comprehensive  support  system  will  be  developed  to  help  learners  in  their 
experimentation,  collaboration  and  modelling  activities.  In  addition,  Co-Lab  will 
be  designed  to  be  integrated  with  the  curriculum. 

The  Co-Lab  project  comprises  three  main  phases: 

Definition  of  the  requirements  of  learners  and  teachers; 
Development  of  the  Co-Lab  system  and  its  components; 
Evaluation  studies. 

ί 
o 

Learners  and  developers  will  be consulted  from  the  start  of  the  project  and  will 
be  involved  throughout,  to  ensure  that  the  final  product  meets  the  needs  of 
potential  users  of  the  Co-Lab  system.  Evaluation  studies  will  be  performed  to 
analyse  the  use  of  the  various  Co-Lab  applications,  to  refine  their  operation  and 
also  to  generate  requirements  for  new  applications.  These  studies  will  include 
the  use  of  mock-ups  and  testing  of  prototypes  by  potential  users.  During 
evaluation,  the  emphasis  will  be  on  finding  out  about  the  learning  process, 
including  important  aspects  such  as  ease  of  use  of  the  modelling  language,  the 
structure  and  operation  of  the  collaborative  workspaces  and  the  effectiveness  of 
interfaces  to  experiments.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  project,  evaluation 
activities  will  also  concentrate  on  making  assessments  of  how  much  knowledge 
users  are  gaining  through  using  Co-Lab. 

Open access across Europe 
Co-Lab  will  bring  together  existing  virtual  learning  software  products  and 
European  expertise  to  produce  a  powerful  new  integrated  tool  that  will  enable 
learners  to  collaborate  on  experimentation  and  modelling  activities  in  a 
coherent  virtual  workspace.  Because  Co-Lab  will  provide  an  open  architecture  for 
the  exchange  of  inquiry-based  learning  material,  it  will  be available  to  others  to 
develop  third  party  material to  integrate  with  Co-Lab  learning  environments. 
This  approach  will  open  up  possibilities  for  universities,  schools,  science 
museums  and  publishers  to  set  up  their  own  experiment  spaces  that  can  be 
accessed  remotely  by  learners  throughout  Europe. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-25035 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  Training 

Action  Line: 
School  of  Tomorrow 

Full  Title: 
Collaborative  Laboratories  for  Europe 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2001 

End  Date: 
31/03/2004 

Project  objectives: 
In  the  Co-Lab  project  a  new  type  of  learning 
environment  is  created  that  helps  learners  to 
develop  flexible  knowledge  and  skills  to  collect 
and  synthesise  information  and  to  collaborate 
with  others.  This  learning  environment  brings 
together,  in  an  integrated  way,  facilities  for 
experimentation  (including  remote 
laboratories),  collaboration,  and  domain 
modelling.  In  each  of  these  facilities,  guidance 
for  learners  is available.  The  Co-Lab  project 
develops  demonstrators  in  the  applied  science 
areas  of  water  management  and  climate 
control  (in  greenhouses).  The  resulting  open 
learning  architecture  provides  standards  to 
enable  the  integration  of  third  party  products 

Target  audience: 
Teachers  and  students  (aged  12-18)  from 
standard  school  curricula,  publishers 

Key  words: 
Discovery  learning,-  inquiry  learning,-
collaborative  learning,-  situated  learning 

Technology: 
The  learning  environment  will  be  based  on 
client-server  technology.  Clients  are  standard 
browsers,  complemented  by  applets  and/or 
plug-ins.  The  server  will  be  based  on  XML-RPC 
technology,  with  components  for 
communication  (ANTS),  simulation, 
measurement  and  modelling 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Prof  Ton  de  Jong 
University  of  Twente 
PO  Box  513 
NL-7500  AE  Enschede 
Tel:  +31-53-4893613 
Fax:  +31-53-4892849 
E-mail:  jong@edte.utwente.nl 
URL:  http://colab.edte.utwente.nl/index.html 

Project  Participants 
University  of  Twente  (NL) 
University  of  Amsterdam  (NL) 
Universidad  de  Murcia  (ES) 
Studio  Teos  (IT) 
IPN  Kiel  (DE) 

EUN VALNET 

Making the most of innovation  in schools 
Given  the  large  and  ever-increasing  numbers  of  computer-based  learning 
projects,  initiatives  and  products  around,  there  is  clearly  a  need  for  co 
ordination  and validation.  In  the  case  of  the  European  Commission's 
Information  Society  Technology  (1ST)  projects  in  the  field  of  education  (the 
"School  of  Tomorrow"),  the  European  Schoolnet  Validation  Network  (VAL 
NET)  project  is  designed  to  provide  a framework  for  a  number  of  validation 
and  dissemination  activities.  These  include  the  development  of  a  framework 
validation  methodological  and  analytical tool,  providing  a  platform  for  the 
validation  of  products  and  services,  consolidation  and  integration  of  project 
results,  animation  of  clustering  activities  and  the  use  of  a  dissemination 
network  to  influence  policy  and  practice  in  computer-based  learning  for 
schools.  The  results  of  the  School  of  Tomorrow  projects,  when  taken 
together,  represent  much  more  than  the  sum  of  the  individual  parts. Thanks 
to  VAL  NET, the  benefits  of  our  increasing  knowledge  about  innovation  in 
schools  can  be  maximised  and  made  available  to  a  large  audience. 

Key issues for  policy-makers 
To  realise  the  benefits  that  projects  supported  by  the  European  Commission 
under  the  "School  of  Tomorrow"  theme  can  bring  to  our  knowledge  of  innovative 
computer-based  education,  the  results  must  be  widely  validated,  consolidated 
and  disseminated.  The  aim  of  the  VAL  NET project  is  to  set  up  an  integrated 
infrastructure  for  validating  and  demonstrating  products  and  services  arising 
from  these  projects.  The  project  will  begin  with  a study  of  existing  practice  and 
future  scenarios  in  the  field,  and  identify  the  key  issues  facing  policy-makers. 
This  analysis,  which  will  include  consultations  with  officials  from  European 
education  ministries,  will  underpin  the  development  of  the  framework  validation 
methodologies  to  be  applied  to  the  1ST projects.  VAL  NET will  provide  standard 
guidelines  for  validations  to  allow  users  to  produce  comparable  results  for  all  the 
projects  evaluated,  irrespective  of  their  context  and  types  of  partners 
participating.  Templates  and  cost  calculations  for  use  in  planning  validation 
activities  will  also  be included.  A validation  network  of  at  least  500  schools  will 
be  set  up.  Its  members  will  be  selected  from  the  European  Network  of  Innovative 
Schools  (ENIS),  an  established  group  of  innovative  test-bed  schools  in  20 
European  countries.  The  schools  selected  will  be trained  in  the  use  of  the 
validation  tools.  The  validation  framework  will  be  adapted  for  each  of  at  least 
five  1ST projects  and  then  used  to  test  products  and  services  developed  as a 
result  of  these  projects  across  at  least  50  ENIS schools,  in  at  least  four 
countries. 

Prepare for take-off 
To  complement  the  validation  activities,  the  VAL  NET project  will  include  a 
number  of  dissemination,  awareness-raising  and  commercial  exploitation 
activities,  designed  to  accelerate  the  implementation  of  innovative  ICT  learning 
systems  in  Europe's  schools.  1ST projects  about  schools  will  be  brought  together 
as  a cluster,  so  that  they  can  share  experience  and  identify  areas  of  potential 
collaboration.  Another  function  of  VAL  NET is  to  consolidate  the  results  of  the 
projects  and  integrate  them  into  the  wider  context  of  innovation  and  identify 
trends  in  the  field  of  computer-based  learning  in  schools.  The  results  of  this 
activity  will  be  presented  in  a final  report  and  synoptic  overview. 

Dissemination  will  be  supported  by  a  network  designed  to  promote  and  facilitate 
implementation  of  the  products  and  services  developed  by  1ST projects.  VAL NET 
will  also  carry  out  activities  aimed  at  standardising  such  products  and  services 
and  will  provide  feedback  to  the  European  Commission  that  will  be  used  in 
preparing  the  next  call for  proposals  under  the  1ST programme. 

The  VAL  NET project  is  being  co-ordinated  by  European  Schoolnet  (EUN),  the 
organisation  for  co-ordination  between  European  education  ministries  in  the 
field  of  ICT  and  education. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-14025 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education 

Action  Line: 
School  of  Tomorrow 

Full  Title: 
European  Schoolnet  Validation  Network 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2001 

End  Date: 
31/03/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
The  objectives  of  the  project  are  to  provide  a 
framework  for  validating  and  demonstrating 
products  and  services  arising  from  projects 
within  the  European  Commission's  IST  projects 
for  education. 
integrate  project  results,  and  cary  out  a  number 
of  dissemination,  awareness-raising,  and 
commercial  exploitation  activities  to  accelerate 
implementation  of  ICT learning  systems  in 
schools 

It  will  also  consolidate  and 

Target  Audience: 
Schools 

Keywords: 
Coordination,  validation,  ICT, dissemination, 
European  Commission,  IST  projects,  School  of 
tomorrow 

Technology: 
Internet,  knowledge  clusters 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Ulf  Lundin 
MINISTRY  OF  EDUCATION  AND  SCIENCE, SWEDEN 
(on  behalf  of  EUN) 
Tel:  +32-2-7907580 

E-mail:  ulf.lundin@eun.org 

Project  Participants 
Ministry  of  Education  and  Science  (SE) 
Ministry  of  Education,  Flemish  Belgium  (BE) 
Ministry  of  Education  (IS) 
Ministry  of  Education  (IT) 
Ministry  of  Education  (PT) 
BECTa  (UK) 
Nottingham  University  (UK) 
Open  University  (UK) 

ITALES 

Innovative Teaching and Learning  Environments  for  Schools 

Building an eCommunity for  schools 
The  overall  aim  of  ITALES is  to  develop  a  European-wide  virtual  teaching  and 
learning  community  that  will  enable  teachers  to  share  and  re-use  digital 
learning  content,  and  allow  both  teachers  and  their  learners  to  work 
together  with  the  support  of  several  innovative  tele-presence/ 
communication  tools. Within  the  eCommunity,  learners  will  be  able  to  follow 
eLearning  courses  prepared  by  their  teachers  using  the  ITALES  authoring 
and  content  management  tools.  The  ITALES  system  will  also  provide  a  central 
repository  containing  digital  learning  content  that  teachers  will  be  able  to 
access for  building  courses  for  their  learners.  In  addition  to  course 
customisation,  teachers  will  also  be  able  to  configure  the  web-based  3D 
virtual  learning  environment  -  both  visually  and  functionally  -  to  suit  the 
needs  of  their  learners.  Specifically,  ITALES  is  developing  the  following 
components: 

1.  A set  of  authoring  tools  that  will  enable  teachers  to  prepare  suitable  and 

meaningful  content  for  personalised  learning; 

2.  New  content  management  tools  that  can  be  used  by  teachers  to  facilitate 

planning  and  construction  of  customised  online  courses; 

3.  A library  of  databases  to  allow  content  sharing  and  re-use  as well  as teacher 
configuration  of  the  3D virtual  learning  environment  in  terms  of  its  visual 
appearance  and  the  tooLs  and  content  accessible  by  the  learners; 

4.  A  web-based  3D virtual  learning  and  teaching  environment  containing  all  the 
above  tools  together  with  suitable  tele-presence/collaborative  tools  to  allow 
teachers  and  learners  to  communicate  with  one  another  and  to  work 
together. 

Importantly,  this  project  will  use  appropriate  Learning  Technology  Standards  to 
facilitate  storage,  retrieval  and  interchange  of  learning  content.  Of  equal 
significance  are  those  increasingly  important  issues  related  to  open  source 
approaches  to  the  exploitation  of  educational  software.  ITALES  will  therefore 
develop  its  own  tools  and  content  according  to  such  approaches.  In  designing 
and  developing  the  ITALES system,  the  project  team  will  also  take  into  account 
the  important  issues  of  interoperability  and  access  -  where  possible,  the  tools 
and  content  will  be  usable  outside  of  the  ITALES  environment  and,  conversely, 
the  ITALES  environment  will  be  able  to  link  to  external  tools  such  as  suitably 
chosen  third  party  authoring  tools. 

Teacher needs and their  continuous  involvement 
Prior  to  the  development  of  the  above  components,  an  integral  aspect  of  early 
research  and  requirements  gathering  will  be to  determine  what  types  and  scope 
of  educational  content  teachers  and  learners  find  most  valuable.  As  key 
stakeholders,  teachers  will  play  an  important  role  during  this  stage  of  the 
project;  not  least,  they  will  help  the  project  team  identify  the  nature  of  the 

authoring  tools  considered  most  useful  in  their  own  pedagogic  situations.  They 
will  further  help  the  team  to  establish  the  kind  of  tele-presence  and 
collaborative  tools  considered  most  beneficial  for  themselves  and  their  learners. 
Results  from  the  project's  user  needs  assessment  will then  be  used to  inform  the 
next  stage  of  the  project  -  technological  research  and  development  of  the 
ITALES tools,  content  and  services.  During  development,  the  teachers  will 
continue  to  be  deployed  in  an  advisory  capacity  to  help  influence  the 
functionality  of  the  tools  (authoring,  content  management  and  communication 
tools)  as well  as the  3D virtual  teaching  and  learning  environment.  Towards  the 
end  of  the  project,  these  same teachers, together  with  their  learners,  will 
participate  in  the  ITALES  experiment.  This  will  involve  extensive  user  assessment 
of  the  ITALES  developed  tools  and  content  at  three  European  pilot  sites  -  in 
Spain,  Italy  and  Scotland. 

Customising the teaching and  learning  experience 
From  the  teacher's  perspective,  the  ITALES  virtual  teaching  environment  provides 
teachers  with  a  collection  of  authoring  tools  -  ITALES-developed  and  third  party 
-  from  which  they  can  choose  to  prepare  their  own  learning  content.  Beyond 
content  preparation,  teachers  can  further  access  the  ITALES  content 
management  tools/learning  content  database  to  assemble  customised  ITALES 
online  learning  courses  for  their  learners.  Finally,  the  virtual  teaching  and 
learning  environment  itself  can  be  configured  by  the  teachers  in  terms  of  the 
tooLs  needed for  themselves  and their  learners  as well as the  user  interfaces  of 
the  3D virtual  learning  environment. 

From the  learner's  perspective,  the  project  team  believes  that  school  learners 
need  to  be  initially  motivated,  interested  and  engaged.  The  children  will  require 
an  enriched  environment  that  is  stimulating  and  will  fully  engage  them  in  the 
learning  process.  ITALES  is  developing  such  an  environment  which,  it  is  hoped, 
will  help  motivate  the  children  to  learn. They  will  be able  to  navigate  inside 
immersive'  3D worlds,  assume  their  own  configurable  online  identities  by  means 
of  3D avatars  and  use  interesting  tele-presence/communication  tools  such  as 3D 
chat,  voting,  pager,  meeting  board  and  so  on.  ITALES  will  develop  and 
experiment  with  a web-based  user  interface  that  uses  virtual  reality  technologies 
to  present  the  metaphor  of  a school  building  containing  rooms  and  other  areas, 
as would  be found  in  a  real school. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-26356 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  &  Training 

Action  Line: 
School  of  Tomorrow 

Full  Title: 
Innovative  Teaching  And  Learning  Environments 
for  Schools 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
28/06/2001 

End  Date: 
27/06/2004 

Project  objectives: 
To  develop  a  European-wide  virtual  teaching 
and  learning  community  whose  key  aims  are 
the  promotion  of  pedagogic  content  sharing 
and  re-use,  exchange  of  opinions  and 
innovation  and  the  provision  of  both  pedagogic 
and  pastoral  support  for  learners 

Target  audience: 
European  schools;  teacher  resource  centres 
and  training  colleges;  Ministries  of  Education 
and  National  Governments;  regional  and  loce 
administrations  with  education  competencies 

Key words: 
eLearning;  3D Virtual  Reality; 3D Worlds;  Open 
Source;  Open  Platforms  & Tools; Authoring Tools; 
Personalised  Learning;  Learning  Technology 
Standardisation;  Re-use;  Sharing;  Learning  Objects 

Technology: 
ITALES will  be  an open  system, heavily  reliant  upon 
open  source  approaches  (Linux, XML)  as well as 
learning  technology  standards  (e.g.  Learning 
Objects  Metadata  Standard for  school  use). ITALES 
should also  allow  externally developed/third  party 
tools  to  be  linked  to  its own  environment  for  use 
by  teachers  and  learners. The same  applies  to 
importing and  exporting learning content.  ITALES is 
exploiting virtual  reality technologies and  3D 
animation  technologies 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Mr  Gerard  Queen 
LEARNING  AND  TEACHING  SCOTLAND 
Glasgow  G12  9JN 
United  Kingdom 
Tel:  +44-141-3375058 
Fax:  +44-141-3375070 
E-mail:  G.Queen@LTScotland.com 
URL:  http://www.LTScotland.com 

Project  Participants 
Learning  and  Teaching  Scotland  (UK) 
EPTRON  S.A.  (ES) 
CEAC  Instituciones  S I.  (ES) 
Consiglio  Nazionale  delle  Ricerche  -  Istituto 
Matematica  Applicata  (IT) 
DIDA*EL  S.R.L.  Società  Per  La Didattica  Con 
Elaboratore  (IT) 
Center  for  Futurism  in  Education  -  Ben-Gurion 
University  of  the  Negev  (in  co-operation  with 
Empowerment  Through  Electronics,  ETE)  (IL) 
Limburgs  Universitair  Centrum  -  Expertise 
Centrum  Digitale  Media  (BE) 

ITCOLE 

I n n o v a t i ve  T e c h n o l o g i es 
f or  C o l l a b o r a t i ve  L e a r n i ng 
a nd  K n o w l e d ge  B u i l d i ng 

A  new dawn for collaborative  learning 
Computer  Supported  Collaborative  Learning  (CSCL)  is  set  to  play  an 
increasingly  important  role  in  education.  The  ITCOLE  project  is  developing  a 
new  Web-based  environment  for  collaborative  learning  and  knowledge 
building.  The  ITCOLE  system  will  be  a  shared  electronic  workspace  that 
students  and  teachers  can  use  for  asynchronous  and  synchronous 
collaboration. The  system  will  provide  tools  for  community  and  team 
building,  as well  as  awareness  tools  and  tutorware.  The  new  system  will 
provide  users  and  their  tutors  with  real-time  information  on  several  aspects 
of  collaboration  and  will  help  them  to  manage  the  process  of  knowledge 
building.  The  new  system  will  be  based  on innovative  and  practical  learning 
models  developed  as  part  of  the  project.  A working  prototype  for  this  next 
generation  CSCL system  will  be  evaluated  on  a  large  scale  and  the  ITCOLE 
software  will  be  made  available  free  of  charge  to  educational  institutions, 
under  open  source  terms. 

From research to  reality 
The  ITCOLE  project  has  three  main  objectives: 

To develop  models  of  collaborative  knowledg  e  building  for  European 
education; 
To develop  the  software  and  tools  needed  to  implement  a  modular 
knowledge-building  environment  to  support  collaborative  learning; 
To evaluate,  test  and  disseminate  the  new  models  and  technology  widely  to 
European  schools. 

The  main  work  of  the  project  comprises  the  creation  of  software  tools  and  best 
practice  guidance  for  implementing  collaborative  learning  environments.  The 
work  will  be  carried  out  in  four  main  phases: 

1.  Generating  practical  models  for  the  use  of  CSCL tools  and  refining  these  into 

a  set  of  best  practice  guidance; 

2.  Developing  a  working  prototype  and  testing  and  evaluating  it; 
3.  Large-scale  evaluation  of  the  approaches  and  software  tools  developed; 
4.  Dissemination  of  the  software  and  models  free  of  charge  to  European 

schools. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-26249 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Public  Education  and  Training  sector 

Action  Line: 
School  of  Tomorrow 

Full  Title: 
Innovative  Technology  for  Collaborative  learning 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
1/04/2001 

End Date: 
31/03/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
The  project  has  three  key  scientific  and 
technical  objectives: 
1.  Develop  pedagogical  models  of 

collaborative  knowledge  building  for 
European  education 

2.  Develop  a  modular  knowledge-building 
environment  to  support  collaborative 
learning 

3.  Evaluate,  test  and  disseminate  the 

environment  in  European  schools  in  order 
to  build  meaningful  pedagogical  practices 
and  to  advance  the  use  of  collaborative 
learning  technology 

Target  audience: 
European  schools  (mainly  secondary/high 
schools),  pupils, 
administrators  and  education  authorities 

teachers,  educational  planners, 

Keywords: 
Modular  learning  environments,  knowledge 
building,  scaling  up 

Technology: 
The Web-based educational  software  will  consists of 
an educational  server application  (working  title 
ITCOLE CSCL), integration  component  with  existing 
WWW servers (i.e. Apache  and other freely available 
servers)  and  documentation  for  the  platform 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Prof.  Philip  Dean 
University  Of  Art  And  Design  Helsinki  UIAH 
Hämeentie  135  C 
FIN-00560  Helsinki 
Tel:  +358-9-75630594 
Fax:  +358-9-75630555 
E-mail:  phillp.dean@uiah.fi 
URL:  http://www.euro-cscl.org 

Project  Participants 
University  Of  Art  And  Design  Helsinki  UIAH  (Fl) 
GMD  -  German  National  Research  Centre  for 
Information  Technology  (DE) 
University  of  Murcia  (ES) 
Helsinki  City  Education  Department  (Fl) 
University  of  Amsterdam  (NL) 
University  of  Salerno  (IT) 
University  of  Rome  La  Sapienza  (IT) 
University  of  Athens  (GR) 
University  of  Utrecht  (NL) 
University  of  Helsinki  (Fl) 

The  first  stage  in  the  ITCOLE project  will  be to  carry  out  a comprehensive  review 
of  the  state-of-the-art  in  CSCL tools  and  their  use.  As a  result  of  this  study,  the 
project  team  will  be able  to  develop  practical  models  that  will  overcome  some  of 
the  problems  inherent  in  current  practice.  In  this  way,  sound  foundations  will 
be  laid  for  a real "next  generation"  CSCL system. The  models  developed  will  be 
refined  into  a set  of  best  practice  guidelines. 

Next,  a working  prototype  for  the  new  CSCL system  will  be  developed  and 
tested.  This  will  be  designed  to  facilitate  collaborative  knowledge  building 
activities  based  on  the  best  practice  models  set  out  during  the  initial  phase  of 
the  project.  The  prototype  system  will  be  thoroughly  tested  and  evaluated 
through  several  development  cycles  to  produce  a  high-usability,  robust  and 
scalable  learning  environment  that  can  be  used  by  multiple  users  via  the  Web. 

The  next  step  will  be to  evaluate  the  new  approaches  and  software  in  real 
educational  environments.  This  evaluation  will  take  place  on  a large  scale  in 
schools  across  Europe  and  will  allow  further  refinement  to  ensure  a  match 
between  the  new  system  and  learning  models  and  local  practices. 

A  European collaborative  learning  network 
The  final  task  of  ITCOLE will  be to  disseminate  the  results  of  the  project  as 
widely  as  possible  to  schools  across  Europe. The final  version  of  all  the  software, 
tools  and  supporting  guidance  for  the  new  learning  environment  will  be 
distributed  free  of  charge  to  educational  institutions  to  promote  its  widespread 
use.  The  aim  is  to  promote  the  establishment  of  local  centres  of  expertise  in 
Web-based  collaborative  learning,  which  will  form  a  Europe-wide  learning 
network  based  around  common  goaLs  and  practices.  Participants  will  be  able  to 
share  expertise,  content,  practices  and  tools. 

U 
in 

LAB OF TOMORROW 

l ab 

of 

t o m o r r ow 

Science teaching through  everyday  experience 
Sometimes  students  lose  interest  in  science  because  they  cannot  relate 
what  they  are  being  taught  to  their  everyday  lives.  The  Lab  of  Tomorrow 
project  aims  to  overcome  the  barriers  imposed  by  the  traditional 
classroom  setting  by  using  an  innovative  combination  of  a  new  approach 
to  learning  and  the  development  and  application  of  new  technologies. 
Tiny  wearable  computers  and  intelligent  sensors  will  be  developed  that 
can  be  used  by  students  to  gather  data,  which  can  then  be  used  to  graph 
trends  and  patterns  and  investigate  the  laws  of  engineering  and  physics. 
This  should  provide  students  with  the  ability  to  apply  science  more 
widely,  not  only  in  specially-designed  experiments  in  controlled 
laboratory  conditions.  Networks  of  schools  will  gather  data  and  compare 
measurements.  In  this  way,  teaching  will  make  as  many  links  as  possible 
between  the  natural  sciences  and  daily  life,  and  research  will  become 
more  of  a  collective  process. 

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Breaking out of the 
classroom 
The  aim  of  the  Lab  of  Tomorrow 
project  is  to  develop  a  learning 
framework  that  will allow  the 
application  of  emerging 
technologies  to  everyday  learning 
and  promote  a  hands-on  approach 

to learning about science. The use of tiny computer devices and sensors 
embedded in clothes or toys will facilitate a shift away from traditional 
classroom learning to daylong learning. This will reinforce a constructionist 
approach to science teaching, where learners are given the opportunity to 
interact with sensory data and "construct" their own models of the natural 
world. This stimulates students' capacity for scientific enquiry and allows for 
deeper understanding of the subject. This approach also encourages 
interdisciplinary and collaborative activities, which are also conducive to 
improved learning. In this way learning should be seen as the outcome of 
formulating questions, investigation, research and the sharing of results. 

New technologies for  hands-on  learning 
The  Lab  of  Tomorrow  project  plans  to  develop  a family  of  tiny,  fully-
programmable  computer  devices,  called  "axions"  by  the  project  team,  which  can 
be  embedded  in  everyday  objects,  including  clothes.  These  axions  will  be  used 
to  collect  data  in  a format  compatible  with  analysis  and  graphical  software,  so 
students  can  easily  investigate  trends  and  patterns  in  the  data  they  have 
collected.  Development  of  this  concept  of  intelligent  clothing  and  wearable 
computers  will  include  investigation  of  how  electronics  and  sensor  components 
can  be  engineered,  miniaturised  and  integrated  into  fabrics  and  an  assessment 
of  the  suitability  of  existing  materials,  products  and  components  for  use  in 
intelligent  clothing. 

Three  technology  strands  will  be  studied: 

Intelligent  clothing  and  wearable  sensors; 
Advanced  real-time  communication  systems; 
Data  manipulation,  analysis  and  integration. 

The axions  will  comprise  a sensor  interface,  main  board  controller  and 
communication  system.  Two  options  for  transfer  of  data  between  the  devices 
and  a control  centre  will  be  considered  -  CDMA and  Frequency  Allocation. A 
graphical  user  interface  will  be  used  to  plot  the  information  collected  and  create 
mathematical  models  to  fit  the  data.  Examples  of  the  types  of  axions  to  be 
developed  include:  accelerometer  and  local  GPS (to  study  Newtonian  Laws), 
recording  of  heart  signals  (ECG),  piezoelectric  sensors  counting  steps, 
thermometer  sensors  to  investigate  the  basic  principles  of  thermodynamics  and 
sensors  to  record  acoustic  signals  for  use in  the  analysis  of  wave  phenomenon. 
Examples  of  applications  being  considered  include  the  use  of  embedded  axions 
in  footballs,  athletic  suits,  shoes  and  belts. 

Students and teachers working together 
Teachers  and  scientists  will  be  closely  involved  in  the  design  of  the 
methodologies  to  be  adopted  for  use  of  the  new  technologies  in  teaching.  The 
final  prototype  devices  will  be  applied,  using  an  adapted  curriculum  within  a 
solid  educational  framework,  to  real  school  activities.  Subsequently,  students 
and  teachers  will  be  able  to  develop  their  own  projects,  setting  up  their  own 
experiments  and  defining  which  parameters  to  measure. 

The  activities  and  results  of  the  Lab  of  Tomorrow  project  will  be  systematically 
evaluated  using  clearly  defined  methodologies.  The  aim  is  to  develop  an 
improved  theoretical  understanding  of  how  different  types  of  tools  and  learning 
environments  support  different  types  of  thinking,  reasoning  and  understanding. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-25076 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  Training 

Action  Line: 
School  of  Tomorrow 

Full  Title: 
Lab of  Tomorrow 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2001 

End  Date: 
31/03/2001 

Project  Objectives: 
The  development  of  a  pedagogical  framework 
that  will  allow  successful  application  of  the 
emerging  technology  in  everyday  learning. 
Enhancement  of  a  constructionist  approach  in 
science  teaching.  Development  of  new 
educational  tools  and  learning  environments. 
Equal  and  parallel  development  of  pedagogical 
and  technological  innovations.  Development  of 
a  concrete  evaluation  scheme  of  the 
educational  and  technological  aspects 

Target  Audience: 
Students  and  Teachers 

Keywords: 
Constructivism,  science  instruction,  wearables 

Technology: 
Wearable  computers,  wireless  communication 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Prof.  Nikolaos  Uzunoglu 
ICCS/NTUA 
9,  Heroon  Polytechniou  St 
GR-15780  Zografos 
Athens 
Tel:  +30-1-7723556 
Fax:  +30-1-7723557 
E-mail:  Nuzu@cc.esd.ece.ntua.gr 

Project  Participants 
ICCS/NTUA 
(GR) 
University  of  Birmingham  (UK) 
COREP  (IT) 
ANCO  SA  (GR) 
University  of  Dortmund  (DE) 
Elllnogermaniki  Agogi  SA (GR) 
BG  und  BRG  Schwetchat  (AU) 
Helen-Lange  Gymnasium  (DE) 
Phoenix  Gymnasium  (DE) 
Technical  Senior  Secondary  School 
"G.B  Pininfahna"  (IT) 

METIS 

Metis 

Multimedia  Interactive  Environments  for 
Distributed Teamwork  Promotion  in Schools 

IT solutions to  support  advances in teaching 
The  wealth  of  new  computer-based  learning  systems  and  resources  available 
to  today's  schools  makes  it  possible  to  develop  exciting  new  approaches  to 
teaching  and  learning,  allowing  for  new  ways  of  working  and  interactions 
between  teachers,  pupils  and  parents.  The  aim  of  the  METIS  project  is  to 
create  a  co-operative,  multimedia,  multilingual  educational  resource  centre 
that  primary  and  secondary  schools  can  use to  realise  this  potential. The 
promotion  of  pan-European  collaborative  and  distance-learning  activities 
will  form  a  central  part  of  the  project  and  as  many  actors  as  possible 
(students,  teachers  and  parents)  will  participate.  The  emphasis  will  very 
much  be  on the  educational  applications  of  the  technology  developed  and on 
modifying  existing  ways  of  learning  in  schools,  rather  than  on the 
technology  itself. 

Usability is the  key to success 
The  METIS project  will  result  in  the  development  of  a  new  IT-based  educational 
resource  system  that  comprises  an  interoperable  set  of  tools,  services  and 
content  repositories.  The  system  will  be  used to  demonstrate  the  various 
improvements  in  the  quality  and  accessibility  of  learning  at  primary  and 
secondary  levels  of  schooling  that  are  possible  through  the  use  of  appropriate  IT 
facilities.  It  is  recognised  by  the  METIS team  that  usability  is  the  key  attribute 
in  the  success  of  IT-based  learning  systems,  as  children  are  discerning  users. So 
although  ubiquitous  learning,  remote  repositories  and  large-scale 
demonstrations  will  be  offered  as a result  of  the  project,  the  emphasis  will  be on 
delivering  improvements  in  usability  and  on  achieving  generic  improvements  to 
IT-based  education. 

In  terms  of  technology,  the  core  of  the  project  is  to  build  a  platform  that  alLows 
access,  via  a  network  of  educational  organisations,  to  a  common  knowledge 
repository.  This  complements  another  key  objective  of  METIS  -  to  promote 
collaboration  between  schools  across  Europe.  Collaboration  activities  will  be 
built  up  and  demonstrated  by  the  promotion  of  a series  of  co-operative 
networks,  which  will  link  schools  in  different  countries  and  which  represent 
different  cultural  backgrounds.  Participating  schools  will  each  bring  a  different 
focus  to  collaborative  work  on  common  educational  themes.  The  pLatform  will  be 
accessible  to  both  teachers  and  learners  and  external  modes  of  access  will  also 
be  provided  to  tutors,  parents  and  other  interested  groups  during  different 
educational  processes  and  activities. 

Faciltating cross-cultural  teamwork 
Two  applications  will  be  developed  by  the  METIS  project,  each  with  a  different 
potential  end-user  in  mind: 

An  application  for  primary  schools,  with  the  emphasis  on  using  new 
technologies  to  promote  and  demonstrate  teamwork  in  a  monolingual 
teaching  environment. 
An  application  designed  for  secondary  schools  with  the  emphasis  on  the  use 
of  a common  language  (English)  by  schools  in  different  countries.  This  will 
demonstrate  how  teamwork,  facilitated  by  new  technologies,  can  promote 
adaptation  to  multicultural  environments. 

The  consortium  carrying  out  the  METIS  project  comprises  specialists  in  teaching 
and  learning,  five  primary  and  secondary  schools  in  Spain,  Sweden  and  the  UK, a 
specialist  in  the  usability  of  IT  systems  and  two  technology  providers. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-25175 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education 

Action  Line: 
School  of  Tomorrow 

Full  Title: 
Mutlimedia  Interactive  Environments  for 
Distributed  Teamwork  Promotion  in  Schools 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/07/2001 

End  Date: 
30/06/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
This  project  will  Innovate  existing  educational 
approaches  in  schools  through  the  promotion 
of  cooperative  teamwork  attitudes  and  the  use 
of  learning  distance  facilities.  The  main 
objective  of  METIS is  to  increase  the 
independence  and  speed  in  obtaining 
information  for  teachers,  students,  and 
parents,  specially  by  the  use  of  existing IT 
facilities  and  the  development  of  a  common 
platform  and  repository  accessed  by  a  network 
of  schools.  To  demonstrate  the  project 
achievements,  specific  cooperative  courses  will 
be  proposed  to  a  set  of  pan-European  schools 

Target  Audience: 
Schools 

Keywords: 
Teamwork,  learning  process,  multimedia 

Technology: 
XML,  intelligent  agents 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Aureo  DIaz-Carrasco  Fenollar 
IBERMATICA,  S.A. 
R&D  Department 
Avda.  del  Partenon,  16-18 
E-28042,  Madrid 
Tel:  +34-91-3849100 
Fax:+34-91-3849144 
E-mail:  a.diaz-carrasco@ibermatica.com 

Project  participants 
IBERMATICA,  S.A.  (ES) 
Associado  de  Mestres  Rosa  Sensat  (ES) 
ACit  (DE) 
Cnet  (SE) 
Liceo  Europeo,  Princess  Margaret,  Escola  del 
Mar  (ES) 
Parrs Wood  School  (UK) 
Fullriggaren  Malevlk  (SE) 

MODELLINGSPACE 

*  K ^1 

Modelling 

Ving** 

A  new open  learning environment  for  modelling 
One  of  the  most  exciting  applications  of  new  computing  technologies  in  the 
field  of  science  education  is  their  use in  modelling.  In  this  project  a new 
open  learning  environment  called  MODELLINGSPACE  will  be  developed,  which 
will  contain  a  series  of  components  that  can  be  used to  produce  multimedia 
presentations  of  scientific  ideas,  situations  and  concepts. This  will  allow 
models  to  be  designed,  tested  and  validated.  In  addition,  learning  activities 
will  be  devised  to  allow  the  system  to  be  used  within  the  school subjects  of 
mathematics,  physics,  chemistry,  biology,  and  environmental  science  as  well 
as  across  the  curriculum.  The  project  is  based  on  a  previous  successful 
national  project  in  Greece. 

Multimedia  Situations,  Simulations and  Models 
MODELLINGSPACE will  be a complete  open  learning  system,  available  in  four 
languages  (English,  French,  Portuguese  and  Greek),  for  use  by  students  of  11  to 
17  years  old.  In  terms  of  educational  theory,  the  approach  adopted  is  based  on 
the  social-constructivist  paradigm  supporting  discovery  learning.  The  software 
environment  will  be  designed  to  develop  students'  model  processing  and  meta-
cognitive  skills,  creative  and  flexi b Le thinking,  and  communication  and 
collaboration  skills.  With  these  skills,  students  will  be  better  equipped  to  solve 
complex  problems  in  science  and, indeed,  in  everyday  life.  Using  the 
MODELLINGSPACE  learning  environment,  students  will  be  able  to  express  their 
own  ideas,  to  design  and  tests  models  for  various  situations  and  to  collaborate 
with  other  students  and  teachers  via  the  Internet.  The  system  will  allow  them  to 
create  and  work  on  different  categories  of  models,  including  quantitative  and 
semi-quantitative  ones.  To  support  this  activity  and  make  it  more  interesting  to 
students,  MODELLINGSPACE  will  offer  rich  visualisation  features,  real-world 
simulations,  alternative  and  multiple  forms  of  representation  and  meta-cognitive 
tools. 

Promoting  collaboration 
An  important  element  of  the  MODELLINGSPACE system  is the  tools  that  it  will 
include  to  facilitate  and  support  collaboration  between  students,  and  to 
support  teachers.  These  will  include  "awareness  of  others"  activity  tools;  tools 
supporting  coordinated  dialogue-action  collaboration,  tools  providing 
automated  comparison  of  the  work  of  online  students;  activity  meta-analysis 
tools  for  students  and  teachers,  etc.  MODELLINGSPACE  will  draw  on  a  previous 
national  project  in  Greece  that  resulted  in  a  prototype  system  (ModelsCreator) 
which  has  already  been  tested  in  a number  of  schools.  It  will  also  use the  results 
of  research  in  the  fields  of  science  education,  cognitive  psychology  and 
technology-based  learning  environments,  taking  account  of  analyses  of  the 
needs  of  students  and  teachers  in  different  educational  systems. 

In  developing  and  testing  the  MODELLINGSPACE  system,  experimental  research 
will  be  carried  out  in  conjunction  with  participating  primary  and  secondary 
schools.  The  use  of  the  applications  developed  for  collaborative  distance 
learning  and  teaching  will  also  be  investigated  in  a  multinational  context  using 
ethnographic  (systemic)  and  discourse-analytic  methods.  The  MODELLINGSPACE 
software  will  be  developed  through  successive  evaluations  of  a series  of 
prototype  versions.  In  addition  the  whole  learning  environment  (software, 
manuals,  learning  activities,  pedagogical  approach)  will  be evaluated  in  real 
school  contexts. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-25385 

Duration: 
30  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education-Schools 

Action  Line: 
School  of  Tomorrow 

Full  Title: 
MODELLINGSPACE: A  space  for  ideas'  expression, 
modelling  and  collaboration,  for  the 
development  of  Imagination,  reasoning  and 
learning 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
1/04/2001 

End  Date: 
30/09/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
MODELLINGSPACE  permits  modelling  activities  by 
young  students,  supporting  them  in  expressing 
their  ideas,  by  designing  and  testing  models  of 
various  situations,  while  they  collaborate  with 
other  students  and  teachers  via  the  Internet  . 
The  situations  to  be  modelled  can  be 
interdisciplinary  or  related to  the  existing 
national  curricula  of  particular  disciplines.  The 
system  and  the  accompanied  material  will  be 
delivered  in  English,  French,  Portuguese  and 
Greek 

Target  audience: 
Secondary  Education 

Keywords: 
Learning  environments,  modelling  systems, 
collaborative  systems, schools, secondary 
education,  sciences,  mathematics,  computer 
science 

Technology: 
The  MODELLINGSPACE  software  environment 
will  be  Implemented  as  client-server 
architecture.  The  server-side  will  support 
repositories  of  libraries  of  components,  models 
and  themes  of  studies  and  management  of 
these  repositories.  The  client-side  will  be  based 
on  PCs and  through  them  the  students/ 
teachers  will  communicate  using  a  peer-to-peer 
protocol  over  tcp/ip  with  other  users  or  with 
the  server  in  order  to  affect  asynchronous 
interaction  with  other  clients,  and  to  browse 
and  update  the  contents  of  server  repositories. 
Tools  will  be  included  in  the  client-side  for 
building  new  components  to  be  stored  in  local 
databases  and  for  analysis  of  collaborative 
activity.  The  system  will  be  developed  following 
a  component  based  architecture 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Angélique  Dimitracopoulou 
Assistant  Professor 
Learning  Technology  and  Educational 
Engineering  Laboratory 
University  of  the  Aegean 
1,  Av.  Demokratias 
GR-85100,  Rhodes 
Tel.:  +30-241-99127 
Fax:  +30-241-99127 
E-mail  :  adimitr@rhodes.aegean.gr 

Project  Participants 
University  of  the  Aegean  (GR) 
University  of  Patras  (GR) 
Universite  de  Mons-Hainaut  (BE) 
New  University  of  Lisbon  (PT) 
Universite  d'Angers  (FR) 
Sema  Group  (ES) 

OASIS 

Small schools, big ideas 
The  development  of  computer-based,  and  in  particular  Web-based, 
technologies  and  systems  for  use  in  education,  should  be  especially  suitable 
for  small  schools,  which  do  not  necessarily  have  the  resources  required  to 
implement  new  technologies  on  their  own.  By getting  together  to  form 
virtual  communities,  these  schools  can  avoid  missing  out  on  the  revolution 
in  computer-based  education,  sharing  information  and  applications  to 
improve  education  services  in  a  cost-effective  way.  The  OASIS  project  is 
developing  the  concept  of  a small  school  community  using  a  "school  portal" 
as the  main  tool.  The  development  of  such  a  system  poses  several 
challenges,  not  least  how  to  achieve  interoperability  to  ensure  that  users 
equipped  with  different  applications  and  services  can  share  information. 
This  is  essential  if  usability,  accessibility,  efficiency  and  cost-effectiveness 
are  to  be  achieved. 

Collaborative  ICT-based  learning 
The  OASIS  project  aims  to  maintain  public  educational  systems  as  leaders  in 
Internet-based  education  by  developing  the  concept  of  the  small  school  virtual 
community.  There  are  two  main  objectives: 

To  prepare  a  blueprint  for  interoperability  that  will  allow  schools  to  share 
information  via  a  virtual  community,  irrespective  of  the  applications  and 
services  that  individual  schools  are  using; 
To  develop  a  cost-effective  school  Zone  Server,  with  accompanying 
procedures  and  tools,  and  user-friendly  administration  solutions. 

The  initial  phase  of  the  project  will  seek  to  define  the  requirements  of  schools 
and  to  develop  and  test  different  models  for  collaborative  ICT-based  learning. 
This  will  be  followed  by  a study  of  interoperability,  standardisation  and 
harmonisation,  including  an  evaluation  of,  and  recommendations  on,  the 

suitability  of  the  Schools  Interoperability  Framework  (SIF)  for  implementation  in 
Europe.  Interoperability  is  one  of  the  most  critical  challenges  facing  the 
computer-based  education  sector.  Many  existing  systems  allow  access  only 
through  proprietary  user  interfaces  and  data  formats.  The  SIF is  an  ICT  industry 
initiative  to  develop  an  open  specification  for  educational  software  that  will 
ensure  that  information  can  be  accessed  via  different  applications  and  can  thus 
be  shared  by  users  at  different  locations  using  a variety  of  software. 

An  important  element  of  the  OASIS  project  will  be  the  setting  up  of  a  software 
library  of  open  code  supported  by  harvesting  and  metadata  cataloguing  tools. 
The  library  will  be  designed  for  use  by  both  software  professionals  and  teacher-
authors,  and  will  include  distribution  and  training  systems. 

Prototypes  of  three  key  OASIS components  will  be  developed  -  a Zone  Server,  a 
School Server  and  a Java-based  Kernel. These  will  be  designed  in  accordance 
with  the  specifications  for  interoperability  defined  previously. 

Piloting and validation 
Once  the  development  work  is  complete,  the  three  prototype  OASIS  components 
(Zone  Server,  School Server  and Java-based  Kernel)  will  be  implemented  as  pilot 
applications.  In  addition,  during  the  pilot  phase,  the  three  prototype 
components  will  be  integrated  with  wireless  technologies  to  link  up  schools  and 
local  communities.  Participants  in  the  European  Schoolnet  will  be  provided  with 
the  results  of  the  pilot  projects  and  tools  will  be  made  available  to  enable  them 
to  implement  the  applications  into  school  networks  if  they  wish.  Validation 
work  will  be  carried  out  in  a number  of  public  sector  schools  in  Sweden,  France 
and  Spain. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-26216 

Duration: 
30  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education 

Action  Line: 
School  of  Tomorrow 

Full  Title: 
Open  Architecture  and  Schools  in  Society 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/09/2001 

End  Date: 
29/02/2004 

Project  Objectives: 
The  project  aims  at  developing  the  concept  of 
the  small  school  virtual  community  to  make  sure 
that  public  educational  systems  are  still  leaders 
In  Internet-based  education. 
interoperability  to  ensure  that  users  can  share 
information  irrespective  of  the  applications  and 
services  used  and  will  develop  a  cost-effective 
school  zone  server 

It  will  achieve 

Target  Audience: 
Small  school  communities 

Keywords: 
Small  schools,  ICT, virtual  communities, 
education,  interoperability,  software  library 

Technology: 
Internet,  local  and  regional  telematlc  and 
informatie  architectures,  zonal  servers,  school 
networks 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Agustín  Quintana 
Torrelaguna,  58 
E-28027  Madrid 
Tel:  +34-91-4082000 
Fax:  +34-91-3680709 

E-mail:  aquintan@platea.pntic.mec.es 

Project  Participants 
Ministerio  de  Educación  Cultura  y  Deporte-
CNICE  (Centro  Nacional  de  Información  y 
Comunicación  Educativa)  (ES) 
Ministry  of  Education  and  Science,  Sweeden-
Kommitten  for  Europeiska  Skoldatanatet  (KES) 
(SE) 
Académie  de  Grenoble  (FR) 
Universidad  Politécnica  de  Madrid  (ES) 
Universiteit  van  Amsterdam  (NL) 
Umeå  Universitet  (SE) 
Sun  Microsystems  (BE) 
Apple  (IRL) 
Sistemas  y  Redes  Telemáticas  (ES) 

SCHOOL+ 
inn 

1 
rrc 

Re-engineering  the  school  environment 
If  we  are  serious  about  developing  a true  Information  Society,  ICT  tools 
should  not  simply  be  used  in  schools  to  complement  existing,  subject-based 
educational  approaches.  It  is  important  to  re-examine  the  whole  educational 
environment  and  determine  how  best  new  technologies  can  help  to  address 
a range  of  challenges  such  as  motivation,  information  overload  and  how  to 
equip  young  people  to  cope  with  uncertainty  and  complexity.  The  SCH00L+ 
project  will  develop  a  comprehensive  teaching  and  learning  environment 
that  integrates  a  progressive  educational  approach  with  ICT,  and  which  can 
be  used  to  help  students  develop  the  knowledge  and  skills  that  they  need 
as future  citizens  of  the  Information  Society.  The  new  learning-environment 
system,  embedded  in  a  holistic  educational  approach  will  help  to  overcome 
the  narrowness  and  lack  of  integration  of  many  existing  ICT-based 
educational  approaches. 

A systematic  and comprehensive  approach 
The  SCH00L+  project  will  comprise  the  following  seven  phases: 

1.  An  assessment  of  the  needs  of  schools,  teachers,  students  and  parents  will 

analyse  what  goals  schools  have  with  respect  to  the  Information  Society  and 
identify  the  educational  processes  that  need  to  be  promoted  and 
implemented  to  achieve  those  goals. 

2.  An  educational  approach  will  be  designed,  developed  and  implemented  to 

promote  high-level  cognitive  emotional  and  social  activities  that  emphasise 
autonomy,  creativity,  problem  solving  and  teamwork  and  make  use  of  ICT 
tools. 

3.  A comprehensive  learning  environment  system  based  on  state-of-the-art 

technologies  (such  as VR,  3D,  CSCW, WWW, WAP and  MPEG4)  will  be designed, 
built,  implemented  and  tested. 

4.  A series  of  collaborative  learning  activities  will  be  designed,  developed  and 

tested  in  European  schools. 

5.  A socio-economic  evaluation  of  the  SCH00L+  system  will  be  carried  out  to 

investigate  its  educational  and  technological  benefits. 

6.  Further  development  of  the  SCH00L+ system  will  allow  its  widespread 

exploitation  by  most  European  schools. 

7.  The  new  knowledge  and  expertise  acquired  during  the  project  will  be  widely 

disseminated  to  education  professionals  and  policy-makers. 

The  SCH00L+ system  will  be  designed  to  support  and  manage  educational 
processes  and  social  interaction  between  learners,  tutors,  peer  groups  and 
community  members,  while  the  emphasis  on  collaborative  activities  will  help  to 

foster  a  European  perspective.  All  the  main  stakeholders  in  education  will  be 
involved  in  carrying  out  the  socio-economic  evaluation  and  investigation  of  the 
educational  and  technological  benefits  will  take  account  of  institutional 
constraints  faced  by  schools  as  they  strive  to  introduce  innovation  in  teaching. 
Testing  of  the  new  system  will  be  carried  out  in  20  schools  across  Europe. 

Where  possible,  content  from  existing  ICT  applications  will  be  adapted  and 
transferred  to  the  new  system  in  the  interests  of  cost-effectiveness.  The  new 
system  will  have  a modular  structure  to  allow  for  easy  modification, 
enhancement  and  expansion. 

Bridging the  gap between developers and users 
In  recent years  many  schools  have  implemented  ICT systems.  In  many  cases, 
however,  equipment  may  not  be  available  in  sufficient  quantities,  or  be  of a 
high  enough  standard  to  make  full  use  of  Information  Society  technologies.  In 
addition,  many  educational  software  products  and  projects  to  promote  the  use 
of  ICT in  education  have  a  narrow  focus  on  the  computing  tools  themselves, 
without  necessarily  giving  consideration  to  the  fundamental  changes  required 
to  make the  most  of  the  new  technologies.  Indeed,  it  can  be  argued  that  in 
many  cases  ICT  programmes  for  education  do  not  deliver  alternative  forms  of 
schooling  but  simply  reinforce  existing  organisational  structures  and  curriculum 
content  and  established  relationships  between  students  and  teachers. 

SCH00L+  aims  to  harness  state-of-the-art  and  emerging  ICT technologies  to 
build  a  complete  computer-based  learning  system  with  24-hour  accessibility, 
which  will  promote  autonomy  and  creativity  in  learning  and  enhanced 
communication  among  and  between  pupils,  teachers,  parents  and  school 
administrators.  The  educational  approach  used  in  designing  the  system  will  be 
one  where  technology  must  be  adapted  to  the  needs  of  schools,  rather  than  one 
where  schools  have  to  adapt  to  the  technology. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-25126 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education 

Action  Line: 
School  of  Tomorrow 

Full  Title: 
SCHOOL+  More  than  a  Platform  to  Build  the 
School  of  Tomorrow 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Start  Date: 
01/09/2001 

End  Date: 
31/08/2004 

Project  Objectives: 
The  School  +  project  aims to  develop  a 
comprehensive  teaching  and  learning 
environment  using  stat-of-the-art  technologies 
to  integrate  a  progressive  educational  approach 
with  ICT  for  promotion  of  high-level  cognitive 
emotional  and  social  activities,  promotion  of 
autonomy  and  creativity  and  enhanced 
communication.  Thus, the  project  will  adapt 
technology  to  the  needs  of  schools 

Target  Audience: 
Pupils  and  educators 

Keywords: 
ICT,  teching  and  learning  environment, 
education,  knowledge,  skills,  social  interaction, 
innovation 

Technology: 
State-of-the-art  technologies,  such  as VR,  3D, 
CSCW, WWW, WAP  and  MPEG4 

Project  Co-ordinator 

Dr  Juana  Sancho  Gill 

Didáctica  i Organització  Educativa 
Vall  d'Hebron,  171 
E-08035  Barcelona 
Spain 
Tel:  +34-93-4035052 
E-mail:  jmsancho@ariadna.d5.ub.es 

Project  Participants 
Didáctica  i Organització  Educativa  (ES) 
University  of  Barcelona  (ES) 
IES Bernât  Metge  (ES) 
Extreme  Solutions  (GR) 
Ellinogermanikl  Agogi  S.A.  (GR) 
The  Samuel  Neaman  Institute  (IL) 
Alliance  High  School,  Haifa  (IL) 
University  of  Uoulu  (Fl) 
Oulunsalo  Secondary  School  (Fl) 
Univerzita  Larlova  (CZ) 
Gymnazium  F.X.  Saldy  (CZ) 

SEED 

Q Q 
(s «Γ* 

O 

s er 

■ ■. ■ 

Sowing the seeds of collaboration 
Project SEED is about seeding cultural change in the school system through 
the generation of communities engaged in integrated educational and 
technological innovation. The project will develop innovative educational 
materials and technologies and methods for generating innovative use of 1ST 
at small scale and systemic levels. 

The specific outputs will be: 

a) the design of innovative activities supporting a social mode of learning in a 
collaborative setting, an augmented awareness of learning processes and 
meaning construction and autonomy and responsibility for learning, 
b) the development of methods for generating integrated communities of 

education researchers, teachers students and developers designing and 
implementing context-sensitive school-based and at the same time 
innovative activity, 

c) the development of technologies that support authoring and scripting, 

collaboration, reification and reflection of learning activities, integrated 
learning activity, kinaesthetic and concrete representations, 

d) the development of methods for using the above experience, tools and 

infrastructure to proliferate innovative activity in the school system. An 
important part of the method will be to develop a Center for Collaboration 
and Exchange enabling the propagation of activities and the generation of 
educational communities. 

Building your own learning community 
The concept at the heart of SEED is to generate integrated communities 
(meaning teachers, students, educationalists and software developers) who will 
design, develop and try out a series of computer supported innovative learning 
activities based on clear learning objectives. Each activity will be accompanied 
by suggested methods for teaching and introducing the activity into schools 
and suggestions for the use of the software tools. Software development and 
authoring will adopt a component-oriented approach, extending and adapting 
the platform and software developed by the project partners. 

■■i 

The Centre for Collaboration and Exchange to be developed as part of the SEED 
project will support communication among all members of the integrated 
communities of teachers, students, researchers and software developers. The 
Exchange will also facilitate the spread of information about the activities of 
the SEED project to a wide audience of potential users and, perhaps most 
importantly, act as a source of support and advice for those using it. 

Spreading the word 
As with all projects designed to test and demonstrate innovative approaches in 
education, it is important to investigate how the new systems, materials and 
methods are working in practice and to evaluate their impacts. As part of the 
SEED project, a pseudo-ethnographic evaluation will be carried out to determine 
how the integrated communities are developing, to determine how the methods 
and processes developed are being implemented and to investigate the potential 
of the methods adopted to promote widespread propagation of the approach. 
The evaluation will include extensive observations made on site in the 
participating schools, interviews with users, exchange of experience and results 
between project partners and analysis of outcomes in the different schools to 
identify case studies of best practice methods and processes. 

Project No: 
IST-2000-25214 

Duration: 
36 months 

Economic Sector: 
Education and Training 

Action Line: 
School of Tomorrow 

Full Title: 
Seeding cultural change in the school system 
through the generation of communities 
engaged in integrated educational and 
technological innovation 

Project Type: 
Education and Training Research 

Start Date: 
1/04/2001 

End Date: 
31/03/2004 

Project objectives: 
design and develop Innovative activities, 
generate integrated communities, develop 
technologies supporting construction and 
development by users 

Target audience: 
Teachers, Educational Policy, Students, 
Educational Software Developers, Educational 
Researchers 

Keywords: 
Educational communities of change, software 
authoring 

Technologies: 
Component architecture, scriptable 
environments, communication forums 

Project Co-ordinator 
Prof. Kynigos Chronis 
Computer Technology Institute 
Research and Development Devision, Research 
Unit 3 
6 1, Riga Feraiou st 
GR-26221 
Patra 
Tel: +30-13416220 
Fax: +30-13416700 
E-mail: kynigos@cti.gr 

Project Participants 
Gerhard-Mercator-Universität Duisburg, UDUI 
Universite de Geneve, TECFA (CH) 
0/1 Pliroforiki S.A. (GR) 
University of Hull (UK) 
University of Athens, School of Philosophy, Dept 
of Education (GR) 

YOUNGNET 

Virtual meeting place makes learning fun 
Youngsters  love  to  play,  but  are  not  always  keen  to  learn,  particularly  in 
traditional  teaching  environments.  The  key  to  overcoming  this  problem  may 
be to  soften  the  boundary  between  learning  and  leisure.  One  way  to  achieve 
this  is  to  motivate  students  through  the  use  of  ICT technologies  such  as 
virtual  reality,  3D  representations  and  multimedia.  The  aim  of  the  YoungNet 
project  is  to  set  up  an  Internet-based,  virtual  reality  education 
environment,  taking  into  account  what  was  developed  by  a  previous 1ST 
project  (VIRLAN).  A community-based  platform  will  enable  young  people 
aged  between  8  and  14  years  to  use innovative  services  and  learning 
materials  and  communicate  and  collaborate  at  school  and  with  each  other 
across  national  boundaries.  This  environment  will  undoubtedly  provide 
pupils  and  teachers  with  enormous  opportunities  to  interact  with  and  learn 
about  other  countries  and  cultures  in  a fascinating  and  enjoyable  way. 

Bringing together schools from across Europe 
The YoungNet  learning  community  will  be  built  using  the  results  of  a  previous 
1ST project,  VIRLAN. The  VIRLAN  prototype  has  been  tested  successfully  by a 
limited  number  of  users  and  evaluation  focused  on  functionality  and  technical 
issues.  Now,  YoungNet  will  take  the  results  and  focus  on  developing  content  and 
widening  the  range  of  applications  available.  The  first  task  of  the  YoungNet 
project  will  be to  carry  out  an  analysis  of  the  habits  and  requirements  of  target 
user  groups.  To  do  this,  the  project  includes  ten  schools  in  each  of  four 
countries  (Germany,  UK,  Finland,  Switzerland)  together  with  10  international/ 
American  schools  to  assess the  requirements  for  home  use as well  as  institutional 
use.  Thus,  50  schools,  with  up  to  1000  pupils,  will  take  part  from  an  early  stage 
in  the  development  of  the  system.  Once  the  YoungNet  System  has  been  built  and 
the  content  developed,  validation  and  evaluation  of  the  system  will  centre  on 
its  impact  on  learning.  Again,  the  input  of  the  participating  schools  will  ensure 
a realistic  assessment  of  the  system's  impacts. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-25104 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Publishing 

Action  Line: 
School  of  Tomorrow 

Full  Title: 
Youngsters  Learning  and  Playing  Network 

Project  Type: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Security  and  safety  on  the  Internet  is  becoming  increasingly  important.  A key 
element  of  the  YoungNet  virtual  community  will  therefore  be  a  comprehensive 
system  for  allocating  rights  and  roles  using  electronic  identification  and 
registration. 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2001 

End  Date: 
31/03/2003 

The YoungNet  system's  virtual  meeting  place  for  young  people  will  focus  on  three 

main  types  of  activities: 

Co-operation  -  supporting  teachers  to  organise  joint  projects  and  allowing 
children  to  work jointly,  "publish"  their  results,  play  multi-user  edutainment 
games  or  stage  live  events  and  organise  competitions; 
Communication  -  to  enable  young  people  to  meet  and  make  friends  in 
different  countries; 
Personalisation  -  giving  users  the  option  to  create  their  own  features. 

Project  objectives: 
YoungNet  offers  a  virtual  e-learning  meeting 
place  that  brings  together  young  people  and 
their  teachers  from  different  European 
countries 

Target  audience: 
8  to  14  years  old  children  and  their  teachers 

Key words: 
Learning  community,  collaborative  learning,  e-
learning 

Technology: 
VR,  openness,  interoperability,  multimedia 

Pay as you learn 
To  date,  online  communities  for  training  and  learning  have  not  met  with  much 
commercial  success.  An  important  part  of  the  YoungNet  project  will  be  a  market 
analysis  in  which  users  (potential  customers)  are  offered  a choice  of  commercial 
models  and  methods  of  payment  for  services.  An  evaluation  of  the  amounts  that 
potential  customers  are  willing  to  pay  will  give  an  indication  of  the  suitability 
of  different  models  for  implementing  the  YoungNet  system.  This  information  will 
then  be  used  to  prepare  a  business  plan. 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Mr  Jürgen  A.  Schmidt 
Ernst  Klett  Verlag 
Rotebühlstrasse  77 
D-70178  Stuttgart 
Tel:  +49-711-66721491 
Fax:  +49-711-66722044 
E-mail:  j.a.schmidt@klett-mail.de 

Project  Participants 
Ernst  Klett  Verlag  (DE) 
Klett  und  Balmer  AG  (CH) 
Hyperwave  Software  F&E Ges.m.b.H  (AT) 
Mindlab  Krieger  &  Partner  (DE) 
University  of  Helsinki  (Fl) 
University  of  London  Institute  of  Education  (UK) 
University  of  Stuttgart  (DE) 

K' 

M 

Knowledge  sharing services for  E&T projects 
The  Κ2  project  will  offer  3  interrelated  sets  of  services  to  Education  and 
Training  projects.  It  will  create  opportunities  for  face-to-face  knowledge 
sharing,  will  provide  information  packs  to  support  projects  in  their  efforts 
to  share  and  disseminate  knowledge  and  will  provide  a  web  repository  that 
contains  valuable  knowledge  resources,  fit  to  the  needs  of  projects. 

Face-to-face  knowledge  sharing 
The  main  objective  of  the  K2  project  is  knowledge  sharing.  This  is  achieved 
through  a suite  of  events  where  the  participating  projects  can  meet  and  share 
experiences. 

K2  activities  are  primarily  targeted  at  the  following  projects: 

Advanced  Training  Systems  projects; 
Self-Learning  for  Work  projects; 
Open  Platforms  and  Tools  projects; 
Advanced  Solutions  for  On-the-job  Training  for  SME's trial  projects. 

K2  will  support  existing  clusters  and  facilitate  the  emergence  of  new  cluster 
activities  around  common  themes  such  as  evaluation,  exploitation  and 
dissemination  and  IPR.  K2 will  support  and  liaise  with  other  accompanying 
measures. 

Knowledge  sharing  will  not  end  with  this  core  group.  K2 will  provide  interfaces 
to  Education  &  Training  (related)  projects  from  other  action  lines  within  1ST 
(School  of  Tomorrow,  Ε-Learning  Futures,  etc)  and  outside  of  1ST,  such  as 
LEONARDO,  Equal and TSER. 

The  support  will  be  provided  through  an  application  of  the  KALiF  (Knowledge 
And  Learning  InFrastructure)  methodoLogy,  consisting  of  ways  to  organise  and 
integrate  thematically  organised  set  of  events  and  electronic  services. 

K2  will  organise  facilitated  sharing  days  where  participants  have  focused 
discussions  on  the  specific  sharing  themes.  Each  of  the  sharing  days  will  provide 
concrete  outputs  for  individual  participants,  which  they  can  apply  in  their 
project  directly. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-25017 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Other  service  activities 

Action  Line: 
Education  and  Training  Research 

Full  Title: 
K2:  knowledge  square 

Project  Type: 
Accompanying  measure 

K2  will  also  help  projects  to  capture  the  lessons  learned  in  project  debrief 
sessions. These lessons  learned  wiLl be  made available  on the  K2 website 
(www.know-2.org)  and  will  inform  face-to-face  sharing  events. 

Start  Date: 
01/10/2001 

End  Date: 
30/09/2004 

K2  will  also  organise  and  facilitate  sessions  aimed  at  knowledge  sharing  during 
concertation  events  of  the  Commission. 

K2aims  to  make  sure  that  the  right  knowledge  is  made  available  at  the  right  time 
for  the  projects.  In  order  to  do  so,  K2 continually  reassesses  its  environment  and 
its  activities  to  add  benefit  to  the  projects  as they  develop. 

Info packs for  effective  knowledge  sharing and dissemination 
K2  will  also  deveLop  on-line  and  paper-based  information  packs  that  can  help 
individual  projects  and  clusters  of  projects  in  their  efforts  to  be  more  effective 
through  the  use  of  knowledge  management  principles.  For example, there  will  be 
an  induction  pack  that  will  introduce  project  members 
guide  for  effective  dissemination  and  exploitation  and  a guide  for  successful 
clustering  activities.  The  use  of  these  packs  can  be  followed  up  by  specific 
face-to-face  interventions  facilitated  by  the  K2 team.  We acknowledge  that  we 
may  not  have  all the  expertise  required  for  this  so  external  experts  may be 
invited,  when  appropriate, 

to  help  make  K2 interventions  a success. 

to  the  services  of  K2, a 

Knowledge  resources on the  web 
All  knowledge  generated  through  the  face-to-face  sharing  events  is  captured 
and  published  on  the  K2 web  area  (www.know-2.org)  which,  integrated  with  the 
web  services  of  Proacte  (www.proacte.com),  functions  as  a  collective  memory  for 
all  participating  projects.  The  K2 web  area  provides  a  knowledge  map  of  the 
projects,  participating  organisations,  and  the  people  involved.  The  most 
important  contributions  to  the  site  will  also  be  distributed  through  an  e-zine. 
Furthermore,  an  education  and  training  technology  watch  service  will  be  set  up 
specifically  for  the  projects  K2 serves. 

Project  Objectives: 
K2  aims  to:  help  projects  identify  knowledge 
and  experiences  that  can  be  shared;  capitalise 
on  these;  support  the  projects  by  disseminating 
their  results  to  a  wider  audience;  support  the 
emerging  community  on  education  and  training 
technology 

Target  Audience: 
Education  and  Training  projects,  specifically: 
Advanced  Training  Systems  projects;  Self-
Learning  for  Work  projects;  Open  Platforms  and 
Tools  projects;  Advanced  Solutions  for  On-the-
j ob  Training  for  SME's trial  projects 

Keywords: 
Knowledge  sharing,  knowledge  and  learning 
infrastructure 

Technology: 
Web-based  knowledge  sharing  platform 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Eelco  Kruizinga 
OBIT 
Arthur  van  Schendelstraat  570 
P.O.  Box  19210 
NL-3501  DE  Utrecht 
Tel:  +31-30-2308963 
E-mail:  ekruizinga@cibit.nl 
URL:  http://www.know-2.org 

Project  Participants 
OBIT  (NL) 
Learning  Futures  (UK) 
Aspen  Enterprises  (UK) 

L-CHANGE 

Φ" :0øm\ Ε?\  ƒ 

Creation of an observation system for  1ST related change in 
learning systems 
The  L-CHANGE  project  aims  to  create  an  observation  system  analysing  the 
changes  affecting  education,  training  and  lifelong  learning  as a  result  of 
Information  Society  Technologies  (1ST). This  observatory  will  be  able  to 
provide  a  constantly  updated  information  service  on  the  state  of  the  art  and 
the  development  trends  of  the  EST European  market  and  support  Key  Action 
HI  projects  and  other  interested  parties  active  in  this  field.  A HELPDESK 
supporting  1ST and  KAIII  Education  & Training  projects  is  also  implemented, 
with  on  demand  provision  of  tailor-made  reports,  based  on the  information 
collected  and  contained  in  the  project  database,  and  focussed  on the  most 
relevant  issues  related  to  the  evolution  of  the  market.  Furthermore,  the 
project  fosters  collaboration  among  1ST projects  and  other  EC funded 
Programmes  such  as: ADAPT,  LEONARDO,  SOCRATES, etc,  and  raises  the 
general  public  awareness  on the  impact  of  1ST on  E&T and  lifelong  learning 
through  the  publication  of  main  project  activities  and  results  in  the  project 
web  site,  active  from January  2002. 

The  main  objectives  of  the  L-CHANGE  project  are therefore  to  review  and 
conduct  prospective  studies  on  future  scenarios  for  learning  systems,  and 
develop  a  method  to  update  forecast  on  a yearly  basis.  A  systematic  literature 
and  press  review  on  1ST in  education  and  training  is  undertaken  and  made 
accessible,  through  the  PROACTE Web  site,  to  everybody  interested. 
Systematic  field  research  on  industrial  actors'  strategies  in  this  market  is 
conducted  and  a yearly  report  on  Change  in  European  Education  and  Training 
Systems  related  to  1ST is  produced  giving  a  synthesis  review  of  the  most 
important  facts,  figures  and  trends  of  the  year,  accompanied  by  the  updated 
forecast  for  the  coming  three  years.  Finally,  all  necessary  connections  and 
collaborations  with  similar  and  complementary  projects  are  established. 

The  most  important  milestones  the  research  will  bring  out  are  the  production  of 
two  main  annual  reports  providing  a  detailed  analysis  of  the  European  Education 
and  Training  market,  as well as an  overview  of  policies,  research  and  innovative 
practice  trends  in  education  and  training  in  Europe.  Country  reports  will  also  be 
produced,  covering  the  key  areas  of  interest  of  the  project  for  the  following 
European  countries:  DE,  DK,  ES, FR, GR, IT,  UK,  and for  the  US. 

The  presentation  of  L-CHANGE  results  will  be  embedded  in  relevant  international 
events  (workshops,  conferences),  and  an  on-line  helpdesk  service  will  be  active 
from  February  2002  to  support  1ST and  KAIII  E&T projects.  The  main  expected 
result  is  the  creation  of  a permanent  observation  system  able  to  conduct 
prospective  studies  on  future  scenarios  for  E&T market  development  and 
operating  in  synergy  with  and  with  the  support  of  complementary/similar 
projects,  researches  and  initiatives. 

Investigation of 4 key areas 
The  L-CHANGE  Project  identifies  four  Key Areas  at  the  centre  of  its  field  of 
interest. 
First  of  all, the  Market  of  1ST to  support  education  and  training  and  its 
evolution  into  future  business  scenarios  through  the  analysis  of  current  and 
future  market  trends  and  of  determining  factors.  This  leads  to  reliable  estimates 
of  the  current  and  future  market  volumes,  which  cover  the  main  market  segments 
(education,  training,  home, and  LIFELONG  LEARNING)  of  the  EU as a whole  and 
of  selected  EU countries  (DE, DK,  ES, FR, GR, I,  UK)  as well as of  the  USA. 
Secondly,  the  whole  of  Research  activities  and  projects  relevant  to  the  field  of 
1ST for  education  and  training. 

Thirdly,  the  Public  PoLicies  and  programmes  adopted  at  local,  regional,  national 
and  international  level  in  order  to  promote,  support  and  monitor  the 
implementation  of  1ST in  education  and  training  systems. 
Finally,  the  range  of  Innovative  Practices  adopted  in  schools,  universities, 
training  organisations,  workplaces  and  home to  make  meaningful  use  of  1ST in 
the  learning  process.  This  service  is  provided  mainly  through  the  interaction 
with  other  projects  in  which  some  members  of  the  L-CHANGE  Consortium  are 
partners  such  as  Ε-WATCH, approved  in  the  framework  of  the  Socrates/Minerva 
programme  and  focussed  on  the  analysis  of  innovative  practices  in  primary  and 
secondary  education. 

Contribution  to  EU policy and  innovation 
The  contribution  of  the  L-CHANGE  project  to  EC policies  is  consistent  with  the 
main  objective  of  Key  Action  I II  of  the  1ST programme,  i.e.  to  enhance 
education  and  training  systems  for  lifelong  learning.  Furthermore,  the  creation 
of  an  observatory  exercise  on  the  European  market  of  1ST, which  could  become 
permanent  and  provide  European  suppliers  with  a  constantly  updated 
information  service  on  the  evolution  of  the  market,  is  a very  innovative  idea, as 
innovation  consists  in  trying  to  promote  synergy  with  all  the  relevant  existing 
projects/initiative  in  the  field  within  and  outside  1ST. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-26226 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Market  related  to  1ST in the  E&T sectors 

Action  Line: 
1ST Support  Measure 

Full  Title: 
European  Observatory  on  1ST related  change  in 
learning  systems 

Project  Type: 
Accompanying  measure 

Start  Date: 
01/01/2001 

End  Date: 
31/12/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
The  project  objectives  are  to  review  and 
conduct  prospective  studies  on  future 
scenarios  for  learning  systems,  develop  a 
method  to  update  forecast  on  a yearly  basis, 
conduct  a  systematic  literature  and  press 
review  on  IST in  education  and  training  and 
systematic  field  research  on  industrial  actors' 
strategies  in  this  market, 
produce  a  yearly  report  on  change  in  European 
education  and  trainingsystems  related  to  IST 
and  establish  all  necessary  connections  and 
collaborations  with  similar  and  complementary 
projects 

Target  Audience: 
IST programme,  KAIII  projects,  E&T suppliers, 
policy  makers 

Keywords: 
Information  Society,  E&T Market  and  Supply 

Technology: 
Web-based  technologies 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Mr  Claudio  Dondi 
Scienter 
Via  Val  D'Aposa  3 
40123  Bologna 
Italy 
Tel:  +39-051-6560401 
Fax:  +39-051-6560402 
Email:  saceto@scienter.org 

Project  Participants 
Scienter  (IL) 
MENON  Network  (BE) 
Guilford  Educational  Services  (UK  ) 
Middlesex  University  (UK  ) 

LEARN 

Learnist'org 

Learning from the past and present -  looking to the future 
A large  body  of  knowledge  has  been  accumulated  through  the  efforts  of 
European  researchers  from  past  and  present  research  programmes. To 
capitalise  on this,  LEARN  will  present  the  fruits  of  1ST research. They  will  be 
transformed  into  learning  modules  for  learners  aged  approximately  between 
16  to  23  -  the  age  when  most  people  are  approaching  univeristy-level 
studies  and/or  are  about  to  make  their  professional  choices  -  and  those 
wanting  to  learn  more  about  the  subject  areas  of  1ST research  (life-long 
learning). 

LEARN aims  to  become  one  the  principal  EU-based  online  services  for  learners 
providing  first-hand  information  on  the  most  recent  technological  research  and 
innovation  carried  out  by  the  European  research  in  the  Fourth  Framework 
Programme  and,  in  particular,  the  current  FP5  1ST programme.  Consequently, 
LEARN will  target  an  extremely  wide  audience,  and  expects  to  be  able  to  reach 
several  hundreds  of  thousands  Europeans  until  2002. 

An easier way to  learn? 
To facilitate  this  LEARN  will  set-up  a user-friendly,  attractive,  fully  multimedia 
website  delivered  entirely  in  alL  11  languages  of  the  European  Union. This  will 
include  a wide  spectrum  of  IST-related  educational  features  such  as  tutorials, 
training  courses,  success  stories,  activities  for  individual  and  classes,  contact 
with  key  experts,  online  debates  and  bulletin  boards,  useful  links,  etc.  Particular 
attention  will  be  paid  to  the  potential  disclosure  of  new job  opportunities  for 
learners  interested  in  working  in  the  emerging  professional  areas  related  to  the 
1ST Programme. 

Part  of  this  process  is  the  provision  of  content  for  the  LEARN website.  LEARN 
will  achieve  this  by  creating,  developing,  producing  and  delivering  a series  of 
original  learning  modules  related  to  spécifie  IST  research  themes. 

Initially  LEARN will  cover  15  research  themes  during  the  32  months  lifetime  of 
the  project,  by  producing  and  promoting  the  corresponding  learning  modules. 
They  will  adopt  a flexible  approach  to  the  design  of  the  learning  modules.  All 
learning  modules  will  cover  different  degrees  of  complexity. 

In  particular,  for  each  learning  module  LEARN  will  consider  both  the  relationship 
between  the  subject  and the  age  of  the  learners  as well as the  relevance  of  the 
subject  for  particular  audiences.  As a result,  each  learning  module  will  be 
produced  taking  into  account  different  users'  perspectives,  with  a  strong 
dependence  on  age  and  subject. 

Learning about the site 
While  in  itself  to  build  the  site  is  an  achievement  it  is  only  part  of  the  process. 
LEARN will  reach  an  audience  of  several  hundreds  of  thousands  of  learners 
throughout  Europe  during  the  project's  lifetime.  LEARN will  promote  their 
website  to  the  academic  community  and  secondary  schools,  additionally  they 
will  also  implement  a strong  dissemination  strategy,  targeting  a  variety  of 
distribution  channels  including  the  media,  the  Web,  European  science  museums 
and  major  ICT  fairs  and  exhibitions  (including  the  annual  1ST Conference). 

An  iterative  process 
LEARN will  measure  the  effective  benefits  brought  by  its  service  to  its  users  and 
feed  them  back  them  to  their  website.  This  will  be  achieved  partly  through 
monitoring  project  results. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-12371 

Duration: 
32  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  Vocational  training  Recruitment 

Action  Line: 
IST Support  Measure 

Full  Title: 
Learning IST 

Project  Type: 
Accompanying  measures  for  studies 

Start  Date: 
01/04/2000 

End  Date: 
31/12/2001 

Project  Objectives: 
LEARN  aims  to  present  the  IST research  results 
and  transform  them  into  learning  modules  for 
learners  aged  between  16-23  and  for  those 
willing  to  learn  more  about  subjects  covered  by 
IST research. 

Target  Audience: 
Learners,  students,  teachers,  vocational 
trainers,  lifelong  learners,  media 

Keywords: 
Learners,  students,  j ob  opportunities,  learning 
modules,  website,  IST  research 

Technology: 
Web-based  technologies  and  learning  modules 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Mr  Mario  Martinoli 
Databank  Consulting 
Corso  Italia  8 
1-20122  Milan 
Tel:  +39-02-72107515 
Fax:  +39-02-72107402 
E-mail:  martinoll@dbcons.it 

Project  Participants 
Databank  Consulting  (IT) 
Cognitive  Applications  (UK) 
European  Open  Universities  Network  (NL) 
Gedeon  Programmes  (FR) 
Institut  de  l'Audiovisuel  et  des 
Telecommunications  en  Europe  (FR) 
Teleport  Sachsen-Anhalt  (DE) 

PROACTe 

C» 

Education and Training 

Aiding education  and training  community 
PROACTe is  a  Web  service  for  projects  covering  educational  and  training 
technologies  under  the  European  Commission's  Information  Society 
Technology  programme.  This  service  gives  users  immediate  access  to 
information  about  educational  technologies  and  research  across  Europe. 
PROACTe's  key  objective  is  to  be  a  central  portal  for  raising  awareness  of 
education  and  training  technologies  and  research  across  Europe. 

The  site  is  for  the  projects  to  display  results  as weLl as  receive  information  on 
other  initiatives,  form  virtual  communities,  and  provide  resources  on  all 
educational  technologies  in  Europe.  It  also  acts  as  a gateway  to  national, 
European  and  global  information  in  educational  technologies.  PROACTe  compiles 
and  maintains  up-to-date,  high  quality  information  on  the  website,  encourages 
participation,  gives  examples  of  best  practice,  lessons  learnt,  news,  events  and 
provides  a  communications  service.  Other  services  include  printable  information 
sheets  on  all  the  projects  and  a  report  on  Educational  Technologies  in  Europe 
2000-2004. 

Supporting  projects 
PROACTe  supports,  valorises  and  facilitates  the  dissemination  and  take-up 
activities  of  the  projects  of  the  Education  and  Training  Action  Line,  as well as 
implementing  actions  in  support  of  consensus  building  between  the  projects. 
PROACTe  also  undertakes  activities  (targeting  both  the  projects  and  a  wide 
range  of  external  players,  end-users,  providers,  the  press,  and  policy-makers) 
aimed  at  actively  promoting  the  dissemination  of  information  from  the 
European  Commission  through  clearly  identified  dissemination  channels  to  the 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-12292 

Duration: 
36  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Education  and  Training 

Action  Line: 
Education  and  Training  Area 

Full  Title: 
Promoting  Awareness  and  Communicating 
Technologies  in  Education 

Project  Type: 
Support  Action 

Start  Date: 
01/01/2000 

End  Date: 
31/12/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
PROACTe  is  providing  a service  for  the  projects 
supported  under  the  education  and  training 
area  of  the  IST  programme.  Communication  is 
the  key  to  PROACTe  and  will  encourage 
exchange  of  experience  between  projects 
involved  in  using  technology  to  support 
learning  and  assist  them  in  raising  awareness 
and  disseminating  information  on  their 
progress,  achievements  and  results.  PROACTe 
will  support,  valorise  and  facilitate  the 
communication  and  take-up  activities  of  these 
projects  and  implement  actions  in  support  of 
consensus  building  between  the  projects. 
PROACTe  ¡s a Web-based  service  that  will  give 
access  to  information  and  provide  a  context  for 
European  Research  into  technologies  to 
support  learning.  PROACTe  is  providing 
information  not  only  on  the  Issues  surrounding 
the  take-up  of  technologies  but  also  on  the 
impact  of  learning  mechanisms  on  all  areas  of 
society 

Target  Audience: 
All  people  interested  in  Educational 
Technologies 

Keywords: 
Dissemination,  promotion,  awareness  raising 

Technology: 
Web 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Dr Tara Morris 
ECOTEC  Research  &  Consulting 
Avenue  de  Tervuren  13b 
B-1040  Brussels 
Tel:  +32-2-7438949 
Fax:  +32-2-7327111 
E-mail:  info@proacte.com 
URL:  http://www.proacte.com 

interested  public.  It  will  provide  a full  repository  of  project  information  based 
on  the  needs  of  the  projects  themselves,  a central  communications  service, 
virtual  communities  for  feedback,  discussion  and  debate  and  a review  of 
educational  technologies  in  Europe.  PROACTe  will  also  undertake  organisation 
and  support  for  focused  thematic  workshop  meetings  concerned  with  exchange 
of  experience  and  support  of  community  building  between  projects. 

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SCHEMAS 

Information  about  information 
The  rise  of  the  World  Wide  Web  has created  an  urgent  need  to  define 
standard  methods  and  vocabularies  for  describing  its  contents  in  a 
consistent  and  orderly  manner.  Since  1995,  a  number  of  related  initiatives 
have arisen  in  what  has  been  called  a  Metadata  Movement.  "Metadata"  is a 
broad  term  that  covers  many  types  of  "structured  data  about  data"  -  from 
traditional  resources  such  as  library  catalogues,  subject  indexes,  book 
reviews  and  abstracts,  to  new  forms  of  technical  and  descriptive  data  for 
Web  resources  ranging  from  digital  signatures  and  digitised  co-ordinates  to 
online  mail-order  catalogues.  In  its  most  familiar  form,  metadata  may  be 
used  to  list  the  author,  title  and  subject  of  resources  in  a  collection.  Other 
types  of  metadata  may  list  the  price  or  quality  rating  of  those  resources, 
specify  the  format  of  their  computer  files,  name  the  administrators 
responsible  for  their  preparation,  or  clarify  the  terms  and  conditions  under 
which  they  may  be viewed  or  copied.  Some  of  these  metadata  types  are 
meant  to  be  read  by  humans,  while  others  are  designed  to  be  processed 
directly  by  computers.  No  single  type  of  metadata  can suit  every  application, 
every  type  of  resource,  and  every  community  of  users.  Rather,  the  broad 
diversity  of  potential  metadata  needs  can  best  be  met  by  a  multiplicity  of 
separate  but  functionally  focused  metadata  packages,  or  schemas. 

Schemas that  are  designed  to  cover  the  basic  needs  of  users  in  a wide  range  of 
fields  and  applications  are  called  "core"  element  sets. In  the  Web  environment, 
the  most important  of  these  is  the  Dublin  Core  element  set  -  a  set  of  fifteen 
broad  categories  such  as  Title,  Creator,  Subject,  Publisher,  and  Date. This 
element  set  was  designed  to  be  simple  and  intuitive  enough  for  ordinary  people 
to  use  without  special  training.  As  of  November  1999,  the  definitions  of  the 
Dublin  Core  elements  have  been  translated  into  twenty-five  languages,  making  it 
a truly  multilingual  standard.  Alongside  the  Dublin  Core, efforts  are  under  way  to 
standardise  element  sets  for  purposes  other  than  simple  resource  discovery,  such 
as digital  commerce  and  rights  management,  and  for  use  with  specific  domains, 
such  as  instructional  materials,  museum  objects,  archives  and  government 
information. 

With  the  rapid  development  and  consolidation  of  these  new  metadata  schemas, 
implementers  of  information  services  on  the  Web today  are  faced  with  a  complex 
new  challenge.  Wherever  metadata  is  needed, schemas  must  be  designed  to  be as 
compatible  as  possible  with  existing  and  emerging  standards.  However,  many  of 
the  standards  needed  are  still  under  development  and  lack  good  documentation 
or  user  guides.  Moreover,  it  is  rare  that  all  the  requirements  of  a  particular 
project  or  website  can  be  met  by  an  existing  schema  "straight  from  the  box." 

The purpose of SCHEMAS 
The  purpose  of  SCHEMAS is  to  look  at  this  diverse  and  often  confusing  landscape 
of  new  and  emerging  metadata  standards  from  the  viewpoint  of  project  or 
service  implementers  who  must  use these  standards  to  design  their  own 
interoperable  schemas.  We picture  these  schema  designers  as  institutions  and 
companies  who  want  to  publish  on  the  Web  or  provide  information  services  at a 
high  level  of  access  quality.  This  is  precisely  the  audience  that  is  of  interest  to 
developers  of  software  tools  for  managing  metadata  and to  the  developers  and 
maintainers  of  metadata  standards.  To  delimit  the  audience  in  a  practical  and 
operational  sense,  we  will  focus  on  institutions  and  companies  that  are 
participating  in  projects  under  the  1ST programme  and  in  related  initiatives  on 
a  national  level in  Europe.  Many  of  these  projects  will  need  schemas  that  are 
customised  but  interoperable.  Indeed,  SCHEMAS could  help  improve  access  to 
European  project  results  while  contributing  to  the  standardisation  of  metadata 
schemas  for  EU-sponsored  projects  in  a more  general  and  lasting  sense. 

Project  No: 
IST-1999-10010 

Duration: 
24  months 

Economic  Sector: 
All 

Action  Line: 
Education  and  Training 

Full  Title: 
Forum  for  Metadata  Schema  Implementers 

Project  Type: 
Support  Action 

Start  Date: 
01/02/2000 

End  Date: 
31/01/2002 

Project  Objectives: 
SCHEMAS alms  to  provide  a training  platform  for 
metadata  schema  designers  involved  in  projects 
under  the  IST Programme  and  national  Initiatives 
in  Europe 
The  main  objectives  are: 
1 )  to  guide  and  educate  metadata  schema 

implementers  about  the  status  and  proper 
use  of  new  and  emerging  metadata 
standards 

2)  to  promote  good-practice  guidelines  for 
adapting  multiple  standards  or  metadata 
modules  for  local  use  in  customised 
schemas 

Target  Audience: 
FP5 projects  in  IST Key  Action 
actions,  industry  in  general 

I, also  other  key 

Keywords: 
Metadata  schemas,  training  platform,  metadata 
watch,  standards  framework,  metadata  schema 
registry 

Technology: 
Web-based  training  tools,  metadata  registry 
structure  (ISO  11179,  RDF  schemas) 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Mr  Makx  Dekkers 
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS 
400  Route  d'Esch 
B.P.  1443 
L-1014  Luxembourg 
Tel:  +352-4948484618 
Fax:  +352-4948482900 
E-mail:  max.dekkers@lu.pwcglobal.com 

Project  Participants 
PriceWaterhouseCoopers  (LU) 
GMD  -  Forschungzentrum  Informationstechnik 
GmbH  (DE) 
University  of  Bath,  UKOLN  (UK) 

SEN-IST-NET 

k  O: 

<5ΡΠ 

S P E C I AL 
ED  U C A T ID  N A L 
N E E DS 

Β Τ Ι Π ΡΤ 

I N F O R M A T I ON 
S O C I E TY 
T E C H N O L O G I ES 

Society  Technologies  for 

Peda3ogical  and  technological  challenges 
SEN-IST-NET  addresses  the  problem  that  certain  groups  of  learners  are  at 
risk  of  not  being  fully  involved  in  new  ways  of  learning,  either  because  of 
social  disadvantages  or  disability  or  both.  This  issue  presents  pedagogical 
and  technological  challenges  of  the  highest  order.  In  order  to  build  a 
socially  inclusive  Information  Society  based  on  participation  for  all,  new 
pedagogical  approaches  and  appropriate  technologies  must  be  developed 
and  applied  to  suit  the  learning  requirements  of  all  children  and  young 
people,  including  those  who  have  special  educational  needs 

Orienting  Europe's  research  and  technological  development  community  to  this 
challenge  requires  an  "inclusive"  approach  to  the  development  of  a new  learning 
culture  in  general  and  to  technology-enabled  learning  in  particular.  With  the 
rapid  pace  of  developments  in  information  and  communication  technologies, 
there  is  an  increasing  concern  among  the  educational  community  that 
technological  advances  are  inhibiting  the  role  of  educational  objectives  in 
shaping  educational  environments.  Yet  there  are  also  some  technological 
developments  that  have  the  possibility  of  radically  shifting  established 
paradigms  of  learning. 

SEN-IST-NET  addresses  these  and  other  research  questions  in  an  ongoing  fashion 
by  providing  a common  platform  -  delivered  through  a Thematic  Network  -  for 
discussion  and  debate,  not  only  on  the  development  of  technologies  per  se  but 
also  on  the  fundamental  questions  concerning  pedagogy  and  technology-
enabled  learning.  SEN-IST-NET  presents  a vision  and  a plan  to  establish  a 
European  Network  of  Excellence  to  share  knowledge  between  two  communities: 

"1ST"  -  researchers  and  developers  working  in  the  field  of  Information  Society 
Technologies  and 
"SEN" 
NGO's in  the  area  of  Special  Educational  Needs. 

-  researchers,  professionals,  policy-makers,  industrial  enterprises  and 

Combined  approach  to  networking 
Most  networking  activities  are  mediated  through  a "virtual"  space  of a 
dedicated  SEN-IST-NET  Web  portal  (http://www.senist.net).  A  range  of  core 
services  is  established  on  the  website,  including  the  SEN-IST  resource  guide  and 
a  digital,  full-text  virtual  library.  A  high  level  of  service  on  the  Internet  website 
ensures  that  data  communication,  collaboration  in  the  Web  space,  and 
dissemination  activities  are  made  accessible  to  all.  Through  compliance  with 
widely  accepted  accessibility  guidelines,  the  activities  are  also  made  available  to 
persons  with  disabilities.  SEN-IST-NET  follows  a  combined  approach  of  virtual 
and  face-to-face  networking  to  secure  the  best  use  of  the  project's  resources 
and  to  allow  the  widest  possible  reach. 

The  stimulation  of  networking  activities  in  Special  Interest  Groups  (SIGs)  make 
the  network  the  natural focal  point  for  the  development  of  SEN-related 
objectives  and  activities  within  the  whole  1ST programme.  It  also  provides 1ST 
researchers  with  direct  access  to  policy-makers  and  practitioners  at  European 
and  national  levels  and  to  NGOs working  in  the  field  of  special  education  for 
children,  young  people  and  adults. 

Project  No: 
IST-2000-26449 

Duration: 
30  months 

Economic  Sector: 
Technology  Supported  Learning 

Action  Line: 
Learning  Citizen 

Full  Title: 
European  Network  of  Excellence  in  Information 
Society  Technologies  for  Special  Educational 
Needs 

Project  Type: 
Accompanying  measures  and  thematic 
networks 

Start  Date: 
01/07/2001 

End  Date: 
31/12/2003 

Project  Objectives: 
The  aim  of  SEN-IST-NET is to  establish a 
European  Network  of  Excellence  to  support 
the  development  of  a  culture  of  pedagogical 
and  technological  innovation.  This  will  be  for 
the  benefit  of  Information  Society  Technologies 
(IST)  and  for  all  learners,  Including  those  with 
Special  Educational  Needs  (SEN),  through  the 
involvement  of  a  wide  range  of  researchers, 
professionals  and  practitioners 

Target  Audience: 
Researchers,  professionals,  policy  makers  and 
practitioners  in  Special  Educational  Needs  and 
in  Information  Society  Technologies 

Keywords: 
Special  educational  needs,  thematic  network, 
network  of  excellence,  Special  Interest  Groups 
(SIG),  resource  guide 

Technology: 
Network,  Internet,  portal, digital  library 

Project  Co-ordinator 
Jørgen  Greve 
European  Agency  for  Development  in  Special 
Needs  Education 
Teglgaardsparken  100 
DK-5500  Middelfart 
Tel:  +45-64-410020 
Fax:  +45-64-412303 
E-mail:  jg@european-agency.org 
URL:  http://www.european-agency.org 

Project  Participants 
European  Agency  for  Development  in  Special 
Needs  Education  (DK) 
Department  of  Education,  University  of 
Innsbruck  (AT) 
Foundation  for  Research  and  Technology  -
Hellas,  Institute  of  Computer  Science  (GR) 
GIUNTI MultlMedia  Srl. (IT) 
European  Disability  Forum  (BE) 
Swedish  Institute  for  Special  Needs  Education 
(SE) 

Updated:  December  2001 

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It can  be accessed through the  Europa  server  (http://europa.eu.int). 

Luxembourg: Office for  Official  Publications  of the  European  Communities,  2002 

ISBN  92-894-1591-6 

©  European  Communities,  2002 
Reproduction  is authorised provided the source  is acknowledged. 

Printed  in  Belgium 

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