PROLEARN - Network of Excellence Professional Learning
PROLEARN has integrated the key areas of research most relevant to professional learning in SMEs and larger companies. It worked towards bridging the gap between academic research and education and learning at the workplace.
- Project type: Network of Excellence
- Start date: 1 January 2004
- Duration: 48 months
- EU funding: 6.006.600 €
- Number of partners: 20
- Project co-ordinator: Learning Lab Lower Saxony, Hannover (DE)
- Contact: Dr Eelco Herder
Research conducted under PROLEARN aimed at advancing the state of the art in the key areas of personalised adaptive learning and interactive media, with learning resources connected to real-world settings and reusable in different contexts. The project investigated issues especially relevant for professional training in SMEs and larger companies, including brokerage platforms and services, business models for specific markets, and advanced training and knowledge work management arrangements.
As a network of excellence, PROLEARN brought together the most important research groups in the aforementioned areas, namely in the Professional Learning Cluster (PRO-LC), as well as other key organisations and industrial partners. This work helped to bridge the gap between academic research and education and training and continuous education in companies.
Through PROLEARN awards, best practice examples, show cases and workshops the network enforced European professional training in technology enhanced environments. Through roadmaps and policy guides, it analysed future trends relevant for future professional training tools, environments and scenarios.
PROLEARN's two main horizontal activities were:
- The PROLEARN Academy, funded for teaching and educating researchers and employers in the area of technology-enhanced professional learning and related issues. At the same time, it fostered the integration of researchers in the network of excellence by establishing research exchange programmes and joint research activities.
- The PROLEARN Virtual Competence Centre focused on the integration of industry. It contributed to spreading excellence to company driven competence centres, chambers of commerce, employment centres and competence centres of trade and industry associations.
PROLEARN also has established the annual EC-TEL conference (European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning).