UNFOLD - Understanding Networks of Learning Design
This co-ordination action aimed at accelerating the adoption and further development of standards for e-learning systems in Europe, namely the IMS Learning Design specification. The project set up communities of practice, and held seminars and conferences to raise awareness and to spur interaction between members of the education and technology communities concerned.
- Project type: Co-ordination Action
- Start date: 1 January 2004
- Duration: 24 months
- EU funding: 660.000 €
- Number of partners: 4
- Project co-ordinator: Department of Technology, Fundacio' Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona (ES)
- Contact: Prof. Josep Blat; Mr. Dai Griffiths
Background and activities of the project
The adoption of learning technologies standards is of paramount importance, but until recently these have limited e-learning to a relatively simple, single learner, 'deliver-and-test' approach. A significant step forward was marked by the publication in January 2003 of the IMS Learning Design (LD) specification which enables flexible and sophisticated pedagogical approaches.
IMS-LD provides support for multiple as well as single learners and their coordination; for a wide range of present, as well as future, pedagogical models; for learning activities and learning services, as well as for content.
However, there is a significant gap between the release of a new specification and the full realisation of its potential benefits in the teaching and learning practice. The definition, implementation and adoption of standards in e-learning involve a hierarchy of groups with very different roles, and highly divergent discourses: specification designers, authors of learning resources, content providers, tools developers, teachers and learners.
The UNFOLD project brought together researchers, developers, content providers and teaching professionals to promote and coordinate the adoption and implementation of IMS LD as the best available solution to make educational activities - and not just content - interoperable across different applications.
The core activity of UNFOLD has been to support and facilitate Communities of Practice (CoPs) which are groupings of people who come together around common interests and expertise, creating, sharing, and applying knowledge within and across the boundaries of tasks, teams and organisations. The CoPs were launched in July 2004 with the establishment of three communities, for Systems Developers, Learning Designers and for Teachers and Learning Designers.
Results
Parallel to the progress of UNFOLD's work, and in many cases incited by it, the use of the specification has increased significantly. Providers of open source course management systems and e-learning applications, who are gaining an increasing share of the market, have started to adopt it, and teachers, many of whom complain about the lack of functionality and constraints imposed by existing e-learning environments, are increasingly coming to see IMS Learning Design as an attractive and flexible solution to interoperability problems.
Consortium
- Department of Technology, Fundació Universitat Pompeu Fabra, ES (project co-ordinator)
- Open Universiteit Nederland, NL
- Bolton Institute of Higher Education HEC, UK
- European Universities Continuing Education Network, BE