3 May, 2007 MyPlan – Personal Planning for Learning throughout Life 1 st Project Workshop

3 May, 2007 The MyPlan project MyPlan is developing, deploying and evaluating new techniques and tools that allow personalised planning of lifelong learning It is funded by the JISC e-Learning Capital programme, 1/9/2006 – 30/11/2008 It is building on and extending the earlier L4All project and software prototype, funded by the JISC Distributed e-Learning Pilots programme

3 May, 2007 Aims of this 1 st Workshop To brief project members and advisors of our progress to date To obtain your input and views on two major aspects of the project: –the development and evaluation of personalised functionalities for the creation, searching and recommendation of learning opportunities –the identification of learner attributes that need to be modelled and tasks that need to undertaken by lifelong learners

3 May, 2007 Workshop Agenda 10 – Introduction to MyPlan and Work to date Alex Poulovassilils, MyPlan Co-Director 10.20– Personalised Functionalities Nicolas van Labeke, MyPlan Lead Developer – Learner Modelling and Tasks Hassan Baajour, MyPlan Team Member – Aims of the Breakout Session George Magoulas, MyPlan Co-Director – Breakout session – Reporting back from Breakout Lunch

3 May, 2007 Introduction and Work to Date

3 May, 2007 MyPlan Project Partners Birkbeck College Institute of Education Community College Hackney UCAS Linking London Lifelong Learning Network (L4N)

3 May, 2007 MyPlan Project Advisors Professor John Annette (Birkbeck) Dr Graeme Atherton (AimHigher) Jill Johnson (UCAS) Paul Welch (Prospects Services Ltd)

3 May, 2007 Motivation for L4All Widening participation in HE Lifelong learning important due to high-skills needs of the knowledge economy Holistic view needed of individuals life, work and learning experiences Importance of timely, relevant careers guidance and support

3 May, 2007 Our approach in L4All Taking a holistic view of lifelong learners work and learning Based on the notion of learning pathways Sharing learning pathways with others: –identifying learning opportunities that may not otherwise have been considered –positioning successful learners like me as role models

3 May, 2007 L4All Methodology User requirements elicitation, via interviews with HE and FE students, focus groups (educators, recruitment & careers specialists), workshop events, consultation with advisors: –use cases –examples of learning pathways –identification of critical decision points Technical requirements elicitation: –development of tools and standards –use of existing e-services where possible

3 May, 2007 L4All Methodology (contd) Functional Specification Development of pilot version 1 Metadata provision and generation First evaluation phase Development of pilot version 2 Second evaluation phase Development of pilot version 3:

New user registration in L4All

Entering learning and work information

Timeline Creation and Search

3 May, 2007 MyPlan Project Aims To offer learners personalised features allowing control over their learning pathways, reflection on where their learning is taking them, and a holistic view of their learning and career pathway throughout life To facilitate community building and information sharing with other individuals and organisations To provide a personal space for lifelong learners, contrasting with and complementing other learning environments which focus on learning at a single institution

3 May, 2007 MyPlan Project Objectives To develop and evaluate user models that reflect the needs of the diverse population of lifelong learners. This will require identification of learning attributes that need to be modelled, tasks undertaken by lifelong learners and usage scenarios of the system To enhance individual learners engagement with the lifelong learning process by developing, deploying and evaluating personalised functionalities for searching and recommendation of learning opportunities and management of their personal record of progress and attainment To allow learners to role-play different learning and career progressions in order to give better understanding of the possible implications and consequences of different career decisions and educational choices, by integrating a game- based application into the system

3 May, 2007 MyPlan main Workpackages WP2: Development of User Models, an Ontology for Lifelong Learning and Usage Scenarios – ongoing WP3: Specification of personalised functionalities for planning of lifelong learning - completed WP4: Development and deployment of the personalised functionalities, in L4N, CCH and within the UCAS web portal – just started; 1 st phase to 09/07; 2 nd phase to 04/08 WP5: Evaluation with stakeholders: L4N, CCH, UCAS, IoE, BBK – to start November 2007 This will require recruitment of groups of users from BBK, L4N and CCH WP6: Development of the Game Application – to start November 2007 – Sara de Freitas leading

3 May, 2007 Personalised Functionalities

3 May, 2007 Objective To develop, deploy and evaluate personalised functionalities for the creation, searching and recommendation of learning pathways. This will enhance individual learners engagement with the lifelong learning process by offering personalised levels of learner control over their learning pathways, personalised support in the reflection of where their learning activities may take them, and management of their personal record of progress and attainment. It will also support building communities of learners with similar interests, and information sharing with other members of the community, other users of the MyPlan system, and organisations.

3 May, 2007 Personalisation Defining personalisation is not easy –Shift toward recognition of diversity –Breaking the one size fit all mould Different interaction at different stage of the journey –Motivation –Curriculum –Logistic –Pedagogy –Assessment –Opportunity Why should I learn? What can I learn? How could I study? How will I learn? How do I know I've learned? Personalised needs-benefits analysis Access to advice, guidance, learners case studies Curriculum choice through HE partnerships Closer links to work and community Adaptive, interactive learning Communication, collaboration Assessment when ready Progress files, e-portfolios Access to information and guidance Qualifications - career options planner Personalising the pathway through lifelong learning Flexible modes, locations etc. Mix of home, campus, overseas Where will it take me?

3 May, 2007 Personalisation Agenda 1.Personalised search of timelines 2.Recommendation of courses 3.Rating of search results 4.Customisation of the L4ALL interface 5.Automatic Update of users profile

3 May, 2007 Personalised Search of Timelines Current search based solely on user profile Using information from the timeline itself –Searching for people like me –Clusters of users Question: –Similar timelines? –Parameters to relax? –Time & sequences 1 2 3

3 May, 2007 Recommendation of Courses Extending the search course feature Based on users stated objective and what user has done to date Using similarity matching on expert timelines Questions: –What are Expert timelines? Who defines them? –Templates vs. stereotypes Expert Timelines

3 May, 2007 Rating Search Results Allowing users to record usefulness of courses and timelines searched with the system –Explicit rating (by user self-report) –Implicit rating (e.g. by analysis of usage of particular resources) Rating to be displayed at interface Rating could be used for filtering the search results

3 May, 2007 Customisation of L4ALL Interface Personalising the output of the searches (users, courses, timelines) Personalised delivery/presentation of courses (short/complete description, etc) Preferred source(s) of information when searching for courses, users or timelines Activation/deactivation of L4ALL feature(s)

3 May, 2007 Automatic Update of User Profile Automatically updating user profile attributes –Highest qualification based on latest/highest episode in the timeline (courses) –Past & Present occupation based on latest episodes found in timeline (work) Maintenance of user profile under user control (by confirmation)

3 May, 2007 Issues to discuss Recommendations –What are expert timelines? –How do we build a repository of expert timelines? –What kind of existing document/knowledge/expertise can we reuse from partners? Any other point?

3 May, 2007 Relevant Information for Similarity Matching and Searches From the User Profiles –qualification level and subject –learning goal –Interests –Language –learning style –previous and current occupations From the Timelines –timeline keywords –types of episodes in timelines –frequency of occurrence of episodes –titles, types and levels of courses attended to date.

3 May, 2007 Learner Modelling & Tasks

3 May, 2007 Objective To develop, deploy and evaluate user models that reflect the needs of the diverse population of lifelong learners. We will identify learner attributes that need to be modelled and tasks/activities undertaken by lifelong learners. This user-related information will be used to develop an ontology for user modelling in a lifelong learning context. We will also identify usage scenarios for the system.

3 May, 2007 Learner Modelling Identifying the relevant learner characteristics Evaluation of learners background knowledge Actualisation of learners needs Identifying learners relevant learning styles Identifying learners physical context

3 May, 2007 Learner Model Dimensions Personal Information Learner Preferences Learner Interests Learner Goals Device Specifications Learner Physical context Learner History Learner Motivation System Experience Learner Knowledge Learning Styles

3 May, 2007 Our Learner Model for Lifelong Learning An interoperable learner model that allows transfer and that aggregates of learner data from different kinds of learning systems and various educational providers An extensible learner model

3 May, 2007 Extensible Learner Model IdentificationLearningStyle Lifelong Learner Model FullNameAddress Extensibility FirstNameSurName Extensibility LearnInGroupLearnAlone An Excerpt of Lifelong Learner Model

3 May, 2007 Interoperable Learner Model Kings College (Teaching Course) MyPlan System LKL (lifelong learning planning) UCL Library SMART (Training Center) Learner Model Learner Model Learner Model Learner Model Learner Model

3 May, 2007 Why ontology-based Learner Models? Ontologies represent shared and agreed conceptual models in a particular domain Ontologies can be extended and integrated with other ontologies in the same domain of interest Ontologies enable interoperability Availability of computer ontology languages that serve as reference models for processing data as humans do

3 May, 2007 Example on Extensibility Identification FullNameBirthDate Small ontology for lifelong learner Ontology provides extensibility FirstNameSurName

3 May, 2007 Example of Interoperability The interoperability of different learner models in a distributed system environment for lifelong learning. Different kinds of LM LM Ontology Interoperability of LM Heterogeneity Complicated mapping processLifelong Learning Learner Model

3 May, 2007 Issues to discuss What type of tasks and activities are performed by lifelong learners? What types of learner information should be gathered in order to support the lifelong learners? What is the impact of privacy on designing learner models for lifelong learning?

3 May, 2007 Breakout Session

3 May, 2007 The Breakout Session Please divide into two groups: –Group A: to discuss the proposed personalised functionalities for the creation, searching and recommendation of learning opportunities –Group B: to discuss learner attributes that need to be modelled and tasks/activities undertaken by lifelong learners

3 May, 2007 Some questions for Group A Existing systems –Learndirect service, –UCAS web service –Fasttomato

3 May, 2007 Some Questions for Group A Recommendations –What are expert timelines? –How do we build a repository of expert timelines? –What kind of existing document/knowledge/expertise can we reuse from partners?

3 May, 2007 Some Questions for Group B What are lifelong learners tasks and activities? What services do lifelong learners need for planning? What scenarios can be identified for MyPlan users?

3 May, 2007 Some Questions for Group B MyPlan aspects /functionalities for consideration –What do you see as the main purpose(s) of MyPlan for lifelong learners? –What guidance to support learners is important in our context? –What types of information are/will be owned and managed by the learner? –What types of information are/will be owned and managed by institutions/organisations? –How will learners manage their information? –Legal aspects (e.g. privacy and ownership)? –Accessibility/usability issues –Storage capacity and storage duration? –What additional recourses are need to effectively support MyPlan users? –How might we evaluate MyPlan?

3 May, 2007 Some Questions for Group B What other domains are related to MyPlan? (MyPlan depends on those, or others depend on it) and What could be the exchanges and or provision of services between MyPlan and others? Who are the main stakeholders in lifelong learning? What are the main activities in lifelong learning and what supporting systems are available?

3 May, 2007 Identified services