European Learner Mobility Standardization

1. European Learner MobilityStandardization Cleo Sgouropoulou email: csgouro@cs.ntua.gr

2. European Requirements • The EU should 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”. • The achievement of this ambitious goal involves “not only a radical transformation of the European economy, but also a challenging programme for the modernization of social welfare and education systems”. European Council, Lisbon (Mar. 2000)

3. European Requirements • Education and Training at European level involve • the development of the European Higher Education Area (the “Bologna process”), • the enhanced European co-operation in Vocational Education and Training (the “Copenhagen process”). • The Commission has taken initiatives to establish synergies between both processes for the design of national frameworks of qualifications and an overarching European Qualifications Framework (EQF) for Lifelong Learning, taking into account the work done in the Bologna and Copenhagen context.

4. EQF aims • EQF intend to: • Facilitate the comparability and compatibility of degrees and qualifications • Facilitate the recognition of degree, experimental, informal and non-formal learning • Ease mobility • Build the link between higher education and lifelong learning • Contribute in the improvement of the European cooperation with regards to quality assurance • Foster the social dimension • Provide more transparency for the labour market and for learners

5. EQF Tools • Tools for accomplishing EQF aims: • European Credit Transfer System • Europass: Single Framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences • Europass-CV, a curriculum vitae structure for the presentation of an individual’s qualifications and competences • Europass-Mobility, which records periods of learning attended by its holders in countries other than their own • Europass-Diploma Supplement, providing information on its holder’s educational achievements at higher education level • Europass-Language Portfolio, providing individuals with the opportunity to present their language skills. • Europass-Certificate Supplement, describing the competences and qualifications corresponding to a vocational training certificate

6. Supporting IS • The Europass framework and the related support services should rely upon a suitable information system, allowing to link in a coordinated way the completed documents and to make them available to their holders through the Internet • The Europass information system is expected to facilitate submission and exchange of information among the interoperating parts, and shall be developed taking into account the opportunity of future developments, with particular reference to the integration of information services on job and learning opportunities Decision on Europass (Dec.2004)

7. European Reqs revisited… • Implementation of the 2006 Recommendation on Further European Cooperation in QualityAssurancewill continue to be a major emphasis, as will the implementation of the EuropeanQualifications Framework and strengthening its link to the Framework of Qualifications forthe European Higher Education Area… The Lisbon Strategy and the Bologna process willcontinue to be the framework for the policy agenda for higher education… • Student and teaching staff mobility play a key role in establishing the European Higher Education Area.

8. European Reqs revisited… • Institutions participating in Erasmus are called upon to increase both student mobility for study and placement in order to achieve the target of 3 million Erasmus students by 2012, and increase teaching and other staff mobility. • Higher-education organisations are requested to ensure high quality in organising student and staff mobility. • Europass is a particularly useful instrument for developing transparency and recognition in order to aid mobility. EC DG Education and Culture – LLP Strategic Priorities (Dec.2008) European Quality Charter for Mobility (Dec.2006)

9. The way ahead… • Lack of interoperable tools, impeding the recording and/or reuse of data in existing learning management systems for the production of electronic transparency documents and the exchange of information among interested parties • Need for development and consolidation of technical interoperability standards as the basis of supporting IS • Harmonization is deemed necessary towards a European solution, in order to provide viable support for emerging European learner information systems and dissuade service providers from developing proprietary services and platforms.

10. Towards Implementation • Use of Learning Technology Standards and Specifications for the creation of interoperability models of the transparency information schemata defined by the EU • Existing standardization efforts mostly based on Learner Information and Learning Opportunities fields, oriented to • the production of information models capable of adequately describing learner characteristics and learning opportunities • the provision of mechanisms for the exchange of information among diverse learning systems.

11. Towards implementation

12. CEN ELM standardization activities • CEN TC353 NWI on a European Learner Mobility Model and CEN WSLT project on Guidelines for a European Learner Mobility Model, aiming at the • Harmonization of approaches towards a European Europass model • Contribution to the consolidation and European-wide adoption of electronic transparency documents. • Support of the development of information systems for the implementation of the Bologna process, at institutional, national and European levels.

13. CEN ELM standardization activities • Support of learner mobility and quality assurance in the European educational setting. • Support of the wider availability of brokerage services across the EU. • Enabling of data consistency and facilitation of data quality management.

14. ELM project objective • the development of data models and associated guidelines for the expression and exchange of European Learner Mobility information, as defined by the European Transparency instruments. • The results of the proposed work will contribute to the effort towards interoperable European-wide IT systems that manage and exchange Europass related information • is likely to result in a multipart standard, however in this phase the main focus will be on the Europass Diploma Supplement.

15. ELM project outcomes • At WSLT level • CWA on Guidelines on a European Learner Mobility model • CWA on a draft technical specification of the Europass Diploma Supplement (input to CEN TC353) • At CEN TC353 level • Processing of spec through EU NBs for the production of European Norm

16. ELM working plan & contribution • Bring together individual experts, standardization bodies, Europass entities and implementers • First focusing on DS and ECTS • Examine existing approaches including the processing of CEDEFOP’s specs • Gather identified needs and requirements • e.g. CEDEFOP reqs for DS model • Define appropriate modeling strategy • Produce European standards and supporting guidelines

17. WSLT-ELM timeline

18. TC353 timeline • CEN TC353 NWI on European Learner Mobility Model Draft for Enquiry produced by 21st May 2009 

19. WSLT-ELM timeline • January 7th 2009: Signature date • February 18th: PT core experts selection • March 2nd : Consolidation of core PT

20. WSLT-ELM timeline • March 26th: PT supporting experts selection • April 7th: Project Team start-up activities

21. WSLT-ELM PT collaboration • European Learner Mobility wiki http://wiki.teria.no/confluence/display/EuropeanLearnerMobility/ European+Learner+Mobility

22. WSLT-ELM PT meetings • Physical Meetings • 3 WS plenary meetings • 2 dedicated meetings • Flash meetings • Approx. every 15 days • Participation in workshops and dissemination events

23. ELM PTwork organization & rationale • ELM could follow two parallelstandardization paths: • one, that directly addresses the European requirement for rapid implementation and dissemination of the transparency information tools throughout Europe; • while the other focuses on sketching the broader mobility landscape, thus providing the vision and preparing the grounds for the further development, augmentation and exploitation of transparency information that will lead to the implementation of valuable services to the community (e‑portfolio, learning and employment opportunity exploration, etc).

24. ELM PTwork organization & rationale • PT approach • to work on these parallel paths in order to: • provide immediate solutions, and demonstrate the leading role of the learning technology standardization community in the harmonization and stimulation of European decisions; and, at the same time, • prepare new recommendations with the explicit aim of outlining the future directions of learning technology standardization work for addressing emerging needs.

25. ELM PT subgroups • WG1:  ELM background and Context Indicative tasks: • description of concrete business cases and mobility information services(e.g. learning/employment exploration, competence learning outcomes and portfolio)for the several stakeholders of the field • Identification of current policiesat national and European levels • Identification of related practice • definition of a conceptual model for describing European Mobility in terms of information tools and required interoperability standards

26. WG1:  ELM background and Context

27. WSLT-ELM PT subgroups • WG2: Diploma Supplement - Core Elements Indicative tasks: • Core definitions • Core business cases • Development of conceptual model • Research of existing specs and structuresfor application profile according to DCAP principles (MLO, CIM, ECTS) • Abstract Model • Data-binding(s) • Implementation prototypes

28. A framework for MS

29. Abstract Model • Underlying most metadata specifications there is an assumption about an abstract model (referred to as "meta-model" or "data model"), within the framework of which the metadata is defined. • The abstract model specifies the concepts used in the standard, the nature of terms and how they combine to form a metadata description. • The abstract model is the schematics used by an application to understand a metadata expression given in a specific format, thus making it possible for a single standard, though expressed in several different formats, to still be understood in a uniform way by users and applications.

30. ELM-DS Conceptual Model

31. ELM-DS Domain Model ELM-DS 2.0

32. ELM-DS Domain Model • The ELM-DS model describes the Diploma Supplement Document consisting of: • a Person instance, representing the learner/holder of the qualification, • a Provider instance, representing the awarding institution,and, optionally, • a Diploma instance, comprising information about the learning opportunity, at programme level, leading to the described qualification, as well as the actual result for the specific person • a Transcript instance, containing LearningOpportunity instances representing the component units, each of which contains provider, credit, and result information. • an Additional Information property containing a description of additional achievement information.

33. WSLT-ELM PT subgroups • WG3: Strategy Planning (Forward thinking) Indicative tasks: • Observation of related EU policies • Consideration of possible future alignment with other initiatives relevant to ELM (competences/learning outcomes!) • Feeding of outcomes/recommendations into policy development for further enhancing transparency information structures • Dissemination and liaison activities

34. ELM wiki content presentation

35. Thank you!