Benchmark: Funding

From Benchmarking-Tel

Contents 1 Benchmark: European Funding 1.1 Large-scale Integrated Projects 1.2 Specific Targeted Research Projects 1.3 Conclusion

1 Benchmark: European Funding

In this section we explore research funding as a measure of the scientific direction of the field.

In the framework of its Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7) in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), the European Union is currently funding five Large-scale Integrated Projects (IP) seven Small or Medium-scale Focused Research Projects (STREP) and a single Network of Excellence (NoE) for a total of € 51 millions TeleLearn 2009. These projects are listed in the next subsections. Their main research topics are in accordance with the European priorities described in the yearly-updated ICT Work Programme [ICT 2009]. From an engineering education point of view, advances are especially expected in terms of personalized learning content, environments and methodologies, serious games, social learning, support for creative thinking and innovation processes, competences management, as well as reducing the gaps between professional and educational practices from knowledge and community management perspectives. The current themes have funded 13 projects in Framework 7 in the TELEARN work.

1.1 Large-scale Integrated Projects

The large-scale TEL integrated projects currently running (as April 2009) by the European Union are the following:

1. idSPACE: Tooling of and Training for Collaborative, Distributed Product Innovation. The idSPACE platform will improve collaborative creative learning processes and innovation by providing teams with tools for articulating, communicating and processing new ideas in product design.
2. MATURE: Continuous Social Learning in Knowledge Networks. MATURE conceives individual learning processes to be interlinked in a knowledge-maturing process. The goals of the project are to understand this maturing process better, and to build tools and services to reduce maturing barriers, and to embed learning more seamlessly in work processes and knowledge management systems.
3. ROLE: Responsive Open Learning Environments. ROLE addresses theoretical models and associated technologies that allow learners to tailor learning environments according to their needs. The results of this research will contribute to improving adaptive and responsive learning environments for the individual learner in different contexts.
4. SCY: Science Created by You. This project will deliver a system for constructive and productive learning of science and technology, based on a flexible and adaptive pedagogical approach to learning and on learning objects created by learners.
5. TARGET: Transformative, Adaptive, Responsive and Engaging Environment. TARGET will develop a responsive learning system with serious games at its core, that presents the learner with complex situations and results in experiences that are gradually honed into knowledge.

1.2 Specific Targeted Research Projects

The focused research projects currently supported by the European Union are the following:

1. 80Days: Around an Inspiring Virtual Learning World in Eighty Days. This project is concerned with theories, methodologies, and technologies for game-based learning. It will integrate models of adaptive personalized learning and adaptive interactive storytelling in gaming environments. One objective is to reduce production costs for digital educational games by developing solutions for making use of already existing learning resources.
2. COSPATIAL: Communication and social participation: collaborative technologies for interaction and learning. COSPATIAL will create collaborative environments to enhance interaction and learning, addressing in particular the needs of children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders.
3. DynaLearn: Engaging and informed tools for learning conceptual system knowledge. DynaLearn will build engaging tools for acquiring conceptual knowledge, with the potential to increase students' interest in science studies.
4. GRAPPLE: Generic Responsive Adaptive Personalized Learning Environment. This project aims at delivering a technology-enhanced learning environment for life-long learning, able to automatically adapt to personal preferences, prior knowledge, skills and competences, learning goals and the personal or social context in which the learning takes place.
5. IntelLEO: Intelligent Learning Extended Organization. IntelLEO will develop intelligent technologies to support learning and knowledge building activities in organizations.
6. LTfLL: Language Technologies for Lifelong Learning. This project will provide semi-automatic services for feedback that require no or very limited tutor-based support and are able to analyze interactions between students and textual output. A knowledge-sharing infrastructure (combining domain ontologies and social tagging) will allow for comparing and exchanging of individual knowledge, leading to new common knowledge. The project will make extensive use of language technologies to situate the learners in their domain.
7. xDELIA: Boosting Deliberate Practice and Handling Biases through Immersive Cognitive and Emotional Reinforcement Strategies & Tools. xDELIA will explore novel technology-supported approaches to training and support for non-formal and informal learning tested in the domain of financial decision making. This research will increase the understanding of emotional states in decision-making processes and help handling biases.

1.3 Conclusion

As can be derived from the heterogeneity of the project descriptions above, funding is very complementary in nature and double funding has been successfully avoided. At the same time, this calls for project concertation to manage the exchange and sharing of ideas. The interim analysis of the TEL projects of the fifth framework programme already emphasised the “need [for] further integration and focusing of research efforts, networking of centres of excellence working in Europe in this field, beyond the current individual projects operating in a still scattered landscape.” (EC, 2003) Parts of this requested defragmentation is to be achieved by the European networks of excellence of the 6th framework programme. As will be shown in the subsequent section, this defragmentation has been successful, but only in parts of the field of TEL: in the words of the overall report on networks of excellence in FP6, the desire for the inclusiveness of the networks has overshadowed their integration (cf. Riechel, 2009).