JISC

The Personal Development Planning for Lifelong Learning (PDP4Life) project will address this gap by building on the outputs of the SHELL project to develop a specification for a learner record that merges outputs from formal and informal learning, focusing in particular on the needs of learners in the creative industries. Final Report

Region: South West

Overview

In response to Progress Files initiatives, many schools and further and higher education institutions have developed their own electronic systems for Personal Development Planning (PDP) or Individual Learning Plans (ILP) that support the student in the processes of personal development planning at their own site.  However, little work has been done on developing frameworks within PDP systems to enable learners to merge formal and informal records of learning into a single database from which they can draw information about their learning over a period of time and present it to different audiences.   

The PDP4Life project will address this gap by building on the outputs of the SHELL project to develop a specification for a learner record that merges outputs from formal and informal learning, focusing in particular on the needs of learners in the creative industries.

Aims and Objectives

PDP4Life will take an existing specification for an Individual Learner Record that currently records formal qualifications and extend it to accept learner-generated records of informal learning from local PDP systems.  Exchange of this data between FE and HE institutions will be piloted using the ioNode technology.  Feedback from learners and employers in the Creative Industries will be obtained to tailor the learner record to this sector.  During the course of the project the partners will share their approach to PDP and systems used to develop and record students’ PDP and investigate the possibility of piloting appropriate JISC tools for building e-PDPs or e-portfolios.   

The aims of PDP4Life are:

1. To work towards the extension of the existing specification for an Individual Learner Record (ILR) that currently records formal qualifications, in order for it to accept learner generated records of informal learning from local PDP systems.
2. To compare the nature of the formal learner records of PDP4Life partners with those generated by SHELL and work towards establishing common data export and transfer protocols which are IMS LIP compliant. This will enable PDP4Life institutions to link into the ioNode/database framework when they have appropriate hardware and software.
3. To pilot the ioNode technology through the installation of ioNode at Bournemouth and one of its Partner Institutions to enable comparison of data transfer between sites by ioNode and VPN architectures. 
4. To establish the extent of local ePDP systems within PDP4Life partners and encourage further development and sharing of good practice through workshops and events. These activities will concentrate on the creative industries vocational sector, which is an employment sector priority for the SW region.
5. To raise awareness within the PDP4Life partners of the availability of IMS/LIP compatible ePDP/ePortfolio systems that have been or are being developed within the JISC community and pilot appropriate tools if feasible within the timescale of this project. 

Project Methodology

All partners will contribute to the extension of the ILR specification and compare their formal learner records with those generated by SHELL (Aims 1 and 2).   All partners will contribute to the review of existing PDP activity and ePDP/e-portfolio tools (Aims 4 and 5).  Subject to this review, selected partners will take part in the piloting of the selected tools (Aim 5).  The focus on the creative industries sector will be led by the three arts institutions, the Arts Institute at Bournemouth, Dartington College of Arts and University College Falmouth (Aims 1, 4, 5).  The proposal to pilot the ioNode technology and compare with VPN architecture (Aim 3) will be undertaken in collaboration with Weymouth College and University College Yeovil.  The evaluation of project progress and achievement of its aims will be undertaken by the University of Bristol.

Implications/ Deliverables/ Stakeholders

Aim 1 will provide enhanced opportunities, resulting from agreement between partners on the specification of an IMS-compliant Learner Record, to enable learners to develop and retain a personal, location-independent record of their achievements, to integrate formal records of their qualifications with informal personal records and to retain evidence associated with their PDP to support lifelong learning. The deliverables are:

1. Agreed list, structure and specification of data fields (IMS LIP (UK LeaP) compliant) to complement the existing formal record of lifelong learning in the SHELL Learner Record.  This will be based on the characteristics of the emergent SHELL list/specification and those of other PDP/e-portfolio projects and be compliant with a service-oriented approach.
2. Mapping of partners’ local outputs of their institutional PDPs to this specification, leading to its further development.
3. Identification of discipline and vocational-specific issues relevant to learners in the creative industries.

Aim 2 will enable Institutions to link into the ioNode/database framework when they have appropriate hardware and software. The deliverable is:

1. Mappings of partners’ Student Record System outputs to IMS LIP.

Aim 3 will enhance opportunities for learners to move between education providers whilst maintaining access to their individual Learner Record and increased understanding among the JISC community of the advantages and disadvantages of VPN-based data transfer compared with ioNode-based architecture.  The deliverables are:

1. Installation of ioNodes, associated software, learner portal and portal tools at Bournemouth and one other site.
2. Testing of data transfer from local SRS and ePDP systems to Learner Record database.
3. Learner data transferred successfully between Bournemouth to Weymouth (existing ioNode site) and to SHELL Learner Record database from each location.
4. Replicated data transfer between Bournemouth and Weymouth using VPN.
5. Report comparing data transfer processes and operational issues surrounding use of VPN and ioNode.
6. Reports from evaluation activities with users, staff and students.

Aim 4 will enhance links between partners generally and specifically encouraging closer collaboration between information management and learning and teaching professionals. The deliverables are:

1. Reports from partners that review the operation of their PDP systems and include case studies for discussion at a partner mini-conference in June 2005. 
2. Identification of PDP issues specific to creative industries learners.
3. Case studies demonstrating the ways in which the IMS LIP/UK LeaP compliant PDP specification (Aim1) could be used to draw out data from it for transfer to an individual Learner Record.
4. Sharing and evaluation of resources used for PDP, particularly a CDROM resource developed by the Open University.
5. Project reports submitted to Centre for Recording Achievement and, for creative industries issues, to the ADM-HEA Subject Centre.

Aim 5 will result in greater awareness among partners of current e-PDP and e-Portfolio systems, leading to the development of procedures/agreements to enable partners to trial open source products with user groups and subsequent wider take-up of JISC products. The deliverables are:

1. Partners’ reviews of available IMS LIP/UK LeaP compatible e-PDP/e-Portfolio systems, eg:, PETAL, ePET, Skills Profiling Web Service, Interactive Logbook.
2. Trial of a limited range of e-learning tools within a range of settings, including FECs, HEIs, if feasible within the timescale of the project.
3. Learner focus group activities to evaluate the tools.
4. Report on the effectiveness of the tools, as perceived by users.
5. Workshops for partners to share experiences of piloting.
6. Reviews of tools submitted to JISC, the Centre for Recording Achievement, and for creative industries, to the ADM-HEA Subject Centre. 

Lead institution

• Bournemouth University, Academic Services

Project Partners  

• Arts Institute at Bournemouth 
• College of St Mark & St John
• Dartington College of Arts
• Open University in the South West 
• University of Bristol
• University of Gloucestershire
• University of Plymouth
• University College Falmouth
• University Centre Yeovil
• Weymouth College