Activities
1. Pedagogical innovation for Lifelong Learning in Higher Education
A set of guidelines will be implemented to determine the block of skills (BOS) of a lifelong learning offer formulated to the needs of end users and to evaluate the corresponding micro-credentials with respect to the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) scale. In addition, the guidelines for constituting the “smart” Digital Catalogue will also be provided. The division into BOS uses analytical methods already implemented in our 4 universities, which was spearheaded as a pilot in the masters of chemistry at Sorbonne Université, for example.
These catalogues must be “smart” and linked to ESCO's ontologies, and they must be able to feed digital tools that will guide the learner in building a study path (see PR2) leading to ECTS credits. This catalogue will be sorted and marked by “keywords” allowing for its mapping to follow the ontologies of the European classification of Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) database (that is in open licence). The catalogue data (course name, BOS, and training qualifications) will be enriched by relevant semantic metadata and items, i.e. centres of interest, psychometric relevance and adequacy, professional sectors). This metadata will be of great value when users go through the self-positioning tests integrated within the software.
2. Modelling the Career Guidance Software
The software design is innovative in several ways. First, the Self-Positioning and Curriculum Building software tools will integrate the database framework as well as the ontology
of the European Skills/Competences Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) in the same way as the "smart" catalogue. Dynamic and progressive software features will simulate curricular and educational outcomes (in particular the earned credits) through a personalized user experience. In summary, the Curriculum Building tool potentially allows trainees, not only to
define a curriculum adapted to their skills and interests, but also to count and calculate university credits in the process of creating a study path. It is expected that digital tools will boost interest in our lifelong learning offers, as they will offer a unique means for effectively strategizing towards professional placement. Finally, as self-positioning practices are relatively common in the business world, and therefore already familiar to the target audience, DRESKILL@U harnesses this effective practice that will become increasingly necessary in future university planning more in tune with individual learner needs.
3. Training program on Innovations in digital Lifelong Learning and career guidance
Through this training, faculty members will learn how to divide their course offerings into micro-credits, whose summation may lead to a degree. They will also learn how to clearly define their contents according to the “keywords” that allow for a mapping within the ESCO format that will serve to increase the reach of their offerings and to further boost their demand.