WLP Project Development

The London workshop of the WLP project provided a clear evidence that the project could concetrate on its work at the eve of the summer holidays. The workshop took note of the developmental phase that had been carried out with the help of blogging and related exchanges of information (the exchanges of ideas on the WLP web and on the national piloting agendas). Equally, the workshop made decisions concerning the work to be carried out during the Autumn months.

In this context I try to draw attention to some points in which the London workshop made clear progress and became a collective learning experience:

1) The original project plans had created an impression of relatively uniform piloting phase with similar partnership arrangements. The experience during the project implementation had brought into picture the different possibilities for actual piloting, for preparatory measures and for transfer-promoting measures after earlier pilot phases.
2) The demonstration of the newer tools for social bookmarking and social networking (with the help of del.icio.us) opened new prospects for linking work with knowledge resources to development of work-related learning arrangements and to respective design of learning contents.
3) The WLP partners could contribute (to a greater extent than expected) to the production of WLP Multimedia resources and the editing of such materials could be linked closer to the project development.
4) The WLP Manual would be more useful as a brief (electronic and printable) introductory document that points to the WLP knowledge resources that are made available on the web.
5) The WLP Web can be used as an umbrella concept for diferent web resources and services provided by the WLP project.
6) The WLP Course could best be developed as a tutorial service area that supports the use of the resources and services of the WLP project. However, the WLP course should provide support for implementing such learning arrangements as courses.
7) The final efforts of the WLP partners should concentrate on supporting the whole development of the WLP project in such areas of work in which they can best contribute. However, the final activities of the partners should be seen as part of a (national or trans-national) piloting agenda.

Regarding the above mentioned points the project team could reach common conclusions and take some decisions how ro organise the work with multimedia resources. Yet, in some respects the outcome of the London discussion left open questions to be responded in the next phase:
a) How can the steps towards a project-specific light-weight Learning Management System (in the meantime called as "KLearn") be linked to the conclusions that were drawn in London?
b) How can some partners' efforts to develop networked learning arrangements in a regional context be best supported and documented ?
c) How can the partners' efforts to disseminate each others' work best be supported by the project?

These questions could not be directly answered on the basis of the London conclusions. To some extent these have been  processed further with bilateral tals  and related exchanges. At the moment it seems that it is possible to take some further measures that help the project to link different activities together.

I believe that this is enough at the moment. In the next posting I will present some proposals that respond to these open questions and complete the London conclusions.

Pekka Kämäräinen

 

So far the WLP project has been working its way forward and the website has been a developmental website. After the London conclusions there has been a need to to consider how the results of the WLP project can be presented as products and services for users of knowledge. Equally, there has been a need to consider how the work in different working areas can be brought to a final stage within the WLP project. Finally, in the light of progress in some parallel projects, there has been a need to consider how the work of the WLP can be linked to their achievements.

From this perspective I would suggest that the image of the WLP project should be based on the following products and services:

• The WLP Manual
• The WLP Course
• The WLP Web
• The WLP Reports.

These should be presented as the main headings (link buttons) on the top bar of the website. Each link would lead to a specific page or to an index folder (The WLP Reports).

However, the WLP project should be identified as a gallery of resource areas (or working areas). As such I would define the following ones:

1. The WLP tools for basic analyses: The LPA tool, the LAR tool and the workshop facilitators' tools (under construction);
2. The WLP knowledge bases: This area should make available the knowledge resources pooled together with del.icio.us;
3. The KLearn support instruments: This area should present checklists, planning tools and reporting tools that support the development of networked learning arrangements;
4. The WLP case stories: This area should present a gallery of case stories that reflect upon the progress with the WLP project and specific developments related to the project.
5. The WLP multimedia resources: This area should present edited videos and podcasts (presenting the work of the WLP project) and additional video material (provided by individual partners).
6. The WLP piloting area This area should provide access to the native language piloting forums and dissemination forums for Italian, Estonian and Slovenian partners.

These resource areas could be presented as a next layer of headings (link buttons) under the top bar. Each link would lead to a one-layer index folder.

The above presented framework (see the visualisation as the attached document) relates the content areas to each other. In addition, the website needs an information box that refers to the basic infornation pages, to the interim documents and to the blogs.

I am aware that the proposal needs to be explained more thoroughly. In particular this is the case with some areas that are yet under construction (tools for basic analyses, KLearn) and with which it is difficult to see what brings them together. I will get back to this with my next postings to this blog. However, at the same time there is a need to discuss how to support the ongoing efforts at the national level. This discussion will be continued with postings to the blog "WLP Piloting Forum".

Pekka Kämäräinen

In my previous postings I have presentemy interpretation on the conclusions of the workshop of the WLP project in London. Then I outlined a framework for bringing different activities together and for presenting them on the website. However, as these views were quick notes, I knew that there is a need to present a proper backgrroun reasoning. Therefore, I have drafted prepared three linked working notes with the common heading "Getting the act together".

In the first note (see the attached document) I discuss the finalisation of the country studies, the role of the 'case stories' and the work with other country-specific materials. The note draws attention to the remaining tasks of the WLP partners and to the need to develop country-specific 'Dissemination Forums' for the national partners. The short note is self-explanatory but it has implications for the other issues that are discussed in the two following notes.

Pekka Kämäräinen

At this phase of the WLP project it is necessary to work out a 'big picture' on the diverse developmental activities that have been launched at the European and in the participating countries. On the one hand it is essential to look back what changes have occurred in the course of the project work and what new elements have come into picture. On the other hand it is necessary to take a closer look at the achievements so far and what can be done in the remaining time. Regarding the last item, it is necessary to consider how the work of the WLP project can be linked to the achievements of parallel projects. ("We don't need to re-invent the wheel if it has been invented elsewhere.")

From this perspective the attached note examines thoroughly the project history of WLP from the perspective of developmental processes, construction of tools and platforms and setting the piloting agendas:
The first section outlines the key questions that the 'big picture' has to answer (in order to specify what the WLP project has achieved as a pilot project).
The second section examines the underlying ideas that were highlighted in the application and analyses the obstacles for piloting with the original ideas 'as such'.
The third section links the work of the project to an ongoing conceptual change that has overshadowed the current discussion and developmental work on 'e-learning' or 'working and learning with web-resources'.
The fourth section examines the key ideas that the WLP project has put forward regarding 'WLP web' and regarding web-based support for country-specific piloting activities.
The fifth section relates the work of the WLP project to parallel progress in other projects and initiatives.
The sixth section summarises the analyses and links the conclusions to the remaining tasks of the project.

This note is a more extensive (and yet compressed) analysis on what has been happening in the project and how the current  'construction sites' can be brought into mature results. This analysis is closely related to the third note on presenting the web-base knowledge resources that the project has brought together.

Pekka Kämäräinen

The third note discusses the development of the project website and the related idea of the role of web-based tools/platforms and knowledge resources for the piloting approach of the project. In this repect the project has undergone some changes that need to be reflected. Moreover, in the later phase of the project some developmental ideas have been brought to discussion but not yet worked to final conclusions.

In the light of the above the attached working note brings the discussion further in the following way:
The first main section raises the key questions for discussing the website development and the role of web resources.
The first sub-section analyses the early stages of the website development and the related ideas how to work with web tools. The second sub-section presents a critical interim assessment that relates the London conclusions to working and learning with web resources.
The second main section presents a propoal for restructuring the WLP website in the basis of the current view on "Product Areas" and "Resource Areas" hat will present the mature stage of the project.
The first sub-section presents the central "Product Areas" based on the ideas that were laid down in the funding application.
The second sub-section presents an overview of "Resource Areas" under which the main results of the work can be grouped.
The third sub-section discusses synergy, overlaps and remaining gaps between the said areas.

The working note provides a background for the related proposal on restructuring the website. These proposals are linked to recent progress with "workshop facilitators' tools", "Planning tools", case stories and with WLP Multimedia resources. Finally, the proposed new architecture seeks to provide the WLP partners country-specific areas for piloting or for dissemination purposes. These last mentioned ideas are to be presented on the "WLP Piloting Forum" blog.

Pekka Kämäräinen