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Today’s fast-paced economy and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the job market have made more prominent the need for flexible accreditation and lifelong learning. This paper introduces a novel approach for supporting lifelong learning using Smart Badges as Blockchain-based decentralised micro-accreditation. The implementation of this approach is based on granular verification, which has been achieved via LinkChains MerQL. A user evaluation has been conducted with stakeholders from the education community, the results of which have indicated the strengths and weaknesses of this approach. Liaising with stakeholders from the education community has provided valuable insights into the different aspects of lifelong learning that require support, as well as into the training needs of the education community related to the use of decentralisation technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can we better mediate processes of learning at large institutions? Learning analytics are used primarily in online and blended learning environments to expose patterns in learning behaviour or interaction. They make use of digital traces from virtual learning environments and combine this with other learner data. The goal is to assist both educators and learners in improving their practice. In this work, we apply the concepts of 'psychological tools' and more 'knowledgeable others' from Lev Vygotsky, and Reuven Feuerstein's model of Mediated Learning Experiences to define prerequisites that learning analytics at scale must reach, in order to be a meaningful tool for mediating learning. We present findings from an in-depth qualitative study with educators and learners at a large, online institution of higher education. We then map insights gained from this study to our model of mediated learning. The resulting analysis and recommendations indicate that we need more inclusive and dedicated practices in learning analytics development, as well as institutional will to create more complex and meaningful tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of Open Educational Resources (OER) for training in public administration has yet to see a wide adoption globally, mostly due to challenges related to the discovery and reuse of high-quality OER for training purposes. These challenges, combined with the general lack of openness in the public sector, have greatly impacted the penetration of OER in public administration. This paper presents a case study on the use of OER for expanding and enhancing curricular and resource sharing in public administration in Greece. Within this case study, an OER authoring and sharing platform was introduced to the Greek public sector, employing crowdsourcing methods for supporting trainers and trainees in authoring, sharing, reusing and remixing OER. The paper presents the deployment of this platform and the use of OER in the context of training programmes in the Greek public sector and reports on the lessons learned and the impact on public administration. The results of the case study showed that the use of OER was very positively received by civil servants, with a remarkable response, through active participation and engagement that led to the enhancement of existing OER and the co-creation of new ones for public administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main challenges commonly associated with acquiring practical network engineering skills are the requirements for access to specialised and up-to-date network equipment, as well as the high costs associated with obtaining and maintaining this equipment. The PT Anywhere initiative addresses these challenges by offering a mobile environment for acquiring practical knowledge and skills of network engineering. PT Anywhere facilitates learner-centred anywhere/anytime learning and offers learners access to high-quality interactive learning resources. Additionally, PT Anywhere employs Learning Analytics in order to help learners and educators in understanding and improving learning. This paper presents the learning design and software design principles driving the development of PT Anywhere, as well as the outcomes of an evaluation session conducted with members of the Cisco Networking Academy. The results of this evaluation indicate that PT Anywhere holds the potential to engage learners in different ways inside and outside of the classroom, without the need for access to specialised equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ontologies provide the means for supporting business intelligence (BI) and information management through the interpretation of unstructured content. On the basis of the semantics of ontologies, information can be extracted from natural language texts, and on a further level of processing knowledge that facilitates BI can be discovered. However, in order to act this way, ontologies need to be properly modelled and evolved so that they are constantly aligned with changes that occur in the real world. This paper presents a framework for modelling the temporal aspects of a semantic knowledge base with direct impact on the BI process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]