Designing Learning Paths with Open Educational Resources: An Investigation in Model-Driven Engineering

This paper presents a methodology for supporting educators and learners in designing and delivering learning paths using Open Educational Resources (OERs). While OERs provide free and unlimited access to high-quality learning resources, their scattered nature presents significant challenges in finding relevant and high-quality materials. Furthermore, the lack of a centralized repository for OERs makes it difficult to ensure the accuracy and quality of the materials being queried. To address these issues, the paper presents the ENCORE methodology that provides software components, or ENCORE enablers, to enable educators to include relevant OERs that target specific skills in their learning paths. The methodology also leverages notebook interfaces and gamification mechanisms to promote students’ learning engagement. The paper illustrates the ENCORE methodology through a case study, where the methodology is applied to an OER repository of educational resources developed by the expert network on model-driven engineering (MDEnet). The case study demonstrates that designing the database and enablers as independent but holistic components enables the use of OERs to accomplish a wider range of educational goals, such as supporting the creation of learning paths. The paper concludes with indications on how to extend the ENCORE methodology to further enhance the creation and delivery of personalized learning experiences, supporting the reuse of open educational resources and the automatic generation of personalized learning paths.