Responsive Open Learning Environments: New open access book published by Springer

A new book edited by Sylvana Kroop, Martin Wolpers and me has just been published by Springer. The book is entitled “Responsive Open Learning Environments” and presents the outcomes of 4 years of educational research in the EU-supported project called ROLE (Responsive Online Learning Environments). ROLE technology is centred around the concept of self-regulated learning that creates responsible learners, who are capable of critical thinking and able to plan their own learning processes.  ROLE allows learners to independently search for appropriate learning resources and then reflect on their own learning process and progress. To accomplish this, ROLE´s main objective is to support the development of open personal learning environments (PLEs). ROLE provides a framework consisting of “enabler spaces” on the one hand and tools, content, and services on the other. Utilising this framework, learners are invited to create their own controlled and preferred learning environments to trigger and motivate self-regulated learning.

Authors of this book are researchers, developers and teachers who have worked in the ROLE project and belong to the ROLE partner consortium consisting of 16 internationally renowned research institutions, including those from 6 EU countries and China. Chapters include numerous practical tutorials to guide the reader in creating innovative and useful learning widgets and present the best practices for the development of PLEs. Additionally, each chapter has been commented by experts outside of the ROLE consortium, who have offered their perspectives on PLEs.

The book is available online as Open Access and can be downloaded for free from here.