PROBLEM-DRIVEN NETWORKED LEARNING

The paper addresses the theme of education and learning on the job, proposing an innovative methodology based on a semantic (ontology-based) approach, positioned in the context of problem solving episodes. In contrast with the continuous demand of life long education, people busy in their workplaces have difficulties in stopping activities to dedicate the time that a course requires. Furthermore, there is a growing demand for personalised education that carefully considers the competencies and the background of the learner, but also the operational context and her/his role in the organization. The proposed methodology, referred to as Problem-driven Ontology-based Learning (POL), is based on an agile, focused approach capable to provide learning opportunities on the job, when a problem is encountered. The problem is then turned into a positive opportunity for the user to better understand the 'whys' and the 'hows' connected to the problem. The POL methodology relies on a knowledge infrastructure having the Problem Ontology (ProblemOnto) as its core, and a Competency Graph having learning items as nodes. The platform, currently under development, offers to the user two different but intertwined environment: a Problem Solving environment and a Networked Learning environment. Keywords: Education on the job, problem-driven education, problem ontology, networked learning, collaborative learning community.