14 - th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE E-COMM-LINE 2013, Bucharest , September 24, 2013

SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION FROM E- TO 3D- AND M-LEARNING

Dorina Popovici1, Sorin Ionitescu2, Gabriel Jiga2
Ioannis Hatzilygeroudis3, Tinko Stoyanov4, Boris Stoyanov5, Zuzana Palkova6
1

University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania (karina_popovici@yahoo.com)

Asoc. Centrul de Training European ( sorin.ionitescu@gamil.com)
3
University of Patras, Greece (ihatz@ceid.upatras.gr)
4
Technical University, Sofia, tinkosto@gmail.com
5
E-Training Solutions, Germany (boris.stoyan@gmail.com)
6
Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Slovakia (Zuzana.Palkova@uniag.sk)
2

Abstract:
The MENUET project was completed successfully in November 2010. The project envisaged that the future of teaching and learning
would rapidly vacate the classroom and become heavily involved in distance learning practices using multimedia-rich web-based
courseware accessible anywhere and anytime on-demand. The revolution from the classroom lecturers talk and chalk to
independent mobile e-learning requires a completely new and different didactical approach (e-pedagogy). Education becomes
edutainment and the computer becomes a theatre as the student has to be inveigled to become engrossed in learning materials
without the presence of and motivation by the lecturer.
This paper describes the new tools developed during the course of the MENUET project to help this transition by use of multimediarich courses, incl. 3D simulations, interactive learning environments for conducting and tracking student behavior and results,
interactive online assessment tools Web2.0-based communication and collaboration technologies.
The sustainability of the MENUET project has been ensured by two new LLP Transfer of Innovation (TOI) projects: AVARES and
Mobivet2.0 both successfully started in 2012.
AVARES project aims to establish 3D virtual learning environment and multimedia learning materials providing access to vocational
education and training in the field of Renewable Energy Resources (RES), by means of modern information and communication
technology for vocational education and training.
Mobivet2.0 project aims to fill in the online training gap between the self-directed learners and VET trainers by developing mobile
learning knowledge and skills of the trainers thus turning them from traditional in-class instructors to skilled online tutors (etutors).
Both projects support further development of innovative Web2.0-based tutoring methodologies, mobile e-pedagogy approaches and
practices thus helping to extend area and improve quality of lifelong learning in EU.

Keywords : Web 2.0, e-learning, mobile learning, Learning2.0, learning technology, lifelong learning.

Background
The "Copenhagen Declaration" by 31 Ministers of Education, the European social partners and the
Commission in November 2002 was a direct and concrete follow up to the broader objectives
agreed in Lisbon and Barcelona. The Copenhagen Declaration was a significant step forward as it
identified a set of specific issues and challenges where increased European cooperation in VET is
required and welcomed.
The Lisbon European Council set the European Union the strategic goal of becoming the most
competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world. This strategy was confirmed by
the Barcelona summit in March 2002, where it was stated that European education and training
systems should become world reference by 2010 and that closer cooperation should be promoted in
the area of Vocational Education and Training (VET).
The aim of the Digital Agenda for Europe (May 2010) is to deliver sustainable economic and social
benefits from a digital single market based on fast and ultra fast internet applications. It was
projected that by 2020 digital content and applications will be almost entirely delivered online.

14 - th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE E-COMM-LINE 2013, Bucharest , September 24, 2013

Attractive content and services needed to be made available in an interoperable and borderless
internet environment. It was considered that services were converging and moving from the
physical into the digital world, universally accessible on any device, be it a smart phone, tablet,
personal computer, digital radio or high-definition television.
Digital Agenda for Europe stated that Europe was suffering from a growing professional ICT skills
shortage and a digital literacy deficit. Only one of the nine ICT applications companies present in
the Financial Times Global 500 list was European; only four of the top 54 websites visited across
Europe are of European origin.
It was deemed essential to educate European citizens in the use of ICT and digital media and
particularly to attract youngsters into ICT education. The supply of ICT practitioner and e-business
skills, the digital skills necessary for innovation and growth, needed to be increased and upgraded.
It was considered necessary to improve the attractiveness of the ICT sector for professional use, in
particularly for the production and design of technology. All citizens should be made aware of the
potential of ICT for all kind of professions. This called for multi-stakeholder partnerships and
increased learning,
The Bruges Communiqu on enhanced European Cooperation in Vocational Education and
Training for the period 2011-2020 is strongly concerned on internationalizing of VET.
As players on the global education market, national VET systems need to be connected to the wider
World in order to remain up-to-date and competitive. They have to be more capable of attracting
learners from other European and third countries, providing them with education and training as
well as making it easier to recognize their skills.
Better and targeted information provision and guidance are needed to attract more foreign learners
to our VET systems
The Bruges Communiqu is concerning about making I-VET an attractive learning option, raise the
quality of I-VET by improving the quality and competences of teachers, trainers and school leaders,
introducing flexible pathways between all education levels and increasing public awareness of the
possibilities which VET offers. That means to pay more attention on how to give learners in I-VET
access to appropriate up-to-date technical equipment, teaching materials and infrastructures. This
is of particular importance in participating countries where VET tends to be undervalued;
The EU is also very committed to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% by 2020
compared to 1990 levels and to improving energy efficiency by 20 %. The ICT sector has a key role
to play in this challenge. ICTs offer potential for a structural shift to less resource-intensive
products and services, for energy savings in buildings and electricity networks, as well as for more
efficient and less energy consuming intelligent transport system to reduce energy use and
greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve emissions reductions, a mix of awareness-raising, training
and multi-stakeholder cooperation was required.
MENUET Project (MOBILE E-NOVATIVE USE OF E-LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES
FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION)
The MENUET Project responded directly the important goals and objectives pointed out in the EU
priorities so as to focus attention to the learning needs of teachers and trainers in VET, to promote
employability and competitiveness and so strengthen the European dimension of VET.
The MENUET Project commenced in December 2008 and was successfully completed in
November 2010. Its aim was to introduce students and trainers to the new technologies involved in
interactive E-books for self-paced learning. E-Learning Technologies use interactive multimedia
(the simultaneous transmission via computer screens of text, graphics, computer software,
animation, video, voice-over and music in stereo sound, as well as virtual reality worlds). The use
of E-Learning Technologies allows user-interaction with controlling computer software
programmes and may be used effectively in education and training, Sophisticated computer

14 - th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE E-COMM-LINE 2013, Bucharest , September 24, 2013

hardware and software have become available for the production of high quality flexible training
materials at low cost.

In order to accomplish the project aims, four main activities have been undertaken: STUDY,
DESIGN, TEST and EVALUATION and DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS.
The STUDY activity involved studies on ICT and E-learning concepts, the production of a Guide to
the production of interactive E-books, test methodologies and available hardware and software.
The DESIGN activity involved the production of four E-books covering the Basics of Web-Design,
Open and Distance Learning (ODL) Techniques, E-Commerce and Energy Saving and Environment
Protection. These E-books (http://menuet.etcenter.ro/) include DHTML technologies, Internet
Links, Text, Graphics, Audio, Animations, Video, Interaction, Excelets, Multimedia Quizzes and
Automatic Score Generation.
The TEST AND EVALUATION activities set up systems of wireless networks with which students
and tutors used and evaluated the training materials at the universities involved in the project. As at
3rd August 2011, the accumulated number of visitors to the project website stood at 26162!
The project outputs were the four E-books, the results of the evaluation and a Step by Step Guide
for Tutors on how to produce multimedia materials, tests and automatic score generators.
NEW TOOLS

14 - th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE E-COMM-LINE 2013, Bucharest , September 24, 2013

To assist the transition from classroom Talk and Chalk to independent Mobile E-Learning, the
New Tools developed and intrinsic to the resources provided at the Virtual Learning Mobile
Environment include:
The use of multimedia (music, sound effects, voiceovers, videos and animations) in interactive
presentations

Innovative software

14 - th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE E-COMM-LINE 2013, Bucharest , September 24, 2013

Interactive Sliders

The use of interactive software and spreadsheets containing ActiveX controls (scrollbars,
dropdown selection boxes, etc.) for examinations of system behavior.

14 - th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE E-COMM-LINE 2013, Bucharest , September 24, 2013

The MENUET Guide
Robert Mills Gagn (August 1916 April 2002) was an American educational psychologist
involved in applying concepts of instructional theory to the design of computer-based training and
multimedia-based learning.
His Conditions of Learning theory outlines nine instructional events and corresponding cognitive
processes:
1. Gain Attention (reception)
2. State Learning Objectives (expectancy)
3. Stimulate Recall of Prior Knowledge (retrieval)
4. Present Stimulating Interactive Course Content (selective perception)
5. Provide Learning Guidance (semantic encoding)
6. Elicit Performance (response)
7. Provide Feedback (reinforcement)
8. Assess Performance (retrieval)
9. Enhance Retention (generalisation)
Conclusions
MENUET Project
The MENUET project was completed successfully in November 2010. The project envisaged that
the future of teaching would rapidly vacate the classroom and become heavily involved in distancelearning using Multimedia/Internet Courseware anywhere and anytime on-demand. The revolution
from the classroom lecturers talk and chalk to independent Mobile E-Learning required a
completely new and different didactical approach. Education becomes Edutainment and the
computer becomes a Theatre as the student has to be inveigled to become engrossed in the
learning materials without the presence and motivation of the lecturer.
New Tools developed during the course of the MENUET Project include: the use of multimedia
(music, sound effects, voiceovers, videos and animations) in interactive presentations, innovative
software, sliders and pop-ups, the use of interactive software and spreadsheets containing ActiveX
controls (scrollbars, dropdown selection boxes, etc.) for examinations of system behavior (i.e. the
effects of independent system variables on the overall energy consumptions of buildings,
combustion efficiencies and CO2 release in carbon neutral approach analyses), quizzes, games,
automatic scoring, feedback and revision, the storage and retrieval of data entered in interactive
web forms, and the use of Web2.o-based communication and collaboration technologies such as
discussion forums, chat, e-mail, blog, Wikipedia publishing systems, IP-based audio,
videoconferencing and interactive TV
The sustainability of the MENUET project has been ensured by the AVARES and MOBIVET2.0
projects both EC LLP TOI projects.
AVARES Project
AVARES project started in November 2012 and is still under development. Its main aim is to use
3D virtual reality environments, Web 2.0 technologies and Learning 2.0 as educational methods and
tools for improving quality of the vocational education and training in the area of Renewable
Energy Sources (RES).
Fundamental emphasis is put on the application of modern ICT equipment and technologies,
especially on Virtual reality and 3D visual display, social networking and Web 2.0 methods.

14 - th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE E-COMM-LINE 2013, Bucharest , September 24, 2013

Virtual learning environment, which contains learning materials in a structured way, is at the
present social network time a social place. As in a real classroom, the students can communicate
between them and with the teacher and collaborate in learning experience. There are available
activities, as blog or wiki, which use Web 2.0 techniques and students start to be not consumers of
Web information, but they become information producers. They can add to the learning material
with text, web pages or any other materials. Finally, a virtual learning environment integrates a
variety of tools supporting multiple functions: information, communication, collaboration, learning
and management. Virtual places have to reproduce most functions which can be found on a real
campus: registration, assistance, leisure & fun.
Virtual 3D auditorium includes the major teaching facilities - open air auditorium and smaller open
air classroom. The auditorium and the classroom include facilities that enable lecturers to make use
of PowerPoint presentations, to display films, to hold face-to-face learning process as well as
discussion rounds with experts or host various events such as courses, workshops, seminars.
3D Virtual RES Park is organized as an island with several buildings and areas. On the windy table
- land you can find Wind turbine, on the roof of Research and development Centre you see Solar
collectors and PV cells and inside are prototypes of RES devices - turbines or heat pumps.
MOBIVET2.0 Project
The MOBIVET2.0 project also started in 2012 and is still under development. It aims to fill the
online training gap between the self-guided learners and VET trainers by developing mobile
Web2.0-based (e-Learning 2.0) knowledge and skills of the trainers thus turning them from in-class
trainers to skilled online mobile tutors (e-tutors). The project identify the obstacles to mobile etutoring and address and alleviate these problems by demonstrating existing online learning and
tutoring applications and practices based on Web 2.0 technologies to trainers showing their
pedagogical and didactical benefits.
The project shows how the Web 2.0 technologies may be used simply by non-IT experts, using
sample courses and guidelines developed during the project.
The project therefore broaden the e-skills and competencies of European VET practitioners
(teachers, trainers and tutors) and help develop adequate online training practices for effective
distant tutoring of lifelong self-learning activities at the workplace and on the go without time and
distance barriers. This way the project supports the development of innovative ICT-based tutoring
services, pedagogies and practices for lifelong learning.
Both AVARES and MOBIVET2.0 projects transfer innovations developed in the frame of
MENUET project.
. References
1. The MENUET Guide: How to use e-books/e-textbooks effectively in teaching and learning,
GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING LEARNING MATERIAL ON THE INTERNET,
http://menuet.etcenter.ro/, 2010
2. The MENUET E-Book: Basics of WEB design, http://menuet.etcenter.ro/, 2010
3. The MENUET E-Book: ODL techniques, http://menuet.etcenter.ro/, 2010
4. The MENUET E-Book: E-commerce, http://menuet.etcenter.ro/, 2010
5. The MENUET E-Book: Energy Saving and Environment Protection, http://menuet.etcenter.ro/,
2010
6. AVARES project website http://www.avares.org/vle , 2013
7. MOBIVET2.0 project website http://www.mobivet2.eu , 2013
8. Digital Agenda for Europe Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the
Council, the European Economic and social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Brussels,
May 2010.
9. The Bruges Communiqu on enhanced European Cooperation in Vocational Education and Training
for the period 2011-2020