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In Lithuania, we believe that the “one size fits all” approach doesn’t longer work in education. We strongly believe that future school means personalisation plus intelligence.

Learning personalisation means creating and implementing personalised learning paths based on recommended systems and personal learning environments suitable for particular learners according to their personal needs. Educational intelligence means application of intelligent technologies and methods enabling personalised learning to improve learning quality and efficiency. Lithuanian Intelligent Future School (IFS) project is aimed at implementing both learning personalisation and educational intelligence.

In personalised learning, first of all, integrated learner profiles (models) should be implemented. After that, ontologies-based personalised recommender systems should be created to suggest learning components (learning objects, activities, methods, tools, apps etc.) suitable to particular learners according to their profiles. Thus, personalised learning paths could be created for particular learners for each topic according to curriculum. A number of intelligent technologies should be applied to implement IFS approach, e.g. ontologies, recommender systems, intelligent agents, multiple criteria decision making methods to evaluate quality and suitability of the learning components etc.

Two years’ experience of pilot IFS implementation in Lithuania has shown that this personalised intelligent approach is useful and effective. Currently, over 20 primary and secondary schools are involved in this pilot Lithuanian IFS project coordinated by Vilnius University researchers. We create suitable intelligent methods and technologies and validate them at pilot schools in order to create well working intelligent learning system for schools.

IFS approach is based on experience gained in “Future Classroom” projects funded by European Commission and co-ordinated by European Schoolnet (EUN). These flagship European projects in the area of ICT in education were: (1) iTEC (Innovative Technologies for an Engaging Classroom) funded by 7th Framework Programme (7FP) and implemented in 2010–2014; (2) LSL (Living Schools Lab), 7FP, 2012–2014, and (3) CCL (Creative Classrooms Lab), Life Long Programme (LLP), 2013–2015.

Article written by: Virginija Birenienne, Scientix Ambassador.

Tags: FCL, IFS, intelligence approach, learning personalization