TENCompetence

Abstract

The world in which we live and work is changing ever more rapidly. Citizens and the organisations in which they participate find themselves with a corresponding need to learn and adapt in order to cope with changed jobs, tasks and technologies, and to respond innovatively to the new challenges which face them. The education system, however, has settled into a model which is ill prepared for this dynamic environment. The nature of the principal educational institutions imply, in very general terms, a model in which all children will pass through an educational process which is standardised by the state, and which has much in common in all developed countries. On leaving school they will gain specialised knowledge and skills in post-secondary education, and use these to gain a job in a field in which they will work until retirement.

There are however two major problems with this well established approach. Firstly, many young people do not achieve the knowledge skills required for them to participate in a knowledge economy, and they are given little opportunity for a second chance. Secondly, no support is provided for handling changing knowledge requirements, jobs and tasks following post-secondary education.

In TENCompetence we refer to this traditional educational process as first road education, contrasted this with second road education, which includes some formal learning, but with the largest role played by informal/non-formal learning. The second road has always been taken by some individuals, but this has often involved some risk, and has not been adequately supported or recognised by education institutions. For more discussion of these issues please explore the proceedings of the TENCompetence workshops and conference strands and public project deliverables.

Within this context the aim of the TENCompetence project is to develop a technical and organisational infrastructure, which is both open source and standards based, to support lifelong learning in Europe, to serve the needs of individuals, groups, and organisations. The project runs from December 2005 to December 2009, and is funded by the European commission through the Framework 6 IST Technology Enhanced Learning programme, with 15 partners from throughout Europe.