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Mixed modes of learning and content

The last couple of years during the Covid crisis has heightened demand for online learning, and this has in many cases taken the form of synchronous events through videoconferencing platforms such as Zoom. However, synchronous teaching is not always possible or feasible and online tools provide a wealth of alternatives.

OpenPlato will aggregate many openly available pre-existing content, such as the FOSTER Open Science courses and OpenAIRE’s own guides, and repackage them, as well as create new content based on tailored requirements. This will in part preserve some materials that will otherwise become obsolete while also providing a centralised point of entry for the disparate sources. New content will be based on gaps in provision where necessary and will require some input from the community to identify what. Since this is a community platform, we will also aim to allow content from external sources to host their work here through collaboration and we invite those that have training content that needs a home to get in touch!

Content and materials will take a variety of forms from video, audio, and text to interactive modules that will together provide an engaging learning experience. There is also scope for providing an as yet unidentified badging or certification mechanism, but this will probably require further work and is being investigated. As well as providing a means for on-demand learning, OpenPlato will also incorporate a web conferencing system based on Zoom which will allow synchronous learning to be conducted and to have classes, including breakout rooms. Taken together, the functionality and modes of learning will provide a wide choice for both the training providers and the learners.

Multilingual support

Since the objective of OpenPlato will be to provide a service at the pan-European level, and beyond.  

There will be courses in a variety of languages including, but not exclusively, English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

The extent to which there will be other languages will depend on the resources available, but there is a commitment by OpenAIRE to make OpenPlato as inclusive as possible and therefore the community will be able to provide input on what courses and in what languages should be produced.

Free access

Courses available on OpenPlato will be completely free but will require registration to start learning.

Registration will provide certain benefits including login to OpenPlato, the ability to engage with the learner’s community on the LMS as well as gaining access to user preferences and the ability to pick up where you left off.

Target audience

The fields of RDM and open science have undergone a renaissance in recent decades, primarily due to the internet and access to vast amounts of digital data. Meanwhile, in the last few years, the FAIR principles have crystalised much of the attributes needed for these fields. This has placed the onus on researchers to safeguard their data and this requires proper training.

Therefore, the primary focus of the OpenPlato will be those that produce data and those tasked with their proper management.

What we would like you to do is to join us on OpenPlato when it is fully released and provide your feedback on it as well as start learning and thinking about what content could be included. After all, this is for the community and will partly rely on the community to realise its full potential! Watch out in the coming months for news updates via our Twitter and other channels of its imminent release and we look forward to welcoming you!

For more information about OpenPlato, please contact S. Venkataraman. Venkat is the Training Officer at OpenAIRE and is responsible for the overall training strategy being implemented by OpenAIRE. He is also involved in the direct delivery of training, and production of materials and services.

This article is modified from its original form published here.