Abstract:

The European Patent Academy is the external education and training arm of the European Patent Office. The e-portfolio covers a wide range of interrelated topics are widespread and highly interrelated (patent law, business use of patents, procedures etc.), learning objectives (from awareness creation to knowledge transfer for experts) and supported technologies (PCs, mobile) and formats (WBTs, downloadable readings, tests, assignments). The demand is about 25 projects a year, many of them running in parallel and is increasing. Contents overlap and final products have different priorities and need adapted solutions to cover the different needs.

To ensure efficiency and quality, the Academy is optimising operational processes in terms of:
a) standardisation,
b) diversification of the value chain and
c) a web based repository of resources to support the procedures.

Standardisation:
The Academy has defined standard formats in which training materials are developed. They can be seen from a technical point of view as:
i) WBTs realised with a standard authoring tool (we use Trivantis Lectora),
ii) learning elements directly integrated in the Learning Management System (Moodle in our case),
iii) audio-visual elements (video or animations) or iv) downloadable reading materials.

These formats are further split according to instructional design criteria like sequential knowledge building, reflection on certain questions, or structured information for rapid reference.

Currently, ten different formats have been defined, each of which with editable templates, graphical layouts and use guidelines. For higher flexibility, contents, presentation layer and functionality are kept separated.

Value chain:
Any project starts with an assessment of the incoming request in terms of instructional needs, required time, content and materials. The analysis yields a combination of:
(i) existing materials/formats, which fit the detected needs and can directly included in the course without any modification,
(ii) suitable materials that need to be adapted or modified in terms of approach, technology, format, level of detail, legal basis - and
(iii) completely new materials/formats.

Here is where the value chain diverts, depending on the level of maturity of the e-learning format:
a) Consolidated formats are diverted to a production line, where segments of the chain (e.g. production) are outsourced. The internal core team intervenes in clearly defined quality checkpoints at the end of each phase.
b) More innovative products are led to an internal production line which implies a higher degree of freedom adapting given formats or developing and testing new ones.

This “maturity-based approach” allows adaptability to new formats while ensuring a streamlined and agile production of more consolidated products.

Repository:
Finally, underlying this conception, a repository of resources has been developed to minimise duplication of content and enhance the re-utilisation of materials. To this end, all assets (scripts/storyboards, sources files and published materials) belonging to any given material are kept and maintained conjointly. Specific workflows and locations in the repository ensure quick and safe maintenance, versioning and/or adaptation of materials.

Keywords:

Repository, e-Portfolio, Format, instructional design.