Abstract:

In the recent decades, e-learning and continuing education have been widely introduced in higher education as a fast and convenient way to acquire new knowledge and skills, however not in all areas of knowledge. The pandemic environment in which we have been living for the last two years has necessitated the rapid introduction of online learning in engineering higher education and related specialized continuing education.

Even with the best structured online course, there is no guarantee that the learner will achieve/acquire the desired set of competencies and skills due to the fact that their background knowledge does not usually match their personal manner/style of providing learning content. In order to maximize the achievement of the goals set for the learner, it is appropriate to apply the so-called personalization (individualization) of the training by creating an individual profile.

Training personalization can be considered as a set of approaches, procedures and techniques allowing each learner to progress according to their abilities and spare time, to select the manner and type of teaching materials delivery based on their background competencies and preferences for knowledge acquisition.

Adapting the learning content offer by creating an individual profile increases the effectiveness of online learning, as it takes into account the preferences, needs and perception style of the offered material.

The introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) also requires the strict implementation of rules and technologies, which guarantee the privacy of each learner’s personal data. This is also an element of the application of the individual profile.

This paper discusses the approaches and techniques applied by the authors and the methodology implemented in creating an individual learner profile in e-engineering and specialized continuing education, especially in cases where achieving a mandatory level of knowledge and skills is required while ensuring the highest level of personal data protection.

Keywords:

Individual profile, electronic engineering and specialized continuing education.