New Methods in the Digital Learning Environment: Micro Contents and Visual Case Studies

Abstract

Learning activities are becoming general and permanent – and the necessary tools for this are provided by info-communication technologies (ICT). However, methods that will enable the creation of sufficient educational resources still need to be researched because there might be radical changes in content usage habits. Among the several possible directions, our SysBook project provides a good example of how traditionally text-based learning resources can be enriched with images and complementary information as well as levels of interpretation. The corpus elaborated by experts can expediently be completed by students, making the learning resource more personal. Another trend is represented by the MEdit micro-content managing system, the core of which consists of contents which have been created by extracting the essence, and which are numerous but easy to grasp. The experiences of collective content development, communication and feedback help with the elaboration of micro-contents, while the ways in which they are created and used suit the ways in which the younger generations habitually obtain information. Both methods provided us with useful experience, so in the next phase we will process and share further pieces of traditional learning resources.