Building Re-configurable Blended- Learning Arrangements

E-learning can be much more than just self-paced learning. To enhance motivation and sustainability of learning, trainers or course providers usually set up target group specific arrangements of various learning conducive elements. They combine self-learning phases with synchronous or asynchronous online collaboration and cooperation, as well as with face-to-face training sessions. This mix of online and offline elements has become famous under the name of "blended learning". To put blended learning scenarios into practice means to customize learning material to specific learner needs. If one uses online material, then this material has to provide spaces where blending can take place, hence it must be extremely flexible and allow easy adaptation to the concrete setting. Adapting learning materials to target group-specific domains is essential particularly for company trainings. In the "Up2UML" project funded by the Leonardo-da-Vinci initiative, partners from Ireland, Romania, Bulgaria, France and Germany developed an approach for creating re-configurable blended learning scenarios in the software modeling domain. Based on this case study, the paper describes how such reconfigurations of blended learning scenarios can be set up. It puts a special focus on the development and adaptation of training media and shows how to realize such an approach using open standards and open source software.