An ontology-based approach to competency modeling and management in learning networks

Abstract

With the emergence of the paradigm of Lifelong Learning and the proliferation of the terms "knowledge society", "citizen mobility", or "globalization", competency-based learning and training has known a growing interest in technology-enhanced learning as it provides important benefits for both individuals and organizations by supporting the transformation of learning outcomes into permanent and valuable knowledge assets. In this context, to promote the acquisition and continuous development of new competencies, learning networks have emerged that enables to support the provision of various lifelong learning opportunities. However, lifelong competency development still faces numerous challenges and research issues that need to be addressed, primarily the lack of consensus about a common representation of competencies and competency profiles. This paper analyzes different approaches reported in literature for competency modeling and proposes a competency ontology to formally describe competency-related characteristics of actors and learning resources in learning networks. The proposed ontology also aims to model aspects related to competency information management and tracking in order to support lifelong competency development in learning networks.