In recent years, research on mash-up technologies for learning environments has gained interest. The overall goal is to enrich or replace traditional learning management systems (LMS) with mash-ups of widgets and services that can be easily combined and configured to fit the learner needs. This paper presents the implemented prototype of the ROLE interoperability framework and a business and an educational case study. The framework provides a common technical infrastructure to assemble widgets and services in Personal Learning Environments (PLEs). Evaluation results indicate that the perceived usefulness and usability is high for one case study in which a mature LMS was enriched with ROLE technology. In the second case study, an early mash-up prototype was deployed. The usefulness and usability of this early prototype were rated low, but the case study provides interesting insights for further research and development.

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Abstract-This paper provides a report on the experimental collaborative and distributed development of a prototypic Widget-based PLE. The development process is described and detailed taking into account the requirements of a language learning scenario. First results are presented, and developer experiences are discussed critically with a focus on the development process as well as problems with current Widget technologies and interoperability. I.INTRODUCTION Current en deavors i n t he domain of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) exhibit the need for increased openness and r esponsiveness of cur rent learning environments. W hile older learning technology generations were often central and closed systems, often merely focusing on the management of learning processes, the next generation of Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) tackled by the ROLE project 1 concent rates on a hi ghly di stributed approach d rawing o n t he com bination of est ablished o penstandard Web technologies in order to enable the learnerside i ntegration o f servi ces a nd t ools fr om a pl ethora o f heterogeneous sources i nto c ustomized l earning en vironments. One of t he major goa ls of R OLE i s t o del iver an appropriate techni cal i nfrastructure for the establishment of such resp onsive open l earning envi ronments. Anot her goal of t he project i s t o est ablish a co mmunity of ope n source a nd e xternal devel opers out side t he conso rtium contributing further tools and services based on this infrastructure. D uring t he fi rst pr oject devel oper m eeting, w e thus agreed to work in parallel to the standard project plan towards a comm on goal , cal led the "C hristmas Project" with the following objectives in mind: Create a first de monstrator of ROLE to visualize the potential of the project  Enable the consortium to better define needs and derive technical specifications

This article presents an approach that supports the creation of personal learning environments (PLE) suitable for self-regulated learning (SRL). PLEs became very popular in recent years offering more personal freedom to learners than traditional learning environments. However, creating and configuring PLEs demand specific meta-skills that not all learners have. This situation leads to the challenge how learners can be supported to create PLEs that are useful to achieve their intended learning outcomes. The theory of SRL describes learners as self-regulated if they are capable of taking over control of the own learning process. Grounding on that theory, a model has been elaborated that offers guidance for the creation of PLEs containing tools for cognitive and meta-cognitive learning activities. The implementation of this approach has been done in the context of the ROLE infrastructure. A quantitative and qualitative evaluation with teachers describes advantages and ideas for improvement.

Within the ROLE European research project, an interoperability framework has been developed to support self-regulated learning and to enable learners and teachers to create personal learning environments (PLEs). This framework enables learners to assemble tools, services and resources together to create their own custom learning environment. This chapter discusses the overall architecture, the specific components of this architecture and the platforms in which we have integrated the ROLE framework. Additionally, we share the lessons learned from the design and development. Furthermore, we discuss our experience with the