Toward an Integrated Competence-based System Supporting Lifelong Learning and Employability: Concepts, Model, and Challenges

Efficient and effective lifelong learning requires that people can make informed decisions about their continuous personal development in the different stages of their lives. In this paper we state that lifelong learners need to be characterized as decision-makers. In order to improve the quality of their decisions we propose the development of an integrated lifelong learning and employment support system, which traces learners’ competence development and provides a decision support environment. An abstract conceptual model has been developed and the main design ideas have been documented using Z notation. Moreover, we analyzed the main technical challenges for the realization of the target system: competence information fusion, decision analysis models, spatial indexing structures and browsing structures and visualization of competence related information objects.