InfoWeb training

The InfoWeb Further Education (IWWB) was originally a project financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (running from 2002 to 2004) with the aim of increasing the transparency of professional further education. Various methods have been developed for this purpose:

A meta search engine for the entire training sector
The networking of actors in further education
Activities to improve the quality of information in the area of further training

After the end of the funding period, the project became sponsored by DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Educational Research and Educational Information is now transferring and operating its website with the meta search engine as a subportal of the German Education Server (DBS). The other activities of the IWWB will also be continued within the DBS.

Meta search engine for training opportunities

The IWWB website offers centralized, standardized access to information about further training opportunities and other topics that are important for participation in further training . The core of the website is a meta search engine that enables research in the databases of around 80 advanced training databases that cooperate with the IWWB . In addition to the search for further training opportunities, the IWWB website offers a search for local advice on further training and funding opportunities for further training.

The meta search engine of InfoWeb Further Education finds general, political, scientific and professional further and further education offers of all types (e.g. seminars and courses , distance learning , e-learning / CBT / WBT ), about which information is stored in the cooperating further education databases. In order to enable a quick search, a meaningful query with options for narrowing down the results found and also an intelligent result display "ranked" according to the quality of the hit, the query is not made directly in the respective source databases, but first on the data cache of the IWWB. The connection of the cooperating databases to this cache takes place via interfaces that are implemented in them.

Networking the actors in further education

The technical networking of training databases was carried out through the development of self-configurable search banners, which can be integrated into your own website and enable visitors to all cooperating training websites to perform meta searches using the IWWB's search engine. In this way, all those interested in further training, regardless of whether they know the Internet address of the IWWB or not, can access the content of all other databases by accessing any further training database.

The social networking takes place through intensive committee work. In order to ensure the cooperation of the training databases and other actors, a committee led by the BMBF was founded in May 2002, which includes representatives of the databases, responsible federal, state and local authorities as well as other interested bodies from science and practice. Cooperation with institutions that have professional relevance in this area, as well as the regular holding of specialist conferences, ensure feedback with practical experience. The committee meets at least once a year in the BMBF and is open to all representatives of further education databases and others interested in the topic.

Activities to improve the quality of information in the area of further training

Between the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2016, the company carried out a total of 13 online user surveys on the websites of an average of around 35-48 training databases each year. The questions coordinated with the databases made it possible to evaluate the quality of information in the training databases. The results provided each participating database with information for optimizing the offer from the user's point of view.

Another task in this work area is activities to develop and enforce minimum standards for further training information. In July 2002 an "AG Infostandards" met in the premises of the Stiftung Warentest . a. engaged in developing criteria for minimum standards of information on continuing education. This resulted in an initiative to create a DIN PAS (= Publicly Available Specification ) for training databases , which was published in autumn 2004 as PAS 1045 .

The fact that these activities actually improved the quality of information are documented by B. the results of studies by Stiftung Warentest. In 2007, 2011 and 2016, the foundation noted a significant improvement in the ratings of further training databases compared to the first study in 2003.

Presentations

Krekel, Elisabeth M., Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training - BIBB: Provider information - results and requirements for consumer protection (Powerpoint file; 633 kB), presentation given at the specialist conference of the BMBF on an InfoWeb training project on October 8, 2001 in Bonn
Plum, Wolfgang, BBPro: Despite and because of the Internet: Lack of transparency as a feature of the training market in Germany (Powerpoint file; 4.6 MB), presentation given at the BMBF conference on an InfoWeb training project on October 8, 2001 in Bonn

Plum, Wolfgang and Matsumoto, Kim, BBPro / Engine Software Solutions: InfoWeb further training - goals and possibilities (Powerpoint file; 290 kB), presentation given at the specialist conference of the BMBF on an InfoWeb further training project on October 8, 2001 in Bonn

Plum, Wolfgang, BBPro: Report on the results of the feasibility study for the InfoWeb training project (Word file; 1.3 MB), Hamburg 2001

Wolfgang Plum, BBPro: InfoWeb Further Education - Approaches to Solutions and Standardization Needs (PDF; 390 kB), presentation given at the initiative workshop Further Education Databases Between Consumer Requirements and Vendor Orders ", event at DIN eV Berlin on June 27, 2003

Rangel, Philip, Engine Software Solutions: Technical solutions for a meta search engine (Powerpoint file; 290 kB), presentation given at the specialist conference of the BMBF on an InfoWeb training project on October 8, 2001 in Bonn

Töpper, Alfred, Stiftung Warentest : Quality standards and reality. Further education databases in the test. Requirements for advanced training databases from a demand perspective , (PDF; 168 kB) Presentation given at the initiative workshop "Advanced training databases between consumer requirements and supplier orders", event at DIN e. V. Berlin on June 27, 2003

Voß, Jürgen, Further Education Hamburg eV: Division of labor and cooperation of further education databases, standards as the basis of decentralized cooperative networks (PDF; 381 kB), presentation given at the initiative workshop Further education databases between consumer requirements and supplier orders ", event at DIN eV Berlin on June 27, 2003

Voß, Jürgen, Further Education Hamburg eV: Ways to Digital Cooperation of Further Education Databases Creation of standardized regulations and standards for data traffic and exchange (PDF; 312 kB), lecture held at the initiative workshop Further Education Databases Between Consumer Requirements and Vendor Orders ", event at DIN e. V. Berlin on June 27, 2003