FE Pilots are underway…

We thought to take the BEACONING concepts to next level of complexity, therefore we can poke and testify its fundamental principles, adaptability, scalability and sustainability. We wanted to apply the BEACONING concepts to a physical skills development scenario, one of the extreme cases of BEACONING pilots.

This new set of pilots will expand the spectrum covered by the BEACONING from school and university education to a new landscape, the further education (FE). Unlike standard education, which focuses on the of cognitive skill development, FEs are focused on physical skills. Physical skill based learning is the central element in various trades, such as construction and manufacturing. We plan to explore several interesting and niche areas, for instance, power tool handling, high dexterity tasks and time critical activities.

Challenges in setting up this pilots are also different from other classical scenarios. Two important challenges are listed below.

• There are no well-established protocols for the knowledge transfer in these domains. The knowledge about physical skills generally tacit; in many occasions the experts and specialists know how to do the job, but find it difficult to explain. Skills are mostly linked to experience than books or instructions.
• Technical challenges here are mainly associated with interconnecting the physical activities to the virtual/cyber space. Screen/display based interfaces are not much of a use here. Environments are harsh, power and size limitations come in to play.