POP-MACHINA Open Knowledge Tool (1st Version) - Pop machina
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This project has received funding from
the European Union’s Horizon 2020
Research and Innovation Programme
under grant agreement No 821479
POP-
MACHINA
Open
Knowledge Tool
(1st Version)
Deliverable 4.9
University of Cantabria
January 2021
http://www.pop-machina.eu
Abstract
One of the most important elements in a maker ecosystem is knowledge sharing among the
community members. This knowledge, in the format of tutorials, experiences or projects are of
great value to foster the community in a makerspace and the maker movement. Therefore, a
common entry point for new makers where they can find all the needed information and tutorials
to start in the maker movement is really valuable. At the same time, existing experienced makers
can benefit from such a platform through several means, including rewards and public
recognition, as well as using it as a place to share their experience. To that end, the Open
Knowledge Tool described in this document is an online user-friendly platform that lets the
different users to access and share their maker knowledge and contribute to the community.
Within this deliverable, the basis of the Open Knowledge Tool is described, including the rationale
behind the technologies used, the functionalities provided and the requirements covered, as well
as the mockups of the first platform release and the most indicative use case scenarios for the
tool.
This report constitutes Deliverable 4.9, for Work Package 4 of the Pop-Machina project.
January 2021
© 2021, Santander – Pop-Machina, Collaborative production for the circular economy; a community
approach, – project number 821479.
General contact: pop-machina@kuleuven.be
p.a. Pop-Machina
HIVA - Research Institute for Work and Society
Parkstraat 47 box 5300, 3000 LEUVEN, Belgium
For more information type the e-mail address of the corresponding author
Please refer to this publication as follows:
Sotres P, Santana JR, González I., Sánchez L., Dimitriou A., Anastasopoulos D., Domínguez X., Guy J. (2021)
Open Knowledge Tool (1st version). Deliverable D4.9. Leuven: Pop-Machina project 821479 – H2020.
Information may be quoted provided the source is stated accurately and clearly.
This publication is also available via http://www.pop-machina.eu
This publication is part of the Pop-Machina project, this project has received funding from the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 821479.
The information and views set out in this paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect
the official opinion of the European Union. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any
person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information
contained therein.
VERSION CONTROL SHEET
Deliverable number + title D4.9 Open Knowledge Tool (1st Version)
Prepared by Pablo Sotres
9 – University of Cantabria
psotres@tlmat.unican.es
Work package number 4
Work package leader CERTH - Ethniko Kentro Erevnas Kai Technologikis Anaptyxis
Dissemination level (PU, CO) PU
Delivery date 31/01/2021
Submission date to EC Click or tap to enter a date. (pending EC acceptance)
Main authors Pablo Sotres, Juan Ramón Santana, Ivan González, Luis Sánchez,
Angela Dimitriou, Despina Anastasopoulos, Xavier Domínguez, Jessica
Guy
Reviewers Maroulla Schiza, Artemis Psaltoglou
REVISION HISTORY
Version Date Summary of changes Initials Changes
marked
1 21/12/2020 TOC created PS No
2 28/12/2020 Initial draft version PS No
3 13/01/2021 Merged multiple contributions from different authors PS, JRS, IG, No
LS, XD, JG
4 18/01/2021 Preliminary draft version for review PS, JRS, IG, No
LS
5 19/01/2021 Internal review by Intrasoft AD, DA No
6 19/01/2021 Final draft version for review PS, AD No
7 26/01/2021 Revised draft by White Research and ETAM AP, MS No
8 26/01/2021 Final version for submission PS No
Table of Contents
List of abbreviations 5
List of figures 6
List of tables 7
1. Introduction 8
1.1 Scope and approach 8
1.2 Document structure 8
2. Architectural overview of components 9
2.1 Design considerations 9
2.2 Architecture 11
2.3 LMS base system selection: Moodle vs WordPress-based LMS stack 12
3. Functionalities 14
3.1 D2.5 requirements analysis 14
3.2 Implementation technologies 18
3.2.1 WordPress 19
3.2.2 LearnDash 19
3.2.3 BuddyBoss 19
3.2.4 Events Calendar 20
3.2.5 miniOrange OAuth SSO 20
3.2.6 Gamipress 20
3.2.7 Other components and plugins 21
4. Functional mockups 22
4.1 Content generation and file sharing 23
4.2 Scoped content organization and platform navigation 26
4.3 Social aspect of the platform: user profiles & communication tools 29
5. Indicative use case scenario 35
5.1 Content creation 35
5.2 Content consumption 40
6. KPIs covered by Task 4.5 44
7. Conclusions 45
4
List of abbreviations
Abbreviation Definition
AGPL Affero General Public License
CMS Content Management System
DCAT Data Collection and Analysis Tool
DoA Description of Action
FQDN Fully Qualified Domain Name
GPL General Public License
LMS Learning Management System
OKT Open Knowledge Tool
SCP Social Collaboration Platform
SSO Single Sign On
5
List of figures
Figure 1: Content provision and support 10
Figure 2. Open Knowledge Tool general architecture 11
Figure 3. Open Knowledge Tool detailed architecture 18
Figure 4. Open Knowledge Tool landing page and login form 22
Figure 5. General courses section (with testing content) 23
Figure 6. Specific learning material reusing part of the Pop-Machina academy content 23
Figure 7. Integration with git repositories 24
Figure 8. Reuse of external markdown files from 3rd party git repositories 25
Figure 9. Intuitive content editor for course creation 25
Figure 10. Simple file sharing mechanism in the context of users and communities 26
Figure 11. General communities and groups section (with testing groups) 26
Figure 12. Scoped course section from specific communities, with reusable materials 27
Figure 13. Scoped resource sharing at community level, with different levels of visibility 28
Figure 14. Learning community feed example 28
Figure 15. Search bar functionality 29
Figure 16. Profile management capabilities 29
Figure 17. Landing page upon log in, with user-specific timeline and notifications 30
Figure 18. Forums and discussions in the context of a theme-scoped learning community 31
Figure 19. Learning community live feed with events 32
Figure 20. Group notifications functionality 33
Figure 21. Invitation system overview 34
Figure 22: Access to course creator 35
Figure 23: Admin area 36
Figure 24: Course creator homepage 36
Figure 25: Course manager 37
Figure 26: Lesson creation 38
Figure 27: Course builder 39
Figure 28: Course example 39
Figure 29: Courses showcase 40
Figure 30: Course enrollment 41
Figure 31: Lesson example 42
Figure 32: Quiz example 43
Figure 33: Course completion 43
6
List of tables
Table 1. Moodle vs WordPress-based LMS stack comparison 12
Table 2. D2.5 requirements analysis 16
7
1. Introduction
1.1 Scope and approach
This document provides a report on the first iteration of the Pop-Machina’s Open Knowledge Tool
(OKT). OKT is one of the set of tools resulting from the work carried out in the context of WP4
and, in particular, it is the main outcome resulting from T4.5. The aim of OKT platform is to provide
the online environment required for sharing knowledge and contributions within the frame of a global
collaborative maker community, working as a hub for participant onboarding and capacity building
in the context of Pop-Machina ecosystem.
As already mentioned, this document is the first of a series of deliverables for T4.5. An updated
version (D4.10) describing the final iteration of the OKT tool will be delivered in month 38, including
all changes introduced as a result of the feedback obtained from the circular maker community which
OKT targets.
1.2 Document structure
This deliverable is organized in seven chapters, following a common shared structure with other
deliverables from WP4.
While chapter 1 introduces the scope and approach of this deliverable and T4.5, providing an
overview of the structure of the document, the remaining of the document is organized as follows.
First, in chapter 2, an architectural overview of the components involved in the OKT platform is
provided, with special emphasis on the initial design considerations and core technologies selection.
After that, in chapter 3, the list of functionalities supported by OKT is described, starting from the
set of requirements emanating from D2.5 and finishing with the specific implementation technologies
used within the platform. Then, a set of functional mockups with screenshots of multiple sections of
the platform is provided in chapter 4. Furthermore, chapter 5 extends the content of chapter 4 to
describe specific indicative use case scenarios by providing workflows of how OKT tool can be used
by different user profiles. Finally, chapter 6 summarizes the relevant KPIs addressed by T4.5. Last
but not least, chapter 7 concludes the deliverable, summarizing all the work in the scope of T4.5 and
this deliverable.
8
2. Architectural overview of components
2.1 Design considerations
As an initial step before conceptualizing the OKT system, an open brainstorm around what should
be the key ideas to enable the creation of such a system was carried out. In particular, the experience
of IAAC and FabLab Barcelona with the maker ecosystem was considered as a very important
feedback towards a more user-centered and user-driven solution. As a result of the discussion, the
following design principles were decided:
1. Rely on open-source, open-hardware, open-network solutions.
2. Generate content, skills and training to empower circular maker citizens, with special focus
on the user experience to increase the platform usage and attractiveness.
3. Foster community building around knowledge sharing opportunities.
4. Take advantage of existing platforms and tools which are already common practice within
the communities, avoiding the implementation of too many components to be maintained
in the future.
Once the main design principles were clear, an analysis of the different type of learning materials
the OKT platform should be able to host was carried out. The result of such analysis has been
summarized using a coggle diagram and can be seen in Figure 1. Therefore, OKT platform needs to
support three main pillars:
• Passive learning material, which is understood as a library with heterogeneous content
where users can find and consult static information such as articles, toolkits, instructions,
guides, etc; without the need of a specific mentor to guide them through the process. Even
though this kind of learning material is defined as static, it can be enhanced and enriched
with the help of the community through multiple iterations and based on feedback and
user interaction.
• Interactive learning material, understood as guided trainings in which instructors
generate dynamic content, and where a bidirectional interaction among users and
instructors takes place. This kind of content is usually more complex, with a defined
structure and multiple resources. Interactions can happen on-line or off-line and, in some
cases such as webinars, they can even be in real time.
• Active learning material, understood as the material generated by users in existing
maker/developer-oriented platforms which can be quickly shared with the community as
part of the learning cycle. This can also be seen as a collection of per-user specific
repositories containing different heterogenous learning materials.
9
Figure 1: Content provision and support
102.2 Architecture
Figure 2 shows a general overview of the different modules and layers, which are part of the OKT
system, without delving into the specific implementation technologies used for each one of them. It
also depicts the interactions between those components and external tools and services, either in the
context of Pop-Machina toolset (SCP & DCAT) or other external cloud services. Lastly, it includes
the envisioned user roles which will be used as part of the authorization schema to allow or deny
specific actions in the system. The set of permissions are cumulative following a Guest < Student <
Instructor < Administrator hierarchy. While guests are users not logged in the platform able to access
public content, students will be logged-in users with an existing profile which might be enroled in
specific learning opportunities and/or interest groups. Instructors will be users able to behave as
students, but also able to generate new courses in the platform. In a circular environment such as the
one OKT promotes, this is the role most of the users will have once validated. Finally, administrators
will be managers of the OKT system.
Figure 2. Open Knowledge Tool general architecture
112.3 LMS base system selection: Moodle vs WordPress-based LMS stack
The Description of Action (DoA) outlines the core set of technologies to be used as part of the
OKT system. Specifically, T4.5 description states the following regarding OKT:
“The proposed tool will be written in PHP and will be based on the Moodle (modular object-oriented dynamic
learning environment) learning management system, enabling easy installation on any web server (e.g. Apache), as
well as the relevant database management systems (e.g. MySQL, PostgreSql) and any operating system. […]
INTRA will lead this Task and will provide the open knowledge tool based on the Moodle CMS.”
However, while it is true that Moodle 1 is one if not the most established and well-known open
source Learning Management System (LMS) technologies used for e-learning, it is also true that it
comes with some drawbacks that can make alternative options a better choice to accomplish the
objectives of T4.5 and cover the set of requirements defined in D2.5. As previously highlighted on
the design principles section, a visual appealing user interface and a streamlined user experience are
key factors to be taken into account in order to increase platform penetration and usage. As a result,
after considering several different alternatives, the final decision was to use WordPress 2 together with
some specific plugins to extend its functionality as core components of the OKT platform. A
comparison between Moodle and the adopted solution can be seen in Table 1.
Table 1. Moodle vs WordPress-based LMS stack comparison
Moodle WordPress-based LMS stack
WordPress is one of the most used open
Most established open source solution for source platforms for CMS. It powers around
e-learning, hence community around it is big. 40% of the Internet content, hence the
As a result, it is well tested and represents a community and ecosystem around it is big. As
proven and mature solution. a result, it is well tested and represents a
proven and mature solution.
Very flexible platform. Its management
Powerful platform, but complex to manage.
learning curve is easier than Moodle.
It is based on PHP and can be extended if
It is based on PHP and can be extended if
needed. Besides, it has lots of already available
needed. Besides, it has lots of already available
plugins to extend its functionality (official
plugins to extend its functionality (official
website lists more than 58,000 available
website lists more than 1,700 available plugins).
plugins).
LMS complete functionality is achieved
Although it also offers CMS capabilities, it was
through additional plugins. Learndash is the
designed as an LMS since its inception and
most used LMS plugin for WordPress, and it
therefore support for learning materials is
has been designed and developed by e-learning
strong and robust. However, it lacks the
industry experts. As a result, a mix of best-in-
flexibility to integrate other contents (e.g: social
class CMS solution and LMS functionalities
sharing, blogs, etc,) in an easy way.
can be provided.
1 “About Moodle”. 2021. https://docs.moodle.org/310/en/About_Moodle
2 “WordPress Features”. 2021. https://wordpress.org/about/features/
12Communication tools and social interactions Buddyboss plugin enhances social interactions
within moodle are available (e.g. discussion capabilities, offering a wide set of possibilities
forums, group communication, real time chat to facilitate collaboration and communication.
rooms). Still, it does not provide the flexibility Therefore, by using BuddyBoss, a WordPress
and user experience social networks can offer, site can offer functionalities and user
as it mainly focuses on teacher-student experience similar to the ones provided by
interactions and not on generic social well-known social network services which
interactions for community building. users are familiar with.
Out of the box solution seems to cover more
requirements from D2.5 than Moodle.
In particular, file sharing out of specific
Out of the box solution seems to cover less
courses and the possibility to easily integrate
requirements from D2.5 than the WordPress
pre-existing user repository contents from
based LMS stack.
Github/Gitlab are two options that are
available with this approach, but need extra
work in Moodle.
UI is much more attractive than Moodle. In
UI, UX and usability in general is a little bit
addition, WordPress community is very active
unappealing and old fashioned. Even though
on visual appealing enhancements and there are
latest versions have improved this area, this is a
several tools to easily enhace the look and the
major drawback to attract people.
overall experience.
Open source GPL stack, but some extra
features coming from additional plugins require
Fully open source solution
a one-time initial fee license to be paid (includes
support and auto-updates).
133. Functionalities
According to the DoA, OKT can offer the following indicative functionalities:
i. Online Inventory of Circular Maker Solutions: an online database of good practices of
local authorities / communities implementing circular solutions;
ii. Learning Centre including Skills & Machinery Training and Certification: a library of
relevant e-training resources;
iii. Resource Library: a functionality enabling users to find and filter resources and documents
quickly;
iv. News corner: a website featuring the latest developments in the circular economy and local
maker communities;
v. Events: this website will comprise information stemming from external and the project’s
events (such as workshops, maker fairs, etc.);
vi. Press Corner: an entry point for EU, national and local media to find out more about Pop-
Machina (e.g. through press releases, articles, photo galleries, etc.);
vii. Capacity building: a functionality that will be able to support training, as well as the design
of webinars, workshops, conferences and site visits;
This chapter elaborates on the functionalities provided by the OKT system, starting from the set
of requirements included in D2.5 and the way they are translated into those functionalities. Finally,
an overview of the specific implementation technologies used to deliver such functionalities is
provided.
3.1 D2.5 requirements analysis
As already mentioned, specific functionalities provided by the OKT platform derive from the set of
requirements included in D2.5, which are the result of the feedback from different user profiles
considered as potential members of circular makerspaces. In this sense, system functionalities can
be categorized in three main areas: (a) content generation and file sharing, (b) scoped content
organization and platform navigation, and (c) social aspects of the platform and communication
tools.
14Table 2 summarizes how all these high-level requirements translate into different specific
functionalities offered by the OKT. It also includes additional information on the specific software
components supporting each functionality and on the way they are provided.
15Table 2. D2.5 requirements analysis
D2.5 high level requirements OKT system functionalities
a. Content generation and file sharing (either documents, source code or multimedia)
Provide a web platform with data persistence Modular platform based on Wordpress (PHP)
Support for different translation files 1st
Multilanguage support version in English, translations to be included
in future iterations)
LMS based on Wordpress+Learndash with
intuitive content editor:
• Training and courses can be structured
with different sections and lessons
Content generation Allow the creation of • Instructors and course editors are able to
attractive views for different types of content include external markdown files for quick
• Create & modify courses git repository integration, as it is a
• Upload files and multimedia common practice for makers to use
• Support real-time streaming external git repos (Github/Gitlab).
functionalities through 3rd party services • File sharing among users and/or groups
is supported
• The creation of webinars, either via
Zoom or similar external tools, is also
supported
Content curation & administration by
Content can be curated by admins or co-editors
authorized users or administrators
b. Scoped content organization and platform navigation
Content organization
Content organization • Courses and training material can be
created for different scopes (e.g. learning
• Support different sections to host
communities either via simple groups &
independent materials based on
subgroups or social network alike groups
makerspaces/city/country
with enhanced user interaction
• Group heterogeneous content under the (BuddyBoss)
scope of specific
• Learning material (i.e. specific courses)
makerspaces/communities
can be reused under different scopes
• Generate topics/tags to organize training
• Learning material taxonomy basic
material
functionality on 1st version, enhanced in
future iterations
Content can be marked as public, private or
Public content and information for the existing
hidden. All public content will be available for
makerspaces should be available for anyone
anyone (whether logged or not)
Search bar enhanced with taxonomy basic
Allow content/groups search & navigation
functionality on 1st version, enhanced in
using different filters and criteria
future iterations
16D2.5 high level requirements OKT system functionalities
c. Social aspect of the platform: user profiles & communication tools
Shared user management system
Integration with Pop-Machina common SCP-
• Based on categories or roles, supporting
DCAT-OKT SSO platform, which is based on
user profiles
OAuth2 technology and uses a Keycloak
• Allow user profile management
instance, to support all the stated requirements.
• Support new user registration
Adapt the presented content to the user profile Landing page upon log in will include a user
and/or associated makerspace specific timeline and information
User interaction through:
• Independent forum per course
Provide a forum for logged in users and
communities where users can interact among • User groups with integrated discussions
themselves. and extra user interaction functionalities,
such as private messaging and social
connections
Provide calendars including information of
Integration with calendar system Early stage
events/webinars
Support subscription & notifications (via Internal notification system (with email
email) notifications)
Interactions via REST APIs pending
Integration with other Pop-Machina
documentation, interactions not yet fully
components
defined on first iteration
173.2 Implementation technologies
Section 2.2 already introduced a general overview of the OKT system architecture. This section
particularizes each component and layer to provide an overview of the specific implementation
technologies used for each of them.
Figure 3. Open Knowledge Tool detailed architecture
As discussed in section 2.1, one of the key OKT design principles is to rely on open source solutions
and not to re-invent the wheel, taking advantage of using existing software and, thus, avoiding the
implementation of too many components to be maintained in the future. ¡Error! No se encuentra
el origen de la referencia. details the most important software modules used to implement the
OKT platform, which are briefly described in the following subsections.
183.2.1 WordPress
WordPress is a free and open-source CMS licensed under GNU general public license (GPLv2). It
is written in PHP with a persistence layer based on MySQL or MariaDB database. Besides, it offers
features such as a plugin architecture for providing extended functionalities or a template system for
enhancing its appearance and user experience. In addition, even though it was initially conceived as
a blog-publishing system, it has grown to support other web content types like mailing lists, forums,
media galleries, membership sites, LMS and online stores.
Wordpress is one of the most well-known and established CMS solutions powering the internet.
In fact, according to World Wide Web Technology Surveys site 3, which monitors the top 10 million
websites (according to Alexa and Tranco) to select a representative sample of established sites, it is
used by 39.7% of the sites with a 64.1% market share, and its penetration is increasing month after
month, being the fastest growing content management systems since 1 December 2020.
3.2.2 LearnDash
LearnDash 4 is a WordPress pluging that enables the possibility to create and host online learning
courses and other LMS-oriented functionalities from within a WordPress website. It works seamlessly
with most page builders, most website themes and most WordPress plugins. LearnDash LMS is
licensed under GNU general public license (GPLv2).
According to LearnDash own overview, its LMS system is currently trusted and used by companies,
universities, training organizations and entrepreneurs worldwide; and its content is structured based
on instructional design principles used in learning programas at Fortune 500 companies. The
hierarchy of learning materials is as follows:
1. Top-level content are courses.
2. In the second level, there are lessons, which can be assigned to courses and optionally be
grouped into sections.
3. Next level components are topics.
4. Last but not least, there are quizzes, which can be assigned to any of the previous
components.
3.2.3 BuddyBoss
BuddyBoss Platform 5 is a WordPress plugin that, among other features, enables the creation of
online communities and adds social networking features to a WordPress website. In this sense,
BuddyBoss Platform allows members to organize themselves into public, private or hidden social
groups with separate activity feeds and member listing, providing content-sharing functionalities
within those groups. As a result, users can be organized in groups defined by a common interest and
learn from each other in multiple ways. Therefore, by enhancing and empowering circular
collaboration in the context of an e-learning ecosystem, engagement and retention are increased.
The BuddyBoss Platform is considered a derivative work of WordPress, hence, it is also licensed
under the GPL 3.0.
3 “World Wide Web Technology Surveys”. 2021. https://w3techs.com/
4 “WordPress LMS plugin by LearnDash”. 2021. https://www.learndash.com/
5 “Build online communities, sell courses and memberships on WordPress”. 2021. https://www.buddyboss.com/
193.2.4 Events Calendar
The Events Calendar 6 is one of the most trusted WordPress plugins for event and calendar
management. In fact, according to WordPress plugin site information 7, it currently has more than
800,000 active installations and it is well maintained with constant updates. The plugin is fully
customizable, supports multiple time zones, is compatible with external calendar format such as iCal
or Google Calendar, and provides multiple options to present information.
It is licensed under GNU general public license GPL 2.0.
3.2.5 miniOrange OAuth SSO
miniOrange WordPress Single Sign-On (SSO) 8 plugin allows a user to login to a WordPress website
by using credentials from an external Identity Provider. It supports any existing OAuth 2.0 and
OpenID 1.0 Compliant IDP credentials, so it can be used to connect OKT’s authentication and
authorization system with SCP’s keycloak server.
It currently has more than 1000 active installations, and it is well maintained with constant updates.
It is licensed under MIT license.
3.2.6 Gamipress
GamiPress 9 is a free WordPress plugin to provide advanced gamification functionalities, enabling
the possibility of awarding users with digital rewards for interacting with a WordPress site. It provides
features common in games, such as point systems and competition between users. By using
gamification, the system administrator can incentivize interaction and user engagement as well as
participation by promising some kind of reward in exchange.
Even though it is not part of the OKT platform during the first iteration, the plan is to integrate
this kind of gamification with the Pop-Machina token management system to introduce POP tokens
as part of the learning process as costs or rewards.
According to WordPress plugin site information, Gamipress currently has more than 10,000 active
installations and it is well maintained. It is licensed under GNU AGPL v3.0 license.
6 “The Events Calendar for WordPress”. 2021. https://theeventscalendar.com/
7 “WordPress plugins”. 2021. https://wordpress.org/plugins/
8 “WordPress Single Sign-On SSO”. 2021. https://plugins.miniorange.com/wordpress-single-sign-on-sso-oauth-openid-connect
9 “GamiPress - What is GamiPress?”. 2021. https://gamipress.com/docs/getting-started/what-is-gamipress/
203.2.7 Other components and plugins
In addition to all the aforementioned major building blocks, some specific functionalities are
provided by integrating or developing extra function-specific WordPress plugins:
• Elementor 10: used as WordPress page builder to easily achieve an enhanced aspect.
• WISDM Instructor Role for LearnDash 11: used to allow instructors, course authors or
teachers build their own courses and manage students and grades, without the need of
having admin privileges. This is important in a circular learning environment where any
user can generate his/her own courses to share knowledge with the community, as
otherwise everyone would need to have administrator role in a WordPress site.
• WP Mail SMTP 12: one of the most used plugins for sending email in a WordPress
environment, as it is active in more than 2 million installations. It is an essential part of the
OKT notification system.
• WPML 13: even though first OKT version is only available in English, multilingual
capabilities are planned to be included in future versions. The WPML plugin enables
multilingual support on WordPress sites.
• Integration with Github and Gitlab repositories is achieved with a modified version of a
pre-existing plugin. The original plugin is “Documents from Git”14. The original version
did not resolve fully qualified domain names (FQDN) for the linked resources within
Markdown documents. Therefore, internal modifications were carried out to overcome
this problem.
10 “Elementor: #1 Free WordPress Website Builder”. 2021. https://elementor.com/
11 “Instructor Role for LearnDash: Create a Course Marketplace”. 2021. https://wisdmlabs.com/instructor-role-extension-for-learndash/
12 “WP Mail SMTP by WPForms”. 2021. https://es.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/
13 “WPML: The WordPress multilingual plugin”. 2021. https://wpml.org/
14 “Documents from Git - WordPress plugin”. 2021. https://wordpress.org/plugins/documents-from-git/
214. Functional mockups
This chapter includes a set of mockups and screenshots of the working OKT system, so that the
reader can better understand how the explained functionalities are offered. As functionalities can be
splitted in three different areas, we include different subsections to better organize the mockups. It
is important to highlight that the content of the mockups is based on content speficically generated
for testing purposes, and does not reflect in any way the final content of the OKT system.
Figure 4. Open Knowledge Tool landing page and login form
224.1 Content generation and file sharing
Figure 5. General courses section (with testing content)
Figure 6. Specific learning material reusing part of the Pop-Machina academy content
23Figure 7. Integration with git repositories
24Figure 8. Reuse of external markdown files from 3rd party git repositories
Figure 9. Intuitive content editor for course creation
25Figure 10. Simple file sharing mechanism in the context of users and communities
4.2 Scoped content organization and platform navigation
Figure 11. General communities and groups section (with testing groups)
26Figure 12. Scoped course section from specific communities, with reusable materials
27Figure 13. Scoped resource sharing at community level, with different levels of visibility
Figure 14. Learning community feed example
28Figure 15. Search bar functionality
4.3 Social aspect of the platform: user profiles & communication tools
Figure 16. Profile management capabilities
29Figure 17. Landing page upon log in, with user-specific timeline and notifications
30Figure 18. Forums and discussions in the context of a theme-scoped learning community
31Figure 19. Learning community live feed with events
32Figure 20. Group notifications functionality
33Figure 21. Invitation system overview
345. Indicative use case scenario
As it has been mentioned in previous sections, the OKT enables information sharing among the
maker community. It allows users to create courses and content to which people can subscribe. Thus,
we can define two main scenarios within the platform: the creation of content and its consumption.
5.1 Content creation
Users who have the role of instructor can create as many courses as they want, in order to share
their expertise. To do so, the platform establishes a series of tools that facilitates the creation of
content.
The first step followed by users in the platform is the process of login. Once users are logged in
the platform, they have to click on the admin area button of the top navigation bar, as seen in Figure
22. Only users who have the role of instructor can create courses.
Figure 22: Access to course creator
After clicking the admin area button, the window that appears in Figure 23 opens.
35Users can access the course creator tool by clicking on the course creator label that appears on the
sidebar at the left.
Figure 23: Admin area
Figure 24 shows the homepage of the course creator. In that page, users can check the number of
courses they have created, the total number of students enrolled in these courses and any relevant
active discussions. This area is totally customizable.
Figure 24: Course creator homepage
36In order to create or edit a course, users have only to click on the Courses tab. In this tab, users can
see their courses and edit their content, as depicted on Figure 25. They can also create new courses
by clicking on the Add New button.
Figure 25: Course manager
37The platform has an intuitive content editor for course creation. Users can use this tool to post
text, picture, videos, tables, github content, embebed content, etc. ¡Error! No se encuentra el
origen de la referencia. shows an example of the creation of a course lesson. In this case, it is a
lesson which shows how to link users’ Github content with the platform.
Figure 26: Lesson creation
Users can tweak the settings of their courses as they want. They can decide the type of course they
want to implement:
• Free: Open to all visitors of the OKT. People who are not registered in the platform can
take the courses.
• Free but restricted: Open to all users registered in the platform. Users who are not
registered cannot take these courses.
• Premium: Registered users must pay a certain number of tokens for the course.
38Furthermore, instructors can grant custom certificates to users who finish their courses. The course
creator tool includes a course builder (Figure 27) which users can use to structure their content. They
can create lessons, topics, assignments and quizzes.
Figure 27: Course builder
Finally, the last step for creating a course is to publish it. The instructor of the course can choose
the profile picture of the course, its name, and everything relevant with that. After publishing it,
students enrolled in the course will be able to access to it. The resulting content will be similar to the
one in the example screenshot in Figure 28, including a dynamic side panel for quick navigation.
Figure 28: Course example
395.2 Content consumption
The other relevant use case of the platform is the consumption of content. Users must be able to
enrol in the different courses made by the maker community in an intuitive way. Thus, it is important
to have an easy-to-use and attractiveuser interface in which users can browse the available courses.
Figure 29 shows the user interface to browse courses. Users can check the available courses and
search for new courses by tags or category. For example, users may search for courses that are in
English or that are related to 3D printing. In this figure, we can also see that there are three different
courses available: two in which the user is enrolled and one to which the user is not yet subscribed.
As it was discussed in the previous subsection, courses can be free or have a price. In this case, one
can observe that there is a course entitled Middle Earth that costs 80 tokens.
Figure 29: Courses showcase
Once a user is enrolled in a course, the user can participate in all the lessons and quizzes defined in
the context of that course.
40As an example, Figure 30 shows what a user would see after clicking on one of the available courses.
In this figure, the first thing that users see is a google slides presentation that introduces the course.
On the left of the screenshot, users can see the content of the course. In this case, the course has 3
lessons and 1 quiz. Furthermore, at the bottom, users can check the name of the lessons available to
see whether they are interested in taking the course or not.
Figure 30: Course enrollment
41The specific lessons’ layout is displayed in Figure 31. In this figure, the tittle of the lesson, its
progress and its content are shown. In this case, the lesson is composed of a Google slides
presentation, a Blackboard Collaborate recording and a brief description along with the Github
profile of the person who did the inspirational talk. Both materials have been extracted from one of
the sessions of the Pop-Machina Academy.
Figure 31: Lesson example
42Figure 32 shows a quiz of the aforementioned lesson. This is a test quiz to exemplify how quizzes
look. As shown in this figure, the course progress is displayed on the left of the course, where users
can see the lessons they have completed and those still to be completed.
Figure 32: Quiz example
Finally, after completing a course, the course status changes to completed, as shown in Figure 33.
Figure 33: Course completion
436. KPIs covered by Task 4.5
Even though the DoA of the project does not specifically include any relevant KPI to be addressed
by task T4.5 and D4.9, the following KPIs might be considered related to them:
KPI-19. Community training method and material for co-designing circular monitoring systems
This KPI is partially addressed by this task, through the deployment of an open knowledge tool.
The training methods and the material to be hosted in the platform is part of the work of WP3,
but the OKT provides the means for achieving the expected goals.
KPI-22. Makers as beneficiaries of creativity and entrepreneurship training activities
This indicator is mainly a target goal of the activities of WP6. However, the OKT platform again
provides the means for realizing the prescribed training activities.
447. Conclusions
Knowledge sharing is of vital importance within a maker community, as it is a way of engaging new
users and facilitating their first steps in the maker movement. To this end, the Open Knowledge Tool
is an online platform that provides the means to share and access the maker community knowledge
among its members. This tool will serve as a hub to support the maker initiatives within the Pop-
Machina framework.
Within this demonstrator deliverable, the first iteration of the Open Knowledge Tool has been
described in detail, with special emphasis on the following elements:
• The architectural design of the platform, including the analysis that led us to the final
design choice (i.e. open source components, existing community, rely on existing
platforms).
• The functionalities derived from the set of user requirements defined in the deliverable
D2.5.
• The technical components chosen to meet the design and the functionalities.
• All the mockups of the existing platform iteration linked to the presented functionalities.
• Two indicative use case scenarios about the use and the functionalities of the platform.
It is worth mentioning that, as this is a first iteration of the Open Knowledge Tool, the technical
partners of Pop-Machina involved in T4.5 are planning to keep working on the platform to extend
its functionalities in future versions.
45About Pop-Machina
Pop-Machina aims to demonstrate the power and potential of the maker
movement and collaborative production for the EU circular economy. We
draw from a number of cut-edge technologies (factory-of-the-future,
blockchain) and disciplines (urban planning, architecture) to provide the
support necessary to overcome scaling issues; a typical drawback of
collaborative production; to find the areas more in need of our
intervention and to reconfigure unused spaces. We put forth an elaborate
community engagement program to network, incentivize and stimulate
through maker faires and events existing and new maker communities in
all our municipalities. We build upon the current informal curriculum for
maker skills development by nurturing the social side and we put
educators and makers together to exchange ideas on the training
modalities. A particular focus on the skill development of women and
vulnerable groups will aim to empower these (underrepresented)
segments to partake actively in collaborative production. In every pilot
area we will demonstrate business oriented collaborative production of
feasible and sustainable concepts from secondary raw material or other
sustainable inputs, based on the needs and preferences of the local
stakeholders. A thorough impact assessment framework with increased
scope (e.g. social) will be codesigned with stakeholders after short basic
assessment trainings and will be used in the assessment of our pilot work.
Based on the findings we will kick-start a series of policy events to discuss
openly – without pushing our results – the tax and legal barriers that
hamper collaborative production.
Coordinator
VISIT: http://www.pop-machina.eu
HIVA - Research Institute for Work and Society
Behavioral Engineering Research Group CONTACT US: pop-machina@kuleuven.be
KU Leuven (BE)
FOLLOW US:
Partners
@PopMachina.H2020
Pop-Machina Project
City of Leuven (BE)
ETAM (GR) @Pop_Machina
Municipality of Thessaloniki (GR)
Pop-Machina
Municipality of Piraeus (GR)
Q-PLAN INTERNATIONAL (GR)
University of Macedonia (GR)
Ayuntamiento de Santander (ES)
Universidad de Cantabria (ES)
Gemeente Venlo, KanDoen (NL)
TU Delft (NL)
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (TR)
İSTAÇ AŞ (TR)
Planet Turkey (TR)
Koç University (TR)
Municipality of Kaunas (LT)
ISM University of Management and Economics (LT)
University of Cambridge (UK)
CERTH (GR)
White Research (BE)
CommonLawgic (GR)
INTRASOFT International (LU)
Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (ES)You can also read
