Q21 Roots
Our history of innovation
Welcome to Q21 Roots, where we celebrate the groundbreaking projects and foundational ideas that have made us who we are today. From our first forays into custom LMS development to our earliest involvement in EU-funded initiatives, Q21’s history is rooted in a commitment to creative problem solving, hands-on experimentation, and pushing the boundaries of education and technology.
On this page you will find key milestones in our journey – moments that laid the foundation for the competency-based tools, agile development methodologies, and learner-centered solutions we champion today. While some of these earlier projects have long since fulfilled their mission, they remain a testament to the spirit of continuous learning, collaboration, and relentless curiosity at Q21. We invite you to explore our roots and discover how they continue to inspire and shape everything we do today.
Software Development
Q21 has developed web-based learning systems since the early times of learning management systems and we are specialised in full services for IT based learning solutions for educational providers.
With our competences both in innovative educational fields and in state of the art IT technologies we are offering services and developing projects that afford “agile” and interdisciplinary software development.
Learning Technologies
Blended Learning Solutions
Since the late 90s, the staff members of Q21 have developed blended learning solutions at the workplace, initially in part-time training in hospitals and nursing homes later in management training in the environment and health sectors.
In the early 2000s the first Q21-learning management system was programmed, which was used until about 2010 in more than 15 educational projects in Germany and Europe with several hundred participants / inside.
The software was also used as a learning management system in the complex, transnational quality and environmental management systems and was awarded several times herein.
With the advancement of large open source projects (Moodle) we changed our strategy and focused us on the customizing of support and project-specific learning management system based on Moodle (and Mahara later).
For projects and customers we provide complete solutions (hosting, maintenance, technical, graphic and instructional design, learner management and control.
References (Excerpts):
With our competences both in innovative educational fields and in state of the art IT technologies we are offering services and developing projects that afford “agile” and interdisciplinary software development.
Validation Software
In a consortium with European colleagues of the Education and Project Network GmbH and the European network blinc eG we have developed a powerful software as management system for a competency-based learning and validation of competences (LEVEL5).
LEVEL5 is a system to visualize and evidence cognitive and non-cognitive learning outcomes and and competence developments.
By 2015, the system has been used (in various development versions) in 15 EU-funded projects with more than 100 projects in various informal learning, non-formal and formal settings with more than 1,000 learners.
LEVEL5 is able to work with different validation tools and approaches and integrate also ECVET projects (EQF-based systems), EUROPASS also individual operational solutions.
References (Excerpts):
Competence Management and e-Portfolio
Since 2013, the LEVEL5 system has been connected to web-based teaching, learning and competence management systems (e-portfolio and LMS).
The resulting platform “my-VITA” houses four European networks in 2015 and is used in 5 EU-funded projects as a holistic planning, development, validation and documentation tool with more than 400 users.
Based on my-VITA we are working on the development of interfaces for the integration of LMS, e-portfolios, Pass systems (EUROPASS) and validation software.
Here, Q21 experts have currently been reprogramming the EUROPASS plugin for the Mahara community.
References (Excerpts):
Website Development and Support
Since the early 2000s, Q21 has developed complex and interactive websites for institutions and projects.
Depending on the complexity of the projects different content management systems have been deployed, the majority of sites was realised by using the Open Source CMS Typo3.
Range of Services for Administration, development and maintenance:
- Complete solutions(hosting, installation/maintenance(LAMPP))
- Technical, Graphic Design and implementation on various Sinstruments
- Architecture of websites and software
- Integration of interactive services for communities, synchronous and asynchronous communication and collaboration
- developmentof web services
- Data protection concepts
Three examples of different website projects:
(most of the other projects referred to on thos site have been realised by Q21 website development)