The whole project MERLOT can be seen as a kind of research project. It is driven as a feasibility study in the first place. And as for most if not all research, it is exceedingly important to network with others. Merlot offers a great way to connect with other research projects and to get in touch with distinct experts in their respective fields.
The current partners in this network include but are not limited to the Hochschule Karlsruhe (HKA), the August-Wilhelm Scheer Institute (AWSi), or the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI). Each of these partners contributes with their expertise. For example, HKA designs a chatbot to hold conversations with potential learners to find out their interests and generate a profile. AWSi can use such a learner’s profile to recommend not only single courses but whole learning paths to reach the learning goal. But to recommend courses the systems of AWSi need to be familiar with available courses. To have a stock of courses in a library, on the other hand, it is necessary to provide course catalogs. This is where HPI comes into play, where a metadata format for the representation of courses in such catalogs was developed and is maintained.
This is a nice but not exhaustive example of how the different organizations work together on the research level. The refinement of these features is naturally an ongoing process in which all partners have their stakes. This is why it is so important to keep communication up and join regular meetings to share the latest successes and failures.
This is, of course, just a small snapshot of the much bigger research network that constitutes the backbone of MERLOT. Features that are today available are a result of the strong collaboration of the different research partners.