Containerized education by the Up2U consortium: Techno-pedagogical aspects of the Up2U learning ecosystem

The "Up to University" (Up2U) Project — coordinated by GÉANT — is to bridge the gaps between secondary school and university by providing European schools with a Next Generation Digital Learning Environment that helps students developing the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to succeed at university. This student-centered digital learning environment forms the Up2U ecosystem, which integrates formal and informal learning scenarios and applies project-based and peer-to-peer learning methodology to develop transversal skills and digital competences crucial for success at university. Up2U believes in a digital learning ecosystem that is a set of autonomous tools represented by portable containers integrated together via open standards and protocols. Tools can be picked by the user in any shape and form to best support their individual learning path. This article describes the Up2U concept backed by the pedagogy considering the need of the secondary schools, the Up2U architecture, its security and privacy aspects, the user workflow and the latest implementation and deployment details following the cloud service delivery model.