Digital Learning Platform: ExpertEdge now licenced

The TUB is expanding its digital portfolio to include an interactive learning platform: ExpertEdge from Packt Publishing is available now. This is a first for our portfolio, as it is the first online learning platform we are providing.

The Learning Platform Experiment

To enrich our existing digital services, we are introducing a learning platform for the first time. We are currently providing the platform on a trial basis as part of a pilot phase in order to respond to the changing needs of research and teaching. After about a year, we will evaluate its use and make decisions regarding potential continued licensing based on usage. Other licenses for learning platforms are not possible at the current time.

Practical, Expert-Led Content

ExpertEdge offers content from well-known academic publishers as interactive, multimodal online courses. The available courses are based on books and video series from renowned publishers such as Wiley, Sage, Packt, KodeKloud, ACI Learning, MIT Press, and other partners.

Modules consist of texts, videos, tests, and programming exercises (GitHub supplementary material). The course content primarily covers topics such as software development, cloud, AI, data & analytics, cybersecurity, and leadership and management in the IT sector. Ethical topics, such as the use of AI, are also represented.

Available Formats:

• E-books: Structured and compactly presented reading modules from specialist books
• Videos: Step-by-step video walkthroughs, partly with references to other relevant specialist books
• Supplementary Code Material: Programming exercises for direct trial in GitHub
• Assessments: Quizzes and assessments on current knowledge levels and for exam preparation

In addition to classically curated content, the platform also offers AI-generated content. Chapters from specialist books are automatically converted into learning paths, and contents and quizzes are automatically generated.

Structured Preparation for Certificates

Selected courses provide targeted preparation for external exams within recognized certification programs. In the IT sector, examples include exams from Microsoft or Cisco. Content on working with Linux is also available, which can serve as preparation for exams.

A Quick Look at the Offerings

After logging in (see below for instructions), you gain access to a search function where you can discover content based on your own interests. An overview of all courses can also be displayed without entering a search term.

In the area to the right of the title list, search results can be filtered using so-called facets. Various criteria can be selected here. For example, thematic categories, programming languages, difficulty levels, or publishers are offered as filter criteria.

An important aspect of a learning platform is learning progress control. For this purpose, there are variously designed quiz modules, for example. Each module is part of an e-book or video course. The overview shows the scope of the quiz and classifies it by difficulty level.

After completing the quiz, the evaluation of the results is displayed.

Depending on the textbook, accompanying materials such as code examples, PowerPoint slides, or overview graphics are available online. Packt Publishing offers many of its accompanying materials freely and open-source on GitHub. The materials for the featured “LLM Engineer’s Handbook,” for example, are very popular on GitHub (here: MIT license) and have often been reused as so-called forks in other projects.

Access

Access to ExpertEdge is licensed until the end of 2027 for the time being and can be tested immediately by anyone with a TUHH email address. The email address is required for registration in order to store learning progress and completed courses. In this process, data is stored by the provider Packt Publishing in Great Britain and thus outside the EU. The content on ExpertEdge is not connected to the TUHH curriculum, and use of the platform is voluntary. No personalized data regarding learning progress or test results is stored on the TUHH side.

Further information and the access link can be found on our database information page DBIS.

In addition, we are currently working on integrating the platform into tub.find. This will make the titles searchable via our catalog and immediately accessible via a direct link.