200 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. 65, NO.

2, MAY 2022

IN4WOOD: A Successful European Training

Action of Industry 4.0 for Academia and Business
Jose Luis Romero-Gázquez , Gregorio Cañavate-Cruzado, and María-Victoria Bueno-Delgado , Member, IEEE

Abstract—The Industry 4.0 (I4.0) aims to develop a framework adopting the fifth industrial revolution (Industry 5.0) in
where the new technologies interoperate with each other and with Europe [1], the reality is that European countries, compa-
employees, creating a smart and efficient environment. Although nies and employees, are still landing on the Industry 4.0
there are many public and private initiatives focused on boost-
ing the deployment of I4.0 in all sectors worldwide, the adoption (I4.0) [2]. The latter consists of the modernization of factories
is slower than expected. One of the main reasons is the lack and business processes using a broad set of technologies, the
of training in those technologies involved in I4.0, the so-called so-called key-enabling technologies (KET). According to the
key-enabling technologies (KET). In this article, the current sta- EC [3], KET comprises not only information and communi-
tus of I4.0 adoption from the industry, employees, and training cation technologies (ICT) but also micro and nanoelectronics,
point of view is analyzed. The lack of I4.0 competences in the
curricula of vocational education training (VET) and higher edu- nanotechnology, industrial biotechnology, advanced materials,
cation (HE) is also highlighted. Finally, the European innovative photonics, advanced manufacturing technologies, etc. They
training action IN4WOOD is presented as a successful open and provide innovative competences in a wide spectrum of sec-
free training tool developed to offer students, employees, and tors, such as food, chemistry, telecommunications, or wood
managers an easy way to learn, use, and deploy KET of I4.0. and furniture. In 2017, the EC added two new KET to
Although the main target users of the training action are those
in the furniture and woodworking sector, it has been designed to the list: 1) artificial intelligence (AI) and 2) security and
be useful also for users in other business sectors. The training connectivity [4]. The classification of KET differs according
tool is composed of more than 300 video learning pills, practical to the context of the study [5]–[7] e.g., the Spanish Ministry
use cases, gamification, and evaluation test for measuring the of Industry, Energy, and Tourism catalogues them according
level of knowledge acquired. The training tool has been tested to whether they contribute hybridization to the physical and
in a pilot launched in four European countries. The results from
the pilot prove that the IN4WOOD training helps to fill the skill digital world [8], while the World Economic Forum classified
gaps identified in the current VET/HE students and improves them according to their degree of maturity and velocity of
the competitiveness of employees, managers, and enterprises. adoption [9].
Index Terms—Higher education (HE), IN4WOOD, Industry During the past decade, some research works forecasted
4.0 (I4.0), key-enabling technologies (KET), vocational education a notable evolution in the implementation of some spe-
training (VET). cific KET (sensor networks, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud
computing, 3-D printing/scanning, robotics, etc.) under the
umbrella of I4.0 [10]. Moreover, different initiatives were
I. I NTRODUCTION launched by national and international organizations and gov-
LTHOUGH the European Commission (EC) has recently
A published the guidelines with the main strategies for
ernments with the aim of enhancing the industrial change:
the European Union (EU) through its industrial policy and
financing tools [1], [2], and other European countries, such as
Manuscript received February 23, 2021; revised June 23, 2021; accepted Germany with the “Industrie 4.0” initiative, France with the
August 30, 2021. Date of publication September 20, 2021; date of current
version May 5, 2022. This work was supported in part by the EU IN4WOOD “Novelle France Industrielle,” the “High Value Manufacturing
Project under Grant 575853-EPP-1-2016-1-ES-EPPKA2-SSA; in part by the Catapult” in the U.K., the “Fabbrica del Futuro” in Italy, the
EU MAKING 4.0 Project under Grant 598783-EPP-1-2018-1-ES-EPPKA2- “Prumysl 4.0” in the Czech Republic, or the “Industria conec-
CBHE-JP; and in part by the Spanish Government through ONOFRE-2
Project under Grant TEC2017-84423-C3-2-P (MINECO/AEI/FEDER, UE). tada 4.0” in Spain. Other countries outside the EU also boosted
(Corresponding author: María-Victoria Bueno-Delgado.) the I4.0 adoption, e.g., “Made in China 2025” in China,
Jose Luis Romero-Gázquez is with the Telecommunication Networks “Make in India” in India, “National Industry 4.0 Policy” in
Engineering Group (GIRTEL), Department of Information and
Communication Technologies, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Malaysia, or “Society 5.0” in Japan.
30202 Cartagena, Spain, and also with Summa Networks Enterprise, Although there is an evident effort of integrating
28036 Madrid, Spain. I4.0 worldwide [11], in the early 2021, its implementation
Gregorio Cañavate-Cruzado is with the Telecommunication Networks
Engineering Group (GIRTEL), Department of Information and in most of industrial sectors is still poor [12]. The main
Communication Technologies, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, reasons are: still immature standards, absence of compatibil-
Cartagena, Spain, and also with the Department of International Projects, ity and interoperability among many technologies, and lack
CETEM—Centro Tecnológico del Mueble y la Madera de la Región de
Murcia, 30510 Yecla, Spain. of clearness in most of countries about the current legis-
María-Victoria Bueno-Delgado is with the Telecommunication lation to discern the responsibilities (intelligent devices or
Networks Engineering Group (GIRTEL), Department of Information and humans) when problems or accidents occur. The lack of
Communication Technologies, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena 30202,
Cartagena, Spain (e-mail: [email protected]). skills and knowledge of employees and managers about the
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TE.2021.3111696 technologies in the umbrella of I4.0 is also poor in many
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License. For more information,
see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
ROMERO-GÁZQUEZ et al.: IN4WOOD: SUCCESSFUL EUROPEAN TRAINING ACTION OF I4.0 201

with the main results. Finally, Section IV summarizes the

conclusions.

II. A NALYSIS OF THE C URRENT A DOPTION OF

I NDUSTRY 4.0
This section summarizes a desk-research about the adoption
of I4.0 during the past decade from three different points of
view: 1) industry; 2) employees and managers; and 3) training.
The research is carried out by exploring the state-of-the-art
scientific literature, international reports, projects, and cur-
rent trends. From these, it highlighted the existing problems
Fig. 1. Main actors for successful Industry 4.0 adoption. with the technology (e.g., lack of interoperability and stan-
dardization), the competences of the actors involved in the
development of I4.0, and the training offer.
sectors, and it is still higher in small- and medium-size enter-
prises (SMEs) [13], where most of managers are not conscious A. Industry 4.0 Adoption in Factories and Business
about the opportunities that I4.0 could bring to their business. I4.0 was originally coined in Germany in 2011 as a national
At educational level, there is a remarkable absence of prac- initiative boosted by the German government with the aim of
tical training courses of I4.0 for managers and employees. raising the level of German manufacturing through the use of
The vocational education training (VET) and higher educa- new technologies [16]. The goal was to provide factories and
tion (HE) are also in the way to modernize their degrees. business with strategic tools for offering new types of services
Nowadays, most of them do not provide training contents and business models, revolutionizing the concept of production
focused on I4.0. From the above, it seems obvious that the suc- chain [17] and progressively transforming the traditional fac-
cess of I4.0 depends, not only on the initiatives promoted by tory into smart factories, e.g., automation in industrial machin-
the governments but on the synergy among three main actors ery, enabling self-configuration, self-diagnosis, and self-repair,
that must work and collaborate each other (Fig. 1): Research human–machine interaction, including coexistence with robots
and Development (R&D), Educational bodies, and Enterprises or the optimization of production with IoT [18], [19].
(including technology providers). Almost a decade later, the forecasts have not been achieved
The goal of this work is twofold: first, to provide a depth at all. Some studies performed in different European countries
analysis of the current status, challenges and needs for adopt- show the poor adoption of I4.0 in almost all business sectors.
ing I4.0 in Europe are carried out, focused on academia Veza et al. [7] analyzed the status of the I4.0 deployment
and business. The results of the analysis have reinforced the in Croatia. The results show that Croatian factories and busi-
need of solving the lack of knowledge and competences in ness are far from I4.0. Less than 30% of companies are even
the main technologies involved in I4.0, and have inspired in the third industrial revolution, and most of companies are
the development of an innovative European training action, anchored in the second industrial generation. In [11], the anal-
IN4WOOD [14]. The goal of IN4WOOD is to provide an ysis is focused on factories and business in Catalonia, one of
online and free available training tool [14] that help employ- the strongest economic Regions in Spain. The results point out
ees, managers, VET/HE students, and others to acquire skills that only 15.7% of them are in an initial (13.4%) or advanced
and competences in the KET of I4.0. In the framework of (2.3%) stage of adoption, while more than 61% of them have
IN4WOOD, a set of training contents has been developed not taken part in the strategy of I4.0 adoption or consider
with real use cases in the furniture and wood sector, but to that it is not feasible due to different reasons. An analysis
be applied in any industrial sector. The IN4WOOD training performed in Turkey [20] remarks that the lack of qualified
tool has been tested through a training pilot launched in four employees and the economic aspect of the transformation pro-
countries across Europe: Germany, Italy, U.K., and Spain, with cess toward I4.0 are the main challenges that companies must
around 200 users: employees, managers, VET/HE students, face. They show that only 18% of the companies surveyed
and unemployed. The results gathered from the pilots show have full knowledge about how to implement I4.0 in their
the successful evolution of the users’ knowledge in I4.0 and organizations, whereas 12% of them are able to implement first
point out the need of going for the training in I4.0 for its full measures and/or develop clear business cases based on I4.0.
adoption. Only 27% of companies currently have implemented an initial
The remainder of this article is organized as follows. In I4.0 environment, while the remainder 42% did not make any
Section II, the research of the current I4.0 adoption is carried preparations on it. Other works like in [21] show how the lack
out, in terms of technological problems, roles for employ- of interoperability and the scalability problems slows down the
ees and managers, and gaps in VET/HE. In Section III, the I4.0 adoption. Note that the transformation from the traditional
training tool developed in the framework of IN4WOOD is to the smart factory involves the use of technology from dif-
presented, explaining in depth the joint curriculum, training- ferent vendors, creating a heterogeneous environment where
learning methodology, contents, the training tool with its novel interoperability is required. Moreover, scalability is another
functionalities, and the testing phase through a European pilot major issue [22] because the IT infrastructure must be able to
202 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. 65, NO. 2, MAY 2022

be adapted to the existing and future data volume and devices

to handle.
Standardization is also a constraint in the I4.0 adoption [23].
The reference architectural model for Industrie 4.0 (RAMI
4.0) [24] was presented as the reference model to face with
some of the current standardization challenges.
Nowadays, different international working group commit-
tees and standardization and normalization institutions are
working on a full standardization for all KET involved in
I4.0 [25] and [26]. Finally, the industry and business are wor-
ried about security and privacy in an I4.0 scenario where Fig. 2. Example of data driving and human intervention in a smart factory
I4.0 [32].
high volumes of confidential data must be managed. There
are some guidelines for setting cyber security based on the the digital evolution in the industry. Baygin et al. [34] showed
RAMI 4.0 architecture model [27] but they seem not to be that this fact is one of the three greatest challenges that com-
enough for ensuring the entire deployment. According to [28], panies in Germany and the USA are facing for guaranteeing
there are no privacy standardization for AI-based technolo- success transformation to I4.0.
gies, and there are other pending challenges such as physical One significant strategy for training employees is through
vulnerability in cloud computing ecosystems. the initiatives learning factory (LF) [35] and teaching fac-
tory (TF) [36], [37]. They are not new concepts, since
B. New Roles of Employees and Managers in the numerous learning factories have been built in industry and
Industry 4.0 Era academia in the last decades. The challenge is to perform the
LF/TF where current future employees can learn about KET of
The integration of the ICT in all industrial sectors have I4.0 deployed and running in a real smart factory [38]. LF/TF
changed the way people work and the skills and competen- is the best way to learn about how to manipulate ICT and tech-
cies demanded for employees and managers. In Europe, the nical equipment and check the consequences of their actions
number of job vacancies with ICT profile increases year by in the production process carried out in real smart operat-
year while the number of employees with the required ICT ing scenarios. However, not all employees can reach training
profile decreases. In fact, in 2019, the EC pointed out that through learning factories. Then, other training options must
1.6 million ICT professional jobs will need to be filled between be considered.
2018 and 2030. This lack of digital skills in employees is
also a challenge to overcome for the successful adoption of C. Industry 4.0 in Vocational and Higher Education
I4.0 [29], [30]. The reports in [31] and [32] have enumer-
ated the specific skills and competences recommended for The demand of digital skills for the I4.0 era must be faced,
the qualified employee in the I4.0 era. Profiles, such as infor- not only through the update of profiles in current employees
matics specialist, PLC, robot programmer, software engineer, but also modernizing the contents in VET and HE degrees.
data analyst, and cybersecurity professionals, are described. VET/HE curricula must be designed with those contents that
But even less qualified employees (e.g., operators in produc- enable students (future employees) to reach the skills, knowl-
tion chains) are expected to have digital skills in order to edge, and competences demanded in the I4.0. Unfortunately,
perform tasks, such as management and maintenance of pro- there is a strong absence of VET/HE entities offering official
duction or analysis of operations performed by the automated degrees or training courses focused on I4.0 [39]. Moreover, the
machinery. skills reached through those degrees focused on ICT are a bit
Fig. 2 shows a simple data-driving example in a smart factory far from what I4.0 claims, as some studies point out [6], [40].
I4.0, and the key role of the employee with digital skills [33]. VET/HE institutions have to overcome two main obstacles:
The factory is composed of sensorized machinery. The produc- 1) they spend a lot of time and human resources in the update
tion and operation stages generate events or data, which are of their official academic offer and 2) the curricula of most of
sent to central entities (physical site or in the cloud). These col- official degrees have constraints about most of contents, which
lect and produce operation reports based on the data received. are determined by national laws and educational bodies.
The employee checks the data reported and intervenes in the In [41], a review about the available I4.0 training in a set
configuration and setting up of industrial machinery with the of EU countries is reported. The results show the lack or poor
aim of optimizing its potential, preventing failures, quantifying training about I4.0, and the need of an update by the educa-
defects, minimizing operational costs, and optimizing machine tional bodies, not only to offer a complementary and efficient
maintenance, among other tasks. Finally, once this action is car- training for employees and managers but also to modernize
ried out, the production cycle starts again. The above example current VET and HE training.
shows how the migration from the current factories to the smart
ones could optimize the capital and labor productivity oppor- III. E UROPEAN I NNOVATIVE T RAINING ACTION
tunities. However, it is only possible if the digital skills needed IN4WOOD
are met by employees. Companies need to employ updated IN4WOOD is a European project funded by the EC. The
training and workforce development strategies to match with main goal of IN4WOOD is to design, develop, and recognize
ROMERO-GÁZQUEZ et al.: IN4WOOD: SUCCESSFUL EUROPEAN TRAINING ACTION OF I4.0 203

a joint curricula and a training course for filling the existing

gaps of the skills required by the I4.0, focused on those related
to the KET identified by the EC. The result of IN4WOOD is
a free training tool that enables users to learn, understand,
deploy, use, and take decisions about the KET of I4.0 in
their business sectors, improving the competitiveness of their
enterprises. The training tool is composed of a set of train-
ing units where the most relevant KET are explained, with
hundreds of examples about their use in the industry. The
training is supported, not only with slides, pdf documents,
links, and exercises but also with a set of 300 video learning
pills of 3 min’ length, where experts in KET explain key con-
cepts. A set of evaluation questionnaires for testing the level
of knowledge acquired is also available. The work developed
is hosted in a dedicated training software platform developed
from scratch, available through app (IOS/Android) or via Web Fig. 3. KET identified for the IN4WOOD training course.
browser. It uses gamification and a recommendation system
based on machine learning, which adds personalized training
paths to users. The training platform and contents have been customization of the product, assembly, and weight reduction,
tested with almost 200 users in a set of pilots launched in among other advantages.
four European countries: 1) Germany; 2) Italy; 3) U.K.; and Augmented reality (AR) is based on the combination of
4) Spain. The following sections get in depth with some key digital content with the real world to build a mixed reality.
features performed in the IN4WOOD framework. Reality is increased through the incorporation of additional
IN4WOOD was primarily focused on the wood and fur- information by placing it in space. For this whole process, it
niture sector because it was identified with a shortage of is necessary to provide intelligence to the systems so that they
professionals with high qualification in ICT. However, the final recognize what they are seeing. The use of so-called markers
joint curriculum is designed to offer training to different tar- is necessary.
get users through a set of training paths. The target users are Autonomous robots are becoming more autonomous, flexi-
VET/HE students, employees, and managers from different ble, and cooperative, so that they can interact with each other
business sectors and level of knowledge in ICT. and work safely together with and learn from humans. These
In this section, the work performed in the framework of will be cheaper and are also expected to have a wider range
IN4WOOD is explained in depth, structured in a set of sec- of possibilities than the current ones, causing the replacement
tions following the chronological order in which the work was of the current workforce and reinventing jobs.
performed. Big data refers to the massive treatment and management of
information. Some of the characteristics of this technology are
the large volume of all types of structured and unstructured
A. Key-Enabling Technologies for IN4WOOD Training data, the specific storage for this volume, a fast processing of
Course the information, as well as a good tolerance to failures and
The first step in the design of the IN4WOOD joint cur- scalability.
riculum is to determine the set of KET to be considered. Cloud computing is equivalent to having computers and
The opinion of the VET/HE providers and representatives, servers in the cloud, that is, on the Internet. Cloud computing
stakeholders, potential students (employees and managers), has several advantages over the traditional model, for example,
technicians, etc., can help in this issue. Then, a set of question- it is not necessary to invest large amounts of money in infras-
naires was designed, following the EC guidelines and similar tructure, you simply rent the necessary resources and only pay
approaches. The final questionnaires, the full campaign for for them you use. In addition, the connection to cloud services
gathering the responses, the analysis, and final conclusions are can be made from anywhere, simply an Internet connection is
summarized in [42]. From the analysis, it was concluded that necessary. The cloud service can be of different types, such as
nine KET were primarily identified as mandatory for being Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS)
trained. They were included in the training course (Fig. 3), or Software as a Service (SaaS).
and are briefly introduced as follows (in alphabetical order). Cybersecurity is the set of techniques for prevention and
Additive manufacturing is characterized by making parts action against malicious processes that violate the security of
based on superposing layers of material. It is not a single computers and devices. In other words, it is the protection of
technology but covers different processes depending on the the information contained in a device through the treatment
material, technique, and its state and the source of energy. of threats that put it at risk, such as malware, viruses, and
In all of them, there is a file in a specific format that the ransomware or techniques, such as phishing or Man in the
3-D printer can read and understand. Additive manufacturing Middle.
makes it possible to manufacture low-cost parts to have mod- IoT is a term used to describe all those devices capable of
els and prototypes before their real production, as well as easy communicating with each other wirelessly or not and through
204 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. 65, NO. 2, MAY 2022

Fig. 4. Flowchart of learning modules in IN4WOOD training course.

the Internet. A device can be a sensor that detects external information from the physical world or transforming the dig-
signals and carries out an associated process. Each of these ital information into a physic element. The courses included
objects connected to the Internet has a specific address on the in this module are: 1) sensors and wearables; 2) 3-D printing
network that provides identification to the object for commu- and additive manufacturing; 3) AR; 4) robotics; 5) simulation,
nication. These devices also communicate through different modeling, and virtualization in the design.
protocols and can form different ranges or action areas, such Telecommunications and Data: It is composed of some KET
as the personal area network (PAN), local area network (LAN), focused on communications and information management in
or metropolitan area network (MAN). different industrial scenarios: 1) cloud computing; 2) cyber-
Simulation helps to represent physical reality using virtual security; 3) communications networks; 4) IoT; 5) integrated
elements, trying to reproduce or predict behavior in different systems; and 6) big data and analytics.
situations and scenarios using a model. This technique is used Management Systems: It comprises a set of learning content
in a wide variety of disciplines, such as education, medicine, about different and useful management systems for furni-
engineering, or architecture, allowing decisions to minimize ture and woodworking industries, but also applied to other
or practically eliminate errors through a virtual model. industrial sectors: logistics tools and management systems
System integration is applied by manufacturers, suppliers, for inventory; different planning approaches and workflow
and customers, which will be closely linked by computer management systems according to production processes and
systems, facilitating a truly automated value chain. The same collaborative working environments according to the actors
applies to the different departments of the company, such as that can interact. Courses in this module are: 1) applications
management, engineering, production, or logistics. of logistics and 2) workflow management systems.
Standards Certifications and Legal Issues: It includes the
B. Joint Curriculum context of standardization in I4.0, the international consor-
The joint curriculum is designed following the European tiums and organizations working on it, the different types of
qualification framework (EQF) recommendations and iden- working groups and committees, and the current and future
tifying the learning outcomes following the European standards about the KET. The legal issues behind I4.0 are
skills, competences, qualifications, and occupations (ESCOs) also reviewed, paying attention to data protection authority,
classification [43]. Fig. 4 shows how the training contents were current regulations, and liability. The concepts of this module
organized in five learning modules. These are organized in are transversal, although it is recommended to train at the end
a recommended path, starting in Introduction to Industry 4.0, of the course, as Fig. 4 shows, that is, once the student has
and ending in Standard Certifications and Legal Issues. All learned of all technologies.
modules are detailed as follows.
Introduction to Industry 4.0: It introduces the I4.0 concept C. Educational Methodologies and Training Contents
and its current status in the furniture sector and the industry Development
in general. Some scientific studies show how the use of gamification
Digital and Physic World Hybridizing: It includes the KET and small pills of training content can help the students to
that connects the physical and the digital world, gathering remain motivated during the online training, promoting its
ROMERO-GÁZQUEZ et al.: IN4WOOD: SUCCESSFUL EUROPEAN TRAINING ACTION OF I4.0 205

course in an easy way. They can watch the videos in

any place and with any device. They only need Internet
connection.
2) Slides, text, audios, etc.
3) Tests after a set of different training material to validate
the knowledge acquired.
4) All the material in four available languages: a) Spanish;
b) English; c) Italian; and d) German.
All training courses include a guide of teachers for opening
the door to those professionals that want to use the train-
ing material for face-to-face teaching, in formal or nonformal
Fig. 5. Training path network implemented in the IN4WOOD platform.
training courses.

D. Online Software Platform

The requisites of the training tool (personalized training
paths, gamification, recommended algorithms, and high vol-
ume of data due to the 300 video learning pills) derived in
the need of developing the training platform from scratch and
the use of a dedicated server. The training tool is also eas-
ily accessible by Web browser from any platform, whether
desktop, mobile, or tablets. It has been developed as a mul-
tiplatform to reach the maximum audience and try to avoid
technological barriers. Fig. 6 shows a set of snapshots of the
Fig. 6. Android mobile application of IN4WOOD training tool.
Android mobile app of IN4WOOD training course, as exam-
ple of the powerful of the application. It can be downloaded,
not only for Android [46] but also for iOS [47].
The training tool also includes other useful sections, such
completion [44]. Although the drop out of face-to-face courses
as interactive teacher–learner chat, ranking of best users (level
is significant, it can be even higher in online courses where
recognition), or the possibility to comment and rate courses,
there is no continuous physical supervision by the instruc-
among others. As example of the main functionalities of the
tor. The IN4WOOD training course tries to minimize this
students, the navigation flow is plotted in Fig. 7.
problem by adding multimedia resources and gamification as
A simple schema about the platform architecture is also
much as possible. Based on some studies that suggest that the
included in Fig. 8. The communication flow is based on
optimal video length should not exceed 3 min to an optimal
REST API calls with a server and two different databases:
engagement [45], 300 video learning pills focused on training
one as training content and video learning pills repository and
the KET were developed. The videos are offered to users in the
one for storing the users’ profiles and progress. The server
IN4WOOD platform following a recommendation algorithm,
hosts the Web platform and runs the gamification tools and
fed by the user profile.
recommendation algorithms.
The video learning pills are cataloged in a relationship
system, which offers an innovative network path of training
and allows users to adapt the training in a personalized way E. Testing IN4WOOD Training Course in Europe
according to their interests and profiles. This feature is a nov- The training course was tested to experience and get feed-
elty that breaks with the traditional methodology offered with back about the training material, tools and software platform
lineal training paths (Fig. 5). developed in the framework of the project. Four pilots were
The knowledge acquired by the users is measured by train- organized in the partnership countries: 1) Germany; 2) Italy;
ers through a set of online questionnaires, one per training unit. 3) U.K.; and 4) Spain. During ten weeks, almost 200 users,
The evaluation test of each training unit is available when the with different academic profile and status (Figs. 9 and 10),
user watches all video learning pills comprised in the same were enrolled in one or more training modules, field-testing
training unit. If the user passes the test, a diploma certifies the actual compliance of the defined professional profile and
the acquisition of the knowledge. Otherwise, a reinforcement the related training to the needs of the market, as well as
algorithm is executed to offer users the possibility to review the effectiveness of teaching material and the specific training
those concepts in which he/she failed. Moreover, trainers have paths. Users were free to choose in which courses they wanted
a backend tool to list the progress of users, organized by to be enrolled, although it was a guide for users, where a train-
modules, courses, video learning pills consumed, etc. ing path was recommended, starting with the Introduction to
The total learning contents developed, together with the Industry 4.0 module. Users were tutored through the plat-
educational methodologies explained, result in the following. form by partners in charge of the training units developed. It
1) More than 300 video learning pills of 3 min’ length. was done using a specific module for launching and manag-
These short videos help users to complete the training ing questions, also forwarded to email. Users were monitored
206 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. 65, NO. 2, MAY 2022

Fig. 7. Flow navigation of students and visitors in the IN4WOOD Web platform.

Fig. 10. Academic/professional profile of users in IN4WOOD pilots.

Fig. 8. Online platform of IN4WOOD training tool.

suggestions for improvements, progress in their knowledge

acquired, etc. They were designed as follows.
1) Initial Survey: It is designed to capture the profile of the
users, their knowledge of KET before the training, and
their expectations with the training course.
2) Intermediate Survey: It is designed to gather the opinion
of users during the pilot execution in terms of schedul-
ing, planning, training methodology, duration, quality
of training material, tutoring, and knowledge of KET
acquired.
3) Final Survey: It is developed to collect the experience
of the users during the pilots once they finished, with
the same questions as the intermediate survey and some
Fig. 9. Students enrolled per country in IN4WOOD pilots.
extra questions about suggestions of improvement.
In all surveys, users were asked about their knowledge
of those KET in the training, ranking from 1 to 5, their
knowledge: nothing (1), basic (2), average (3), high (4), and
weekly, checking their satisfaction and to encourage them to expert (5).
continue with the training. In addition, some face-to-face meet- After the pilots’ execution, the data gathered were analyzed
ings were organized to solve doubts and concerns about the and compared. A sample of them is plotted in Figs. 10–12.
platform, its content, and the evaluation method. Fig. 11 shows the evolution of knowledge acquired, reported
During the pilots, three surveys were launched to users with by users, for each technology trained. Note that each bar repre-
the aim of gathering their feedback about training: opinions, sents the mean of the score obtained for each training unit. The
ROMERO-GÁZQUEZ et al.: IN4WOOD: SUCCESSFUL EUROPEAN TRAINING ACTION OF I4.0 207

Fig. 11. User’s opinion about their own evolution in the knowledge acquired during the IN4WOOD pilot execution, ranked from 1 (nothing) to 5 (expert).

Fig. 12. Users’ overall evaluation of the IN4WOOD course (out of ten
points).

results in Fig. 11 show the average about the users’ knowledge.

In most of KET, users started with a very low initial knowl-
edge. This was improved during the execution of the pilot in
all disciplines, being the highest improvement in communica- Fig. 13. Feedback about improvements to be done in the platform.
tion networks, sensors/wearables, and RFID/NFC. In average,
the level of knowledge acquired about KET by the users was
duplicated after the IN4WOOD training pilot.
roles of employees and managers in factories and business,
Fig. 12 shows the overall evaluation of the training course.
and the training in VET/HE. As the main contribution, an
The lowest score is 6, and the average of the scores collected
innovate training tool developed in the framework of the
is 8.51. Fig. 13 shows the set of improvements suggested by
European project IN4WOOD has been developed and tested.
users during the pilot. Some of the most demanded improve-
The IN4WOOD training tool is offered as a free access, mul-
ments are: 1) to provide the content explained in the video
tiplatform and multilanguage, and it allocates a complete set
learning pills available in text in pdf for its later reading (28%);
of training materials, including more than 300 video learning
2) to have a problem notebook (19%); and 3) to add more use
pills with key concepts of the main KET of I4.0. A novel
cases (18%) in which to show how to put into practice the
teaching-learning methodology has been designed focused on
knowledge acquired.
personalized learning paths through recommendation and rein-
forcement algorithms and the use of gamification to improve
IV. C ONCLUSION the efficiency of the learning process. The IN4WOOD train-
In this work, a desk-research about the current status of ing tool has been successfully tested through a pilot launched
the I4.0 adoption in Europe has been carried out from the in four European countries in which almost 200 users have
point of view of the current technological problems, the new increased their knowledge in the most relevant KET of I4.0,
208 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. 65, NO. 2, MAY 2022

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ROMERO-GÁZQUEZ et al.: IN4WOOD: SUCCESSFUL EUROPEAN TRAINING ACTION OF I4.0 209

[44] G. Surendeleg, U. Tudevdagva, and Y. S. Kim, “The contribution of gam- Gregorio Cañavate-Cruzado received the B.Sc. degree in telematics and
ification on user engagement in fully online course,” in Proc. Creativity the M.Sc. degree in telecommunications from the Technical University of
Intell. Technol. Data Sci. First Conf. (CIT&DS), Volgograd, Russia, Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain, in 2004 and 2007, respectively. He is currently
Sep. 2015, pp. 710–719, doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-23766-4_56. pursuing the Ph.D. degree with GIRTEL Group, Universidad Politécnica de
[45] H. Candace. Optimal Video Length for Student Engagement. Accessed: Cartagena, Cartagena.
Sep. 2021. [Online]. Available: http://blog.edx.org/optimal-video-length- He worked as a Software Developer in different research initiatives related
student-engagement to e-health and online marketing. He is also a Collaborator of GIRTEL Group.
[46] In4Wood Android App. Accessed: Sep. 2021. [Online]. Available Since 2013, he has been the Manager of International Projects with the
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[47] In4Wood iOS App. Accessed: Sep. 2021. [Online]. Available: dinating EU funded projects related to new environmental-friendly materials,
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/in4wood/id1468253565?l=es&ls=1 3-D printing, augmented reality, digital transformation, and training, such as
IN4WOOD. He is currently coordinating the platform of Centres of Vocational
Excellence in the Furniture and Wood sector ALLVIEW.

José Luis Romero Gázquez received the B.Sc. degree in telematic engi-
neering, and the M.Sc and Ph.D. degrees in telecommunications from the María Victoria Bueno-Delgado (Member, IEEE) received the B.Sc. degree
Technical University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain, in 2015, 2017, and in telematics engineering, the M.Sc. degree in telecommunications engi-
2020, respectively. neering, and the European Ph.D. degree in telecommunications from the
In 2020, he was working with Movisat, Murcia, Spain, as an ICT Technical University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain, in 2002, 2004, and 2010,
Consultant and Research and Development. He joined Summa Networks respectively.
Enterprize, Madrid, Spain. He also serves as an Research Collaborator with Since 2006, she has been an Associate Professor with the Technical
GIRTEL Group, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Cartagena. He has University of Cartagena. She has authored/coauthored for more than 100 inter-
been involved in EU Projects focused on ICT, industry 4.0, education, and national publications in conferences and journals and has participated/leaded
new emerging technologies. His research interests include the development 25 Spanish and EU projects focused on ICT. Her research interests include
of IoT solutions, network optimization in the Internet of the future and the network optimization, wireless technologies, industry 4.0, digital transforma-
industry 4.0, its digital transformation, and its adoption in education. tion, and ICT for education.