A Model for the Efficient Representation and Management of Online Collaborative Learning Interaction
This study aims to explore the importance of the efficient representation and management of the event information generated from group activity in online collaborative learning practices so that we can use it to provide awareness about individual and group behaviour. The achievement of this goal first involves the design of a conceptual model of collaborative learning interaction that structures and classifies the information generated in an online collaborative learning situation at several lev
Supporting Effective and Useful Web-based Distance Learning
Learners interacting in a Web-based distance learning environment produce a variety of information elements during their participation; these information elements usually have a complex structure and semantics, which makes it rather difficult to find out the behavioral attitudes and profiles of the users involved. User modelling in on-line distance learning is an important research field focusing on two important aspects: describing and predicting studentsÂ’ actions and intentions as well as ada
Gridifying IBM's Generic Log Adapter to Speed-Up the Processing of Log Data
Problem determination in today's computing environments consumes between 30 and 70% of an organizationÂ’s IT resources and represents from one third to one half of their total cost of ownership. The first step to cutting down costs in this area and to enable autonomic computing systems is to have all parts of the system report status in a common log data format and semantics in order to be able to exploit the status information of the system as a whole. The Generic Log Adapter (GLA) is a generic
An Experimental Study on Peer Selection in a P2P Network over PlanetLab
Peer selection is an important aspect in many P2P applications
requiring efficient assignment and execution of
jobs to peer nodes and search and file transfer, among others.
Due to increasing interest of using P2P systems for distributed
computing, peer selection is taking relevance and
several models have been proposed in the P2P literature.
Yet, there are very few experimental studies for peer selection
in P2P networks deployed in real large scale networks.
In this work we present an experimen
Semantic Description of Grid Based Learning Services
Grid technology has emerged as a powerful tool to increase the
capabilities of e-learning frameworks. Learning services are fundamental
components representing functionalities that can be easily reused without
knowing the details of how services have been implemented. On the one hand, a
problem that still remains unsolved is how to use and integrate low-level
learning services to compose more complex high-level services or tools that
make sense to both tutors and learners. On the other hand, the
Enabling Efficient Real Time User Modeling in On-line Campus
User modelling in on-line distance learning is an important research
field focusing on two important aspects: describing and predicting studentsÂ’ actions
and intentions as well as adapting the learning process to studentsÂ’ features,
habits, interests, preferences, and so on. The aim is to greatly stimulate
and improve the learning experience. In this context, user modeling implies a
constant processing and analysis of user interaction data during long-term learning
activities, which produces l
A Service-oriented Platform for the Enhancement and Effectiveness of the Collaborative Learning Proc
Modern on-line collaborative learning environments are to enable and scale the involvement of an increasing large number of single/group participants who can geographically be widely distributed, and who need to transparently share a huge variety of both software and hardware distributed learning resources. As a result, collaborative learning applications are to overcome important non-functional requirements arisen in distributed environments, such as scalability, flexibility, availability, inte
An examination of two types of timeline, linear vs. staggered: a mixed method approach
This study conducted as follow-up study to evaluate effects of two different time-based interfaces, linear and staggered. This study also tries to reveal usersÂ’ preferences when they look for information in two different computer-based timeline. Explanatory mixed method design was implemented. In the first part, quantitative, there were 42 subjects. Results shows no significant difference between two types of computer-based time-line in terms of task completion time and answer accuracy. In the
The “Blakkat” Software for Tagging Online Language Learner Corpora: Issues in SLA Assessment and R
This paper aims at showing, through a case study, one possible application of Computer Learner Corpus (CLC) to Network Based Language Teaching (NBLT). Research has shown how CLC can be used both for Second Language Acquisiton (SLA) research and Foreign Language Teaching (FLT), especially if they are tagged, that is, if interpretative annotations are added to the corpus (e.g. error annotations). Online learning generally takes place inside virtual environments where learners exchange mainly writt
Learning a New Game: Usability, Gender and Education
This research study aims to investigate the usability issues of a computer game; regarding how people learn a new game. Because the user characteristic and the strategies they use while learning a new tool are important factors for usability, they were also taken into account in the study. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in the study. 16 participants played the computer game. They were also observed and their eye-movements were recorded by an eye tracking device. Results show
Combining Knowledge Awareness and Information Filtering in an Open-ended Collaborative Learning Envi
Knowledge awareness (KA) has been proposed to increase collaboration opportunities in an open ended and collaborative learning environment. To encourage collaboration, an individual userâs agent called KA-Agent autonomously informs the learner about up-to-the-minute activities from other learners. For instance, a message might be ãsomeone is looking at the same knowledge that you are looking at.ä Although this message, called active KA, is very useful to create real-time collaboration, a larg
LaCOLLA: Middleware for Self-Sufficient Online Collaboration
The LaCOLLA middleware makes it possible for collaborators to interact using their own resources and not depend on a centralized regime. By contributing their own resources, group members can organize and communicate using a federated peer-to-peer model. Utilizing LaCOLLA middleware, the group can function regardless of whether a member removes resources and despite network or node failures or disconnection. This capacity for self-organization, together with location transparency, lets applicati
A Generic Platform for the Systematic Construction of Knowledge-based Collaborative Learning Applica
This study aims to explore the importance of efficient management of event information generated from
group activity in collaborative learning practices for its further use in extracting and providing knowledge
on interaction behavior. The essential issue here is how to design a platform that can be used for real,
long-term, complex collaborative problem-solving situations and which enables the instructor to both
analyze group interaction effectively and provide an adequate support when needed.
Simulating Human Tutor Dialog Moves in AutoTutor
This purpose of this paper is to show how prevalent features of successful human tutoring interactions can be integrated into a pedagogical agent, AutoTutor. AutoTutor is a fully automated computer tutor that responds to learner input by simulating the dialog moves of effective, normal human tutors. AutoTutorâs delivery of dialog moves is organized within a 5-step framework that is unique to normal human tutoring interactions. We assessed AutoTutorâs performance as an effective tutor and conve
Analysing Educational Dialogue Interaction: Towards Models that Support Learning
The motivation for this special issue on analysing dialogue interaction was provided by the one-day workshop with the same title held at AI-Ed '99 in Le Mans. From this workshop a number of common themes and issues emerged. The call for papers for this special issue was based around these themes:
* valid and reliable approaches to identifying dialogue structures and features
* the role of dialogue in learning as evidenced by dialogue analysis
* computational models of dialogue in Intelligent Edu
ML Tutor: An Application of Machine Learning Algorithms for an Adaptive Web-based Information System
One problem that commonly faces hypertext users, particularly in educational situations, is the difficulty of identifying pages of information most relevant to their current goals or interests. In this paper, we discuss the technical feasibility and the utility of applying machine learning algorithms to generate personalised adaptation on the basis of a userÕs browsing history in hypertext, without additional input from the user. In order to investigate the viability of this approach, we develo
Confronting ideas in collaborative scientific discovery learning
This study investigated how collaborative knowledge construction within a scientific discovery (or inquiry)learning environment can be assisted with tools that aim to support studentsÂ’ proposition generation and testing
processes. Sixty-six fourth year pre-university education students participated in a kinematics learning task. The instructional goal of the learning activity was to develop studentsÂ’ understanding of one dimensional kinematics. All students completed a proposition test in whic
Student Modelling based on Belief Networks
Belief networks provide an important way to represent and reason about uncertainty – significant factors for modelling students. These networks provide a way of structuring such models, and allow a system to use a systematic approach when gathering information about the scope of the student’s knowledge. This work also provides a theoretically-sound way to update the student model, based on the concept of a dynamic belief network. The relationship to related research is discussed. Finally, the
Rôle des ontologies en ingénierie des EIAH : cas d’un système d’assistance au design pédagogiq
The thesis illustrates the role that Ontological Engineering (OE) can play in the design of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) for supporting learning/instructional designers and environments.,Ph. D. Thesis in cognitive informatics, Department of computer sciences, Unversité du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM), Canada
Minimalist instruction for learning to search the World Wide Web.
This study examined the efficacy of minimalist instruction to develop self-regulatory skills involved in Web searching. Two versions of minimalist self-regulatory skill instruction were compared to a control group that was merely taught procedural skills to operate the search engine. Acquired skills were tested on Web search tasks and search tasks in an online library catalogue. Self-regulatory skill instruction was found to increase practice time by 25%. However, it did not enhance search perfo
