New Media and Open and Distance Learning: New challenges for Education in a Knowledge Society
The "digital society" provides not only with new technology, but also with new concepts. Information plays a central role and becomes a valuable good, but knowledge cannot be reduced to information, and one aim for educators is to contribute in a "knowledge society", not only an "information society". A knowledge society is structured in networks, enriching the traditional hierarchies; a knowledge society promotes a kind of "collective intelligence". In such a society, open and distance learning
Towards educational data mining: Using data mining methods for automated chat analysis to understand
In this paper we investigate the application of data mining methods to provide learners with real-time adaptive feedback on the nature and patterns of their on-line communication while learning collaboratively.We derived two models
for classifying chat messages using data mining techniques and tested these on an actual data set [16]. The reliability of the classification of chat messages is established by comparing the models performance to that of humans. Results indicate that the classificatio
Training programme for geography teachers
This paper contains a description of a Geography teacher-training program for in-service education. The program is a variant for incorporating the methodology of the Minerva- project Innovative Didactics via Web-based Learning (further abbreviated as IDWBL) so that the Geography teachers at work can be adequately prepared for integrating ICT in geography education at secondary schools via web-based education. The theme may seem at first glance as a variation of a known subject
But for the
E-learning environments in medical education: how pervasive computing can influence the educational
As pervasive computing is integrated incrementally with all facets of everyday life, it is reasonable to expect that its further proliferation may influence educational activities as well. Several such arguments have been thoroughly discussed in literature and several projects have been developed. However, little work has been done to investigate how pervasive computing can influence the medical educational process using e-learning platforms, and the prerequisites for such endeavours. In this pi
Aspects of Speech Act Categorisation: Towards Generating Teachers' Language
In this paper we examine a possible method for classifying speech acts produced by human teachers, with a view of informing the designs of intelligent natural language tutors and of providing the basis for a formal analysis of the effects that teachers' language has on students' learning. We argue that traditional means as initiated by the Ordinary Language Philosophers such as Austin (1962), Grice (1975) and Searle (1979) are not sufficient to account for all types of linguistic phenomena occur
Supporting Social Interaction in an Intelligent Collaborative Learning System
Students learning effectively in groups encourage each other to ask questions, explain and justify their opinions, articulate their reasoning, and elaborate and reflect upon their knowledge. The benefits of collaborative learning, however, are only achieved by active, well-functioning teams. This paper presents a model of collaborative learning designed to help an intelligent collaborative learning system identify and target group interaction problem areas. The model describes potential indicato
An Intelligent Tutoring System for Entity Relationship Modelling
The paper presents KERMIT, a Knowledge-based Entity Relationship Modelling Intelligent Tutor. KERMIT is a problem-solving environment for the university-level students, in which they can practise conceptual database design using the Entity-Relationship data model. KERMIT uses Constraint-Based Modelling (CBM) to model the domain knowledge and generate student models. We have used CBM previously in tutors that teach SQL and English punctuation rules. The research presented in this paper is signifi
Vers un modèle générique dassistance aux acteurs du téléapprentissage
Nous présentons un modèle générique d'assistance aux acteurs du téléapprentissage. Le modèle permet de décrire des systèmes dassistance pour tout système informatisé distribué ou non, quel que soit le domaine de connaissances et quel que soit lacteur du téléapprentissage (apprenant, concepteur, formateur-tuteur, etc.) qui utilise lassistance. Le système d'assistance peut aider ces usagers en leur offrant des conseils et en adaptant l'interface en fonction de leurs caractéri
Herzberg : une simulation multimédia à interactivité variable
Herzberg est un environnement de simulation multimédia permettant de visualiser et dexplorer la vibration et la rotation des molécules. Il permet de créer des documents formés dun ensemble de pages affichant une ou deux molécules dans des configurations prédéfinies; un texte et une voix dexplication peuvent être associés à chaque page. Il est possible de fixer pour chaque document le niveau dinteractivité. On peut également, sans effectuer de programmation, ajouter de nouvell
Credibility of a simulation-based virtual laboratory: An exploratory study of learner judgments of v
Several studies have examined realism and instructional effectiveness of physical simulations. However, very few have touched on the question of their credibility or verisimilitude, from the users point of view. This article presents an empirical exploratory study which investigated the perceptions of potential users of a simulation-based virtual physics laboratory (the VPLab). In the VPLab, students conduct virtual physics experiments designed to promote both acquisition of general experiment
The evolution of research on collaborative learning
For many years, theories of collaborative learning tended to focus on how individuals function in a group. More recently, the focus has shifted so that the group itself has become the unit of analysis. In terms of empirical research, the initial goal was to establish whether and under what circumstances collaborative learning was more effective than learning alone. Researchers controlled several independent variables (size of the group, composition of the group, nature of the task, communication
The Social and Technological Dimensions of Scaffolding and Related Theoretical Concepts for Learning
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A walk on the WILD side How wireless handhelds may change computer-supported collaborative learning
Designs for CSCL (Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning) applications usually presume a desktop or laptop computer. Yet future classrooms arc likely to be organized around Wireless Internet Learning Devices (WILD) that resemble graphing calculators, Palm, or Pocket-PC handhelds, connected by short-range wireless networking. WILD learning will have physical affordances that are different from today's computer lab, and different from classrooms with 5 students per computer. These differing aff
Learning Design and Run-Time Resource Binding in a Distributed e-Learning Environment
Nowadays, the need for e-learning systems supporting a rich set of pedagogical requirements has been identified as an important issue in the field of distance learning. Several initiatives take place in order to meet this need.
Maybe, the most important of these initiatives is IMS Learning Design [6] that provides a framework to depict pedagogies. Furthermore, we are aware that the provision of different learning paths tailored on learner's characteristics and preferences guarantees the learner
The Semantic Aspects of e-Learning: Using the Knowledge Life Cycle to Manage Semantics for Grid and
The aim of bringing semantics to learning content and services is to enable large scale collaboration of e-learning activities over the Grid infrastructure.
As machines and software applications will be ubiquitously involved in enabling and facilitating this collaboration, it requires a common understanding of the domain, in particular at the conceptual level, so that both computers and human participants of the e-learning activities understand and are able to communicate among themselves thoug
GRID Technologies => 'Education' = 'Distance Education'
This paper discusses the new possibilities that Grid technologies create in education, presents current learning paradigms and makes a prediction about the way in which Grid technologies may affect the future of education.
The case of the Hellenic Open University (HOU) is presented and the current educational technologies and tools used are illustrated. The paper also presents a scenario for the utilization of Grid technologies at HOU and discusses the challenges that such infrastructure create
A bootstrapping scenario for elicitating CSCL services within a GRID virtual community
Amongst the various eLearning techniques, Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is of growing interest within the academic world. However, during the first phase of the EleGI project, a noticable fact has been the difficulty to match the user needs with the potentiality of the GRID services.
Thus, through a fictive scenario, this article proposes to walk the path between the idea of creating a new virtual community and the realisation of this objective. This scenario takes the situat
Experiences with Writing Grid Clients for Mobile devices
This paper describes our attempts to write GRID clients for Mobile Devices, such as a PDA, which have restrictive computational and storage facilities. Our experiences are based on an implementation of a mobile GRID client for Finesse, an existing web-based e-learning system.
At this stage of our work we are not looking to novel applications of mobile learning, but rather are exploring the feasibility of mobile devices as GRID platforms, with novel learning applications as our future aim. We ex
Museology and the Problem of Interiority
Museum and culture studies traditionally approach social issues related to national museum narratives by critically analyzing the historical development and orderings of collections and their functions. Studies may investigate museums' representational practices in interpretations of the 'other,' for example, or the role of official and state narratives in history museums' constructions of national identity, or scientific paradigms in natural history museums' orderings and material culture. Ofte
