In recent years, research on mash-up technologies for learning environments has gained interest. ... more In recent years, research on mash-up technologies for learning environments has gained interest. The overall goal is to enrich or replace traditional learning management systems (LMS) with mash-ups of widgets and services that can be easily combined and configured to fit the learner needs. This paper presents the implemented prototype of the ROLE interoperability framework and a business and an educational case study.
To empower the learner for true lifelong and personalised learning with a responsive open learnin... more To empower the learner for true lifelong and personalised learning with a responsive open learning environment (ROLE) is one aim of the ROLE project. A psycho-pedagogical integration model (PPIM) towards supporting learning has been developed by facilitating the concept of personalised self-regulated learning. The first version of the ROLE PPIM is presented in this paper and gives a general view of the components of this model. The central part of the PPIM is the description of the self-regulated learning process and how it can be personalised by learners using adaptive guidance of ROLE.
In this paper an approach is presented how self-regulated learning can be supported and stimulate... more In this paper an approach is presented how self-regulated learning can be supported and stimulated by visualising knowledge and competence structures in order to provide visual guidance in the learning process. In the field of adaptive systems and related research techniques of intelligent guidance have been developed, which, however, may have the disadvantage of limiting the learner. On the other hand, self-regulated learning gives greater control and responsibility to the learner, however, especially weak learner may have difficulties without provision of guidance. The presented approach combines both offering guidance and granting control over the own learning process. A set of learning tools have been developed which implement and demonstrate the proposed approach. Since knowledge structuring and knowledge visualisation are well established in the field of knowledge management, this approach can be exploited to bridge the research fields of e-learning and knowledge management.
This paper presents a tool which supports self-regulated learning in the context of open responsi... more This paper presents a tool which supports self-regulated learning in the context of open responsive learning environments. The context of this tool is a technical infrastructure which empowers learners to build their own learning environments by choosing from existing learning resources, such as content, learning tools, and learner networks. In order to provide support for learners in this complex environment, a tool has been developed which supports the learner in both taking advantages from this technical infrastructure and navigating self-regulated though the own learning process. This tool is based on psycho-pedagogical models, such as the recently elaborated self-regulated learning process model, competence model, and learning activity model. The purpose of that tool is to provide adaptive guidance and orientation in order to empower the learner to learn self-regulated and to adopt the concept of learn self-regulated learning.
In this paper the design and development approach of an authoring tool for defining pedagogical r... more In this paper the design and development approach of an authoring tool for defining pedagogical relationship types is described. Pedagogical relationship types are used to define adaptation strategies which can be used by an adaptation engine to create an adaptive course based on user model information. Based on domain models consisting of concepts and relationships between concepts, pedagogical relationships can be used to connect concepts of domain models in a pedagogical meaningful way. Each type of these relationships contains adaptation code which formally specifies the meaning of relationships on a technical and a pedagogical level. To support authors in creating these relationship types a tool is being developed which easily allows the authoring process.
Personal learning environment (PLE) solutions aim at empowering learners to design (ICT and web-b... more Personal learning environment (PLE) solutions aim at empowering learners to design (ICT and web-based) environments for their activities in different learning contexts and even for transitions between these contexts. Hereby, recommender systems which are highly successful in other application areas comprise one relevant technology for supporting learners in PLE-based activities. In this paper we examine the utilization of recommender technology for PLEs. However, being confronted by a variety of educational contexts and due to different research approaches dealing with recommenders, we present three strategies for providing PLE recommendations to learners. Consequently, we compare these recommender strategies by discussing their strengths and weaknesses in general.
Adaptation to the learner's knowledge level and competence-based course creation have been a ... more Adaptation to the learner's knowledge level and competence-based course creation have been a major goal of e-learning research projects. However, besides the research projects there is a powerful and emerging development of many open source learning management systems with little or no adaptation functionality. In order to bring together widespread and popular learning management systems and scientific-oriented approaches of competence-based personalisation, this paper presents a solution how a personalised e-learning approach can be applied to arbitrary Web-based learning management systems. A Web service approach is presented which enables and controls adaptation of learning management systems. The scientific foundation is realised by implementing the Competence-based Knowledge Space Theory which is a framework for representing and connecting domain ontologies and knowledge and competence levels of learners.
In the context of the EU-funded cultural heritage project CULTURA (http://www.cultura-strep.eu/),... more In the context of the EU-funded cultural heritage project CULTURA (http://www.cultura-strep.eu/), the Web-based service Equalia has been developed to support evaluators in designing, carrying out, and analysing evaluations. This service has been used to evaluate and has been integrated with the CULTURA system, which is a platform that supports researchers and students in their work with digital cultural heritage collections. The evaluation service allows to specify what and how to evaluate the CULTURA system through an evaluation model and, in reference to this model, to collect and analyse evaluation data from users of the CULTURA system on different levels. Beside traditional questionnaires applied after system usage, also continuous user feedback given to short questions during interaction with the system and log data are taken into account. Automatically generated reports are derived based on the underlying evaluation model. The evaluation service has been applied in the context...
This paper presents the evaluation approach taken for an innovative research environment for digi... more This paper presents the evaluation approach taken for an innovative research environment for digital cultural heritage collections in the CULTURA project. The integration of novel services of information retrieval to support exploration and (re)search of digital artefacts in this research environment, as well as the intended corpus agnosticism and diversity of target users posed additional challenges to evaluation. Starting from a methodology for evaluating digital libraries an evaluation model was established that captures the qualities specific to the objectives of the CULTURA environment, and that builds a common ground for empirical evaluations. A case study illustrates how the model was translated into a concrete evaluation procedure. The obtained outcomes indicate a positive user perception of the CULTURA environment and provide valuable information for further development.
A paradigm shift from a knowledge to a competence society is going on, which also becomes increas... more A paradigm shift from a knowledge to a competence society is going on, which also becomes increasingly important for educational and vocational training purposes. Skills and competences are employed to describe learning content, students' capabilities, learning processes, and the like. Creating descriptions of skills and competences and assigning them manually is usually an exhausting task. Thus technology-enhanced support is needed.
In this paper a novel approach is presented how visualisation of knowledge and competence structu... more In this paper a novel approach is presented how visualisation of knowledge and competence structures can be employed in order to support personalisation in e-learning systems. Information visualisation strategies are used to present ontology-based domain knowledge and related competence structures to the learner. In contrast to adaptive e-learning systems which employ domain and user models for the adaptation and personalisation
Adaptation is a well known concept in the field of e-learning and is increasingly applied in mode... more Adaptation is a well known concept in the field of e-learning and is increasingly applied in modern learning systems. In order to gain more flexibility and to enhance existing e-learning platforms, we have developed a generic solution approach which enables to add adaptation functionality to existing Web-based e-learning systems. In this paper we present a distributed architecture on the basis
Communications in Computer and Information Science, 2012
ABSTRACT The 21st century is challenging the future educational systems with ‘twitch-speed’ socie... more ABSTRACT The 21st century is challenging the future educational systems with ‘twitch-speed’ societal and technological changes. The pace of (technological) innovations forces future education to fulfill the need of empowering people of all societal, cultural, and age groups the acquire competences and skills in real-time for demands and tasks we cannot even imagine at the moment. To realize that, we do need smart novel educational technologies that can support the learners on an individual basis and accompany them during a lifelong personal learning and development history. This paper gives some brief insights in approaches to adaptive education based on sound psycho-pedagogical foundations and current technologies.
In recent years, research on mash-up technologies for learning environments has gained interest. ... more In recent years, research on mash-up technologies for learning environments has gained interest. The overall goal is to enrich or replace traditional learning management systems (LMS) with mash-ups of widgets and services that can be easily combined and configured to fit the learner needs. This paper presents the implemented prototype of the ROLE interoperability framework and a business and an educational case study.
To empower the learner for true lifelong and personalised learning with a responsive open learnin... more To empower the learner for true lifelong and personalised learning with a responsive open learning environment (ROLE) is one aim of the ROLE project. A psycho-pedagogical integration model (PPIM) towards supporting learning has been developed by facilitating the concept of personalised self-regulated learning. The first version of the ROLE PPIM is presented in this paper and gives a general view of the components of this model. The central part of the PPIM is the description of the self-regulated learning process and how it can be personalised by learners using adaptive guidance of ROLE.
In this paper an approach is presented how self-regulated learning can be supported and stimulate... more In this paper an approach is presented how self-regulated learning can be supported and stimulated by visualising knowledge and competence structures in order to provide visual guidance in the learning process. In the field of adaptive systems and related research techniques of intelligent guidance have been developed, which, however, may have the disadvantage of limiting the learner. On the other hand, self-regulated learning gives greater control and responsibility to the learner, however, especially weak learner may have difficulties without provision of guidance. The presented approach combines both offering guidance and granting control over the own learning process. A set of learning tools have been developed which implement and demonstrate the proposed approach. Since knowledge structuring and knowledge visualisation are well established in the field of knowledge management, this approach can be exploited to bridge the research fields of e-learning and knowledge management.
This paper presents a tool which supports self-regulated learning in the context of open responsi... more This paper presents a tool which supports self-regulated learning in the context of open responsive learning environments. The context of this tool is a technical infrastructure which empowers learners to build their own learning environments by choosing from existing learning resources, such as content, learning tools, and learner networks. In order to provide support for learners in this complex environment, a tool has been developed which supports the learner in both taking advantages from this technical infrastructure and navigating self-regulated though the own learning process. This tool is based on psycho-pedagogical models, such as the recently elaborated self-regulated learning process model, competence model, and learning activity model. The purpose of that tool is to provide adaptive guidance and orientation in order to empower the learner to learn self-regulated and to adopt the concept of learn self-regulated learning.
In this paper the design and development approach of an authoring tool for defining pedagogical r... more In this paper the design and development approach of an authoring tool for defining pedagogical relationship types is described. Pedagogical relationship types are used to define adaptation strategies which can be used by an adaptation engine to create an adaptive course based on user model information. Based on domain models consisting of concepts and relationships between concepts, pedagogical relationships can be used to connect concepts of domain models in a pedagogical meaningful way. Each type of these relationships contains adaptation code which formally specifies the meaning of relationships on a technical and a pedagogical level. To support authors in creating these relationship types a tool is being developed which easily allows the authoring process.
Personal learning environment (PLE) solutions aim at empowering learners to design (ICT and web-b... more Personal learning environment (PLE) solutions aim at empowering learners to design (ICT and web-based) environments for their activities in different learning contexts and even for transitions between these contexts. Hereby, recommender systems which are highly successful in other application areas comprise one relevant technology for supporting learners in PLE-based activities. In this paper we examine the utilization of recommender technology for PLEs. However, being confronted by a variety of educational contexts and due to different research approaches dealing with recommenders, we present three strategies for providing PLE recommendations to learners. Consequently, we compare these recommender strategies by discussing their strengths and weaknesses in general.
Adaptation to the learner's knowledge level and competence-based course creation have been a ... more Adaptation to the learner's knowledge level and competence-based course creation have been a major goal of e-learning research projects. However, besides the research projects there is a powerful and emerging development of many open source learning management systems with little or no adaptation functionality. In order to bring together widespread and popular learning management systems and scientific-oriented approaches of competence-based personalisation, this paper presents a solution how a personalised e-learning approach can be applied to arbitrary Web-based learning management systems. A Web service approach is presented which enables and controls adaptation of learning management systems. The scientific foundation is realised by implementing the Competence-based Knowledge Space Theory which is a framework for representing and connecting domain ontologies and knowledge and competence levels of learners.
In the context of the EU-funded cultural heritage project CULTURA (http://www.cultura-strep.eu/),... more In the context of the EU-funded cultural heritage project CULTURA (http://www.cultura-strep.eu/), the Web-based service Equalia has been developed to support evaluators in designing, carrying out, and analysing evaluations. This service has been used to evaluate and has been integrated with the CULTURA system, which is a platform that supports researchers and students in their work with digital cultural heritage collections. The evaluation service allows to specify what and how to evaluate the CULTURA system through an evaluation model and, in reference to this model, to collect and analyse evaluation data from users of the CULTURA system on different levels. Beside traditional questionnaires applied after system usage, also continuous user feedback given to short questions during interaction with the system and log data are taken into account. Automatically generated reports are derived based on the underlying evaluation model. The evaluation service has been applied in the context...
This paper presents the evaluation approach taken for an innovative research environment for digi... more This paper presents the evaluation approach taken for an innovative research environment for digital cultural heritage collections in the CULTURA project. The integration of novel services of information retrieval to support exploration and (re)search of digital artefacts in this research environment, as well as the intended corpus agnosticism and diversity of target users posed additional challenges to evaluation. Starting from a methodology for evaluating digital libraries an evaluation model was established that captures the qualities specific to the objectives of the CULTURA environment, and that builds a common ground for empirical evaluations. A case study illustrates how the model was translated into a concrete evaluation procedure. The obtained outcomes indicate a positive user perception of the CULTURA environment and provide valuable information for further development.
A paradigm shift from a knowledge to a competence society is going on, which also becomes increas... more A paradigm shift from a knowledge to a competence society is going on, which also becomes increasingly important for educational and vocational training purposes. Skills and competences are employed to describe learning content, students' capabilities, learning processes, and the like. Creating descriptions of skills and competences and assigning them manually is usually an exhausting task. Thus technology-enhanced support is needed.
In this paper a novel approach is presented how visualisation of knowledge and competence structu... more In this paper a novel approach is presented how visualisation of knowledge and competence structures can be employed in order to support personalisation in e-learning systems. Information visualisation strategies are used to present ontology-based domain knowledge and related competence structures to the learner. In contrast to adaptive e-learning systems which employ domain and user models for the adaptation and personalisation
Adaptation is a well known concept in the field of e-learning and is increasingly applied in mode... more Adaptation is a well known concept in the field of e-learning and is increasingly applied in modern learning systems. In order to gain more flexibility and to enhance existing e-learning platforms, we have developed a generic solution approach which enables to add adaptation functionality to existing Web-based e-learning systems. In this paper we present a distributed architecture on the basis
Communications in Computer and Information Science, 2012
ABSTRACT The 21st century is challenging the future educational systems with ‘twitch-speed’ socie... more ABSTRACT The 21st century is challenging the future educational systems with ‘twitch-speed’ societal and technological changes. The pace of (technological) innovations forces future education to fulfill the need of empowering people of all societal, cultural, and age groups the acquire competences and skills in real-time for demands and tasks we cannot even imagine at the moment. To realize that, we do need smart novel educational technologies that can support the learners on an individual basis and accompany them during a lifelong personal learning and development history. This paper gives some brief insights in approaches to adaptive education based on sound psycho-pedagogical foundations and current technologies.
Uploads
Papers by Alexander Nussbaumer