Smart Spaces for Learning: Semantic web in a P2P learning network

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Smart Spaces for Learning Semantic web in a P2P
learning network

Sigrún Gunnarsdóttir Reserach department
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Overview

• What is Elena?
• Use case scenario
• Project vision
• Learning technology standards
• Architecture
• Objectives
• Benefits
• Facts and figuresPartners

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What is Elena?

• Elena aims at creating smart spaces for learning
  that support the smart mediation of learning
  services based on user profiling, service
  evaluation and reputation ratings.
• PLA, the personal learning assistant, performs
  the search for suitable learning services based
  on the learner's individual profile, processes
  the selected services and supports the evaluation
  of the learner.

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What is Elena?

• Examples for a learning service are the delivery
  of a course, the provision of a web-based
  training application or self-study material.

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Smart Learning Spaces

• ... are understood as peer-to-peer networks
  (spaces) that mediate educational services (e.g.
  delivery of courses or educational material)
• ... take advantage of distributed user profiling
  in order to support the selection of educational
  services.

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Use Case Scenario
Bob
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Project Vision
interoperabilty along the educational value chain
ELENA Focus
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Samples of live courses
Trial WUW Lectures on IT
Trial IBA Course
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Metadata

• Metadata is information about information and is
  structured in a manner that facilitates the
  management, discovery and retrieval of resources
  on the World Wide Web.
• Metadata standards for the Internet are an
  attempt to bridge the gap between the
  comprehensive cataloguing which is done by
  professionals in the library context, and the
  free-for-all of document creation on the Web.

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Learner resource standards

• Lom
• IMS
• Ariande
• Dublin Core (DCMI)
• Cancore
• GEM
• EdNa
• CEN/ISSS (http//www.cen-ltso.net/Users/main.eng.a
  spx)

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Learner profile standards
IMS LIP
IEEE PAPI
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Current approaches I

• Learner profile management
• Distributed learner modelling (Vasileva 2002)
• Each peer has learner modelling cappabilities
• User modelling servers (Kobsa 2001)
• Huge user profile is maintained at some kind of
  user modelling server
• Proprietary user model databases
• Based mostly on specific personalisation
  technique developed

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System Architecture
Smart Space for Learning
Personal Learning Assistent
Personal Learning Assistent
Edutella PeertoPeer Infrastructure
Booking and Access Control
Service Announcement and Discovery
Electronic educational resources
Educational Node
Educational Node
Metadata describing educational services
Rating/Evaluation Service Provider
Learning Management Network
Edutella query hub
Edutella interface
Web service interface
Learner Profile
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System Architecture(2)
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RDF and RDFS

• Open world assumption requires RDF in order to
  provide means for annotating educational
  services, learning resources, etc. with metadata
• RDF Schema is used for describing differences
  between concepts (RDF Schema vocabulary class,
  property, subclass, type, ...)

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Issues - P2P network

• Analysis showed that we have to apply a subset of
  more than one standard
• We cannot guarantee only one modelling server
  with one common schema (new modelling servers can
  appear and disappear in P2P network)
• Different personalisation techniques require
  different learner features and different
  structure of learner profile
• New personalisation techniques can be introduced
  in the future

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Objectives

• Design, implement and test a smart space for
  learning that integrates heterogeneous learning
  services
• Analysis of existing standards for modeling
  learning-relevant data beyond learning objects
  and development of recommendations for their
  development
• Derive best practice guidelines for deploying
  smart spaces for learning from an organisational,
  technological and pedagogical perspective

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Benefits

• ...for learners and organisations
• Support the management of your career with Elena
  learning paths
• Increased transparency of learning opportunities
• Personalised offer of learning resources
• Ease of achieving personal development goals
• Targeted and personalised training for work force
• Increased effectiveness of personnel development
• Precise control of training budget

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ELENA - Facts and Figures

• RTD project, IST Programme
• Action Line III.5.3 Pioneering Research in AL
  III (Multimedia Content and Tools)
• Budget 3,9 Mio. (2,3 Mio. EC funding)
• Duration 30 Months (Start Sept. 2002)

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Project Consortium

• AllwebChalkis, Greece
• Centre for Social InnovationVienna, Austria
• CDIMunich, Germany
• Iceland TelecomReykjavik, Iceland
• imc information multimediacommunication
  AGSaarbruecken, Germany
• BearingPoint InfonovaGraz, Austria
• Institut Joef StefanLjubljana, Slovenija

National Centre for ScientificResearch
DemokritosAthens, Greece Universidad
Polictécnica MadridDepartment of Telematic
EngineeringMadrid, Spain University of
HanoverLearning Lab Lower Saxony (L3S)Hanover,
Germany Wirtschaftsuniversität WienInformation
Systems DepartmentVienna, Austria
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QUESTIONS ?Thank you

Sigrún Gunnarsdóttir sigrung_at_siminn.is