Memorias Conferencia Universidad Galileo

Transcripción

1
Departamento de Investigación y Desarrollo
Universidad Galileo
MEMORIAS
2ª. Conferencia Internacional E-Learning Integral 2.0
Y
6ª. Conferencia Internacional de OpenACS y .LRN
Guatemala, 12 al 15 de febrero de 2008
0
ISBN 978-99922-2-434-2
Comité del Programa 2a. Conferencia Internacional E-Learning
Integral 2.0












Rocael Hernández, Universidad Galileo, Guatemala. (Director
de Comité del Programa)
Carl Blesius, M.D., MGH Lab of Computer Science / Harvard,
U.S.A.
Jesús G. Boticario, Ph.D., aDeNu Research Group, UNED,
España.
Carlos Delgado Kloos, Ph.D., UC3M, España.
Gustaf Neumann, Ph.D., University of Economics and Business
Administration, Vienna, Austria.
Abelardo Pardo, Ph.D., UC3M, España.
Rafael Pastor, Ph.D., Innova, UNED, España.
Olga C. Santos, aDeNu Research Group, UNED, España
Dr. Cyrano Ruiz, Ph.D., Universidad Galileo.
Dr. Bernardo Morales, Ph.D., Universidad Galileo.
Inga. Stephany Orozco, Universidad Galileo.
Ing. Rodrigo Baessa, Universidad Galileo.
Program Committee OpenACS and .LRN Conference











Carl Blesius, MGH Lab of Computer Science (MIT / Harvard),
U.S.A.
Jesús G. Boticario, aDeNu Research Group, UNED, Spain.
Carlos Delgado Kloos, UC3M, Spain.
Alfred Essa, U.S.A.
Rocael Hernández, Galileo University, Guatemala.
Raúl Morales, Innova, UNED, Spain.
Gustaf Neumann, University of Economics and Business
Administration, Vienna, Austria.
Abelardo Pardo, UC3M, Spain.
Rafael Pastor, Innova, UNED, Spain.
Emmanuelle Raffenne, aDeNu Research Group, UNED, Spain.
Olga C. Santos, aDeNu Research Group, UNED, Spain.
1
INDICE
El rol del e-learning en el proceso electoral 2007 Guatemala
Experiencia Tribunal Supremo Electoral – Corporate Learning…………
E-Learning en Galileo, Acceso e Innovación para todos………………..
Calidad en elearning: Criterios de calidad en el aprendizaje virtual –
la experiencia de la URL…………………………………………………
Scrutinising Competencias: Retraceable Clouds of Learning Goals
In the APOSDLE System………………………………………………..
Open Source Collaborative eLearning………………….……………….
Educación Nacional Apoyada por Ciencia y Tecnología………………..
Usability in e-Learning Platforms: heuristicscomparison between
Moodle, Sakai and dotLRN……………………………………………..
Monitoring of Learning Performance: From Eye-Tracking Support
to Explicit Feedback……………………………………………………….
Playing Games with Business: History, Theory and Examples……………
A Web Application Mashup Approach for E-Learning …………………..
Web Content Creation Tool for dotLRN…………………………………...
Automatic Limited- Choice and Completion Test Cration,
Assessmente and feeback in modern Learning processes…………………
Transnational Educational Technology ………………….………………
Ajax, Listbuilder, and Dynamic Types……………………………………
Web Storage Website: AJAX & OpenACS ………………………………
Ajax interfaces inside OpenACS………………………………………….
Xowiki as CMS?...........................................................................................
A General Tracking and Auditing Architecture for the OpenACS
Framework………………………………………………………………….
Management of standard-based User Models and Device Profiles in
OpenACS……………………………………………………………………
Dynamic support in OpenACS/dotLRN: Technological
Infrastructure for providing dynamic recommendations
for all in open and standard-based LMS …………………………………
Galileo´s Infrastructure…………………………………….......................
Diseño y Evolución del Clúster de E-Learning (.LRN) en la
Universitat de València……………………………………………………..
Proyectos de e-Learning desarrollados en Universidad Galileo 2006-2007…
Arquitectura .LRN…………………………………………………………..
8
17
28
34
47
59
76
87
98
106
114
126
134
142
148
162
172
180
190
198
209
212
214
216
2
ISBN 978-99922-2-434-2
INDICE DE AUTOR
Aguilar, Maria José
Usability in e-Learnig Platforms: heuristics comparison
between Moodle, Sakai and dotLRN
76
Aguilar, Vivian
Arquitectura de .LRN
216
Aust, Ronald
Open Source Collaborative eLearning
47
Transnational Educational Technology
134
Bauer, David
Ajax, Listbuilder, and Dynamic Types
142
Beham, Günter
Scrutinising Competencias: Retraceable Clouds of Learning Aposdle Goals
in the System
34
Boticário, Jesús G.
A General Tracking and Auditing Architecture for
the OpenACS framework
Management of standard-based User Models
infrastructure for providing dynamic recommendations
Clavería, César
Web Storage Website: AJAX & OpenACS
Couchet, Jorge
Cuartero, Adrián
De La Roca, Mónica
Modelo Educativo de e-Learning implementado en
Universidad Galileo
Finkel, Meir
76
180
190
198
148
180
190
214
EDUCACIÓN NACIONAL APOYADA POR CIENCIA Y
TECNOLOGÍA
Furman, Rich
García Izaguirre, Sonia
Universidad Galileo
214
García-Barrios, Victor Manuel
Scrutinising Competencias: Retraceable Clouds of Learning
Aposdle Goals in the System
59
134
34
3
Monitoring of Learning Performace: From Eye- Tracking Support
Explicit Feedback
A Web Application Mashup Approach for eLearning
Giorgis de Orozco, Nidia
to
87
106
Calidad en E- Learning: Criterios de Calidad en el Aprendizaje Virtual
Granado, Jorge
Guerra, Victor M.
Ajax interfaces inside OpenACS
Web Content Creation Tool for dotLRN
Gütl, Christian
Automatic Limited-Choice and Completion Test Cration,
Assessment and Feedback in modern Learning Processes
Hernández, Rocael
28
190
198
162
114
126
E learning en Galileo Acceso e Innovación Para Todos
17
114
148
Ajax Interfaces inside OpenACS
162
XOWIKI AS CMS
172
Galileo Infraestructure
209
Kump, Bárbara
Scrutinising Competencias: Retraceable Clouds of Learning Aposdle Goals
in the System
34
Linares, Byron H.
114
Manrique, Daniel
180
Martin, Ludivine
76
Meeks, Carolina
Playing Games with Business: History, Theory, and Example
Mödritscher, Felix
106
Morales, Miguel
17
E learning en Galileo Acceso e Innovación Para Todos
Universidad Galileo
Neumann, Gustaf
Quesada, Allen
Raffenne, Emmanuelle
98
214
107
48
135
4
Revilla, Olga
181
191
199
77
Rodríguez, Alvaro
XOWIKI AS CMS
Roldán Martinez, David
173
77
Santos, Edgar
El Rol de E- Learning en el Proceso Electoral 2007 Guatemala
Santos, Olga C.
for all in open and standard-based LMS
Wild, Fridolin
8
77
181
191
199
107
5
MENSAJE DEL ORGANIZADOR
Poner en marcha un evento, de carácter internacional es un reto, pero a su vez un
deber dentro de nuestro contexto educativo en Guatemala. Un especial
agradecimiento a todas las autoridades de la Universidad Galileo que nos apoyaron e
hicieron posible este evento, de igual forma extiendo cordiales agradecimientos a los
colegas de diversas instituciones Nacionales, en Estados Unidos, Europa y Latino
América que también colaboraron en la realización del mismo. Por último, pero
igualmente importante, es de reconocer y agradecer el esfuerzo, entusiasmo y apoyo
de todo el Departamento de Investigación y Desarrollo, GES, cuya labor ha sido
fundamental para el evento.
En esta segunda edición de nuestra conferencia de E-learning Integral (la cual se
transformó de foro a conferencia) decidimos adoptar un programa amplio en el cual se
cuenta con una sesión plenaria de ponencias, una sesión de stands y pósters, y 2
tutoriales, todo relacionado al tema de la Conferencia: Acceso e Innovación en el Elearning. Se decidió adoptar este título - tema para la conferencia porque es
importante mostrar las innovaciones en el campo, y a su vez hablar del acceso al Elearning en general, especialmente dentro de nuestro contexto latinoamericano a nivel
académico, gubernamental, etc.
El mayor reto fue evaluar las propuestas de trabajos de investigación que se
recibieron, tan diversos e interesantes, para luego producir este libro electrónico que
tiene un número ISBN que le permite ser referenciado internacionalmente y provee un
elemento de prestigio adicional para las conferencias.
Todo esto nos ha dejado una enorme experiencia que iremos incorporando en las
siguientes ediciones de la Conferencia.
Por otra parte, ha sido una gran responsabilidad ser la sede de la 6a. Conferencia de
.LRN & OpenACS. Fue idóneo organizar ambos eventos de forma continua, y ambas
Conferencias se vieron beneficiadas por esta sinergía.
Se proyecta continuar con más ediciones del evento de E-learning Integral para seguir
creando un espacio y ambiente en el cual a través de los diversos participantes se
conozca, comparta, discuta y exponga lo más reciente del E-learning en
Latinoamérica y el mundo, creando así, un impacto positivo en los asistentes, y en
general para nuestro país, especialmente en este momento, donde la Sociedad del
Conocimiento es una realidad.
6
Todos debemos ser participes de los cambios que la tecnología esta provocando en los
procesos educativos, transformar a nuestros estudiantes en ciudadanos de este mundo
plano y digital, con las competencias necesarias para triunfar profesionalmente.
Deseo que este material sea de mucho provecho para sus actividades educativas y
profesionales.
Ing. Rocael Hernández Rizzardini
Organizador del Evento
Director Desarrollo, Depto. de Investigación y Desarrollo.
Director Galileo Educational System (GES),
E-campus, E-learning & Diseño Instruccional.
Universidad Galileo
Torre Galileo, oficina 413
Guatemala.
7
El rol del e-learning en el proceso electoral 2007
Guatemala
Experiencia Tribunal Supremo Electoral – Corporate
Learning
Edgar Santos
Tema: Experiencias y Mejores Prácticas
Ponencia.
1. ANTECEDENTES
El Tribunal Supremo Electoral, instaló más de 600 puntos de votación a nivel
nacional y se llegó a lugares recónditos del país con el objetivo de que toda la
población emitiera su voto, múltiples municipios del país contaron con mesas de
votación. Para el conteo de las boletas de votación se tenía el objetivo de emplear
2,000 personas encargadas de digitar las boletas mediante un sistema implementado
por el Tribunal Supremo Electoral, la selección y entrenamiento se debía realizar en el
mes de agosto y contar con personal capacitado en el puesto, que conociera bien los
procedimientos de digitación y conteo así como el envió respectivo de los reportes,
además de saber de la responsabilidad que cubre al tomar este puesto tanto el
compromiso adquirido con la institución como para el país, ósea una reflexión de
valores ciudadanos.
2. EL RETO
Llevar la capacitación a más de 2,000 personas para digitar las boletas de digitación.
El TSE realizó una convocatoria donde tuvieron una afluencia de más de 10,000.00
personas que en un término de una semana deberían ser evaluados con equipo de
computo en un salón de Parque de La industria y 2 centros en el interior del país, con
el fin de elegir a cada persona que esté interesada en participar en la jornada de
trabajo que el TSE convoca, que cumpla los requisitos y complete satisfactoriamente
la capacitación y así mismo las evaluaciones correspondientes.
3. LA SOLUCIÓN
El Tribunal Supremo Electoral en conjunto con Corporate Learning, empresa
especializada en soluciones de e-learning, realizaron un contenido e-learning de
8
aproximadamente una hora de capacitación con practicas interactivas tanto del uso de
el programa de Ingreso de datos o boletas así como un contenido de Valores, además
de un examen. La utilización de la metodología Corporate Learning para la
realización de contenido, Exámenes y perfil de participantes permitió capacitar y
clasificar entre 10,000 personas las 2000 personas que apoyaron el proceso electoral
2007 en Guatemala.
Fig. 1 Pantalla inicial del contenido del curso e-learning para la capacitación en las
elecciones generales 2007
Tribunal Supremo Electoral Integrando La Tecnología En Su
Capacitación.
g. Edgar Santos, Gerente General
Fig 2. Pantalla del contenido del curso e-learnning, Opciones del sistema para ingresar un acta.
9
Tribunal Supremo Electoral Integrando La Tecnología En Su
Capacitación.
4. CONTEXTO GENERAL
El Tribunal Supremo Electoral como en cada proceso de elecciones tiene grandes
retos entre ellos el realizar el conteo de los votos en el menor tiempo posible y con
certeza, para esto se valió de un sistema de información que le permitiera captar y
transmitir los datos de distintos centros de votación distribuidos en el país. Al
involucrar un sistema de información trae varios retos:
1. Reclutar a 2,000 personas con habilidades de digitación y usos de sistemas de
información.
2. Seleccionar entre más de 10,000 personas
3. Garantizar que el personal que se selecciona pueda rápidamente adecuarse al
sistema.
4. El personal está distribuido geográficamente en el país y no todos los candidatos
tienen acceso a Internet.
5. Coordinar actividades de capacitación en conjunto con toda la logística del proceso
electoral.
10
5. CAPACITACIÓN TRADICIONAL VRS. CAPACITACIÓN ELEARNING
En el caso del TSE si se hubiera querido hacer un proceso de capacitación con 2,000
personas se hubiese necesitado logística como: salones de clase, instructores,
instalación de equipos, manejo de horarios, traslados, suponiendo que en una
capacitación tradicional un salón de 12 personas es adecuado para el manejo de 1
instructor, en este caso se hubieran necesitado 167 grupos de alumnos de clase para
dar capacitación en 4 horas, además que la restricción que se tenía era en 2 semanas o
10 días hábiles para realizarlo esto da un total de 17 salones.
Una de las ventajas del e-learning, es la combinación de diferentes elementos
multimedia, como sonido, videos y simulaciones, permite enfocar en los alumnos en
decirle como se hace, luego el alumno hace el mismo ejemplo de manera guiada, esto
logro reducir la capacitación a 1 hora.
Aprovechando este ahorro de tiempo también se decidió agregar una evaluación con
el objetivo de medir la eficiencia y eficacia del candidato, es decir se creó un
simulador del software, al candidato se le entrega una copia de actas reales llenas con
datos, estas debían ser digitadas dentro del simulador, al finalizar de introducirla el
sistema hacía un cálculo automático de nota donde evaluaba tiempo de introducirla
vrs. Los errores cometidos, es decir eficiencia y eficacia. Esto permitió que el tribunal
pudiera seleccionar a
las mejoras notas de los candidatos.
Como se puede ver en la tabla 2 de selección de personal, se tuvieron más de 10,000
candidatos a la plaza temporal, en la capacitación tradicional se hubiera tenido que
hacer una revisión de los curriculums y seleccionar a los 2,000 basado en
documentos. Si se hubiera querido capacitar y luego examinar se hubiera requerido
aproximadamente 83 salones de 12 personas. En el caso real se tuvieron salones con
mayor número de personas hasta 150 personas, y se requirieron 3 salones únicamente
en 3 puntos del país.
11
TABLA 1
TABLA 2
6. METODOLOGÍA IMPLEMENTADA CORPORATE
LEARNING:
Se utilizó la metodología ―Mentored Learning‖ en la capacitación del sistema de
―EscrutinioElecciones Generales 2007‖.
Esta metodología combina las clases presénciales con cursos de auto estudio.
Para lograr capacitar y seleccionar a los 10,000 candidatos, se realizaron 3 pasos:
12
1) Anuncio de Prensa
2) Asistencia al curso
3) Selección de Candidatos
Cada uno de los pasos fue crucial para lograr reclutar y capacitar a los diferentes
aspirantes.
Anuncio en Prensa:
Aproximadamente 1 mes antes de la capacitación se convocó en los diarios de mayor
circulación del país el anuncio en prensa en el cual se convocaba a la capacitación,
además de darlos detalles correspondientes al puesto de trabajo.
Asistencia a Curso:
El curso de ―Escrutinio Elecciones Generales 2007‖, se impartió con una
metodología de ―Mentored Learning‖. Esta metodología combinó los principales
beneficios de las clases presénciales y los cursos de auto estudio. Entre los beneficios
obtenidos en esta capacitación podemos mencionar:
Enfoque en el estudiante: cada estudiante recibió su capacitación a su propio
ritmo, lo cual le permitió enfocarse en aquellos temas que más demandaron su
atención.
Instrucción Uno-Uno: siempre se contó con por lo menos un Mentor dentro del
salón de clases, el cual era un experto en cada uno de los temas del curso. Su función
principal fue guiar al estudiante y aclarar cualquier tipo de duda.
La capacitación de cada aspirante, se puede dividir en 5 etapas:
Asistencia a los salones de clase
Se contó con 3 salones de clases distribuidos de la siguiente forma:
13
Principios y Valores
El compromiso con Guatemala que cada aspirante tendría al ser contratado por el
Tribunal Supremo Electoral era muy alto, ya que el trabajo que tendría seria de
ingresar los resultados de las votaciones en el sistema central de cómputo.
Por tal motivo al inicio de su capacitación se hizo conciencia de los principios y
valores que rigen a todos los colaboradores del Tribunal Supremo Electoral, así como,
hacerle ver la importancia de su labor dentro del proceso electoral 2007.
Lección
El curso fue dosificado en 16 lecciones, las cuales enseñaron al estudiante todos los
lineamientos y forma de utilización del sistema de ―Escrutinio Elecciones Generales
2007‖.
Este curso se realizo con contenidos multimedia interactivos que permitieron al
estudiante escuchar la voz de su instructor, al mismo tiempo que iba realizando todos
los procedimientos que el instructor le pedía hacer.
El estudiante siempre tuvo visible el sistema de ―Escrutinio Elecciones Generales
2007‖, con el objetivo de estar familiarizado con la interfaz de este.
Practica
Luego que el estudiante recibió la lección y realizó todos los pasos que el instructor le
pidió, pasó a una fase de práctica, donde se encontró con una simulación real del
sistema de ―Escrutinio Elecciones Generales 2007‖. Aquí se le pedía al estudiante
14
que realizara las tareas enseñadas con el fin de asegurarse del entendimiento de la
lección.
ng. Edgar Santos, Gerente General
El estudiante tuvo la oportunidad de repetir las veces que fueran necesaria cada
lección antes de pasar a la fase del examen. Durante esta fase el estudiante podía
consultar al Mentor cualquier duda o inquietud.
Examen
Al finalizar la capacitación por parte del estudiante, este pasó a la fase del examen en
donde se simuló un ingreso de 4 juegos de actas al sistema de ―Escrutinio Elecciones
Generales 2007‖. Las actas se le proporcionaron en papel y debía utilizar el sistema
para ingresar dichas actas.
En este examen se valuaron 2 aspectos:
- Eficiencia, Tiempo para el ingreso de las actas
- Efectividad en los datos ingresados, número de errores ingresados
7. SELECCIÓN DE CANDIDATOS
Todos los candidatos, antes de iniciar el examen, llenaron un formulario con la
información necesaria para que el Tribunal Supremo Electoral pudiera contactarlos en
caso de ser seleccionados.
Todas las notas de los estudiantes quedaron almacenadas en una base de datos
centralizada en la cual se filtro para seleccionar a los mejores 2,000 punteos. Estos
fueron contratados por el Tribunal Supremo Electoral.
5.1 Autores:
Edgar Santos, Ingeniero en Ciencias y Sistemas Universidad de San Carlos de
Guatemala, Master in Business Administration de la Universidad Francisco
Marroquín, Gerente General Corporate Learning. Director del proyecto de e-learning
del sistema de escrutinios para el Tribunal Supremo Electoral 2007.
Sofia Posada, Licenciada en Diseño Gráfico con especialización en multimedia,
Master en Nuevas tecnologías orientadas a la educación titulada por las universidades
de Alicante de Madrid, Carlos Tercero Barcelona de España, Especialista en
metodología y multimedia del contenido del proyecto de e-learning del sistema de
escrutinios para el Tribunal Supremo Electoral 2007.
15
E-Learning en Galileo, Acceso e Innovación para todos
16
Rocael Hernández, Miguel Morales
Universidad Galileo
(roc, amorales)@galileo.edu
RESUMEN
Se explorara el trabajo realizado por parte del Departamento de Investigación y
Desarrollo en el área de e-Learning, el mismo realizado de manera integral dentro de
la Universidad Galileo, partiendo de elementos básicos como la transmisión
sistemática de conocimientos acerca de producción e implantación de cursos eLearning, la simplificación continua del sistema, la introducción de nuevas
tecnologías y herramientas, para finalizar en las líneas de trabajo de cara al futuro.
1. INTRODUCCIÓN
Desde hace más de 8 años la universidad Galileo cuenta con soporte en Internet para
sus cursos, a través del sistema conocido como GES (Galileo Educational System), y
durante los últimos años se ha expandido el alcance de este sistema y sus procesos a
casi toda la universidad, contando con más de 100,000 usuarios registrados en el
sistema.
Parte de los objetivos actuales son simplificar los procesos e interfaz del LMS
(Learning Management System), hacerlos de fácil acceso para los catedráticos y
estudiantes. De igual forma es necesario incorporar métodos y prácticas de como
utilizar mejor la tecnología en la educación y para ello es fundamental crear procesos
para poder duplicar estos conocimientos y buenas prácticas.
A continuación describimos el caso GES / Galileo que implementa un e-Learning
integral (que involucra tanto tecnología, como metodologías, mejores prácticas y
procesos de entrenamiento en estas áreas) con el que se pretende brindar mayor
acceso al e-Learning, y a su vez realizar innovaciones durante dicho proceso.
2. ACCESO E INNOVACIÓN EN LA TECNOLOGÍA
En la universidad Galileo se utiliza como sistema de administración de aprendizaje
(LMS por sus siglas en íngles, Learning Management System) llamado .LRN
(pronunciado dot-learn), que puede ser obtenido gratuitamente en www.dotlrn.org.
El sistema es conocido como GES (Galileo Educational System) el cual es una
instalación y adaptación del LMS .LRN, dicha instalación ha sido adaptada a las
necesidades de la Universidad Galileo siendo además de un LMS, un sistema que
integra diversos servicios que son de importancia para el estudiante y catedrático.
17
Se ha abordado el trabajo para simplificar, unificar y mejorar la interfaz de usuario,
para lo cual se ha trabajado en diversas fases, tales como la realización de una nueva
imagen gráfica, unificación de aplicaciones, simplificación y automatización de
procesos, y otros. Para ello se ha utilizado los principios de Diseño de Interacción de
Usuario [1] con el objetivo de reducir la fricción cognitiva que todo sistema
informático conlleva para el usuario [2], en donde se elabora un escenario en base a
las metas que el usuario tiene hacia la utilización del sistema. Como complemento
necesario en varias partes del sistema se utilizó la tecnología llamada AJAX que
ayuda a hacer la interfaces mas interactivas para ambientes web, los siguientes son los
principales trabajos realizados.
2.1. Nueva interfaz gráfica:
Se diseño una nueva interfaz gráfica en la cual se trabajaron 2 áreas, una es la
visualización gráfica, de colores e iconografía. Se realizo un diseño gráfico mas
ajustado al web 2.0, donde se uso tonalidades apropiadas para las diversas áreas del
sistema, efectos visuales minimalistas tales como sombras, 3D, líneas divisorias. Por
otra parte, en cuanto a la navegación, se crearon 4 pestañas superiores, que en todo
momento indican la posición en donde se encuentra dentro del sistema. Las áreas son:
mi portal (refleja el mismo contenido que siempre se ha tenido para el área de portal
personal, pero con la diferencia de que esta accesible siempre), cursos (un elemento
directo para acceder al listado de cursos desde cualquier parte del sistema), Mi cuenta
(acciones administrativas para mi curso), y la pestaña para cada curso (donde se
encuentra las secciones para navegar en los recursos del curso).
2.2. Sistema de copiado de elementos entre clases:
Se creó un proceso integrado para copiar elementos de un curso a otro(s). El proceso
se simplifico a 3 pasos: 1) seleccionar de que curso deseo copiar elementos, 2)
seleccionar elementos que deseo copiar (tales como tareas, examenes, documentos,
graficas, etc.), y 3) seleccionar curso o cursos destino de la copia.
Se utilizó AJAX para las interfaces gráficas proveyendo una forma fácil de navegal
entre los cursos y contenido, de una forma interactiva.
2.3. Estructuración de interfaz administrativa y de reportes del subsistema de
evaluación:
18
El ordenamiento, organización y simplificación de acceso a la información es
necesario en todo sistema, en el caso del LMS .LRN y su versión GES de Galileo
contamos con un sistema para administración de un determinado curso por parte de
profesor, este sistema permite la creación de diversos categorías de asignaciones, tales
como exámenes, tareas, laboratorios, etc, y adicionalmente contar con elementos en
cada uno, por ejemplo tareas tendría tarea 1, tarea 2, etc. Cada uno de estos elementos
debe de ser evaluado por el profesor. Se agrupo la interfaz administrativa para cada
asignación a través de secciones (tabs): Información, Evaluados, No Evaluados,
Evaluar con Excel. Adicionalmente para la entrega de asignación por Internet existe
un tab adicional: Sin entregar. Anteriormente todas estas secciones estaban integradas
en una sola página. Ahora se unen en un sistema de tabs que combina AJAX e
historial de navegación en el browser [3].
De igual forma se trabajo con los reportes de asignaciones, se agruparon por
secciones (tabs) y se les incluyo AJAX para una navegación mas sencilla, ya que no
hay necesidad de recargar la página para servir el contenido, eso permite la
consistencia visual de los tabs y reduce costo cognitivo de utilizar la interfaz ya que es
una interfaz similar utilizada en diversas partes del sistema y que es muy parecida a la
utilizada en diversos sitios web.
2.4. Herramienta de contenidos:
Es una herramienta sencilla que con un solo clic crea páginas que serán desplegadas
en .LRN, conteniendo las mismas, texto, imágenes, flash, videos, audio, o cualquier
otro recurso que se pueda visualizar en un navegador.
Provee una plantilla básica que ayuda a agrupar la información por capítulos o
unidades didácticas, temas y subtemas (representados por tabs). Adicionalmente
provee una navegación lineal entre páginas de un mismo tema. Como navegación
opcional provee un árbol dinámico que refleja toda la estructura del contenido.
3. ACCESO E INNOVACIÓN EN EL E-LEARNING
Desde hace ya un tiempo, la explosión del Internet y las tecnologías de la información
y la comunicación (TIC) han generado intensas transformaciones sociales y
culturales. Para el GES (Galileo Educational System) todos estos avances
tecnológicos implican grandes desafíos y oportunidades. El principal desafío es la
exigencia de nuevas competencias para los estudiantes, competencias cuyo
aprendizaje y desarrollo deben ser satisfechos por nuestro sistema.
El e-learning es una tendencia mundial en el campo de la educación, tanto dentro del
contexto académico como empresarial. El enfoque más fuerte ha sido en el tema de
tecnología dejando de lado los aspectos igualmente importantes como lo son los
modelos y metodologías educativas a utilizar. El e-learning representa de fondo una
19
innovación en la forma de enseñanza, donde ahora el curso gira alrededor del
estudiante que aprende y no del que enseña.
3.1. Producción de Cursos:
Se creó un proceso integral para el desarrollo de cursos, el cual involucra varios roles,
el del experto, encargado de crear todo el material, el rol del ensamblador, encargado
de trasladar todo el material creado por el experto al formato web utilizando la
herramienta de creación de contenido, también se cuenta con el diseñador grafico y el
diseñador instruccional, el primero se encarga de crear todo el material audiovisual
para el curso y el segundo es el asesor pedagógico, encargado de velar porque el
material este diseñado de tal manera que el estudiante pueda adquirir conocimientos,
desarrollar aptitudes y competencias.
20
3.2. Acceso a contenidos
Dentro del campo de los cursos virtuales se han desarrollado cursos de diferentes
niveles, clasificados por su aplicación, implementación de elementos interactivos, uso
de metodologías de moderación en línea, etc. En este marco hay que resaltar la
importancia de crear materiales accesibles, no hay que olvidar que lo principal es que
el alumno aprenda mediante la tecnología de Internet y no forzosamente aprenda la
tecnología Internet.
El que se utilicen herramientas externas para generar contenido que posteriormente se
insertaran en la plataforma (por ejemplo antes de contar con la herramienta de edición
de contenido, se trabaja con HTML) lleva a que se pierda la uniformidad de los
contenidos (tipos de letra, colores, tamaños, etc). Otro aspecto a considerar es el uso
de términos informáticos, especialmente porque no todos los usuarios están
acostumbrados a ellos y podrían significar cualquier cosa.
Los usuarios deben de saber perfectamente cuál es el camino a seguir en cada unidad
didáctica y donde encontrar todos los recursos. Es necesario indicar de una forma
muy clara el camino a seguir y no dar lugar a ningún error. En general esos son
algunos de los factores que consideramos a la hora de preparar un curso online.
3.3. Cursos Desarrollados
A continuación se listan algunos de los cursos desarrollados:
3.3.1. Maestría en Confiabilidad/ Curso Pensamiento Sistémico
Escenario: Estudiantes de toda la República de Guatemala.
Tipo de Educación: Totalmente en Línea.
Fecha y Duración (de elaboración): Enero-Marzo 2008
Cantidad de Alumnos: 12 Estudiantes en Promedio por Edición.
Cantidad de moderadores: 1 por Edición.
Este curso se desarrollo para la maestría en Confiabilidad, con una duración de 10
semanas, se identifica como curso de categoría uno, por el uso del témplate Web,
adicionalmente es uno de los primeros cursos donde se incluye moderación en línea,
bajo el modelo constructivista obteniendo así un mejor resultado en la
implementación de dicho curso.
3.3.2. Diplomado de ENRED 2005, 2006, 2007
Duración: 10 Semanas, organizado por módulos
21
Cantidad de Cursos desarrollados: 1
Cantidad de moderadores: 20 en Promedio por Edición.
Diplomado dirigido a estudiantes preuniversitarios a nivel nacional, con el objetivo de
desarrollar en los participantes las habilidades y destrezas necesarias para generar y
administrar sitios Web, el proyecto se desarrolla en 10 semanas, y se premian con
becas estudiantiles a los 5 mejores proyectos elaborados, se cuenta con la
participación de moderadores quienes colaboran a lo largo del diplomado.
Este curso incluye elementos interactivos, audio, videos que permiten al participante
desarrollar las capacidades necesarias para el desarrollo de sus sitios Web. Una
característica importante a resaltar es el uso frecuente que se le da a los foros, donde
se llevan a cabo un sinfín de actividades.
3.3.3. Curso de Actualización para Peritos Contadores
Duración: 5 Meses, organizado por módulos
Este curso se caracteriza por la calidad que se logro obtener al utilizar una plantilla
tipo Web, donde se incluía por cada modulo, la guía de estudio (Programa del Curso),
Actividades(Ejercicios, Tareas, Foros), Lecturas Complementarias, Glosario, Anexos
con compendios de leyes en materia tributaria, una de las características principales
de este curso, debido al perfil del curso, es que cuenta con una serie de ejercicios
interactivos y casos prácticos, desarrollados en su totalidad para que se aprenda de
una forma autodirigida. Adicionalmente se incluyo el programa, objetivos y
descripción del curso dentro del mismo modulo de estudio, con lo cual se obtuvo mas
versatilidad y facilidad de uso para el usuario final.
Este curso fue realizado, como parte de una serie de proyectos canalizados a la
actualización académica de los peritos contadores, desarrollado por especialistas en
materia tributaria y con la completa colaboración del Departamento GES, prestando
asesoría en e-Learning, capacitación, diseño gráfico, creación de elementos
interactivos, ensamblaje de cursos, etc.
El curso cuenta con 7 módulos de estudio y un modulo introductorio donde se
explican aspectos generales acerca de la metodología, estructura del curso, elementos
de evaluación, etc. Este curso ya se encuentra disponible en www.galileo.edu,
colocando únicamente en usuario y contraseña: usuariosat.
3.3.4. Curso de Desarrollo y organización personal – FISICC
Tipo de Educación: Blended Learning (Mixto, Presencial/Virtual)
22
Duración: 6 Meses, organizado por módulos
Descripción del proyecto:
Curso en modalidad Blended Learning (Un periodo Presencial y dos en línea a la
semana) con una duración de 16 semanas de clases efectivas mas 3 semanas de
evaluación, creado con la aplicación de creación de contenido, incluyendo material
audiovisual, animaciones interactivas e implementando el modelo de moderación en
línea (Construcción de más de 20 actividades que se desarrollaran en línea).
Actualmente se está implementado.
3.3.5. Maestría en Planificación y Gestión de Políticas y Programas de
Alimentación Infantil – ESCISA
Escenario: Estudiantes de América Latina.
Tipo de Educación: Totalmente en Línea
Duración: 2 años, organizado por módulos
Descripción del proyecto:
Es una alternativa innovadora en materia de pediatría, la Maestría pretende contribuir
a mejorar la salud de mujeres y niñas y niños en la Región de América Latina y el
Caribe a través de la optimización de las prácticas de alimentación infantil.
Tipo de enseñanza y metodología e-Learning
La Maestría será dictada íntegramente en el sistema ―e-Learning‖ debido a dos
motivaciones principales:


Llegar a toda la Región de América Latina y el Caribe, y aún España y el
resto del mundo
Poder contar con un grupo de expertos de excelencia en un tema muy
especializado, ya que no existen en el mundo desde nuestro conocimiento
antecedentes de una maestría de características similares
Los cursos en línea (cursos virtuales) son un concepto educativo que integra soporte
tecnológico, didáctico y administrativo para extender y transferir el conocimiento en
cualquier rama del saber. Este tipo de cursos están basados en la aplicación de las
nuevas Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones, que permiten el
23
aprendizaje sin las limitaciones del lugar, tiempo, ocupación o edad de los
estudiantes. E-aprendizaje NO ES e-lectura. Así:






El alumno deja de ser un ente pasivo- para ser el protagonista del proceso
Lo importante pasa a ser cómo aprenden los alumnos y no cómo enseña el
profesor
El tutor desempeña el rol de guía
No es apto para todos los niveles educativos porque requiere de mucha
disciplina, mayor madurez y mayor compromiso
El aprendizaje debe acercar al estudiante a su realidad
Aplicación inmediata
3.4. Programa Académico de Certificación en E-Learning
Objetivos Generales
•
Capacitar a los participantes en la gestión de ambientes de aprendizaje
virtual mediante el uso de un LMS (Plataforma GES)
•
Brindar a los participantes conocimiento de los conceptos, modalidades y
teorías de aprendizaje que fundamentan e-Learning.
•
Preparar a los participantes en diseño instruccional para el desarrollo
correcto de cursos virtuales.
•
Formar a los participantes para actuar como moderadores en ambientes de
aprendizaje virtual.
•
Incursionar en la creación de material bajo estándares internacionales.
•
Desarrollar en los participantes un conjunto de competencias que le
capaciten para enfrentar las exigentes demandas de educación en la
actualidad, específicamente en el campo de e-Learning.
El programa está estructurado en 5 módulos, con una duración de 175 horas. Cada
uno de los módulos esta diseñado de tal manera que le proporcionara al participante
las mejores prácticas en metodología y tecnología para la implementación de cursos
e-Learning.
•
Módulo I: Manejo de un LMS (GES)
La finalidad de este módulo es enseñar a utilizar de manera eficaz las
distintas herramientas que posee un LMS, específicamente las que proporciona la
24
herramienta GES y entienda el propósito de cada una así como la importancia de las
mismas dentro del desarrollo
de su curso.
•
Módulo II: Fundamentos del E-learning
Este módulo pretende profundizar en los fundamentos de la Educación
virtual, a través de una aproximación teórica y práctica, analizando las diversas
teorías acerca de esta modalidad, sus características, elementos y la importancia de los
estándares
•
Módulo III: E-Moderación
Este módulo pretende desarrollar las destrezas necesarias en los encargados
de impartir un curso virtual, que le permita llevar a cabo las funciones de moderador y
gestor del conocimiento, a través de la implementación de actividades de trabajo
colaborativo, y la correcta aplicación de un modelo desarrollado específicamente para
entornos virtuales [4].
•
Módulo IV: E-Actividades
El módulo analiza la importancia de las actividades en el
aprendizaje virtual, la preparación y gestión de actividades en línea con éxito y
finalmente, propone un modelo concreto de enseñanza - aprendizaje en línea [5].
•
Módulo V: Diseño Instruccional
Éste modulo pretende desarrollar en el participante las competencias
necesarias para el diseño, implementación y ejecución de cursos e-Learning en
cualquier disciplina, a través del planteamiento de una metodología de diseño
curricular, desarrollo de contenidos y evaluación enfocados al e-Learning.
4. CONCLUSIONES Y FUTURO
En Galileo vemos la necesidad de seguir trabajando en la unificación y simplificación
de diversas interfaces dentro de .LRN con vistas a reducir la fricción cognitiva
implicita. La incorporación paulatina del uso de AJAX ayudará a interactuar más
fácilmente con la herramienta.
La educación virtual (e-leraning) es un complemento perfecto para ahorrar tiempo
presencial, rebajar costos, o dar libertad total de horarios, pero para la mayoría de las
25
ocasiones resulta complicado trabajar únicamente con esta opción. Para el futuro,
algunas herramientas que podrían suplir estas carencias podrían ser:
1. Videoconferencias de Grupo
2. Escritorios remotos y demostraciones al momento.
3. Equipos de trabajo distribuidos
4. Exámenes y evaluaciones con un control más directo
Vemos como futuro inmediato el trabajar en integrar con herramientas y servicios en
Internet disponibles hoy en día, los cuales son populares entre los usuarios finales.
Tales como google search, flickr, second life y otros tantos. Es necesario integrar con
tecnologías especializadas que brindan servicios que de otra forma sería costoso en
tiempo y recursos desarrollar. Por tanto, las metodologías didácticas serán más
favorables a la lógica de lo abierto en la medida en que potencien las colaboraciones,
apoyos, agrupaciones de y entre estudiantes, con los contenidos en la Web y el
docente apoyando el proceso como expertos en organización, síntesis y resolución de
problemas basados en informaciones abiertas.
REFERENCIAS
[1] Alan Cooper, Robert Reimann, About FACE 2.0, 2003
[2] Alan Cooper, The Inmutes Are Running the Asylum, 1999.
[3] The Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI), http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/
[4] Gilly Salmon, E-moderating, second edition, 2004
[5] Gilly Salmon, E-tivities, 2002
26
27
Calidad en elearning: Criterios de calidad en el
aprendizaje virtual – la experiencia de la URL
Nidia Giorgis de Orozco
Directora del Departamento de Educación Virtual
Universidad Rafael Landívar
Vista Hermosa III, Campus Central, Zona 16
Oficina H-330
Teléfono: 2426- 2626 ext. 212
[email protected] o [email protected]
La definición de calidad en la educación superior causa polémica y discusiones. Esto
es aún mayor en ambientes virtuales y de aprendizaje en línea. A pesar de ello, algo
tiene que hacerse para medir la calidad del elearning en nuestras instituciones. Al
final, el usuario es quién decide y mide la calidad de la educación que obtiene.
En esta ponencia se expondrán algunas ideas acerca de cómo evaluar la calidad de los
servicios de elearning que ofrecen nuestras instituciones y cómo garantizar a los
alumnos que recibirán lo que esperan.
Algunos puntos a tratar son:



Establecimiento de criterios acerca de la calidad
Instrumentos de Evaluación
Cómo investigar y determinar niveles de calidad
No se trata de replicar los errores en el aula presencial (potenciados) en las aulas
virtuales. Es de aprovechar esta oportunidad para reflexionar qué estamos haciendo
bien y qué estamos haciendo mal en las aulas presénciales, determinar las diferencias
entre un aula presencial y una virtual, y potenciar lo que se hace bien. Además,
aprovechar nuestras fortalezas para atacar o contrarrestar lo que se está haciendo mal.
Como bien expone Frydenberg, Jia (2002), no se trata de inventar el agua azucarada.
Al investigar el entorno mundial, Frydenberg, Jia (2002) determinó 9 elementos a
tomar en consideración para evaluar la calidad de los programas virtuales:
1. Compromiso institucional
2. Infraestructura tecnológica
3. Servicios estudiantiles
4. Diseño instruccional y el desarrollo de los cursos
5. Enseñanza y servicios al profesor
6. Entrega o ―delivery‖
7. Finanzas
8. Reglamentación y cumplimiento con leyes
9. Evaluación
28
A continuación, se estudiarán los criterios propuestos por la autora de esta ponencia
para evaluar la calidad de estos programas. Estos, no están escritos en piedra y
pueden enriquecerse con su discusión ante la comunidad experta en el tema.
ETAPA
CRITERIOS
Diagnóstico
Identificación de Filosofía o marco
Diseño
Identificación de objetivos
Curricular
Cohesión entre objetivos y filosofía o marco filosófico
Aspectos técnicos considerados
Completo
Cohesión con diseño curricular
Estructura
del diseño
Aspectos técnicos considerados
Divido en módulos
Diseño incluye trabajar con conceptos fundamentales (no solo a través de lecturas)
Facilidad de acceso a actividades y materiales para participantes
Sistemática
Participativa
Diseño de
actividades
Flexible
Coherente con objetivos (competencias )
Rol del docente y alumno plenamente identificado
Tiempo suficiente (temporalización)
Promueven el pensamiento crítico, evaluación del estudiante
Promueven la construcción del conocimiento
29
ETAPA
CRITERIOS
Orientan el aprendizaje del estudiante
Se contempla horario de apoyo didáctico de tutores
Productos de actividades claramente definidos
Presentación uniforme
Relevantes
Materiales apoyo suficientes y pertinentes
Guías y ayudas suficientes
Comprensibles
Motivantes
Materiales Disponibles oportunamente
/ Recursos
Accesibles (el alumno cuenta con herramientas (software) necesario)
Variado ( Video, audio, imágenes, VC, guías, laboratorios, simulaciones, etc.) considerando
el aspecto tecnológico de usuarios
Comprobación de que enlaces están activos y que los materiales son accesibles
Respeto del derecho de autor
Sistemática
Objetiva
Participativa
Evaluación
Flexible
Criterios claramente establecidos
Relación directa con objetivos (consistente y coherente)
Motivadora
Continua
30
ETAPA
CRITERIOS
Reglas para retroalimentación constante y clara por parte de tutores
Calendario de evaluación
Esquema de evaluación
CONCLUSIONES
1.
No existe acuerdo respecto al concepto de calidad en los entornos virtuales,
sin embargo, se han realizado avances respecto a la selección y descripción
de criterios a considerar para su evaluación.
2. Es posible y necesario medir la calidad de los programas virtuales
3. Es importante, aprovechar que esta modalidad está relativamente
empezando, para repensar qué estamos haciendo bien y qué estamos
haciendo mal en las aulas presenciales, determinar las diferencias entre un
aula presencial y una virtual, y potenciar lo que se hace bien. Se incluyen
algunas preguntas de reflexión al respecto:
1.1. ¿Quiénes serán nuestros alumnos virtuales?
1.2. ¿Tendrán el autocontrol y la disciplina necesaria para salir adelante en su
tarea de aprendizaje?
1.3. ¿El recurso humano docente estará capacitado para enfrentar esta nueva
modalidad que absorberá nuestro ambiente educativo?
REFERENCIAS
Duart, J. y Martínez, M. (2001). Evaluación de la calidad docente en entornos
virtuales de aprendizaje. Encontrado en:
<http://www.uoc.edu/web/esp/art/uoc/0109041/duartmartin.html> [mayo, 2006]
Frydenberg, Jia (2002). Quality Standards in e-Learning: A matrix of analysis. Irvine
Distance Learning Center University of California. Visitado en Red el 30 de
noviembre del 2007 en:
http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/viewArticle/109/189
31
Santoveña, S. (2005) Criterios de Calidad para la Evaluación de los Cursos Virtuales.
Unidad de Virtualización Académica. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
(UNED). Publicación en línea. España: Granada. Año II, Nº4
Encontrado en:
ttp://www.ugr.es/~sevimeco/revistaeticanet/numero4/Articulos/Formateados/calidad.p
df#search=%22Sonia%20M%C2%AA%20Santove%C3%B1a%20Casal%2B%20CR
ITERIOS%20DE%20CALIDAD%20PARA%20LA%22
Salas, I. (2006). Condiciones que favorecen la calidad de los cursos en Línea.
Universidad Estatal a Distancia. San José.
32
33
Scrutinising Competencies: Retraceable Clouds of
Learning Goals in the APOSDLE System
Victor Manuel García-Barrios1, Günter Beham2, Barbara Kump3
1
Institute for Information Systems and Computer Media, Graz University of Technology,
Inffeldgasse 16c, 8010 Graz, Austria
[email protected]
Know-Center,
Knowledge Management Institute, Graz University of Technology,
Inffeldgasse 21a/II, 8010 Graz, Austria
[email protected], [email protected]
2
3
Abstract. The APOSDLE research project aims at developing an integrated
framework of tools to support work-place learning. The resulting system will
assist workers during their tasks by connecting and optimising their working,
learning and collaboration activities. For this purpose, the system needs
complex models for the representation of workflows, competencies, knowledge
domains as well as user profiles and interactions, among others. In that context,
this paper focuses on the critical aspects that arise from conveying to system
users how their individual task history, competence-based learning goals and
learning activities are interrelated. As a result, a solution approach is presented,
which places learning goals at the centre of a user profile visualisation tool. The
solution approach follows the principles of dynamic lists and tag-clouds in
order to improve the scrutability of individual user profiles and to overcome the
difficulty of conveying in a human-readable form the usage of complex models.
Keywords: Work-integrated Learning, Cloud-based Visualisation, Learning
Goals, Competence Management, Scrutability, User Profiling.
1. INTRODUCTION
In general terms, the development of personalisation-pertinent systems is conducted
under the premise of one size does not fit all. The end-users of such systems are aware
of the increasing amount of well‐tailored information they may access for their
particular needs or goals. Moreover, they are aware of the fact that in the majority of
cases, they have to pay the price or hazard the consequences of delivering personal
data to ensure those services. According to the results of several surveys, most of the
users are willing to do so; e.g. as stated in [1], 76% of the survey subjects expressed
strong interest in receiving personalised content, and 45% were more likely to visit
Web sites that provide personalised recommendations than sites without them. The
high relevance of these systems can be identified in various application areas, such as
e-commerce, recommender systems and adaptive e-learning ([2] [3]). Thus, rather
than a trend, there exists a need for personalisation‐pertinent systems in distinct
34
situations of modern life [4], e.g. in work-place learning in order to increase or
optimise the individual competence level of corporate workers. But apart from the
fact that personalisation continuously gains interest within the research and end-user
communities, the success and efficiency of a personalised service depends strongly on
its technological implementation. The core components of such systems have to deal
with high accuracy when assuming to know their users’ interests and goals, i.e. the
applied reasoning methods, the needed model representations as well as the acquired
(or inferred) information in the individual user profiles are critical issues from the
point of view of system developers.
Against this background, one of the biggest challenges met by developers of
personalisation-pertinent systems is making it easy comprehensible to users how and
why the system has delivered a personalised service as well as which information in
the individual user profile has been used, but at the same time, hiding the level of
computational complexity behind the user interfaces. Thus, the information in the user
individual profiles should be easily scrutable [5]. In general terms, the difficulty of
conveying to end-users the structure, state, meaning and usage of an abstract model
increases with e.g. the complexity of its internal representation and computation, the
degree of its evolution, the lack of its human-readable descriptors, as well as the loss
of the usability of its visualisation. Within the context of personalised services of
work-integrated learning systems, this paper presents a visualisation solution
approach that deals with the high and dynamic complexity of competence-related
models in the first prototype solutions of the APOSDLE system.
The work and ideas presented in this paper are the outcome of the APOSDLE
research project (Advanced Process-Oriented Self-Directed Learning Environment).
As stated in [6], the APOSDLE system offers personalised learning support to their
users while working with existing corporate-associated information and contributing
with new information to the corporate knowledge repository. Within the scope of the
research project, these persons are called knowledge workers and include engineers,
researchers, software developers, consultants and designers. The APOSDLE project
follows a Learn@Work approach, i.e. learning takes place in the immediate working
environment and context of the system user. In contrast with traditional e-learning
systems, the system offers integrated support for the three roles of a knowledge
worker at work-place: worker, learner and expert.
The topics driving the reminder of this paper can be summarised as follows. The
practical scope of the APOSDLE project is defined by the integrated support of the
main activities of knowledge workers: working, learning and collaborating. Thus, the
(semi)automatic identification of their task-based learning goals plays a central role in
the system. In order to fill a competence gap in a working situation, the APOSDLE
system personalises its services for the user and recommends documents, learning
events or collaboration possibilities with experts. Due to the complexity of the models
behind this functionality and taking into account that the users of the system need a
view on the personalisation-pertinent behaviour of the system, a simple and efficient
visualisation of the relationships among the interacting models is required. Chapter 3
deals with this problem and gives an overview on the proposed solution approach.
The paper concludes making references to related work as well as underlining open
issues and future work.
35
2. WORKING, LEARNING, COLLABORATING
This chapter gives an overview on the research ideas and goals of the APOSDLE
project. It introduces into relevant terminology as well as presents the general aspects
of the overall system architecture and of its first prototype implementation (section
2.1). The focus in this chapter is set on the notion of a learning goal. An overview on
the competence-based model of learning goals is introduced, and based on that, main
requirements for the visualisation of an individual chronology of applied & acquired
learning goals are defined. This central point of attention is described in section 2.2.
2.1 Process Oriented Self-Directed Learning
Within the scope of the APOSDLE project, and according to [8], the activities of a
knowledge worker are mainly defined by overall goals and expected results instead of
predefined task procedures. Thus, a knowledge worker may organise the structure of
her activities with certain autonomy in terms of their timing and sequencing. As a
consequence, a knowledge worker may switch to different tasks or domains in her
workflows. This switching reflects the dynamics in a so called user context, wherein a
knowledge worker switches to different roles in her working situations (e.g. from
worker to learner, or from learner to expert).
In APOSDLE, the notion of learning refers to the advancement of knowledge and
skills of knowledge workers, and includes the following characteristics: (a) workplace learning is integrated in the current working tasks of knowledge workers and
utilises existing resources; (b) work-place learning activities aim at enhancing the
performance of working tasks; (c) from the point of view of knowledge workers,
work-place learning may occur spontaneously or unintentionally; (d) the learning
needs and goals of APOSDLE users are derived from the tasks they currently
perform; (e) learning activities emerge either from making use of available knowledge
sources or in the creation of new knowledge (e.g. during collaboration events); (f) the
results of learning activities (i.e. acquired knowledge and skills) may be directly
transferable to the worker‘s working situation. [8]
The general system architecture of APOSDLE‘s first prototype, shown in figure 1
(top side), depicts its central software parts and their interrelations (APOSDLE Tools,
APOSDLE Platform and Backend Systems). The architecture is based on a clientserver software system, whereby the implementation follows a SOA paradigm
(Service-Oriented Architecture) [6]. The Tools provide an interface to the user of the
System, while the Platform provides the server-side functionality of the System. The
bottom side of figure 1 illustrates the two sets of tools at disposal: the Modelling
Tools (for experts to create formal models of user environments) and the Workplace
Tools (for knowledge workers to use during work-integrated learning). Thus, the
APOSDLE Tools represent the degree of operational complexity of the system. The
computational (or functional) complexity of the system is given by the APOSDLE
Platform (see [6] for details), which is mainly in charge of providing (a) foundation
functionality to the whole System (Tools and Platform) through its Classification
Service, Homogenous Access component, Semantic Service and Structure Repository
36
Manager, and (b) a way of recommending resources for work-integrated learning
through its Associative Network component and User Profile Service. The latter issue
is based on the context of the learner, thus, on the one hand the Associative Network
searches and retrieves context-dependent learning sources, and on the other hand the
User Profile Service manages fine-grained information about the learners and their
individual contexts.
Fig. 1. General Overview on APOSDLE System and on its Tools (Modelling & Workplace) [6]
In short, the current learning context of a knowledge worker is calculated from the
current states of those internal models of the system that reflect her current individual
task and her advancement in terms of competencies. The result for a system user is
then personalised set of recommended learning sources, which, after consumption,
might cover an identified context-dependent competency gap. But this result is the
outcome of complex calculations in and among the distinct components of the
APOSDLE Platform, Tools and Backend Systems. And what if a user wants to
understand how all this technical and formal ―stuff‖ has taken place? A scrutable user
interface is needed.
2.2 Learning Goals in the Aposdle System
The APOSDLE Sidebar (shown on the left side of figure 2) represents the main user‟s
view on the result of the calculations of the APOSDLE System. For a working task
being currently executed by a user, the needed (task-related) competencies are listed
by the system. In addition, according to these competencies, a set of learning
resources (documents and events) as well as expert contacts are also shown. Thus, the
37
Sidebar expresses a just-in-time personal learning offer for the current working task
of a user [7]. The system delivers this most-suitable learning offer based on the
current user context of the interacting knowledge worker; a user context [9] is
described by connecting (at least) competence, domain and task models, as illustrated
by the meta-model of user contexts shown on the right side of figure 2.
Fig. 2. Left: APOSDLE Sidebar, the User‟s View on the APOSDLE System. Right: MetaModel for User Contexts, as used by the User Profile Service. [6]
An individual user context is a dynamic entity continuously derived from the analysis
of individual working tasks and individually consumed learning sources. Therefore,
an individual work-place environment reflects distinct individual learning needs at
distinct points in time depending on the task at hand. Within this context, the main
goal of the APOSDLE research project is to improve the analysis of learning needs by
comparing the tasks already executed by users with those tasks to be faced in the
future. For that purpose, user-computer interactions are tracked on real-time to obtain
and optimise a fine-grained user model, which in turn builds the computing base for
personalised, user-context-based learning recommendations (see as shown in the
Sidebar). [6]
From the point of view of the system‘s usability and user interface design, it is highly
important (and challenging) to convey to users a comprehensible explanation of why
(and how) these recommendations have been delivered at a certain point in time (past
or present). Thus, an intuitive user interface is needed for APOSDLE users in order to
scrutinise on the one hand the adaptive behaviour of the system, and on the other hand
the history of the tracked observations and inferences of the system in the individual
user model. The diagrams on the left side of figure 3 show the relationship of a task
model element (Task) with a competence model element (Learning Goal) as well as
the connection of a learning goal with tracked Learning Activities, which can be of the
38
type Learning Event, Expert Contacted or Document Opened, depending on the
learning resources consumed or experts contacted trough the APOSDLE Sidebar.
Fig. 3. Left: Relations Task - Learning Goal & Learning Goal - Learning Activities. Right: An
Example of the States of the Models for a Knowledge Worker on the Task “t4”.
Given the assumption that the number of model elements behind the user contexts of
a medium- to large-size company may be many hundreds, a node diagram in a user
interface reflecting an individual user context history might not be clear and
comprehensible enough (see ―(A)‖ on right side of figure 3, showing an example of a
small part of such a diagram). The diagram ―(B)‖ on figure 3 reflects the adaptive
behaviour of the APOSDLE system for a user that performed ―Task 4‖ in the past,
whereby the APOSDLE system did not show in its Sidebar all learning goals (―lg3‖ to
―lg6‖) corresponding to the task (―t4‖), rather just those representing her knowledge
gap (―lg3‖ and ―lg4‖). Furthermore, after tracking the interactions of this user within
that task, an additional diagram is needed to show her that she executed some learning
activities connected to e.g. ―lg3‖ (see ―(C)‖ in figure 3).
In sum, the learning activities executed in ―(C)‖ mean a competence advancement
regarding ―lg3‖ while working on ―t4‖. In turn, due to further connections of ―lg3‖
with other tasks, the system will consider this advancement in the future and
eventually suppress the appearance of ―lg3‖ in the Sidebar. In particular this adaptive
behaviour of the system should be conveyed to the user in a simple and intuitive way.
In APOSDLE, this behaviour is reflected within its Web-based User Profile
Management Tool using dynamic lists that show the working-learning-collaborating
history of individual users.
39
3. RETRACING A WORK-INTEGRATED LEARNING
CONTEXT
APOSDLE‟s User Profile Management Tool (UPMT) is a Web-based user interface
that shows users the contents of their individual user profiles. This chapter focuses on
those parts of UPMT presenting to users the states of their competence advancement.
The UPMT of the first and second prototypes of the APOSDLE system comprises
five sections: Business Card (to show personal data, such as name or email address),
Preferences (including a sub-section for choosing a desired privacy level, and one for
selecting preferences about collaboration tools), Working (to visualise task-based
activities), Learning (to visualise issues regarding knowledge acquired), and
Collaborating (to show details on individual collaboration-related events, such as
chats, emails or ratings of experts).
The implementation of the APOSDLE system is based on the Java Spring framework
[10]. Its Web-based server side is represented by the Tomcat Apache server [11]. To
avoid platform dependencies and to enable an AJAX-based client solution [12], the
UPMT is built on GWT (Java-based Google Widget Toolkit [13]). The next two subchapters introduce main aspects of the UPMT sections Working and Learning to give
users the possibility to retrace their activity history in the context of their competence
advancement (based on the models and functionalities shown in the previous chapter).
3.1 Tasks vs. Learning Goals: Knowledge Applied
The section Working in UPMT presents APODLE users two visualisation possibilities
(Lists and Clouds, see respectively left and right side of figure 4) to provide a view on
the relationships among their performed tasks and the corresponding learning goals.
This view is called Knowledge Applied and enables users to scrutinise and retrace
their competence advancement history as computed and tracked by the system.
40
Fig. 4. View “Knowledge Applied” in APOSDLE‟s UPMT (left: as Lists; right: as clouds).
The main area of the Knowledge Applied view shows a user the set of already
performed working tasks (―Main List: Task History‖ in Lists mode or ―Main Cloud:
Tasks‖ in Clouds mode). By selecting one task, a second area is dynamically filled
with the corresponding learning goals (―Sub-Lists: Learning Goals‖ or ―Sub-clouds:
Learning Goals‖). The main problem of making such a visualisation scrutable for
users relies on the fact that the explanations needed to convey the APOSDLE-context
meaning of such Task-LearningGoal relationships consist of a large set of descriptive
data including temporal, environmental, personal and computational conditions. For
example, knowledge workers perform usually the same task several times trough their
workflows and thus, depending on their overall task history, they consume
continuously distinct learning resources and collaborate with distinct experts in
distinct working contexts. This continuous advancement of competencies through
their working activities increases at the same time the complexity of the cross-linked
relationships among tasks, detected learning goals and recommended learning
sources. Furthermore, a consumption of learning events, an opened document or an
established collaboration (all of them being tracked by the APOSDLE system) is an
indicator for a learning activity, and thus, influences also the degree in which
competence advancement is calculated.
For the APOSDLE system, all these factors represent some of the triggers to adapt the
elements in the personal Sidebar of a knowledge worker. Thus, the system contains
stored numerical values that can be used as key elements to express the frequency of
occurrence of tasks, learning goals and learning activities. Consequently, these
numbers convey intrinsically individual competence advancement. This is the reason
of utilising the notion of Tag Clouds within the UPMT ([14] [15]). For example, as
41
shown in figure 5, how a learning goal (―LG137‖) has contributed to competence
advancement can be visually retraced through the representative font-size within the
clouds.
Fig. 5. Segment of the “Clouds” View on “Knowledge Applied” in APOSDLE‟s UPMT.
On the on hand, ―LG137‖ seems to have had little impact within the task ―T 048‖, but
on the other hand, its overall impact on ―T 048‖ and ―T 045‖ is very relevant
compared with the other learning goals. Thus, not only from the personal but also
from the point of view of the company, filling this gap was essential in the
competence advancement of this specific knowledge worker.
3.2 Learning Goals vs. Learning Activities: Knowledge Acquired
The figures in the previous sub-chapter show a way to provide users a possibility of
retracing their task history, and simultaneously, a way to scrutinise the relationships
of task-related learning goals. APOSDLE‟s UPMT extends for its users the visibility
of personal competence advancement by showing in its section Learning the
relationships among learning goals and learning activities (see figure 6).
42
Fig. 6. Segment of the “Clouds” View on “Knowledge Acquired” in APOSDLE‟s UPMT..
Within APOSDLE, the learning activities of knowledge workers represent distinct
ways of acquiring knowledge. On the one hand, the system recommends personal
learning sources through the Sidebar depending on the current working task (see
figure 2), and on the other side, it tracks which of these recommendations have been
accepted and consumed by the users. Thus, the system collects data about consumed
learning events, documents opened as well as about the transcripts of collaboration
events. As knowledge workers may e.g. read a certain document or chat with a certain
expert several times within distinct tasks, these events contribute in a distinct manner
to competence advancement.
Through the usage of dynamic font-resizing as in Tag Clouds, the frequency of
occurrence of learning activities (i.e. times a learning source has been consumed)
conveys to users the impact of their repetitive learning on the knowledge acquired for
a certain competence (learning goal). Further, a colour-based visual differentiation of
the types of learning activities is also given. For example, the cloud for the learning
goal ―LG 051‖ in figure 6 shows that this user has contacted ―Ana‖ (a recommended
expert in the knowledge domain of this learning goal) so many times that these
collaborations have contributed more to acquiring the needed knowledge than the
other learning activities. Further, regarding the learning goals visible in figure 6, this
user seems to prefer collaborative events with experts rather than reading documents
or consuming learning events.
4. CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER WORK
The APOSDLE system enables an integrative view on the working environment of
knowledge workers through the connection of learning, knowledge and work spaces.
This paper has given an overview on how the system deals with the learning context
43
of knowledge workers by means of their competence advancement. Because of the
complexity of computing recommendations out of the states of the models in the
system, and due to the highly-crossed relationships among model elements, this paper
proposes the usage of intuitive cloud-based views on individual states of user models
in order to enhance and simplify their visualisation.
APOSDLE‘S UPMT views Knowledge Applied and Knowledge Acquired are
provided to users to scrutinise the chronology, relationships and descriptions of their
performed tasks, achieved learning goals and executed learning activities. The
concept proposed in this paper will be evaluated for the development of the third
prototype of the APOSDLE system. Future work will be also the attempt to place
learning goals at the centre of a single visualisation with adjacent dynamic relations to
tasks and learning activities in order to provide an integrated view on the entire
competence advancement of knowledge workers in the APOSDLE context. As the
current implementation of the UPMT is a Web-based (in concrete, Ajax-based)
solution, it is assumed that (and should be tested if) this cloud-based tool can be
reused for integration into other e-learning solutions.
4.1 Acknowledgements
The APOSDLE research project (http://www.aposdle.org) is partially funded by the
European Community (http://europa.eu.int) under the IST priority (Information
Society Technologies, http://cordis.europa.eu/ist) of FP 6 (Sixth Framework
Programme for R&D), contract number IST-027023. The support of the following
institutions is gratefully acknowledged: Know-Center Graz (http://www.knowcenter.at), funded by the Austrian Competence Center program Kplus under the
auspices of the Austrian Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology
(http://www.ffg.at) and by the State of Styria, Austria; and Institute for Information
Systems and Computer Media (IICM, http://www.iicm.edu), Faculty of Computer
Science at Graz University of Technology, Austria.
REFERENCES
1. ChoiceStream: ChoiceStream Personalization Survey, Consumer Trends and
Perceptions, (2007), URL http://www.choicestream.com Last visit: 2008-13-01.
2. Kobsa, A.: Generic User Modeling Systems; in User Modeling and User-Adapted
Interaction, Volume 11: Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands; pp. 49-63,
(2001).
3. Hof, R., Green, H., Himmelstein, L.: Now it‟s YOUR WEB; in Business Week,
Issue October 5th 1998; pp. 68-75, (1998).
4. García-Barrios, V.M.: Personalisation in Adaptive E-Learning Systems - A
Service-Oriented Solution Approach for Multi-Purpose User Modelling Systems;
Dissertation at Institute of Information Systems and Computer Media, Faculty of
Computer Science, Graz University of Technology, (2007).
44
5. Kay, J.: Scrutable adaptation: because we can and must; in Proceedings of 4th
International Conference for Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive Web‐Based
Systems, AH 2006, in Dublin, Ireland; Wade, V., Ashman, H., Smyth, B. (eds.),
Springer (pub.); pp. 11‐19, (2006).
6. Consortium of APOSDLE: First Prototype APOSDLE - Deliverables D1.2, D2.2,
D3.2, D4.2, D5.2.; (2007), URL http://www.aposdle.org/results Last visit: 200813-01.
7. Bonestroo, W., Ley, T., Kump, B., Lindstaedt, S.: Learn@Work: Competency
Advancement with Learning Templates; in Proceedings of LOKMOL-2007, Crete,
Greece; pp. 17-20, (2007).
8. Consortium of APOSDLE: APOSDLE Scope and Boundaries - Deliverable D6.1;
(2006),
URL
http://www.aposdle.tugraz.at/media/multimedia/files/aposdle_scope_and_boundari
es Last visit 2008-13-01.
9. Ulbrich, A., Scheir, P., Lindstaedt, S.N., Görtz, M.: A Context-Model for
Supporting Work-Integrated Learning; in Nejdl, W., Tochtermann, K. (eds.),
Innovative Approaches for Learning and Knowledge Sharing, LNCS Vol. 4227,
Springer Verlag (pub.), Heidelberg; pp. 525-530, (2006).
10.
Spring; Open Source, full-stack Java/JEE application framework; Web-site
URL http://www.springframework.org - Last Visit 2007-12-18.
11.
Apache Tomcat; Open Source, Java Servlet container; Web-site URL
http://tomcat.apache.org - Last Visit 2007-12-15.
12.
Garrett J.J.: Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications; Adaptive Path,
LLC,
2005-02-18;
Web-site
URL
http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/essays/archives/000385.php - Last visit 200712-07.
13.
GWT: Google Widget Toolkit; Open Source, Java software development
framework for AJAX applications; URL http://code.google.com/webtoolkit - Last
Visit 2007-12-05.
14. Hassan-Montero, Y., Herrero-Solana, V.: Improving Tag-Clouds as Visual
Information Retrieval Interfaces;
In Proceedings of the 1 st International
Conference on Multidisciplinary Information Sciences and Technologies
(InSciT2006), Workshop on Information Visualization; Mérida, Spanien (2006).
15. Rivadeneira, A.W., Gruen, D.M., Muller, M.J., Millen, D.R.: Getting Our Head in
the Clouds: Toward Evaluation Studies of Tagclouds; In Proceeding of the 25 th
International Computer/Human Interaction Conference (CHI2007); San Jose, CA,
USA; pp. 995-998, (2007).
45
46
Ronald Aust1, Allen Quesada2
1 Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, University of Kansas,
Lawrence. [email protected]
2 Facultad de Letras, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro.
[email protected]
Abstract. Open source collaborative eLearning draws on a
constructivist perspective with learners actively engaged in
exchanging ideas, negotiating meanings and creating
knowledge resources that are freely and openly shared.
Collaborative eLearning is valuable in transnational university
partnerships where faculty, students and programs benefit
mutually from diverse perspectives. This investigation of a
teaching and research partnership, with a United States and a
Central American university, involved faculty in reviewing
curricula, collaborative teaching and engaging students in
collaborative knowledge construction. Surveys and interviews
with 52 participants over two semesters revealed significantly
higher ratings after refining strategies and adopting a six event
Collaborative Knowledge Construction model.
Results
support an “Any Place Same Time” approach and the
continued growth of transnational partnerships to advance
open source eLearning.
Keywords: open source,
collaborations, eLearning.
transnational,
constructivist,
47
1. INTRODUCTION: REFLECTIONS ON OPEN SOURCE
COLLABORATIVE ELEARNING AND TRANSNATIONAL
EDUCATION
Our research and development efforts are designed to establish meaningful and
sustainable transnational collaborations between faculty, students and academic
programs across universities and ultimately K-12 schools. These mutually beneficial
collaborations involve the sharing of ideas and resources concerning coursework,
curricula, academic programs and co-teaching activities. We use the term open
source collaborative eLearning in the broad sense where open source refers to all
knowledge resources that are jointly constructed and openly shared. This definition is
similar to Thomas Friedman‟s [1] broad interpretation of open sourcing as a key
factor that is leveling global societies and economies.
Computer science professionals associated with the open source software
movement [2], often use the term open source in a more focused reference to software
licensing agreements that allow the general public access to software code under
relaxed or non-existent copyright restrictions. Certainly many of the policies and
ideas that are now incorporated in open source knowledge resources were derived
from the open source software movement. This migration of open source ideas is
exemplified in the way that leaders in open source software, including MIT, are now
offering open courseware that covers topics on engineering, health sciences, the
humanities and arts. The addition of open source expands perspectives on
transnational collaborative eLearning. It is not only that people from different parts of
the world are collaborating for a time to build knowledge resources. Open source
adds the perspective of a continuous community effort to address and openly share
ideas and solutions on important problems.
Our interpretation of transnational open source eLearning begins with the
premise that partnerships between institutions will be mutually beneficial where
faculty, students and programs contribute significantly in advancing learning
environments.
This differs considerably from descriptions of “off shore”
transnational education [3] where sending institutions are located in a country
different from where the receiving institutions‟ learners are based. We prefer the
literal interpretation of transnational education as “education that transcends national
boundaries” without the diminishing stipulation that there are unique sending and
receiving institutions. This interpretation involves faculty, students and institutions
growing together in mutually beneficial learning environments that support
sustainable constructivist pedagogy.
2. OPEN SOURCE COLLABORATIVE TEACHING
This investigation of an international university partnership highlights some of
the strategies that we used to enrich our courses and academic programs at the
University of Costa Rica (UCR) and the University of Kansas (KU). Every university
48
partnership will be unique and the overall goals may differ. Our pilot development
involved, three one-on-one faculty partnerships covering courses in Educational
Technology, Language Analysis, and Second Language Acquisition at both
universities. We focus this investigation on the Educational Technology partnership
that reviewed curricula, syllabi, instructional strategies, technology resources, and
facilities to assess how we could combine our strength to improve the quality of our
courses and academic programs. We drew on previous experience in designing
interfaces and systems for eLearning content [4, 5], faculty professional development
[6] and using technology to enrich language learning in rural urban K-12 schools [7].
We also benefited from a rich heritage of experiences between UCR and KU
including a 50-year formal partnership in international studies.
The University of Costa Rica is the largest university in Costa Rica with many
established ties to businesses, industry, and K-12 schools. UCR founded the first
Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) program in Central America. This
offers KU's faculty and student a unique perspective of current trends and strategies
for implementing successful and sustainable programs in Latin America. Ranking in
the top 20 Schools of Education in the United States, KU‟s School of Education has
many outstanding educational technology initiatives, academic programs, and 25
years of experience in preparing TESL doctorates worldwide. International
partnership between other universities will likely offer different, but no less
significant, opportunities for expanding diversity and growth in research and
academic programs.
After analyzing course syllabi and teaching strategies, the faculty partners
determined the topics that they would teach. The primary instructor at the host
institution taught most of the classes and the "guest" instructor taught at least one live
and one online session at the host. This method capitalized on the understandings and
experiences of each faculty member to enrich the instructional quality in both courses.
For example, the faculty partner at UCR is experienced in working with diverse
students in integrating technology in language learning. This topic fit well in the
Integrating Educational Technology class taught at KU. The faculty partner at KU
had experience in designing user interfaces with online glosses, a topic that fits well
within the Technological Resources for Language Learning course taught at UCR.
Faculty posted their presentations in advance so that students could download the
materials before the presentations. We sought to develop an affordable strategy that
employed standard audio equipment, video cameras, free teleconferencing software
(Skype) and a readily accessible (PDF) format for presentation. The presentations
typically lasted about 40 minutes with 15 minutes for questions. As our experience
increased we began to add pre and post activities to augment the sessions where
students were asked to review notes, locate materials in advance, and provide followup reports. Figure 1 shows the layout for the online presentations. In this case,
students could see the instructor in the upper left corner with the chat board directly
below and the presentation as a PDF on the right side of the display screen.
49
Fig. 1. Online Collaborative Teaching
Fig. 2. Knowledge Construction Teams
3. OPEN SOURCE COLLABORATIVE KNOWLEDGE
CONSTRUCTION
Janet Salmons [8] defined collaborative eLearning as, “constructing knowledge,
negotiating meanings, and/or solving problems through mutual engagement of two or
more learners in a coordinated effort using Internet and electronic communications.”
Salmons described the levels of engagement in collaborative eLearning as: dialogue,
peer review, parallel review, sequential collaboration, and synergistic collaboration.
Stahl [9] noted that successful cooperative behavior requires trust-building activities,
joint planning, and team support. Duffy and Cunningham [10] also note that the
primary outcome of collaborative knowledge construction is the dialogs and
reflexivity among learners.
In addition to sharing teaching presentations we also sought to engage students in
activities where they collaborate to construct new knowledge. Drawing on the
philosophies of Piaget [11], Papert [12], Bruner [13], and Vgotsky [13], this
constructivist approach assumes that the most meaningful learning occurs when
learners are actively involved in mentally constructing new information. Rather than
the direct one-way “pouring in” of knowledge that often characterizes traditional
instruction, constructivist‟s pedagogy focuses on the importance of peer relationships,
the context, the learning environment and learners‟ beliefs.
With these constructivist principles in mind, we developed instructional strategies
for piloting the Collaborative Knowledge Construction activity in the summer
semester. We planned to form teams of 3 to 7 students with approximately equal
representation from each institution and use an approach advocated by Hitz [14], to
engage learners in team projects where they construct artifacts that demonstrate their
new knowledge and skills. Our classes did not meet at the same time so the
communication among the international team members was organized through the
knowledge construction team web site shown in Figure 3 and relied heavily on
50
asynchronous email and threaded discussions. We did have synchronous Skype
teleconferences with the two classes where the faculty met and discussed the project
status. We also instructed the students in the use of Skype and encouraged them to
arrange live teleconferences with their group on their own time. Our first task was to
assist student in selecting the topics with international implications that would be
interesting and meaningful to students and relevant for our courses.
During the initial course and program review we noted that both the KU and
UCR educational technology courses engaged students in building resources that
focused in part on one of the six National Educational Technology Standards (NETS)
to advanced students‟ social awareness and encouraged them to "apply technology
resources to enable and empower learners with diverse backgrounds, characteristics,
and abilities." Aside from being relevant to critical aspects of both courses, we saw
these “social awareness” activities as a means to begin the process of establishing a
more open source approach to building knowledge resource on topics that are of
interest and importance to transnational audiences. Furman and Negi [15] observed
that social work educators must begin to help students become more comfortable with
transnational exchanges. When forming teams to engage in open source collaborative
eLearning, some examples of topics that students investigated include: Bilingualism,
Healthy Diets, Ageing Populations, Immigration, Worldwide Adoption of eCommunities and e-Books, Global Warming, Reef Pollution, Rainforest Destruction,
and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
The review of literature and planning for the pilot projects raised several
questions regarding these transnational collaborative activities. How do online
teaching presentations compare to traditional face-to-face communications? Did the
eLearning technologies support adequate faculty-students and student-student
interactions? Are the topics and course content deemed important and relevant? Did
the activities advance understanding of culture and language? How can we best
design the collaborative knowledge construction activities to maximize cooperation
and engagement of all team members? Do attitudes and benefits from collaborative
eLearning differ across gender, institutions, ages or experience with online courses?
With these questions in mind we framed the following research with the
understanding that we would use lessons in the pilot phase to revise and extend the
subsequent collaborative partnerships.
4. METHOD
Participants: The investigation involved two faculty and 52 student participants,
22 from UCR and 29 from KU who ranged in age from 22 to 58 years with a mean
age of 27. Data collection took place during the Summer (N=24) and Fall (N=27)
with 16 male and 36 female participants. The multicultural nature of participants
included natives from Brazil, Canada, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru,
Puerto Rico, Saudia Arabia, South Korea, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey and at least 9 of
the United States.
Survey Instrument: We designed an online survey on international collaborative
eLearning using a 5 point likert scale (1=strongly agree, 3=neutral and 5=strongly
51
disagree) with items regarding the technical clarity and relevance of presentations,
comparisons to traditional face-to-face presentations and the success of interactions
among the instructors and other team members in the collaborative knowledge
construction activities. The survey collects information on Age, Gender, Online
Course Experience, Academic Major and Institutional Affiliation. The survey also
included open-ended questions including: “How does this online collaboration
activity compare to a traditional face-to-face educational collaboration. How is it
better? How is it worse? What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of
international collaborations?
Procedures: Although the faculty partners had previous experience in the
collaborative co-teaching, the collaborative knowledge construction was a new
activity that we first piloted in the spring semester. Both of our courses were held in
lab environments, and we conducted site visits midway during the semester to meet
with faculty, plan activities and review technical configurations. We administered the
survey at the end of the Summer and Fall semesters using the online SurveyMonkey
system.
5. RESULTS
Survey Results: We compiled descriptive and analytical statistics using SPSS
from the survey data. After reviewing the survey results from the Summer (N=24)
semester and the responses to the open ended items we made several adjustments to
our courses and strategies and administered the survey at the end of the Fall semester
(N=27). Table one shows the results on items from the survey on collaborative
eLearning. Means for the summer semester class were near “neutral” (M=2.9). The
fall semester means (M=1.9) were clearly lower indicating, “agree” to “strongly
agree.” The significantly lower values for the fall semester indicate that the
participants agreed more strongly with the positively worded items.
Table 1. Collaborative eLearning Survey Results Across Semesters
Survey Items
(abbreviated)
1. was easy to
see.
2. was easy to
hear.
3.
covered
important content.
4.
had
an
international flavor.
5. helped me
learn important ideas.
6. made it easy to
ask questions.
7. was as good as
Sum
mer
Fall
Sum
mer
Fall
F(1,
50)
M=
2.2
M=
3.5
M=
2.3
M=
2.4
M=
2.7
M=
3.0
M=
M=
1.6
M=
1.8
M=
1.7
M=
1.5
M=
1.8
M=
2.2
M=
SD=
.82
SD=
.93
SD=
.99
SD=
.75
SD=
.81
SD=
.91
SD=
SD=
.84
SD=
.75
SD=
.81
SD=
.64
SD=
.85
SD=
.97
SD=
5.9
48
49.
41
4.0
64
9.0
04
16.
33
7.3
3
18.
Sig.
P=.01
8*
P=.00
0**
P=.04
9*
P=.00
4**
P=.00
0**
P=.00
9**
P=.00
52
a face-to-face.
8. learned about
another language.
9. easy to interact
with the instructor.
10. easy to interact
with other students.
11. learned more
about other cultures.
Average Means:
3.3
M=
3.3
M=
3.3
M=
3.0
M=
2.4
M=
2.9
1.9
M=
2.7
M=
2.1
M=
2.0
M=
2.0
M=
1.9
1.2
SD=
1.1
SD=
1.3
SD=
1.2
SD=
1.1
SD=
1.0
1.0
SD=
1.3
SD=
1.0
SD=
.98
SD=
1.1
SD=
.93
83
2.5
6
12.
50
11.
14
1.0
16
0**
P=.11
6
P=.00
1**
P=.00
2**
P=.31
8
Survey items were rated on a 5 point Likert scale (1= strongly agree, 3= neutral, 5= strongly
disagree)
* P<.05, **P<.01 | Summer N=24; Fall N=27
The results showed that older students rated many aspects of the collaborative
eLearning activities higher than the younger student in the course. With Pearson
correlations on 47 subjects (some missing age data) we found that the item
“…covered important content” was negatively correlated with age (-.326, p=.029).
In other words, older participants agreed more with these positively worded items.
We also found significant negative correlations with age and items: “had an
international flavor” (-.336, p=.024), “helped me to learn important ideas” (-.412,
p=.005), “was as good as a face-to-face presentation” (-.328, p=.028), and “made me
want to learn more about the speaker's culture” (-.352, p=.018).
Comparisons across institutions revealed a significant difference for only one
survey item with the 22 UCR participants rating the collaborative eLearning
presentations somewhat “easier to see” (M=1.6) than the 29 KU participants (M=2.1)
(F 1, 50= 5.590; p=.022). The ANOVA analysis did not reveal significant difference
on the survey items for the factors of gender, online course experience or academic
major.
Open-ended Questions: The open-ended comments from the summer semester
generally began with positive comments about the value of collaborating with
individuals from a different nation. For example, one participant listed advantages of
“intercultural communication, language practice, losing fear about interpersonal
relationships, opportunity to challenge our knowledge and compare it with other
university students.” Another participant for the summer session described that they,
“learned about important ideas in another culture; learned about their technology; how
they learned and what they were learning.” The disadvantages listed by the summer
participants centered on problems in communicating with their partners (37
references). These communication comments related to technical difficulty in hearing
or seeing their partners and especially to scheduling difficulties. One participant
explained that, “class meeting times can not match up … and communication was
primarily through email.” Another participant explained, “There are moments when
ambiguity could affect the normal communication process, since it is impossible to
take into account face gestures.” Several comments asked to, “Have the class times
overlap more to allow for more communication with other students.”
53
Open-ended comments from the fall semester were generally more positive.
When asked to compare this online collaboration project to a face-to-face
collaboration, one participant explained, “It is better because we share information
from other countries and learn from each other, and this interaction is not always
possible.” Another commented, “It is better in the sense that it is a very good
example of how technology can be used effectively in a multicultural learning
environment,” and “it is a perfect way to put into practice everything you have
learned about a language, cultural, personal and academic aspects.”
While the fall semester comments include few references to technical problems,
again there were many references to scheduling challenges. Despite the fact that there
was some overlap time, one participant mentioned, “we can not agree on a date/time
to chat online because of studies, work, time, and internet access.” Another
participant explained, “sometimes it is hard to agree on a time and day to work
together… maybe the students can have a designated time to communicate.”
6. DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The insights drawn from the summer investigation guided our development of the
collaborative knowledge construction model that we used in the fall (Figure 3). The
educational events are scaffolded to establish confidence, develop requisite technical
skills, and build trust, communication and teamwork in collaborative knowledge
construction. Because team members did not always share the same schedule or place
we clearly defined the educational events in terms of expected outcomes. This allows
for checkpoints for each event so that all class members could understand and learn
from each other. We used a team planning web site (Figure 2) with a description of
the team‟s topic, member photos, brief biographies, email and Skype addresses as
well as ranked list of information sources and the final knowledge resources. We
used teleconferencing (Skype) to present and confirm outcomes at each event across
universities.
Table 2. A Model for Collaborative Knowledge Construction
Educational Events
1 Select Topics
2 Form Teams
3 Define Goals & Evaluation
4 Identify & Rank Information
Sources
5 Prototype, Review & Revise
Resource(s)
6 Post and Present Knowledge
Resource(s)
Expected Outcomes
List of topics and draft
description(s).
Team member bios, photos, and
addresses.
List of goals and evaluation
rubrics.
Post top 10 web or other
information sources.
Web site, wiki, concept map,
powerpoints …
Post and present final knowledge
resource(s).
54
During the initial teleconference for the knowledge construction activity, the
students 1) select and describe a list of possible topics. Next, they teleconference to
2) form teams and exchanged biographical and other information. After working
together as a team, they present their 3) goals and the evaluation rubrics that they will
use to assess the success of their final knowledge resource(s). The next step asked
team members to 4) identify and rank the information resources in a top 10 list for
their topic. During the early pilot trials, we asked students to post an unranked list of
web resources. We added the requirement to rank the list in order to develop
communication and teamwork early on using an apparently low stakes task that
became more demanding than we first anticipated. Imagine that your team has
decided to investigate the impact of global warming. You Google “global warming”
and after receiving 29 million matches, you must determine which web site is most
important. Your teammates in another country are also wading through millions of
matches and you must agree on which is the first, second and third most important
web site. What began as a simple listing of web sites became a significant research
and team building activity.
Following principals of rapid prototyping, team members 5) prototype review
and revise the knowledge resources which might include web sites, wikis, concept
maps with inspiration, graphical diagrams, or PowerPoint slides that represent the
collective knowledge of the team. The teams present their prototypes in a
teleconference to peers from both universities who are encouraged to provide
constructive reviews, alternative viewpoints, and the ability to reflect and improve on
their own learning.
The culminating outcome is to 6) post and present one or more mediated
knowledge resources. This event has three stages: preparation, presentation, and
questioning. In the preparation stage, items are posted at least 2 days in advance of
the presentation. These presentations can become highly motivating when guests are
invited. One of the more rewarding surprises was when two students from Costa Rica
became so engaged in their final project work that they decided to personally finance
a trip to Kansas, in the cold of November, so that they could meet with their team
members and present their final projects in person.
We did not initially anticipate that older students would post higher ratings for
several items, including “had international flavor, want to learn more about culture,
and was as good as a face-to-face presentation.” than the younger “digital native”
students. This might be because the non-resident foreign students are somewhat older
and they highly value transnational exchanges. It might also be because the mean age
for the improved design fall semester (M=29.8) was higher than the spring (M=24.8).
These findings suggest that collaborative transnational exchanges will be appreciated
by learners of many ages.
Many eLearning advocates [16] tout “Any Time /Any Place” advantages of
eLearning. Transnational collaborative eLearning requires that learning participants
are in different places. As Robin Mason, [17] explains, "the strongest arguments (for
eLearning) relate to the benefits of a global student body… including: working with
students from many different countries, shared expertise, access extended to
educationally disadvantaged and multi-cultural course content.” On the other hand,
results from this investigation do not support the notion that asynchronous “Any
Time” eLearning is as effective as synchronous eLearning. Humans are social. They
like to meet. There is a give-and-take quality to synchronous communication that
55
enhances immediacy [18] and fosters more absorbing, more rewarding, more now
learning. Thus, we advocate an “Any Place Same Time” model for collaborative
eLearning.
This jointly-sponsored teaching and research partnership serve as a model for
collaboration that engage researchers in worthwhile activities and tangible
deliverables including joint teaching, curricula, course improvements and coauthoring of research that neither side might accomplish on their own. These
initiatives also foster a greater appreciation for diversity among faculty and students.
Moreover, each unique transnational partnership will increase capacity for open
source collaborative eLearning.
REFERENCES
1. Friedman, T. L.: The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century. New York:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, (2005).
2. DiBona, C, Stone, M. Cooper, D.: Open sources 2.0: The continuing evolution. O'Riley,
(2005).
3. Wilson, L.A., Vlăsceanu, L.: Transnational education and recognition of rualifications. In
UNESCO-CEPES, 2000, Internationalization of higher education, (75-85). Bucharest,
(2000).
4. Aust, R., Isaacson, R.: Designing and evaluating user interfaces for eLearning. In Richards,
G. (Ed.), World Conference on e-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and
Higher Education. pp. 1195-1202. Chesapeake, VA: AACE, (2005).
5. Aust, R., Meyen, E.L,: The design and development of a scaleable e-Learning authoring
system. Proceedings of the 2005 Web-Based Education Conference. pp 225-229.
IASTED, (2005).
6. Aust, R.J., Newberry B.W., OBrien, J.: Learning generation: fostering innovation with
tomorrow's teachers and technology. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education. 13: (2),
pp.167-195, (2005).
7. Quesada A. G., Aust R.: CyberL@b: Technology enriched English language learning in
Costa Rica. Proceedings of the Ninth International CATE Conference, (2006).
8. Salmons,
J.:
Taxonomy
collaborative
e-Learning
http://www.vision2lead.com/Taxonomy.pdf, (2006).
9. Stahl, R. J.: The essential elements of cooperative learning in the classroom. In:
Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education, Bloomington, (1994)
10. Duffy, T. M., Cunningham, D. J.: Constructivism: Implications for the design and delivery
of instruction. In: Jonassen, D. J. (Ed.), Handbook of Research for Educational
Communications and Technology, pp. 170-198. New York: Macmillan Library, (1996) .
11. Chapman, M.: Constructive evolution: Origins and development of Piaget's thought. U
Press, (1988).
12. Maddux, C.D., Willis J.W., Johnson, D. M.: Educational computing: Learning with
tomorrow's technologies. New York: Allyn & Bacon, (1997).
13. Bereiter, C.: Constructivism, Socioculturalism, Popper's World 3. Ed. researcher. 23: (7),
(1994).
14. Hiltz, S. R: “The virtual classroom: Using computer-mediated communication for
university teaching”. Journal of Communication, 36: (2), pp. 95-104, (1986)
15. Furman, R., Negi, N.: Social work practice with transnational Latino populations.
International Social Work, 50: (1), pp. 107-112, (2007).
56
16. NASBE. Any time, any place, any path, any pace: Taking the lead on e-Learning policy.
National
Association
of
State
Boards
of
Education
(NASBE).
http://www.nasbe.org/e_Learning.html, (2001).
17. Mason, R.: Globalizing education: Trends and applications. London: Routledge, (1998).
18. LaRose, R., Whitten, P.: Rethinking instructional immediacy for web courses: A social
cognitive exploration. Communication Education, 49: (4), pp. 320-338, (2000).
57
Educación Nacional Apoyada por Ciencia y Tecnología
Dr. Meir Finkel, Ph.D.
[email protected]
―Propuesta educativa pragmática sobre bases empíricas en la SIMULACIÓN DE ECAMPUS UTILIZANDO E-LEARNING-GT a ser implementada a nivel nacional en
concordancia con las políticas actuales en el contexto tecnoeducativo de la realidad
nacional‖
1. INTRODUCCIÓN
Las tecnologías de la información y comunicación, conocidas por las siglas TIC‘s,
son la nueva herramienta tecnológica que ha transformado el estilo de vida
guatemalteco en el contexto global en el siglo veintiuno. El instrumento central en el
uso y aplicación de esta herramienta es el Internet (red de redes), su plataforma
tecnológica, desarrollada principalmente en ambiente Windows, se caracteriza por el
uso del explorador de Microsoft (Explorer), siendo el elemento clave el motor de
búsqueda, el portal más importante de todos es el denominado Google.
El dispositivo educativo para la transferencia de información es la formación de
grupos virtuales (comunidades) a través del foro de discusión (Forum) y el modelo
58
para la difusión del conocimiento es: la mezcla de educación presencial con las
bondades de apoyarse en la educación electrónica (e-learning).
Guatemala se encuentra inmersa en la esfera tecno-social compuesta por la
integración de la sociedad celular, la sociedad digital y la sociedad del conocimiento.
Circunstancia relacionada en forma estrecha con la convergencia entre la
globalización, el desarrollo humano, las tecnologías TIC‘s y la innovación educativa.
Situación que debe ser aprovechada en forma significativa en la formación del
potencial humano para lograr oportunidades de mercado, de trabajo, de estudio y en
general reducir las brechas económica y tecnológica para elevar el nivel de vida de la
población guatemalteca.
2. ANTECEDENTES
Un tema tan importante como es el impacto de las TIC‘s en el progreso de las
personas, en la evolución de la sociedad y en la transformación de las estructuras
sociales hacia la cibersociedad como consecuencia de la implantación tecnológica en
todos los ámbitos de la vida humana, pero en especial en la educación.
Condición que obliga a un profundo estudio cualitativo y cuantitativo del fenómeno
tecno-social por medio de la identificación de las causas (TIC’s), la observación de
los efectos (cibersociales) y la realización de un informe científico de carácter
académico enfocado a promover el uso y aplicación de la tecnología presente en la
realidad guatemalteca.
Todas las fuentes de información fueron de utilidad referencial, no obstante para
abordar el tema de la ―Educación en la Sociedad del Conocimiento‖, su plataforma,
estrategias y acciones con el rigor científico-académico que presenta este reporte,
único documento en su clase.
El denominado: ―Gestión de la innovación tecnológica en Guatemala1” del doctor
Meir Finkel, que dio origen a esta investigación en forma experimental en los
laboratorios de la Universidad Galileo para adaptarlo a la realidad nacional de frente a
la oferta educativa mundial.
Siendo así que el presente informe científico denominado: ―EDUCACIÓN
NACIONAL APYADA POR CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGÍA‖ se constituye en el
1
Finalista Medalla Nacional de Ciencia y tecnología 2006
59
primer documento científico de carácter académico teórico-experimental de mayor
importancia que se publica en Guatemala.
3. OBJETIVOS
Se busca establecer los componentes teóricos básicos de las Tecnologías de
Información y Comunicación –TIC‘s– desde el punto de vista pedagógico y
andragógico2, con el auxilio de las ciencias: comunicación, psicología, economía,
sociología en la sociedad guatemalteca.
Objetivo general
Conocer el entorno conceptual y la utilización de las TIC‘s en la educación nacional,
con la finalidad de elaborar una propuesta de modelo cibersocial de e-learning-gt3
con énfasis en el uso de los foros de discusión para promover y propiciar el desarrollo
de la sociedad del conocimiento en Guatemala.
Objetivos específicos
1) Identificar las diferentes causas y efectos que han tenido la utilización de internet y
la aplicación de las TIC‘s desde el punto de vista psicológico y sociológico en lo
educativo en Guatemala.
2) Analizar el contenido de las informaciones periodísticas de Prensa Libre y El
Periódico sobre la tecnología y aplicaciones educativas de las TIC‘s en el período del
8 de agosto de 2004 al 18 de abril de 2007 y de los documentos de la Cumbre
Mundial de la Sociedad de la Información realizada en 2006 y los avances de la
aplicación de TIC‘s en Guatemala a través de grupos de discusión.
3) Proponer un modelo cibersocial guatemalteco de e-learning-gt con énfasis en los
foros de discusión y validar la misma a través de grupo de expertos, diseñadores,
grupos multidisciplinarios, tutores y profesionales de la docencia.
4) Evaluar la importancia de los cambios tecnológicos y sociales que han propiciado
el uso de las TIC‘s con énfasis a la educación nacional.
4. HIPÓTESIS DE TRABAJO
2
Malcom Knowles, Andragogía, México: Editorial Alfaomega, 2006, p. 69.
3 e-learning-gt es una mezcla educativa guatemalteca, adaptación presencial-virtual
60
La utilización del Internet y la aplicación de las Tecnologías de la Información y
Comunicación (TIC´s) en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje a través de modelos
cibersociales guatemaltecos de e-learning-gt con énfasis en foros de discusión,
propiciará el cambio tecnológico-educativo hacia una sociedad del conocimiento en
Guatemala.
5. EL MÉTODO
Marco experimental
El foro de discusión4 ha demostrado se la vía inmediata a utilizarse en la educación
nacional, en concordancia con todas las acciones realizadas y esfuerzos por continuar
distribuyendo tecnología a nivel nacional.
Es una plataforma muy amigable donde alumnos y profesores se reúnen para estudiar,
investigar, recibir documentos y entregar tareas. Además de servir de medio de
comunicación como prolongación del salón presencial de clases.
En Guatemala hay suficientes escuelas con la tecnología apropiada para iniciar a
implantar la presente propuesta, de igual manera los profesores tienen sus
computadoras portátiles, ahora hay que interconectar la clase presencial con un foro
virtual que sirva de enlace entre los participantes y el resto del mundo.
Los experimentos que se realizaron en los laboratorios de tecnología de la
Universidad Galileo sobre la plataforma GES, es un modelo probado y que se puede
replicar en forma gratuita en el servicio YAHOO.
Este estudio resalta los usos del foro de discusión, en sus diferentes modalidades.
Demostrando el uso que le dan los catedráticos versus el uso que le dan los
estudiantes.
De igual manera se contrastó el foro privado del GES con el foro público de YAHOO
que es completamente GRATIS, y ambos demostraron que se puede iniciar el foro de
discusión en forma gratuita.
El problema
El tema central es la importancia de incorporar tecnología en la vida del guatemalteco
frente a la prestación que ésta le produce en contraposición a las molestias que causa
la forma deshumanizante de dicha prestación.
¿Cuál es la mejor manera de incorporar tecnología al aula?
4 http://espanol.groups.yahoo.com/group/educomunic/
61
La sociedad guatemalteca requiere fortalecer y ampliar su participación en un
mercado global competido. Ello exige plantearse una estrategia educativa acorde a los
requerimientos de competitividad en el mercado nacional y mundial.
¿Será aceptada o rechazada la propuesta tecnoeducativa?
Al organizar la comunidad educativa sobre una plataforma tecnoeducativa y con la
aplicación adecuada de estrategias a corto, mediano y largo plazo, apoyada en
diagnósticos y estudios prognositivos5 (Bell, 1973), así como en la nueva visión,
misión, objetivos y valores a mejorar la capacidad de aprendizaje y mejorar el nivel
de desempeño del alumno.
¿Es esta la dirección correcta en la implementación tecnológica educativa?
Para llevar a cabo los planes de acción y los programas que han de ser ejecutados con
una implementación tecnológica óptima a la necesidad educativa del presente y futura
del país.
Preguntas de investigación
Para poder determinar el grado de importancia del tema que se desarrolla, han de
responderse las siguientes interrogantes:
1.
¿Realmente la introducción de las TIC’s en la educación guatemalteca, la
transformará en una sociedad del conocimiento?
2.
¿Cuáles serán las razones por las que muchos guatemaltecos oponen
resistencia a los cambios que proporciona la tecnología en la educación?
3.
¿Cuáles son las causas que en Guatemala no se ha implantado una política
de Estado en torno a la difusión, uso y aplicación de las TIC’s en la
educación nacional?
4.
¿Cuál será la tendencia en el manejo de la educación, la comunicación, la
tecnología y el conocimiento?
Cabe preguntarse más interrogantes:

¿Cuál es la relación entre la evolución tecnológica y el desarrollo
individual?

¿Cómo esta evolución tecnológica transforma las estructuras educativas?
5 Prognositivos: Conocimiento futuro, pronósticos, prospectivos, predicciones y proyecciones.
62

¿Qué papel tiene la innovación educativa en el progreso social?
Importancia del tema
Para poder determinar el grado de importancia del tema que se desarrolla, ha de
responderse una pregunta clave:
¿Puede la utilización de internet y la aplicación de las TIC’s en el proceso de
enseñanza-aprendizaje a través de modelos cibersociales de e-learning-gt con énfasis
en los foros de discusión propiciar el cambio tecnológico y social de Guatemala
hacia una sociedad del conocimiento?
Desarrollo, descripción y resultados preliminares
Desarrollo:
Para el desarrollo de este apartado se utilizó un método mixto, el científico en
combinación con el documental deductivo, estableciendo los retos, las oportunidades
y estrategias para Guatemala acerca de la ―Educación en Sociedad del Conocimiento‖
en el que contiene la cibersociedad, la innovación tecnológica, la gestión del
conocimiento, el comercio electrónico y el e-learning-gt como modelo principal.
Se construirán los diferentes indicadores para cada una de las variables en estudio. Se
determinará la población bajo estudio, la recopilación de la información a analizar y
que será presentada en los diferentes capítulos que darán lugar al informe científico de
la presente propuesta nacional.
En esta metodología de investigación se utilizan el método cualitativo a base de la
recolección de datos de campo, teniendo como informantes a los catedráticos y a los
alumnos de tres campos universitarios.
Descripción:
Quince catedráticos de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Comunicación de la Universidad
Galileo realizaron doce talleres de profesionalización de quince horas presenciales
cada uno en los laboratorios de la Universidad Galileo en combinación con treinta
horas a distancia para cada taller para experimentar durante quinientos cuarenta horas
a lo largo de un año la implantación de la EDUCACIÓN NACIONAL APOYADA
POR CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGÍA.
63
Resultados
La creación de un foro de discusión principal (GES6) con su respectivo foro virtual
alternativo (YAHOO7) tuvieron por objetivo experimentar en forma pragmática los
resultados de utilizar el modelo e-learning-gt que se plantea para implantar en la
educación guatemalteca. Como resultado surgieron estos dos foros con contenido
educativo.
Foros de discusión:
Oficial en el GES (Anexo II)
Foro # 1 http://www.galileo.edu/dotlrn/clubs/profesionalizacioncatedraticos/
Alternativo en YAHOO (Anexo III)
Foro # 2 http://espanol.groups.yahoo.com/group/educomunic/
Participantes:
1) Dr. Meir Finkel [email protected]
2) Lic. Leizer Kachler [email protected]
3) Lic. Rualdo Ibne Anzueto T. [email protected]
4) Dra. Lilly Soto [email protected]
5) Lic. Wendy Roxana Franco Higueros [email protected]
6) Lic. Arnulfo Guzmán [email protected]
7) Lic. Lourdes Donis [email protected]
8) Lic. Carlos Franco [email protected]
9) Lic. Guillermo Mayorga [email protected]
10) Lic. Sergio Valenzuela [email protected]
11) M.Sc. José Manuel Monroy [email protected]
12) M.Sc. Guillermo García [email protected]
13) Lic. Alfredo Mazariegos [email protected]
14) Lic. Hugo Mayorga [email protected]
15) Lic. Daniel Monroy [email protected]
LOS SUJETOS DE LA INVESTIGACIÓN:
Siendo ésta una investigación científica de tipo cualitativa y cuantitativa cuenta con
dos tipos de sujetos.
6 Acrónimo de ―Galileo Educational System‖
7 Portal gratuito en internet www.yahoo.com
64
Lo cualitativo está conformado por seres sociales que adoptan diferentes posturas en
su contexto y que fueron seleccionados por cumplir con el perfil deseado para obtener
información responsable, inteligente y con vocación de servicio.
Lo cuantitativo se refiere a las máquinas, quiere decir, la prestación que se recibe de
la utilización de las tecnologías de la información y comunicación.
En el caso de los sujetos humanos, cabe mencionar que se trata de universitarios
(catedráticos y alumnos) que estaban dispuestos a someterse a las diferentes
experiencia científicas (encuestas, entrevistas y grupos focales) para recabar
información verídica que responda a la realidad nacional y compartieron su visión por
Guatemala en el siglo XXI.
La información clave sobre la prestación del servicio que prestan las TIC‘s provino
principalmente del análisis cuantitativo y los resultados de los experimentos
realizados en el laboratorio de la Universidad Galileo.
Integrantes del grupo focal:
1) Arq. Francisco Ballesteros Guzmán ([email protected])
2) Licda. Luisa Eugenia E. Morales M. ([email protected])
3) M.A. Byron Ronaldo González ([email protected])
4) Lic. Carlos Conde Orellana ([email protected])
5) Licda. Miriam Lizet Gil de Quiñónez ([email protected])
6) Lic. José maría Duarte ([email protected])
7) Lic. Rudy Leonel López Maldonado ([email protected])
8) Dr. Ezequiel Urízar Vargas ([email protected])
9) Licda. Berta Alicia Enríquez ([email protected])
10) Lic. Eduardo Tay Chojolán ([email protected])
DIRECTOR EJECUTIVO DEL PROYECTO:

Dr. Meir Finkel, Ph.D.
Tabla de variables e indicadores:
VARIABLE
INDICADOR
MÉTODO TÉCNICO
ANÁLISIS
MEDICI
ÓN
TIC‘S
Productividad
Educación
Información
Análisis de contenido (Guía)
Análisis
experimental
(Expertos profesionales de la
docencia)
Análisis deductivo (análisis
de
la
información
de
Competitividad
4
Competencias
2
Cualitativo
3
65
documentos)
Análisis
cualitativo
(Observación)
Entrevistas de profundidad
(Guía estructurada)
Sociológico
3
Psicológico
4
Análisis fenomenológico
(Observación)
Deductivo
4
Grupo
focal
estructurada)
Encuestas
de
(Cuestionario)
(Guía
Cualitativo
5
campo
Cuantitativo
5
Análisis experimental (Guía
de trabajo)
Empírico
5
Cuantitativo
2
Competencias
Análisis deductivo (a partir
de hoja de cotejo de tratados)
Cualitativo
4
Educación
Grupo
focal
estructurada)
Análisis cuantitativo
(Cuestionario)
Cualitativo
3
Fenomenológic
5
Estructuras
Deshumaniza
ción
CIBERSOCIE
DAD
Transformaci
ones
Conocimiento
Oportunidade
s
Foros
Brecha digital
Sociedad
del
Con.
Internet
e-actividades
Plan nacional
Gestión
del
Implantación
(Guía
o
Investigación en internet
(Investigación en la red)
Análisis documental (a partir
del análisis de la información)
Grupos focales (Guía
estructurada)
Cualicuantitativo
Deductivo
4
Cualitativo
1
Análisis documental (a partir
de hoja de cotejo documental)
Análisis deductivo (a partir
del análisis de la información)
Deductivo
4
Deductivo
2
(Cuestionario)
Cuantitativo
1
Análisis
(información
documentos)
Cualitativo
1
(Cuestionario)
Cuantitativo
5
de trabajo)
Empírico
2
Cuantitativo
1
3
Con.
Acceso
Nuevo
modelo
Empresas
virtuales
Capital
intelectual
E-LEARNING
Correo
electrónico
Foros
y
de
deductivo
tratados y
grupos
Portales
Investigación en internet
66
Ciberciudadan
Grupo
estructurada)
focal
(Guía
Cualitativo
2
Auto-
de trabajo)
Empírico
3
Documental
4
(Cuestionario)
Análisis
deductivo
(información de tratados y
documentos)
Cuantitativo
2
Documental
3
Análisis
fenomenológico
(Observación)
Análisis
deductivo
(información de tratados y
documentos)
Análisis etnográfico
(Observación)
Económico
4
Cualitativo
1
Sociológico
3
os
aprendizaje
INNOV.
TECNO.
Transculturaci
ón
Transacciones
Recurso
económico
Impacto
Know how
Desarrollo
nacional
Tabla No. 2: Análisis de resultados
Fuente: Elaboración propia
6. PROPUESTA
Construicción de una plataforma educativa apoyada en ciencia y tecnología.
Las herramientas del conocimiento
•
•
•
•
•
•
Combinación presencial y virtual
Educación semipresencial
Basado en plataforma TIC
Mezcla de instrumentos
Nuevos roles
E-learning – E-moderación
(educación)
(aprendizaje)
(herramienta)
(internet)
(andragogía)
(modelo)
Los instrumentos tecnoeducativos
•
•
•
•
•
Profesores como agentes del cambio
Las PC‘s como medios del cambio
Rol del alumno en implantación del cambio
Desarrollo de aprendizaje guiado
Acción educativa de tipo innovador
67
•
Presencia de elementos virtuales
Aula presencial versos aula virtual
Aula presencial
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Profesor
Pupitre
Clase
Dinámica
Cartelera
Librera
Casillero de mensajes
Teléfono
Celular
Diario
Afiches
Pizarrón
Investigación
Aula virtual
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
CBT
Computadora
Portal
Novedades
Foro
Repositorio
Correo electrónico
Chat
Messenger
Blog
WebPage
WebQuest
Buscadores
Uso de servicios pagados y gratuitos
Todos los productos y dispositivos del aula virtual se adaptan perfectamente al aula
presencial evolucionando la educación tradicional hacia el e-learning. Una modalidad
educativa híbrida donde converge lo real con lo virtual.
El modelo propuesto en este estudio es el resultado de la mezcla del aula presencial
con el foro de discusión, una combinación probada en laboratorio y en uso cotidiano,
dando lugar al modelo denominado: E-LEARNING-GT.
Este modelo se puede usar con sólo desearlo, es público y gratuito a través del
servicio de grupos de YAHOO. Para los más experimentados se puede pagar espacio
en un servidor (en Guatemala o fuera de ella) e implantar un foro de discusión con los
servicios educativos que propone este informe.
Técnicas didácticas basadas en tecnología



Formación de una cultura de aprendizaje colaborativo basado en compartir
conocimiento.
Difusión de un nuevo paradigma que modifica los hábitos de enseñanza de
los catedráticos y del aprendizaje de los alumnos.
Mezcla de enseñanza activa para la construcción del conocimiento por medio
de redes donde interactúan los integrantes de las clases por medio de equipos
de estudio a base de grupos multidisciplinarios.
68
Identificación de las herramientas e instrumentos
Las herramientas las componen las tecnologías de la información y comunicación
TIC‘s. El instrumento clave y representativo es el internet y sus diferentes
dispositivos (Portal, cartelera de noticias, foro de discusión, repositorio documental,
correo electrónico, chat, messenger, blog, WebPage, WebQuest).
Comunicación generalizada por medio del correo electrónico
 Implantación de los FOROS de discusión en la educación
 Difusión de los portales del conocimiento
 La interacción electrónica entre los ciberciudadanos
 El auto-aprendizaje por medio de casos y problemas
7. CONCLUSIONES
Los catedráticos utilizan la tecnología, ahora deben utilizar el e-learning-gt para la
difusión del conocimiento, el enriquecimiento del contenido de la educación y
mejorar el desempeño de los alumnos.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Contenido educativo que se encuentra en un aula convencional
Recurso educativo que se encuentra en un aula virtual
Solución a planteamientos educativos que se puede realizar fuera de la red
Exploración de proyectos educativos en la red, según el tema de interés
Fomentar la investigación y verificar las fuentes
Conclusión General
Guatemala se encuentra inmersa en las TIC‘s, sus bondades han sido subutilizadas por
temores, desconfianza y hasta idiosincrasia de las personas aferradas a la época
industrial del siglo XX, personas que se oponen a los nuevos paradigmas
postindustriales de la era digital.
Esta dificultad puede superarse a base de la difusión, explicación, pruebas de uso del
internet a todos los agentes de cambio: padres, profesores y alumnos.
La principal responsabilidad recae en los profesores, quienes deberán implantar a su
plataforma educativa, a la brevedad posible, el uso del modelo educativo innovador elearning-gt con énfasis en el uso de los foros de discusión para promover y propiciar
el desarrollo del modelo cibersocial que propone esta investigación.
69
Conclusiones Específicas
1) Las TIC‘s son la causa de los cambios estructurales en la sociedad guatemalteca
desde el punto de vista psicológico, social, económico y educativo.
2) El análisis de contenido de los medios de comunicación monitoreado muestra una
débil participación en sus agendas temáticas del tema tecnológico, tecnoeducativo y
cibereducativo.
3) El modelo cibersocial basado en la innovación tecnológica aplicado a la educación
por medio del e-learning-gt con énfasis en los foros de discusión ha mostrado su
efectividad en todos los estudios, pruebas, experimentos, opiniones, observaciones,
expertos y profesionales que sirvieron de fundamento a lo expuesto.
4) Los cambios tecnológicos son muy veloces y como lo plantea esta investigación
―en la medida que evoluciona la tecnología progresan las personas tecnológicamente
activas‖.
Los cambios sociales deben ser igual de rápidos dejando en el pasado las eras agrarias
o industriales para adentrarse en la época de la tecnología, del internet…de las TIC‘s.
8. REFLEXIONES FINALES
Autoaprendizaje a base de e-learning-gt
La globalización y su relación con la tecnología es más que una economía mundial;
por lo que se recomienda prestar atención a la implantación tecnológica en todos
sectores sociales de Guatemala, pero en especial manera en la educación.
Si Guatemala no tiene la tecnología apropiada para formar parte de la globalización,
perderá la oportunidad de incorporarse a la economía mundial, en desmejora para su
población. Por lo que se debe continuar actualizando la infraestructura, estimular la
transferencia tecnológica y promover la actualización de los profesores en este tema.
La autoeducación y formación continua para actualizarse es una condición obligada
para alcanzar la competencia tecnológica y una mayor seguridad laboral. Requiere de
disciplina y autodisciplina que son parte integral de la propuesta de e-learning-gt. Se
debe aprovechar las ventajas que ofrece el internet, es posible conectarse al mundo
entero y sus datos, y progresar. Es una cuestión de política de Estado y de inculcar
una actitud de dominio sobre la tecnología.
Con base a lo expuesto, es necesario que se establezca un proyecto estratégico
nacional orientado para incorporar a la mayoría de los guatemaltecos al desarrollo
70
tecnológico y social del país, para reducir la ―brecha digital‖ y consecuentemente la
―brecha económica‖. Esta alternativa de desarrollo basado en cibereducación en la
sociedad del conocimiento es la combinación de lo tecnológico con lo educativo, lo
cual abre la posibilidad del debate entorno al tema propuesto para una ―EDUCACIÓN
NACIONAL APOYADA POR CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGÍA‖.
El paradigma tecnoeducativo
La tecnología como concepto es ya de por sí un ámbito de estudio complejo tanto en
su dimensión intrínseca (en su naturaleza) como extrínseca (en su aplicabilidad), que
lleva a relacionarla con otros conceptos como lo son los relativos a ciencia, cultura y
educación entre otros.
La innovación tecnológica es la mejora continua en el modo de trabajar, estudiar y
entretenerse. Pero más intensamente es la incorporación del conocimiento a la
economía, lo que da por resultado la globalización.
Todos los sujetos investigados coinciden en que necesitan aprender nuevos usos que
no han experimentado aún en internet, a lo cual esta investigación propone el uso
intensivo de los foros de discusión para convertir la sociedad guatemalteca en una
sociedad avanzada y mejor adaptada a la globalización.
Está claro que en Guatemala, todos están inmersos en las TIC‘s sin darse cuenta de
ello. Contrario a los que se oponen a la implantación tecnológica, la mayoría de los
guatemaltecos piensan queque se ha enriquecido la cultura al incorporar nuevas
rutinas en el quehacer cotidiano.
No hay duda que la utilización de una plataforma tecnológica ayuda al progreso de las
ciudades, al crecimiento laboral, promueven bienestar y facilita la vida. Quiere decir
que las TIC‘s son un aliado al desarrollo humano y facilita la lucha en el combate a la
pobreza.
¿Qué se ha descubierto en esta investigación?
La evidencia que prueba la importante y positiva relación entre el avance tecnológico
y el progreso social, vino a romper el paradigma de todas las personas que se resistían
mostrando oposición al uso de la plataforma tecnológica, argumentando que la
prestación que reciben de las máquinas los deshumanizan y les produce dolores de
cabeza, de espalda y en general les produce neurosis.
¿Cuál es el nuevo paradigma de las tecnologías?
1.
2.
3.
En la medida que evolucionan las tecnologías, progresa la
sociedad
Los avances tecnológicos imponen nuevos modos de vivir y
mejores condiciones de vida
La formación de toda clase de redes de información mejora los
lazos sociales con la creación de comunidades virtuales
71
¿Qué caracteriza el fenómeno tecno−social observado?
1.
La convergencia digital de todas las computadoras en red,
la electrónica, los bancos de datos, las telecomunicaciones, etc.
Convergen también lo social, lo político, lo económico y la cultura
2.
El surgimiento de una nueva sociedad, la cibersociedad.
3.
Las nuevas formas de hacer las cosas, más comprensible,
fácil, veloz y útil.
¿Cuáles son los nuevos componentes tecno−sociales?
1.
2.
3.
4.
La innovación tecnológica (globalización, desarrollo,
conocimiento e investigación)
La estrategia tecnológica (competitividad, TIC‘s, y
competencias)
La plataforma tecnológica (plan, nuevos modelos, y
productividad)
La gestión tecnológica (organización, agentes, y recursos)
El tema central de esta investigación es la relación entre el ser humano y la tecnología
(ser digital8) y la brecha digital que separa a los considerados tecnológicamente
activos (que utilizan la plataforma tecnológica) de una inmensa mayoría que no la
utilizan y necesitan de la alfabetización digital.
Se pudo establecer tres pilares cruciales para comprender la Sociedad del
Conocimiento:
1.
2.
3.
Quedó establecido el gran deseo de todos los guatemaltecos en
incorporar los avances tecnológicos a sus vidas
En la medida que se implanten centros de capacitación tecnológica,
la sociedad guatemalteca podrá cambiar su estructura actual hacia la
Sociedad del Conocimiento
Se pudo establecer tres factores claves en la cibersociedad:



Las TIC‘s
La innovación tecnológica
La Sociedad del Conocimiento
8 Nicholas Negroponte, Ser Digital, Buenos Aires: Editorial Atlántida, 1996.
72
73
74
Usability in e-Learning Platforms: heuristics comparison
Ludivine Martin1,5, David Roldán Martínez 2,5, Olga Revilla 3,5, Maria José
Aguilar4,5, Olga C. Santos1,5, Jesús G. Boticario1
1
aDeNu Research Group, Artificial Intelligence Department, Computer Science School,
UNED, C/Juan del Rosal, 16. 28040 Madrid, Spain
{ludivine.martin,ocsantos,jgb}@dia.uned.es
2
Proyecto AEEVA , Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Camino de Vera, s/n
46022 Valencia, Spain
[email protected]
3
itakora.com
[email protected]
4
mariajoseaguilar.com
[email protected]
5
Cadius community of usability professionals
http://www.cadius.org/
Abstract. Recently, educational institutions largely adopted open source elearning platforms. Several studies and comparisons between those platforms
were conducted. However, these analyses were more focused into purely
technical issues (standards support, development platform used, scalability,
etc.) than into functional issues. It was noted that most of the e-learning
solutions are not optimal from the end-user point of view: they can be hard and
tedious to use, potentially resulting in higher abandon rates. There is therefore a
need to focus into usability to work toward more usable and user-centered elearning platforms. This paper details the used methodology based on heuristics
to allow an objective usability evaluation of three of the main e-learning open
source platforms: Moodle, Sakai and dotLRN. The results of the comparative
evaluations are exposed.
Keywords: Usability, heuristics, eLearning, LMS, VLE, Moodle, Sakai,
dotLRN.
1. INTRODUCTION
E-learning is widely adopted by educational centers at all stages, especially in higher
education institutions trying to support the life-long learning (LLL) paradigm. It
removes time and space barriers. Numerous sites and articles provide reviews of
Learning Management Systems (LMS), mostly concentrated in comparative study of
their technical features [1], [2]. Disappointment and frustration are common in elearning, due to poor features, lack of pedagogical guidance, ineffective evaluation
procedures and usability issues [3]. A direct correlation has been established between
the key aspects in the usability field and their effect on learning [4]. From a usability
perspective, LMS have particularities as compared to other Web sites
75
 Out-of-the box product. Usually an institution will adopt an existing LMS, not
build a new one. Therefore the LMS already exists. It is not built for a very specific
purpose and audience.
 Variety of needs. LMS have to be flexible enough to address a variety of teaching,
learning and collaborative styles.
 High level of customization. LMS usually offer a wide range of configuration
options at the admin level, the tutor level and the student level. This flexibility
affects the overall usability of the system.
 Captive audience. The end-user (students and tutors) doesn‟t choose the LMS.
Instead, the end-user chooses a learning institution and then has to adopt the
institution‟s LMS. If the user gets frustrated by the LMS, she cannot leave it; she
has to bear with it. It points out the need to assess also the user satisfaction of the
product and not only the efficiency of the product.
 Educational standards. In order to facilitate the reusability of the author work (e.g.
reusability of contents and instructional designs) and facilitate the adaptability of
the course to the learner, the LMS has to comply with educational standards (IMS,
SCORM). These standards are usually complex and impact on the LMS user
interface, therefore the user experience.
 Container/contained relationship. When evaluating the overall usability and
accessibility of a LMS, we need to look at three different elements: the platform, or
“shell” or “receptacle” where the course materials are stored and delivered; the
formal content, or packaged course materials, compliant to educational standards,
the content generated by users, or content produced by the entire community.
Three of the most widely used open source LMS are Moodle 9, Sakai10 and dotLRN11.
Moodle defines itself as an “open source software package designed using sound
pedagogical principles, to help educators create effective online learning
communities”, Sakai as an “online collaboration and learning environment”, and
dotLRN as an “enterprise-class open source software” for “supporting e-learning and
digital communities”. Although these three solutions call themselves differently, they
are direct competitors. In the field of e-learning, those three solutions –or platforms–
are commonly called Learning Management Systems (LMS), Virtual Learning
Environments (VLE) or Course Management System (CMS). The LMS are used by a
variety of users –students, tutors and administrators– with a variety of goals. The
three platforms are entirely free and developed by open source communities.
The overall aim of this usability test is restricted to heuristics: we want to compare
usability checkpoints compliance between Moodle, Sakai and dotLRN, focusing only
on the students‟ aspect, perspective and tasks. Because this study is based only on an
expert evaluation, it does not intent:
1. To detect all usability issues on the platform, but rather the most likely to be
found by typical users.
2. To replace any study with real users, which is essential and should also be
conducted for a comprehensive usability evaluation
9
Moodle website: http://moodle.org
Sakai website: http://sakaiproject.org
11 dotLRN website: http://dotlrn.org
10
76
3. To assign absolute values or grades, but rather to provide numerical data to
allow comparisons between the three platforms.
The used methodology is detailed in the next section, followed by the results section.
2. METHODOLOGY
The study took place in January 2008. The three platforms were set up beforehand
using the default layout and configuration (as provided by the stable version in each
site) on which we built a class environment with fictitious contents to simulate a real
situation. The content was exactly the same on the three platforms. It included a class
introduction, class forums and class documents. Five usability experts participated in
this study, while three experts is the minimum recommended [5]. These five experts
belong to the Cadius community, which stands for Information Architecture and
Usability Community (in Spanish: Comunidad de Arquitectura De Información y
USabilidad). Cadius is a community of usability, information architecture and
interaction design professionals. It is organized by a distribution list and periodic
meetings in several cities. It was created in 2001 and nowadays it involves more than
2000 members all over the world, especially in Spain and Latin-America.
Each expert evaluated the platforms remotely in a random order. For each platform,
they were asked to proceed with a series of tasks. The goal was to test the main
features offered by an e-learning platform in order to support asynchronous student
learning. These tasks – frequent or critical for students – were as follows:
1. Register to the platform.
2. Sign up to a class.
3. Leave a post in a forum.
4. Download a document.
5. Add a personal event in the calendar.
Each evaluator could take as much time as needed to explore the platform. After
completing the tasks, each evaluator filled a data log sheet. This spreadsheet was
based on the 10 Nielsen Heuristics [6], which are as follows.
1. Visibility of System Status
2. Match Between System and the Real World
3. User Control and Freedom
4. Consistency and Standards
5. Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, and Recover from Errors
6. Error Prevention
7. Recognition Rather than Recall
8. Flexibility and Efficiency of Use
9. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design
10.Help and Documentation
These 10 heuristics are detailed into more than 300 usability checkpoints [7].
Irrelevant checkpoints to e-learning platforms were removed to end up with about 200
checkpoints. For each checkpoint, the expert had to decide if it was or not
respected or if it didn‘t apply to the site (NA: Not Applicable). For the data treatment,
the NA values were removed and scores were transformed in percentage.
77
If a checkpoint was not respected, the expert had to attribute a severity score: low,
medium, serious or critical. The severity scores were attributed according to the
following definitions:
 Critical: This usability problem will make some users unwilling or unable to
complete a common task. It should be fixed urgently.
 Serious: This usability problem will significantly slow down some users when
completing a common task and may cause users to find a workaround. It should
be fixed as soon as possible.
 Medium: This usability problem will make some users feel frustrated or irritated
but will not affect task completion. It should be fixed during the next “business
as usual” update.
 Low: This is a quality problem, for example a cosmetic issue, a spelling error or
a grammatical mistake.
3. RESULTS
This section presents the results of the analysis of the 5 data log sets produced by the
experts after the corresponding heuristics evaluation. The results presented first show
the overall scores. Then, the strengths and weaknesses detected are identified. Finally,
the severity of the usability issues is addressed.
3.1 Overall scores
The following figure shows the overall scores obtained by Moodle, Sakai and
dotLRN, respectively. None of the platforms reaches the 80% of compliance. dotLRN
reached the score of 78% compliance to usability checkpoints. Very close to dotLRN
is Sakai with 77%. Moodle is significantly behind with a score of 68%.
78
100
80
77
78
Sakai
dotLRN
68
60
40
20
0
Moodle
Fig. 1. This figure illustrates the overall score obtained by the platforms, in percentage of
compliance to the usability checkpoints.
In turn, Fig. 2 shows an overall consistency across the experts‘ opinions regarding the
overall scores of the platforms. Four experts out of five significantly gave lower
scores to Moodle. dotLRN and Sakai scores are tight, since three out of five experts
gave the highest score to Sakai while the other two, gave the highest to dotLRN.
Moreover, expert 4 scores for Sakai and Moodle are almost similar, just slightly
higher for Sakai.
100
80
60
Moodle
Sakai
dotLRN
40
20
0
Average
Expert 1
Expert 2
Expert 3
Expert 4
Expert 5
Fig. 2. This figure illustrates the distribution of scores by the 5 experts (in percentage) of
compliance to the checkpoints
3.2 Strengths and weaknesses
Now, we discuss the results obtained in each of the 10 heuristics by each platform.
79
100
80
60
Moodle
Sakai
dotLRN
40
20
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Fig. 3. This figure illustrates the score (%) obtained by the platforms in the 10 heuristics.
Fig. 3 shows the strengths and weaknesses of the platforms as compared to the others.
Moodle gets its highest score (90%) in ―5. Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, and
Recover from Errors‖ and its worst score (22%) in ―8. Flexibility and Efficiency of
Use‖. Sakai and dotLRN are again quite similar. Both get their highest score (90%) in
―9. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design‖ and their worst score (Sakai 30%, dotLRN
44%), as Moodle, in ―8. Flexibility and Efficiency of use‖.
In more detail, the results for each of the platforms as compared to the others are:
 Moodle. Moodle scores better than the other platforms on the following point:
“5. Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, and Recover from Errors”. Moodle scores
worst than the other platforms on all the other points, except “3. User Control
and Freedom” (score equal to dotLRN), other said, in 8 out of 10 checkpoints.
 Sakai. Sakai scores better than the other platforms on the following points: “3.
User Control and Freedom”, “4. Consistency and Standards”, “6. Error
Prevention” and “10. Help and Documentation”. Sakai is worst than the other
platforms on the following point: “5. Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, and
Recover from Errors”.
 dotLRN. dotLRN scores better than the other platforms on 5 out of 10
heuristics: “1. Visibility of System Status”,“2. Match between System and the
Real World”, “7. Recognition Rather than Recall”, “8. Flexibility and Efficiency
of Use” and “9. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design” (same score as Sakai on this
last one). dotLRN got the lowest score of the 3 platforms, but equal to Moodle
for “3. User Control and Freedom”.
From this analysis, it can be concluded that the experts gave low scores on “8.
Flexibility and Efficiency of Use” for the three platforms (none reached 50%
compliance). This heuristic says that “accelerators-unseen by the novice user-may
often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to
both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
Provide alternative means of access and operation for users who differ from the
“average” user (e.g., physical or cognitive ability, culture, language, etc.)”. However
this heuristic was sustained by only 6 relevant checkpoints (as opposed to an average
of 20 checkpoints by heuristic)
In turn, the three platforms scored around 80% in heuristics 5. and 9.. Both Moodle
and dotLRN scored over 80% in ―5. Helping Users Recognize, Diagnose, and
80
Recover from Errors‖ which relates to ―Error messages should be expressed in plain
language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a
solution.‖. Both Sakai and dotLRN score over 80% in ―9. Aesthetic and Minimalist
Design‖. This heuristic says that ―dialogues should not contain information which is
irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes
with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility‖.
Moreover, Sakai and dotLRN also score around 80% in 1, 4 and 7 heuristics.
Heuristic 1 says that ―the system should always keep user informed about what is
going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time‖, heuristic 4 says that
―users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean
the same thing. follow platform conventions.‖ and heuristic 7 says that ―objects,
actions, and options should be made visible. The user should not have to remember
information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the
system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate‖.
3.3 Severity of usability issues
severity level of usability issues
100%
80%
300
263
194
60%
180
200
40%
100
20%
0%
0
Moodle
Sakai
number of non-compliant checkpoints
Overall for the 3 platforms, about 90% of the usability issues found were of low or
medium importance.
Critical
Severe
Medium
Low
Total of not
compliant
checkpoints
dotLRN
Fig. 4. This figure illustrates the distribution of the severity of the usability issues found in each
platform.
The platform with more non-compliant checkpoints is Moodle. In turn, Sakai
and dotLRN score very similar, having dotLRN a few less checkpoints.
Table 1. Severity of the usability issues found in each platform
Non-compliant
Moodle
Sakai
263 ncp
194 ncp
dotLR
N
180 ncp
81
checkpoints
Severity Low
(%)
Medium
Severe
Critical
52 %
40 %
5%
3%
54 %
36 %
2%
8%
56 %
33 %
6%
5%
From the above table, it can be summarized the following:
 Moodle has the largest number of non-compliant checkpoints (263): 46% more
than dotLRN and 35% more than Sakai. However, 92% of the issues found in
Moodle are of low or medium severity, but 8% are severe and critical.
 Sakai has a medium score of non-compliant checkpoints, 90% low or medium and
10% severe or critical.
 dotLRN has the lowest number of non-compliant checkpoints, 89% low or
medium. However, it has the highest percentage of severe or critical (11%), just
one point above Sakai.
4. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORKS
This paper has presented a usability evaluation of three of the most well known open
learning management systems: Moodle, Sakai and dotLRN. Five usability experts
participated in this study following a task-based approach. After completing the tasks,
each evaluator filled a data log sheet. This spreadsheet was based on the 10 Nielsen
Heuristics, which are detailed into more than 300 usability checkpoints.
The results have shown that dotLRN got the highest score within this heuristics study,
whereas Sakai obtained a second position, very closed to dotLRN score. In turn,
Moodle is significantly behind. However, as said earlier, testing with real users in
real-life situation is essential to have a comprehensive overview of the usability of
each platform. This analysis was an initial attempt to compare the three platforms
from a users‘ experience perspective, in contraposition to the traditional analysis
focused on technical issues and functionality.
Regarding the methodology, we took notes of potential improvements for future
study. One improvement would be to add more challenging tasks to test the platforms
further and facilitate filling the checkpoints, such as register with the same username
(to force an error), upload a heavy file (to check for the waiting time and the waiting
message) or delete an uploaded file (to check action reversal). Another improvement
is to refine even more the checklist by removing the checkpoints that were notified as
irrelevant to all 3 platforms.
As part of the ALPE project12 (European project eTEN029328), UNED is conducting
several rounds of evaluations with end-users on the dotLRN platform. ALPE
(Accessible eLearning Platform for Europe) is a validation project involving an
accessible, standard based e-learning solution for visually impaired, hearing impaired
and adult learners. The goal is to obtain quantitative data regarding user
satisfaction/acceptance of the platform, with special attention to accessibility issues.
12
http://adenu.ia.uned.es/alpe/
82
Usability testing happens in several places along the e-learning cycle [8]. Those data
will be both obtained from online questionnaire, real-life course follow up and oneon-one session with end-users. Results will be translated into design
recommendations or technical requirements to improve the dotLRN platform
usability.
Recently, there has been an increase of the importance given to usability and
accessibility within Sakai community. In fact, Sakai is part of the Fluid Project13,
―…a worldwide collaborative project to help improve the usability and accessibility
of community open source projects with a focus on academic software for
universities. We are developing and will freely distribute a library of sharable
customizable user interfaces designed to improve the user experience of web
applications.‖ Therefore Sakai community works steadily toward improving the
platform usability.
LMS usability is challenging: it is about ensuring usability of a highly flexible
system which offers a lot of customization options at every level and which moreover
integrates components (platform, course, content generated by users) coming from
different sources (developers, administrators, authors, students, tutors) for different
purposes. More widely, usability within the field of e-learning is a challenging
domain. The main task for the student is learning [9], so usability should take into
account the cognitive process involved in learning. Usability has been described as a
precursor of learnability [10]. Usability shouldn‟t be a barrier to learning, especially
because it can impact motivation. There is currently no out-of-the box widely
accepted usability evaluation in e-learning, since most techniques fail to capture the
pedagogical effectiveness. One definition of usability in e-learning opens the path: the
ability of a learning object to support or enable a very particular concrete cognitive
goal [11].
Acknowledgments. UNED authors would like to thank the European Commission for
funding the Market Validation of ALPE project. The results obtained in this paper
confirm the appropriate selection of dotLRN platform for the objectives of ALPE
project.
REFERENCES
1. Edutools Course Management System Comparisons. Retrieved January 17, 2008
http://edutools.com/static.jsp?pj=4&page=HOME
2. Santos, O.C., Boticario, J.G., Raffenne, E., Pastor, R. Why using dotLRN? UNED use cases.
FLOSS International Conference, 2007.
3. Zemsky, R., Massy W.F. Thwarted Innovation What Happened to e-learning and Why
http://www.thelearningalliance.info/Docs/Jun2004/ThwartedInnovation.pdf
4. Kruse, K. e-Learning and the Neglect of User Interface Design, e-LearningGuru.com,
http://www.e-learningguru.com/articles/art4_1.htm
5. Nielsen, J. (1992). Finding usability problems through heuristic evaluation. Proc. ACM
CHI'92 Conf. (Monterey, California), 373-380.
13
http://www.fluidproject.org
83
6. Nielsen, J. (2005). Heuristic Evaluation. Retrieved April 05, 2007, from
http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/
7. Pierotti D., Heuristic Evaluation - A System Checklist. Retrieved April 05, 2007 from
http://www.stcsig.org/usability/topics/articles/he-checklist.html
8. Martin, L., Gutiérrez y Restrepo, E., Barrera C., Rodríguez Ascaso, A., Santos O.C.,
Boticario, J.G. (2007). Usability and Accessibility Evaluations along the eLearning Cycle.
Proc. Web Information Systems Engineering 2007 Conf. (Nancy, France), 453-458.
9. Zaharias, P. (2004). Usability and e-Learning: The road towards integration. ACM eLearn
Magazine, Vol.2004 (6).
10.Smulders, D., Designing for Learners, Designing for Users, eLearn Magazine,
http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage/sub_page.cfm?section=3&list_item=11&page=1
11.Feldstein, M., (2002) What Is "Usable" e-Learning?, eLearn Magazine,
http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage/sub_page.cfm?section=4&list_item=6&page=1
84
85
Monitoring of Learning Performance: From EyeTracking Support to Explicit Feedback
Victor Manuel García-Barrios
Institute for Information Systems and Computer Media,
Graz University of Technology,
[email protected]
Abstract. Within e-learning environments, an efficient and accurate monitoring
of learning performance is a hard task for teachers, from the didactical as well
as from the technical point of view. In particular, the asynchronous character of
e-learning (i.e. learning at own pace, anytime & anywhere) leads to asymmetric
personal learning progresses at a certain time, making it difficult for teachers to
(re)establish symmetry when didactically needed. Solution approaches, such as
utilising adaptive techniques, may help to support teachers in an automatic way
by observing the real-time learning behaviour of system users and presenting
personalised courseware based on predefined didactical goals. This paper
introduces a tool, Stagezilla, which is used within the AdeLE system (a) to
support the teaching process by enabling the integration of didactical goals in
courseware, and accordingly (b) to provide learners a way to give feedback
about their achievements during the e-learning journey.
Keywords: Adaptive E-Learning, Behaviour Tracking, Learning Performance,
Didactical Goals, Learning Guidance, Eye-Tracking.
1. INTRODUCTION
The goal of the research project AdeLE (Adaptive e-Learning with Eye-Tracking,
http://adele.fh-joanneum.at) is to develop an adaptive e-learning system that uses fine-grained
user profiling techniques for the analysis of learner behaviour and learner states in real-time.
For that purpose, the resulting AdeLE system applies modern eye-tracking technology (see flatscreen monitor at left side of figure 1 on the next page) in combination with fine-grained
content-tracking information (see e.g. [1] or [2] for details). But, why should teachers utilise
“adaptive” e-learning techniques if there exist other e-learning paradigms, models and systems
that seem to reach better didactical results? Why “replacing” teachers by e-teaching machines?
One of the main problem of both streams, adaptive or not, relies on the indispensable didactical
premise of face-to-face guided learning, which is hard (rather impossible) to express
electronically with all its real-world traits, including e.g. eye-to-eye interaction, human warmth,
interpersonal trust and intimate attitude. In order to underline the aforementioned, consider for
example the critical issues in the following paragraphs.
86
Fig. 1. Usage of AdeLE'S Eye-Tracking System. [3]
In general terms, constructivistic e-learning is not ideal, e.g. Web-based discovery e-learning
shows problems if the corpus of learning materials is too open, because cognitive overload or
the lost in hyperspace problems may arise. Adaptive e-learning aims at overcoming these
difficulties of comprehension and disorientation by reducing and optimising the material
repertory according to personal learning traits. Further, the location independent and
asynchronous character of e-learning leads to asymmetric learning [4], i.e. distinct persons
learning at own pace reflect distinct learning performances at a certain point in time,
representing a hard to solve problem for teachers. In this case, adaptive e-learning may assist a
teacher by continuously observing individual learning progresses and e.g. detecting problematic
areas of knowledge acquisition. Regarding the applicability of e-learning, the key for successful
e-learning is involving learners in practical tasks (learning by doing) and not only conveying
knowledge [5]. This can be achieved e.g. by means of exploratory learning [6], but the success
of applying this paradigm is not guaranteed. Within this context, the point is to avoid leaving
learners completely alone while exploring an un-known and fuzzy information space. In
accordance to [7], “the learners have to be guided. […] we need „guidance without dictatorship‟
but must avoid the „lost in hyperspace‟ problem”. From a didactical point of view, some sort of
observable and controllable learning path could be provided to learners as solution alternative
in case they get lost in hyperspace or are exploring “wrong” resources.
As stated in [8], one of the services of user-adapting systems is the representation of
assumptions about user‟s misconceptions. In [9], a method is presented to model
misconceptions in an algebraic knowledge structure based on the Knowledge Space Theory
[10]. This method is used in adaptive e‐ learning environments to detect contradictions while
assessing the acquired knowledge of learners. Contradictions and misconceptions arise because
a person takes some fact for correct (true) while the majority of colleagues takes it for incorrect
(false). Within modern Web2.0-based e‐ learning systems, this dark side of social software was
coined e.g. in [11]: social software presents the learner with recommended options, links and
paths resulting from the behaviour of others learners, i.e. it assumes the teacher‟s role of
providing control over the learning journey to the community members. Thus, a dynamic
propagation of control is a property of the system and depends on the interactions and goals of
the learner community as a whole. Therefore, community contributions in social software lead
to a self‐ organising system, whereby learners may control their learning or delegate control to
the community. The learning goals in such self‐ organising systems should be somehow
aligned (i.e. controlled), because “out of control, the wisdom of crowds can too easily become
the stupidity of mobs” [11]. The key message is then again: guided control is required. As
mentioned in [12], this requirement arises because the impact of the first contributions is so
significant on the environment that it influences directly the ensuing contributions. Thus,
autonomous learners (i.e. active community members that are used to contributing
87
spontaneously with own opinions) may contribute unintentionally to an uncontrolled
propagation of misconceptions.
This paper introduces Stagezilla, a tool that aims at meeting the requirements to solve the
aforementioned critical issues through mechanisms to integrate didactical goals and
accordingly, detect learning needs and learning performance. The paper introduces firstly into
Behaviour Tracking, AdeLE‟s technique to monitor learning performance in adaptive elearning environments during the knowledge transfer process (see chapter 2). Hereby, the focus
is set on those steps within that process where Stagezilla comes into play. Based on that, in
order to clarify the practical use of this tool, the main aspects of its current status of
development and implementation are presented in chapter 3. Finally, conclusions and an
outlook on future work are drawn.
2. MONITORING LEARNING PERFORMANCE:
BEHAVIOUR TRACKING
As stated in [13], the knowledge transfer process in technology‐ based teaching and learning
systems is composed of two streams: teaching and learning. At present, it is possible to
identify, analyse, track and monitor relevant aspects of instruction, e.g. different velocities,
paths or strategies of learning. Literature in the field of cognitive psychology indicates that
people show significant individual differences in how they learn ([14] [15] [16]). Within the
AdeLE system, the information about the learner‟s gaze behaviour provides an opportunity to
personalise learning material to individual needs, e.g. if a learner shows a preference to
consume text, ignoring images, the number of images might be reduced in subsequently
delivered material. Further, the eye‐ tracking system of AdeLE could help to identify the topics
of most relevant areas of attention and provide further information in that topic (e.g. because
the learner is highly interested in the topic or has problems to understand that area).
The research efforts within the AdeLE project are focused on the development and the
investigation of methods to extract individual learning styles from gaze behaviour (and based
on that, adapt the provision of learning assets) and of methods for real‐ time analysis of
consumed information assets (e.g. words, text passages, areas in images or tables, in order to
provide additional topic‐ specific information). The general architecture of the AdeLE system
is shown in figure 2 (next page). At client‐ side, learners interact with the Web Client (WC) as
with a usual Web‐ based system. At the same time, also at the client side, real time information
about the behavioural and constitutional states is being tracked. Thus, the input for the User
Modelling System (UMS) consists of learner information received from the client‐ sided
tracking systems and of information about e.g. learner preferences and interactions gathered
from the Learning Management System (LMS) via the Adaptive System (AS). The AS
personalises e.g. navigation and visualisation of learning material by exploiting user
information from the UMS. Further, course creators and teachers may use a Dynamic
Background Library (DBL) to define knowledge topics of material structures and their
associations. The DBL interacts with the Search & Retrieval System to enable access to
dynamically retrieved learning resources relying on the Web. For details about AdeLE system,
refer to [1] or [2].
88
Fig. 2. General Architecture of the AdeLE System. [12]
The best method to measure knowledge acquisition seems to be assessment. For example, by
means of partial exams, teachers may identify early enough if learners have problems with the
learning context and are thus able to react accordingly. Within the scope of traditional elearning, the steps involved in an instructional cycle might take place as depicted in figure 3a
(next page). The cycle begins with a teacher preparing the learning materials (Authoring) and
subsequently, integrating them into an e-learning platform (Storage). These materials are placed
at the disposal of learners (Delivery). When learners access the system, their learning journey
begins (Learning). Then, during the course or after it, they might be asked to make exams
(Assessment), and in turn, the system or the teacher (or both) will evaluate the results and
provide marks for each exam (Grading). Ergo, much time has passed: only after this “late”
evaluation the teacher might react to past problems regarding knowledge acquisition or learning
performance. Therefore, a disadvantage of traditional e-learning systems (either adaptive or
not) is that teachers rarely are able to observe individual learning performance on real-time.
They might count with synchronous collaborative tools, such as chats, video streams or econferencing, however, the monitoring of the individual learning behaviour of all system users
at the same time requires more than these tools. Nonetheless, this problem also exists in
classroom instruction, but there, the physical nearness gives teachers the possibility to better
observe the actions of learners, and consequently, to react immediately to problems of
individuals or groups. Among others, teachers can react that fast, because they are always
striving for symmetric learning. Any technological effort to achieve symmetric instruction and
to foster personal contact (such as the aforementioned tools) will contribute to improve the
knowledge transfer process. AdeLEs‟s Behaviour Tracking technique aims at improving this
traditional cycle (see figure 3b).
89
(a) Traditional e-learning
(b) AdeLE’s improved e-learning
Fig. 3. Simplified Traditional E-Learning (left side) and Improved Knowledge Transfer through
AdeLE‘s Behaviour Tracking (right side). [12]
Beginning again with the Authoring step, teachers are provided with Stagezilla to embed
didactical goals into their (Web) materials. At this step (see step 1 in figure 3b), from the
perspective of the teachers, Stagezilla helps them (right at the outset) to define into a Web page
which segments of the content are (a) didactically relevant (must be learned), (b) could be
considered (should be read), or (c) are not significant (might be ignored). Thus, Stagezilla
provides the possibility to annotate didactical goals. Technically, it is an extension (plug-in) for
the Firefox Web browser and is based on Annozilla, an annotation tool for Web pages, as
defined by the W3C Annotea project (http://annozilla.mozdev.org). In accordance to the
architecture of the AdeLE system (see figure 2), the annotated learning material is stored in the
LMS, which is adapted by the AS. Thus, the steps Adaptation, Storage and Delivery in figure 3
are ensured. At client‐ side, when learners interact with the AdeLE system, they get a default
view of a Web page. During interaction, the eye‐ tracking system analyses the gaze movements
of a learner: the client‐ sided Eye & Gaze Tracking System (EGTS) and Content Tracking
System (CTS) come into play, i.e. the practical part of the Behaviour Tracking technique
begins. AdeLE‟s evaluation study [17] could find out that some eye movement parameters
provide a distinction among the three different gaze behaviours skimming, reading and
learning. In sum, the technique of Behaviour Tracking comprises (a) extracting annotations
from the pages, (b) feeding and analysing the tracked data into the UMS, (c) checking
individual behaviours, and if necessary, (d) delivering again to the learner those tracked
segments of the page that did not fulfil the didactical goals of the teacher. This technique is
represented in figure 3b mainly by the steps 2 to 4. With this real-time tracking of learner
performance, relevant information can be gained about what each user is doing “now”, and
thus, mechanisms can be developed and provided e.g. to improve knowledge acquisition almost
at the time of consumption, or “just” to alert teachers immediately after a knowledge asset has
been “overlooked”. [12]
90
3. DIDACTICAL GOALS VS. LEARNING NEEDS: USING
STAGEZILLA
As introduced in the previous chapter, Behaviour Tracking in the AdeLE system denotes the
technique of monitoring traits of users of interactive systems in real-time by means of analysing
observed behaviour log items before they become history. For that purpose, data must be
collected through the sensors of the system. To express evidence on user behaviour, the system
analyses the collected data as they flow into the system and provides useful and topical
inferences. For example, the adaptive system infers that a user “behaves well” (in terms of
learning performance) based on the analysis of “just‐ in‐ time tracked actions”, such as
consumed learning materials and assessment results. Further, such tracked actions are persisted
and utilised by the user modelling system in order to infer learning styles or interests from
previously consumed materials.
So far in this paper, Stagezilla supports just the annotation of the aforementioned didactical
goals. Taking into account that the acquisition of modern eye-tracking devices represents high
financial investments for a large-scale utilisation, and therefore its applicability (as intended by
the AdeLE project) is not really feasible at present, the functionality of Stagezilla has been
extended to be also “used by learners instead of the eye-tracker”. Thus, learners may give to the
system explicit feedback about those page segments they have read or learned without being
tracked automatically. Therefore, Stagezilla is both, (a) a tool for the support of real-time gazetracking, i.e. it enables the relevant input for the client-side tracking systems in form of
annotated didactical goals within the learning material, and (b) a tool to provide explicit
feedback regarding consumed knowledge assets. In other words, Stagezilla supports the
Behaviour Tracking technique, and in turn, supports the monitoring of learning performance by
improving both streams in the knowledge transfer process, teaching as an authoring and
annotation tool, as well as learning as a provider of explicit learner feedback.
The set of annotated didactical goals on Web pages (e.g. segments of pages “to read” or “to
learn”) is called a target state within the AdeLE project (see figure 4 on the next page). The
corresponding result of consuming a page (i.e. the set of segments learner actually “read” or
“learned” by learners) is called a performance state (see upper side of the screenshot in figure 5,
on the next page). Stagezilla allows the computing of target-performance comparisons,
whereby the target states are intended to be defined by teachers, whereas the performance states
might be automatically computed by the eye-tracking device or gained by explicit learners‟
feedback.
The middle part of figure 5 shows an additional feature of Stagezilla, called choices. Given the
advantage that the modules of the Stagezilla tool are implemented as reusable and extensible
components, it is possible for teachers to define an own name and usage for the target states.
Thus, Stagezilla may be also used e.g. to catch usability criteria of learning material by asking
learners about their opinion or perception of page segments. Through the choices in Stagezilla,
teachers can define “arbitrary” direct questions to be answered according to their specific
didactical goals or according to some expected learning situations of system users, e.g.
providing a means for learners to express self-assessment about the grade of acquired
competencies upon the knowledge domain of page segments, or providing a set of experts to be
contacted in case of problems in specific “hard” page areas.
91
Fig. 4. Stagezilla from the Teacher‘s Viewpoint; Authoring of Didactical Goals.
Fig. 5. Stagezilla from the Learner‘s Viewpoint.
Further, as shown in the lower part of figure 5, users of Stagezilla may write notes on entire
pages or page segments and thus, share their thoughts and comments with the teacher as well as
with other learners. Within the context of utilising this feature of Stagezilla, it is relevant to
state at this point that a single tool can be used to control the propagation of misconceptions
within a community. The teachers are able to track the evolution of collaborations and
intervene in annotation sequences, because they are able to observe how the community of
learners contribute with comments, ideas and any other type of annotations. Consequently,
teachers may stop the propagation of misconceptions.
In addition, Stagezilla enables teachers to define a default Web-based learning course context
for learners, independently of the utilised learning environment (as shown in figure 6). A
course context in Stagezilla defines the information space of structured and interrelated Web
pages that can be annotated and tracked by the tool.
92
Fig. 6. Stagezilla‘s Editor for Course Contexts.
Teachers may enter the administration user interface of Stagezilla (see figure 6) and self-define
or choose a set of hyperlinks (i.e. URLs, Uniform Resource Locators) and group them in selfdefined course containers (chapters). Therefore, the annotating functionality of the tool can be
extended to the granularity of course chapters or whole courses. Furthermore, within this
administration area as well, teachers may create new user accounts and thus, assign existing
learners to their courses as passive consumers (viewers, i.e. default learners) or active
consumers (editors). Through this additional feature, external or invited users may observe the
learning progress without the possibility of direct intervention. In sum, Stagezilla provides
several features to define and track distinct teaching goals and learning needs.
4. CONCLUSIONS AND OUTLOOK
In the present, the achievements in communication technology have direct impact on traditional
learning. Therefore, teachers have to reconceptualise their notion of didactical goals and
strategies. That is, they have to be conscious about the fact that there exist several e-learning
tools, which may support them to better achieve their didactical intentions. They must not stick
to use just e-learning for their courses; rather they have the choice to freely combine e-learning
sessions with classroom teaching. Further, it should be evaluated which are the implications of
the lack of communication with teachers in e‐ learning environments; more precisely the lack
of face‐ to‐ face contact should be carefully observed and analysed. As indicated in [18], the
degree of affinity between teacher and learners is the key issue in face‐ to‐ face interaction, i.e.
teachers should be able to give learners „human warmth‟ and convey an „intimate attitude‟ in
order to better help in solving personal problems. Thus, a lack of face‐ to‐ face contact
prevents teachers from proactively capture relevant learners‟ reactions, facial expressions or
body language that may indicate a need of personal guidance. According to [19], introverted
learners have problems of participating during a synchronised collaborative activity in virtual
environments, not only because of their real‐ time nature, also because of the potential
presence of virtual colleagues that are completely unknown and not visible, and thus, a greater
social pressure for conformity in participation may exist.
In conclusion, Stagezilla is a platform-independent client side tool, which (a) provides useful
learner information to the server side of e-learning systems or components (thus, e.g. to a .LRN
or Moodle system), (b) tracks relevant, real‐ time observations of learner behaviours, and (c)
93
collects relevant personal information about the participating community. Therefore, it supports
also adaptive systems to better know the individual user and better create assumptions about
each user, as for example in the case of the Behaviour Tracking technique of the AdeLE
system.
Although Stagezilla is intended to be a client-side solution, a server-side module is part of the
current version in order to ensure its separate deployment. Thus, a Web server part represents
the central point of storage and access of information. Its integration into other systems (such as
.LRN or Moodle) is not a hard task, as (a) the database schema is not complex and relative easy
to implement or abstract, and (b) the communication between client and server is Ajax-based,
whereby the currently exchanged information is coded in XML, and thus, e.g. Atom or RSS
feeds or other standards can be supported. As an example of future work, it would be
interesting to embed such a tool within a .LRN-based mash-up solution. Here, the idea is to
extend the annotation granularity of Stagezilla to the level of portlets, e.g. in order to capture
different learning journey states (i.e. the current status of open, active, closed or inactive
portlets, including their location and URLs). With Stagezilla, such a snapshot of learning
screens can be commented, tagged or rated. By sharing this information, on the one hand,
learners could exchange successful, exciting or even frustrating learning situations, and on the
other hand, the teachers may track the learning progress and performance of the learners.
Further, a more transparent and controllable view on the propagation of misconceptions can be
achieved.
REFERENCES
1.García-Barrios, V.M., Gütl, C., Preis, A., Andrews, K., Pivec, M., Mödritscher, F., Trummer,
C.: AdELE: A Framework for Adaptive E-Learning through Eye Tracking; In Proceedings of
the International Conference on Knowledge Management (I-KNOW'04), Graz, Austria; K.
Tochtermann and H. Maurer (eds.), Springer (pub.); pp. 609-616, (2004).
2.Gütl, C., García-Barrios, V.M.: Towards an Advanced Modeling System Applying a ServiceBased Approach; In Proceedings of the 5th IEEE International Conference on Advanced
Learning Technologies (ICALT 2005), Kaohsiung, Taiwan; IEEE Computer Society Press
(pub.); pp. 860-862, (2005).
3.García-Barrios, V.M.: Real-Time Learner Modeling: Using Gaze-Tracking in Distributed
Adaptive E-Learning Environments; In Proceedings of the International Convention MIPRO
2006 (Opatija, Croatia), Volume IV – CE Computers in Education; M. Cicin-Sain and I. T.
Prstacic and I. Sluganovic (eds.), MIPRO Croatian Society (pub.); pp. 185-190, (2006).
4.Jain, L. C., Howlett, R. J., Ischalkaranje, N. S., Tonfoni, G.: “Virtual Environments for
Teaching & Learning”; World Scientific Publishing; Jain. L.C. (ed), Series of Innovative
Intelligence, Vol. 1; Preface, (2002).
5.Ebner, M., Scerbakov, N., Maurer, H.: New Features for eLearning in Higher Education for
Civil Engineering; in Journal of Universal Science and Technology of Learning (J.USTL), Vol.
0, No. 0; pp. 93-106, (2006).
6.diSessa, A. A., Hoyles, C., Noss, R., & Edwards, L. D.: Computers and exploratory learning:
Setting the scene; in A. A. diSessa, C. Hoyles, R. Noss, & L. D. Edwards (Eds.), Computers
and exploratory learning, New York, Springer (pub.); pp. 1-12, (1995).
7.Dietinger, T., Maurer, H.: How Modern WWW Systems Support Teaching and Learning; in
Proceedings of International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE) 1997; Z. Halim, T.
Ottmann, Z. Razak (eds.), Kuching, Sarawak Malaysia; pp. 37-51, (1997).
8.Kobsa, A., Pohl, W.: The User Modeling Shell System BGP-MS; in User Modeling and UserAdapted Interaction, Vol. 4, Nr. 2; pp. 59-106, (1995).
94
9.Lukas, J.: Modellierung von Fehlkonzepten in einer algebraischen Wissensstruktur; in Journal
Kognitionswissenschaft, Vol. 6, Nr. 4; Springer Berlin / Heidelberg (pub.); pp. 196-204,
(1997). (In German language)
10.Doignon, J.-P., Falmagne, J.-Cl.: Spaces for the assessment of knowledge; in International
Journal of Man-Machine Studies, Vol. 23; pp. 175–196, (1985).
11.Dron, J.: Social Software and the Emergence of Control; in Proceedings of the IEEE
International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT 2006), in Kerkrade,
The Netherlands; Kinshuk and R. Koper and P. Kommers and P. Kirschner and D. G. Sampson
and W. Didderen (eds.), IEEE Computer Society Press; pp. 904-908, (2006).
12.García-Barrios, V.M.: Personalisation in Adaptive E-Learning Systems - A Service-Oriented
Solution Approach for Multi-Purpose User Modelling Systems; Dissertation at Institute of
Information Systems and Computer Media, Faculty of Computer Science, Graz University of
Technology, (2007).
13.García‐ Barrios, V.M., Gütl, C., Pivec, M.: Semantic Knowledge Factory: A New Way of
Cognition Improvement for the Knowledge Management Process; in Proceedings of Society for
Information Technology and Teacher Education; Nashville, USA, (2002).
14.Glaser, R.: Education and Thinking: The Role of Knowledge; in American Psychologist,
Vol. 39; pp.93-104, (1984).
15.Honey, P.: The Manual of Learning Styles; Peter Honey, Maidenhead, Berks, (1986).
16.Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., Cocking, R.R. (eds.): How people learn: Brain, mind,
experience and school; exp. ed., National Academy Press, Washington D.C., USA, (2000).
17.Pripfl, J.: User Behaviour Detection by Means of Eye-Tracking; 28th International
Conference on Information Technology Interfaces, IEEE (Reg. 8), Cavtat/Dubrovnik, Croatia;
University Computing Centre SRCE, University of Zagreb, Croatia, (2006).
18. Frank, M., Kurtz, G., Levin, N.: Implications of Presenting Pre-University Courses Using
the Blended e-Learning Approach; in Educational Technology & Society, Vol. 5 Nr. 4;
International Forum of Educational Technology & Society, pubs.; pp. 137‐ 147, (2002).
19. Carr-Chellman, A., Duchastel, P.: The Ideal Online Course; in British Journal of
Educational Technology, Vol. 31 Nr. 3; pp. 229
95
96
Playing Games with Business: History, Theory, and an
Example
Caroline Meeks
Abstract. The paper will discuss the history of, current practice in, and use of
computers for simulation gaming in business. These exercises play a specific
role in the negotiation class, providing concrete experiences for the student that
are then reflected on during debriefs and discussions. A case study, The
Shrimp and Vaquita game, is discussed, analyzed in regards to learning
theories,
and
critiqued
in
regard
to
future
improvements.
Keywords: simulation, negotiation, learning theory
1. INTRODUCTION
SUMMARY
-
SHRIMP
AND
VAQUITA
CASE
Shrimp and Vaquita is a specific case study that was piloted in Professor Jarred
Curhan's Power and Negotiation class for MBA students at the MIT Sloan School of
Management in the fall of 2007. This is a new case, but this type of exercise is
common in this class as almost every session includes some sort of simulation, game
or exercise. Class lectures generally include presenting the aggregated data from each
exercise in a debrief to assist in observation and reflection. Each simulation builds on
the concepts of the previous ones and the instructor frequently loops back and uses
observation from previous exercises in subsequent lectures.
The case ―Shrimp vs. Vaquita‖ was written by Mara Hernandez (2007) and was based
on a mathematical structure presented by Wade-Benzoni, Tenbrunsel and Bazerman
(1996). The case is set in the Gulf of Mexico and simulates negotiations between an
organization of shrimp fishers and a coalition of environmental NGOs as to the
shrimp harvest levels for each of 8 years.
The simulation is a 2-party negotiation that is basically a more complicated version of
the prisoner's dilemma, which the students have had previous experience with from
prior cases. This builds on those previous experiences and adds additional
complications due to unequal power and outcomes.
As is common, this case is being developed as both a research vehicle and a teaching
case. Simulation designers are frequently simultaneously researching the theory
behind the simulation while creating the learning activity to teach it (Susskind &
Corburn, 2000). This case was designed to explore the role of power and structural
inequalities in cooperation in social dilemmas (M. Hernadez, personal
communication, October 23, 2007).
The experience includes a pre-game exercise assigned as homework, an in class
synchronous game where two students negotiate anonymously through a website they
access on their laptops, a post-game survey, and in class discussion. A full
97
description of the game is included in Appendix A, and it maybe useful to become
familiar with it before continuing with this critique.
2. HISTORY OF SIMULATION AND GAMES IN TEACHING
BUSINESS STUDENTS
2.1 Overview
Games may be one of the oldest ways of teaching negotiation. Indeed, the first war
games used for education date to Wei-Hai China 3000 BC (Wolfe, 1993) and, of all
business skills, negotiation maybe the most direct descendent of war since, as noted
by popular cartoonist Ashleigh Brilliant, “If you can't go around it, over it, or through
it, you had better negotiate with it.”
Research shows that simulations became widely used in business education in the
1950's in conjunction with the rise of case-based approaches (Bransford, Sherwood,
Hasselbring, Kinzer & Williams, 1990) and experience-based learning theories
(Wolfe, 1993). By 1961 it was estimated that there were more then 100 business
games in existence and that approximately 30,000 business executives had played at
least one game. (Faria & Wellington, 2004). By 1998 97.5% of US business schools
were using simulation games. (Faria & Nulsen, 1996). These types of activities
continue to be ubiquitous in both US and world wide business education.
2.2 Background on the Role of Simulations in the Class Pedagogy
When analyzing the Shrimp and Vaquita game it is important to understand its role in
the overall instruction and curriculum of the negotiation class. Simulations are one
piece of a larger teaching structure based on theories of experimental learning in the
instruction of negotiation theory and practice (Kozengi & Kersten, 2004):
1.
2.
3.
4.
readings and discussion of theoretical concepts and case studies
negotiation simulations
structured debriefing experiences
individual reflection that fosters experiential learning
3. CONSEQUENCES OF UTILIZING TECHNOLOGY
Not all negotiation simulations utilize technology - even in a negotiation class at MIT
in 2007. Use of new media by itself does not improve student learning (Clark, 1983)
so it is worth examining what the benefits are of delivering this simulation though a
web browser. The literature lists three possible benefits of computerizing simulations
(Freeman & Capper, 1999):
98
 Enhance student learning
 Prepare students to effectively use technology in the workplace
 Increase teaching staff productivity
3.1 How is Student Learning Changed by Computerizing the Simulation?
The students did not know who they were playing against and they had very
controlled ways of communicating with their opponent. This vastly limited the
effects of personality and emphasized the power dynamics set up in the game. This
would have been very difficult to achieve without technology.
3.2 Staff Productivity and Classroom Efficiency
The decision to computerize this exercise was primarily driven by staff productivity
and classroom efficiency considerations. The negotiation class in which the Shrimp
and Vaquita games was first used had approximately 120 students. If the students had
had to manually execute the simulation, collect the data, graph it, and analyze, it
would have been very labor intensive.
The web based delivery allowed the
instructors immediate access to the collected data. This positively affected student
learning because the debrief that analyzed group data took place on the same day as
the exercise – this would have been impossible with a paper based simulation.
99
Fig. 3. A screencast of graphed data results is available on the web
http://www.solutiongrove.com/filestorage/view/temp%5C/sloan_shrimp_vaquita_exercises.htm
3.3 Negative Impacts of Technology Usage
The first trial of the game was not without technological challenges. The most
significant issue arose while pairing students. The students perceived that there were
only two roles. There were, however, actually eight and they had to be assigned
before class so that students could have the correct pre-game experience. When
several students incorrectly identified which section they were going to attend, it
caused some delays as teaching assistants were set up to play their counterparts.
The second issue was a vast difference in the speed with which individuals played the
game. If a player was slow and thoughtful their counterpart felt like the program was
broken. In addition some dyads finished quickly and then were idle during class time
while they waited for slower dyads to complete all eight rounds.
4. POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENTS
A major goal for the simulation was creating a situation that demonstrated
egocentrism in negotiation. The exercise attempts to be anchored in a background of
an environmental battle between NGOs and Fishers. The students must associate
themselves with their assigned roles to act in an egocentric fashion.
In the initial testing of the case the students were informed of their roles at the top of
the page, but nothing else in the interfaced reinforced the students associating with
their role. However, the results of the initial testing did not show that the students
were acting in an egocentric way. Susskind and Corburn (op cit) state, ―Designing
simulations is an iterative process‖ and simulations are frequently altered after the
first test run. By viewing the exercise thought the lens of specific learning theories
we can examine possible changes to the activity.
4.1 Expanded use of Images and Video
The setting for the case encourages students to identify in an egocentric way with
their roles. Sympathy for the NGO's case could be evoked with pictures of Vaquita
and other sea life and images that show the damage done by over fishing. Similarly,
images of hard working Fishers supporting their families and delicious regional
shrimp dishes might increase identification with Fishers. Images might also be useful
during game play, to both reinforce identification with role and to give visual cues
about their score that motivate players to work harder at “winning”.
Research shows that engaging video can increase engagement with the activity and
transfer of skills (Bransford et. al, 1990). Thus ideas for increasing the learners‘
identification with their role include:
 Video, or photos with music of the region and the background
 Creating a different video for each role that emphasizes that roles' point of view.
100
 Images on the game pages that visually and emotionally remind the learner of their
role and the background.
4.2 Instant and Individualized Feedback
The cognitive theories emphasized the role of feedback and reflection. One
advantage of the web-based exercise is instant access to graphs. These graphs are
displayed on the main class screen during the debriefing; however it would also be
possible to include a post exercise where students could view the graphs, with their
dyad‟s data points highlighted. A post-game exercise could allow students to either
answer questions about them or use them in a discussion forum. It might also be
interesting for students who finish early to enter a synchronous chat session with
updating graphs where they could reflect on the data as it appeared.
5. TECHNICAL DETAILS
5.1 Login and Administration
The simulation utilizes the OpenACS framework to allow rapid development and
iteration. A simple single-signon system was implemented that allowed students to
click a link in the LMS and automatically be logged into the web site hosting the
simulation.
As students log in they are asked to click a link to signal they are ready to begin the
simulation. As students log in they are assigned randomly to a role and a dyad. An
administrator can view the status of the assignments and make sure there are no
unpaired students before the simulation begins.
5.2 Simulation
The simulation is built on top an extended version of the survey package. This survey
package allows branching based on previous questions. The student's role is
embedded into a hidden variable within the survey to direct the progress of the
simulation.
At each step in the simulation the student's role is checked and the appropriate text
and forms are displayed. These can include HTML including a Javascript powered
point simulation.
At the end of each round, a includable template contains the AJAX code that checks
for the student's counterpart to finish the round and automatically redirects to the
scoring for the round when both student's in the dyad are complete.
101
5.3 Graphs
The data collected from the simulation is available in a series of graphs. The graphs
are built with the Dojo Charting Engine. A custom template is used to generate the
JSON data to drive the graphs.
The graphs can be generated immediately following the conclusion of the simulation
for analysis during the same class.
6. CONCLUSION
Even in an environment, such as business schools, where technology has been
integrated into teaching for many years, it remains a challenge for instructors to keep
pace with the ever increasing capabilities and possibilities. Many of the suggestions
made for the next iteration, such as adding video or individualizing the results graphs,
would have been technically difficult and expensive even one or two years ago. The
promise, and the challenge, is in using learning theories to inform the use of new
technical capabilities.
REFERENCES
1.
Argyris, C. (1999). On Organizational Learning. Blackwell Publishing. Retrieved
November
5,
2007,
from
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=JmTIWYs3yhwC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=
argyris+organizational&ots=7pd_3qHcnF&sig=48Yefi4WVRg2_0NBgo3CH1OlVM8
google Books.
2. Bransford, J. D., Sherwood, R. D., Hasselbring, T. S., Kinzer, C. M. & Williams, S. W.
(1990). Anchored instruction: Why we need it and how technology can help. In D. Nix &
R. Spiro, Eds. Cognition, education and multimedia: Exploring ideas in high technology
(pp. 115-141). Hillsdale NJ: Erlbaum Associates.
3. Brown, J. S., Collins, A. & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of
learning. Educational Researcher, 18, 32-43.
4. Clark, R. E. (1983) Reconsidering research on learning from media. Review of
Educational Research, 53, 445-459.
5. Faria, A. J. & Nulsen, R. (1996). Business simulation games: Current usage levels a ten
year update. Developments in Business & Experiential Exercises, 23, 22-28.
6. Faria, A. J. & Wellington, W. J. (2004). A survey of simulation game users, former-users,
and never-users. Simulation& Gaming, 35, 178-207.
7. Freeman, M. A. & Capper, J. M. (1999). Exploiting the web for education: An anonymous
asynchronous role simulation. Austrlian Journal of Educational Technology. 15, 95-116.
8. Kolb, D. A. & Boyatzis, R. E. (2000). Experiential Learning Theory: Previous Research
and New Directions. In R. J. Sternberg, R. J. Sternberg, L. F. Zhang & L. F. Zhang, Eds.
Perspectives on Cognitive, learning and thinking styles. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
9. Koszegi, S. & Kersten, G. (2003). On-line/off-line: Joint negotiation teaching in Montreal
and Vienna. Group Decision and Negotiation. 12, 337.
10. Reeves, T. (1994). Evaluating what really matters in computer-based education. In
M.Wild & D.
Kirkpatrick, Eds. Computer education: New perspectives (pp. 219-246).
102
Perth,
Australia:
MASTEC.
Retrieved
November
3,
2007,
from
www.eduworks.com/Documents/Workshops/EdMedia1998/docs/reeves.html
Susskind, L. E. & Corburn, J. (2000) Using Simulations to Teach Negotiation: Pedagogical
Theory and Practice. Paper for Hewlett Conference at the MIT-Harvard Law School
Program
on
Negotiation.
Retrieved
October
28,
2007,
from
http://web.mit.edu/publicdisputes/teach/index.html
Tonks, D. & Armitage, S. (1997). A framework for understanding learning from management
simulations. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. 13, 48-58.
Wade-Benzoni, K. A., Tenbrunsel, A. E. & Bazerman, M. H. (1996). Egocentric interpretations
of fairness in asymmetric, environmental social dilemmas: Explaining harvesting behavior
and the role of communication. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.
67(2), 111-126.
Wolfe, J (1993) A history of business teaching games in English-speaking and post-socialist
countries: The origination and diffusion of a management education and development
technology. Sage Social Science Collections, 24, 446-463.
103
104
Felix Mödritscher1, Gustaf Neumann1, Victor Manuel García-Barrios2,
Fridolin Wild1
Institute for Information Systems and New Media,
Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration,
Augasse 2-6, 1090 Vienna, Austria
{felix.moedritscher,gustaf.neumann,fridolin.wild}@wu-wien.ac.at
1
2
Graz University of Technology,
[email protected]
Keywords: eLearning, Web 2.0, web application mashup, Ajax, XoWiki
1. INTRODUCTION
The common understanding of learning shifted over the last decades from the
traditional behaviorist approach to paradigms like constructivism or discovery
learning [1] and, further, started to take into account aspects like heterogeneity of
tools and information resources [2]. Referring to [3], we assume that prominent
Internet phenomena like Google or Wikipedia nowadays influence our learning
habits. Against this background, learning platform developers start to consider Web
2.0 features [4], i.e. by adding tagging functions, collaborative elements, Wiki and
Blogging components, etc. [5]. Still, many developments restrict themselves to a style
platform and even a simple installation, while learners continue working with the
applications and websites they are used to, even if they are encouraged to use a
certain eLearning system. Moreover, learning facilitators might also want to
recommend certain applications for specific activities, which, in sum, lead to a
“heterogeneous space of software, tools and services” [6].
Full-featured heterogeneous eLearning systems are thus, hard to integrate in single
solution frameworks. In order to integrate e.g. distinct open source initiatives, Web
2.0 applications as well as personalizable or customizable tools, platform developers
try to provide functionalities allowing users to (re)assemble or merge external
systemic entities into the own platform, as can be observed in the field of enterprise
information systems [7]. In this paper, we present a mashup approach which is based
on the XoWiki component [8] and enables a user to add web-based applications to
Wiki content and to use and arrange these tools in a comfortable way. In the
following, the paper gives a short overview on the topic at hand, describes critical
challenges regarding the development of application mashups and – based on that –
derives special requirements for eLearning. Thereafter, various solutions and
development frameworks are inspected according to our special needs, and a concrete
105
implementation, namely the XoMashup component, is described closer. Finally, a
possible application scenario is shown, and the next steps moving towards a semantic
layer are outlined.
2. THE CONCEPT OF A WEB APPLICATION MASHUP
According to [9], a mashup comprises an application that “combines multiple sets of
data streams into a unified user experience”. Mashup approaches can be observed in
many different fields, e.g. for enterprise information systems [7] or digital libraries
[9]. In the field of eLearning, mashing up different learning experiences is related to
the following aspects. Within the context of learning object repositories, aggregation
of information junks is realized according to instructional models and on terms of
standards and specifications, such as LOM or SCORM [10]. Addressing information
push strategies, content syndication deals with aggregating information streams, or
feeds, into one view, normally by using a XML-based metadata standard like RSS
[11]. Yet, these approaches primarily focus on the combination of information chunks
and streams into one application.
However, for eLearning it can be necessary to utilize various tools in order to achieve
a competence [2]. For instance a group of learners might want use different webbased tools such as WordPress (wordpress.org), Wikipedia (wikipedia.org),
ObjectSpot (objectspot.org) and XoWiki (openacs.org/xowiki) in order to collaborate
on a joint paper. Thus, such an environment must allow the execution of several webbased tools next to each other, taking into consideration that each web application has
its own idiosyncrasies (e.g. scripts, style-sheets, databases, etc.). The most important
difference between a mashup of web-based tools and a mashup or portal application
comprises syndication. While a mashup aggregates different data streams and a portal
even requires own rendering methods for the portlets [12], a mashup of web
applications aims at providing a secure environment for each tool, whereby
syndication is only possible via cross-domain scripting [13]. However, our proposed
solution should also be capable of not loosing the user interaction state with all tools
during a session. As a conclusion, we foster the idea of a web application mashup
rather than a(nother) mashup or portal approach.
In the context of self-directed learning [2], such a web application mashup solution
should support the following use cases: First of all, a learner might want to add and
launch new applications, whether from the set of pre-defined tools or own ones. With
respect to mashup visualization techniques [14], the mashup page should allow to
arrange the learning tools according to the basis of a grid layout. Additionally,
learners might want to maximize a tool over the full screen in order to work only with
this one or to minimize or close another tool to keep track of more important spots.
For the analysis of the interaction patterns, user interaction with single tools and with
the whole mashup may be logged, as this information serves as central source for
further system‘s enhancements, such as improving semantic models, identifying and
solving usability problems, inspecting potential privacy invasion issues, and so forth.
Analyzing existing mashup frameworks, we hardly could find generic solutions which
are capable of launching different web applications as a part of the browser screen.
Technically, such a solution requires primarily two functions: (1) the embedment of
106
the web application within an iframe [15] and (2) the prevention of document object
model (DOM, [16]) manipulations with this iframe element in order to not reset the
state of the tool by reloading the original URL. From a broad range of existing
providers listed by [17], only one solution, namely Protopage (www.protopage.com)
fulfils these essential requirements, while other providers (iGoogle, MyYahoo,
Netvibes, Pageflakes, etc.) rather offer a portal solution by means of mashing up
xhtml snippets.
3. DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF THE
XOMASHUP COMPONENT
Unfortunately, Protopage is a commercial system, and the portal solutions require that
each web application has to render itself with an own method. Similar restrictions
apply to the only published mashup component of the OpenACS community, the
Solution Grove Web Desktop [18]. Thus, we had to evaluate existing Ajax
frameworks [19] to build up a mashup component according to the above
requirements. We examined seven of the most popular frameworks, namely Prototype
Windows, Script.aculo.us, Dojo, Yahoo! UI, Google Web Toolkit, DHTML-Window,
and Qooxdoo. Overall, only two of them (DHTML-Window, Prototype Windows) do
support our requirements regarding iframe-capability, DOM manipulations,
compatibility for the most important browsers and an open source license.
At the end, we decided to utilize Prototype Windows (http://prototypewindow.xilinus.com/) for realizing the client-sided functionality of our mashup
solution due to the framework‘s object-oriented nature and the dirty coding of
DHTML-Window. Based on this client-sided framework and XoWiki, the XoMashup
component is implemented in the following way:
 The presentation layer consists of a grid-based screen separated in a certain
number of (sortable) columns (see also Fig. 1). One column, in the style of a
portlet-based portal, is able to hold various windows, each one representing an own
web application or information stream. A window can be reloaded, minimized,
maximized or closed. Further, each window can be dragged to any place on the
screen, whereby it is always dropped into one of the columns. Finally, it is also
possible to change the theme of a page by exchanging the decorations of all
windows (though not of the tools).
 The application and data layer is realized on the basis of the XoWiki module and
allows setting up a mashup space. Therefore, administrators can create template
pages containing tools, which can be started or are already launched, as well as any
Wiki-based content. Entering the XoMashup application, registered users receive
an overview of available templates and their personal mashup pages, which is
realized
by
two
includelets
(“{{my_xomashup_pages}}”
and
“{{available_xomashup_templates}}”). Similar to XoWiki, a user can create a new
mashup page on the basis of one pre-defined template. The initial state of such a
personal mashup page is duplicated from the template. All other user actions are
persisted, even by using the versioning functionality of XoWiki, and can be
revisited by them. Personal mashup pages are created with a restriction for other
users, which is guaranteed by an own creator privilege in the access control policy.
107
Later on, it is planned to store all user interactions in the mashup page in order to
build up a semantic layer, i.e. to be able to recommend tools for given user
scenarios.
Fig. 1. This XoMashup page contains instructions for an exemplary learning activity (at the
bottom) as well as three required tools (VideoWiki, XoWiki, Webmail).
At this point, the following problematic aspects of the current XoMashup
implementation have to be outlined. Firstly, certain html-elements, like hyperlinks
with the property “target=_top”, may destroy the whole mashup page by loading the
URI address into the top window. Hereby, heuristics for web-based tools to be
included into XoMashup have to be determined to avoid such problems. Secondly,
web applications should be customizable in terms of its display size in order to allow
users to work with a tool in the original windows. As one remedy, a web application
could provide parameters to initiate the display size, which we successfully realized
for the ObjectSpot application mentioned in section 2. In both cases, the technological
flexibility of this approach is restricted due to the demand for certain requirements of
the targeted tools. Thirdly, combining different tools can be realized either on the
basis of client-sided user actions, like copy-pasting content from one to another web
application, or by cross-domain scripting. Finally, the issue of common third-party
functionality is still an open issue. For instance, user authentication could be
implemented by web-based mechanism like OpenID [20] or in the application layer of
108
XoMashup and the tools. Similarly, logging has to be considered for user interactions
– which is our current topic of interest – and systemic events.
Despite these problematic aspects, we believe that our solution approach can be of
benefit for many different application areas, and it is planned to be used within the
iCamp project, an EU-funded research project in the field of higher education
(http://www.icamp.eu). This mashup approach should serve as the basis for the socalled ―iCamp Space‖, an attempt to create a supportive environment for eLearning
scenarios by means of combining learning content and web-based tools (e.g. the
iCamp building blocks [2]). In short, the proposed result allows facilitators
(administrators) to prepare learning templates consisting of Wiki-based content and
web-based tools which either have already been started on the screen or which are to
be launched by a learner on demand. Selecting one of these templates, learners
(registered users) can create a new personal mashup page and work with it by using
the tools, re-arranging the windows and modifying the Wiki content. All changes to
such a personal learning page are persisted. Due to functionality provided by the
XoWiki module and the OpenACS content repository, the mashup content and state
are even under version-control allowing the learner to reproduce each learning step.
4. CONCLUSIONS AND OUTLOOK
All in all, the XoMashup component comprises a personal web application mashup
page, which is useful for self-directed learning, but can also be utilized in other
application areas. Addressing the iCamp project, this mashup solution is a first
approach towards the iCamp space. As a next step, it is planned to extend this web
application mashup with a semantic layer to recommend tools and tool combinations
for given learning activities. Further, the semantic model should be refined in terms of
analyzing the user interaction.
Acknowledgments. The iCamp project is funded by the EC IST 6 th Framework
Project (Contract number: 027163).
REFERENCES
1. Lennon, J., Maurer, H.: Why it is Difficult to Introduce e-Learning into Schools And Some
New Solutions. In: Journal of Universal Computer Science 9(10), 1244--1257 (2003).
2. Kieslinger, B., Wild, F., Arsun, O.: iCamp: The Educational Web for Higher Education. In:
1st European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning, 640--645 (2006).
3. Safran, C., Helic, D., Gütl, C.: E-Learning practices and Web 2.0. In: International
Conference on Interactive Computer Aided Learning (2007).
4. O‟Reilley,
T.:
What
is
the
Web
2.0,
2005,
http://www.oreilly.com/
pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html (2007-11-20).
5. Information Multimedia Communication AG: Start für neue Web 2.0 Open Content
Community
SLIDESTAR,
2007,
http://www.im-c.de/News_und_Events/
Aktuelle_News/389/5421.html (2007-11-20, in German).
6. Väljataga, T., Pata, K., Laanpere, M., Kaipainen, M.: Theoretical Framework of the
iCampFolio: New Approach to Comparison and Selection of Systems and Tools for
109
Learning Purposes. In: 2nd European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning, 349-363 (2007).
7. Jhingran, A.: Enterprise Information Mashups: Integrating Information, Simply. In: 32 nd
International Conference on Very Large Data Bases, 3--4, VLDB Endowment (2006).
8. Neumann, G.: XoWiki: Towards a Generic Tool for Web 2.0 Applications and Social
Software. In: OpenACS and .LRN Conference (2007).
9. Kulathuramaiyer, N.: Mashups: Emerging Application Development Paradigm for a Digital
Journal. In: Journal of Universal Computer Science 13(4), 531--542 (2007).
10.Mödritscher, F., García-Barrios, V.M., Gütl, C.: Enhancement of SCORM to support
adaptive E-Learning within the Scope of the Research Project AdeLE. In: Proceedings of the
World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, & Higher
Education, 2499--2505 (2004).
11.Hammersley, B.: Content Syndication with RSS: Sharing Headlines and Information Using
XML. O‟Reilly, San Francisco (2003).
12.Bellas, F.: Standards for Second-Generation Portals. In: Internet Computing 8(2), 54--60
(2004).
13.Jackson, C., Wang, H.J.: Subspace: Secure Cross-Domain Communication for Web
Mashups. In: 16th International Conference on World Wide Web, 611--620 (2007).
14.Spoerri, A.: Visual Mashup of Text and Media Search Results. In: 11th International
Conference Information Visualization, 216--222 (2007).
15.World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): Inline frames: the IFRAME element, 1999,
http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/present/frames.html#h-16.5 (2007-12-14).
16.World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): Document Object Model (DOM), 2005,
http://www.w3.org/DOM/ (2007-12-14).
17.Lennartz, S.: Jedem das Seine: Personalisierte Startseiten im Überblick, 2006,
http://www.drweb.de/weblog/weblog/?p=524 (2007-11-21, in German).
18.Solution Grove: Web Desktop, 2007, http://www.solutiongrove.com/mashup/portal (200711-21).
19.Giorgi, M.: Comparison of AJAX Frameworks: Prototype, GWT, DWR and Thinware,
2007, http://ajax.javabeat.net/articles/2007/05/comparison-of-ajax-frameworks-prototypegwt-dwr-thinware/ (2007-11-21).
20.OpenID Foundation: OpenID, 2007, http://openid.net/ (2008-01-08).
110
111
112
Ing. Rocael Hernández, Ing. Byron H. Linares, Ing. Victor Guerra, César Hernández
Research and Development Department, GES, Universidad Galileo, Guatemala
[roc, bhlr, guerra, cesarhj]@galileo.edu
1. RECORDS
1.1 Description of the Courses Creation Process
The process of curses creation is made upon the contents provided by the experts. It is
important to consider the characteristics of a kind of course (which corresponds to an
average of 50-60 hours in-person), as well as the work process for its creation.
1.2 Docbook Use
The first displayed courses were elaborated in DocBook format, this is a XML/SGML
language that allows the writing of technical documentation with the assistance of an
editor, in our case, we used XMLMIND, and this one generated the reading material
in form of a text book, which creates the sequence of all the pages. DocBook presents
great flexibility at the time of structuring the chapters as far as sections, sub-sections
and other elements.
After all the htmls were generated, we proceed to create the structure of the index by
using Publishing Reload, this tool was made to create and publish and insert metadata
according to the specifications of ADL and IMS, conformed by the SCORM package.
1.3 Html Use
The process taken was extended and laborious, obtaining as results a very low content
in a visual quality. Therefore, it was designed a template elaborated in HTML with a
most elegant design, considering navigation and accessibility factors, according to the
113
material handled, only with the same inconvenience as the previous process, we had
to generate the index and the package SCORM through Reload Editor.
1.4 Standards Use WEB / HTML
The same development of the courses established a navigation structure, which
consists in three different sections, (1) first a linear navigation (back/forward),(2) the
second one by tabs (direct access to specific areas) and finally indexed navigation
(index from subjects of the unit). We create a new template, using style sheets (css)
and it was implemented web standards.
As we can see the improve of the visual appearance is very evident, but at the time in
which the material was created, it was necessary to put up with the same tedious and
long process of creation the structure tree/index using Reload and to generate the
114
SCORM file (creating links in each one). One of the biggest inconvenient at moment
of using this process was at the moment of editing an specific content, because it was
necessary to edit on html and to repeat the same process of packaging and then reload
the SCORM in LORS.
2. CONDITIONS OF THE PRESENT TECHNOLOGY
The battle in the field of the LCMS has increased in the last years, being as
alternatives a great range of tools dedicated to E-Learning.
For the development of these E-Learning tools has been used different kind of
methodologies and technologies, but many of them at the end with many similarities
in the facilities and functionalities.
The fight between the LCMS is being defined by the amount of users and developers
which are involved in the project, as the open source projects which are exceeding the
ones with a cost. Therefore what is a LCMS (Learning Management System)
LCMS is a system (web-based) in which an author can approve, publish and handle
learning content. It‘s a combination of a LMS + CMS
2.1 Common characteristics between LCMS:
• Fast content creation
• Reusable objects of learning
• Superior evaluation capacity
• Administrative Tools
• An intuitive experience to the student
• Powerful tracking capacity, reports and integration with LMS
• Web -based (Word, ppt, flash) as creation instrument
• Import and export SCORM
2.2 Desirable characteristics in sampling LCMS:
• Adaptable Navigation: students can move through the content using global,
hierarchic or sequential navigation.
• Publish of content: an instructor can create content in HTML or flat text, or a
content which can be concerned of a local publisher or online.
• Publication Management: the instructor can publish material partially according to
the development of the course.
• Mobility of pages: pages of can be moved arranged or within the content.
• Easy handle of files: repository of images, flash, multimedia
• IMS/SCORM Content Packaging
Proposal: Xowiki based Content package for dotlrn
115
3. PROPOSAL: Xowiki based content package for dotlrn.
The Content Package aims to be a simple and easy tool for content creation in the
educational context. The content package was created to fulfill the need of a content
creation tool with the educational context of dotlrn. This tool is oriented to a easy
usage for the common user, and for the teacher that wants to create the content of a
course in a simple way with a navigation and presentation that will be easy for the
student to use, because of the type of order that manages. This tool is created in order
to help the user to focus only in the content and text rather than in the presentation,
order and navigation that is already done and organized.
Fig.1.0. shows different types of navigation.
Fig. 1.1 shows ordering tools
Allow users to take control of their learning material by managing the content as a
different element from the design. The days of writing HTML for large Web learning
material may be numbered as content management tools take the floor.
3.1 Supplies the need to separate content from design:



Make it easy for the actual writers to post their material and images (content)
to the class.
Control how the content looks on the page.
Reuse that content in other course
116

Minimal Learning Curve: Our tool is designed with the objective of being user
friendly and intuitive for non-html users. However, users with html experience
can also create more sophisticated materials.
Fig. 1.2 shows the display view of a created content.
Fig. 1.3 shows the edit/create mode
3.3 Maintaining fresh content:
The possible uses for our content tool are endless, but the result is always the same
– the ability to easy update and maintains your learning material. The content
package put you in the driver‘s seat and gives you complete control of your
courses.
117
3.4 Description:







Provides a simple interface to create web pages (a no-brainer 1 click), and
easily include and manipulate web assets such as flash, videos, images,
etc.
Provides a web template, easy to manage, similar to a PPT template but
with built in navigation (sequential navigation, tab based organization,
sub tabs supported and per unit / module navigation).
Separate content from design.
Folder, subfolders, pages ordering.
Free of "standards" approaches, so professors with basic word knowledge
can use it.
Auto scroll (focus navigation on the content area).
It provides portlets for .LRN
The Content Package is based in XOWiki, since it is a very well-maintained tool, and
this package has many of the desired features and elements required, such as: easy
content tool (plus the advantage that a wiki tools is becoming more and more
common), directories, versioning, flexible built-in features to handle content more
easily (including position<ning and segmentation), basic template management,
variables, multi-language support.
The Content Package is a configuration package with a set of scripts; xowiki is left
unmodified for Content to work.
3.5 Concept
The Content Package uses an instance of xowiki and makes customizations to this
instance. Xowiki was used in order to take advantage of the creation pages
characteristics, besides the facility in the use of templates for its content
3.6 Operation
You create a xowiki::PageTemplate containing the web template HTML for the
presentation of the content; this also contains the scripts which are handled in the
navigation of the content, this one formed with the created categories.
For the categories creation we modified the interface for one most accessible for the
users which was based on a tree structure (same used to show xowiki pages), this one
counts on three Unit levels, chapter and sub-section. This structure is reflected
in the content pages through the template above mentioned.
At moment that a user creates a content page (xowiki:: PageInstance) he should enter
the following fields: ―name, content and category‖.
118
This process shows the final result, a content page created with his template placed in
the corresponding category, and showing the navigation options arranged.
3.7 The Content Package has two main functions


To place in the xowiki all the customize parameters and to
create the default pages default to use by the content package.
To handle the structure and navigation of the template up to the
section of the content in which is contained.
3.8 Customization to xowiki:

Parameters:




extra_css : /resources/contentportlet/template/Gestheme.css
security_policy: ::xowiki::policyb, policy used, removes
the permission for options unwished for the instructor,
etc
template_file: ges-view, presentation used for the
content
Kind of created pages.

::xowiki::Page :
 Index for welcoming to the main application:
Source : contentportlet/www/prototypes/gestemplate/GesTemplat
eIndex.page

::xowiki::Object :

Default object whit the name folder_id in which
the use of Xhina editor is configured.

es:o_index : Object which manages the
presentation of the index page depending on the
kind of user. Source: content-
119
portlet/www/prototypes/gestemplate/GesTemplat
eIndexe.page


::xowiki::PageTemplate:

es:Template_de_ges Web template that manages
the presentation and navegation of the future
content pages that will be created. En contiene
los script incluidos en el paquete de content para
realizar la navegacion en el contenido. Source:
contentportlet/www/prototypes/gestemplate/GesTemplat
ebody.page

es:Template_de_header: Template which
manages the edition of the content titles. source:
contentportlet/www/prototypes/gestemplate/GesTemplat
eheader.page
::xowiki::PageInstance :

es:header_page : used to entry the heading of the
future content pages. Source : contentportlet/www/prototypes/gestemplate/GesTemplat
eheaderpage.page

All the pages created will be::
xowiki::PageInstance which use the template
―es:Template_de_ges‖ creating automatically
::xowiki::PageInstance was modifying
Creation of the content index that will be used: this content index is
composed of the following categories:

Unit or chapter


Introduction
Content
120



Activities
Glossary
Appendix
Content-Portlet Description:
The template es:Template_de_ges manages the final presentation of the created
content pages.
The web template used, is based in three navigation levels.



Unit or module
Section
Subsection
This template is built with a series of scripts, which are responsible of the navigation
of every section, is divided in: header, module navigation, section navigation,
subsections navigation, navigation between pages and content.
The navigation is controlled by their respective scripts located in contentportlet/www/
And they are
unit-navbar: Checks the navigation between units or modules.
Navbar and complete-navbar: Checks the navigation between sections in the web
template.
complete-titlebar, next, home: These are the elements that conform and check the
horizontal navigation bar between content pages for one section or subsection.
Subnavbar and complete-subnavbar: These elements check the navigation between
subsections.
Each one of these are part of the web template and provides us a graphic simple way
to navigate between content pages.
content-portlet/www/prototypes/gestemplate: Provides the content of the different
pages of xowiki created automatically by adding the applet in a course.
content-portlet/www/resources: It contains the graphic part of the web template that is
being used. (images, estiles, etc.)
4. FUTURE AN CONCLUSIONS
The Content tool production represents several challenges and new requirements. It
has been totally verified, but also contains some deficiencies, especially in the editor,
in the presentation and the handling of HTML.
We mark as a preliminary need to have an exact HTML editor, which reflects the
edition as the user is viewing and avoid the unnecessary HTML tags. On the other
121
hand, the editor should produce xhtml, in order to a most robust manipulation of the
information. It is necessary to standardize the styles in the editor, and the use style
sheets (CSS) will be necessary. Regarding the above mentioned, template provided by
GES should be adapted in order to provide best flexibility based on the content
generated. On the other hand, perseo technics can be useful to avoid standard related
problems at the moment of copying/pasting the information.
The inclusion of resources must be simpler; with utilities that easiest the search and
elements organization. The elements should be storage within the same xowiki, in
order to obtain a better control and handling of the same, and to obtain a better control
and handling the same, in contrast to the present operation which stores in an instance
of the file-storage of the class.
As a secondly level of priorities we have seen the necessity of include a lineal
browser, without tabs, as a simple alternative to create content. The handling of
multiple templates would be necessary in the graphic point of view, but is still
important the point of view of the organization information regarding the pedagogical
proposal in order to present the course.
We must include the integration of diverse applications in order to make that the
content editor an integral atmosphere to develop a course. Finally, we do not have to
forget the integration of several international standards as SCORM & IMS-CP,
among other, and the registration of the tool‘s use.
REFERENCES
1. http://mindflash.coursehost.com/
2. http://www.atutor.ca
3. http://www.janeknight.com/Directory/Tools/coursemgt.html
4. http://www.capterra.com/learning-management-systemsoftware
122
123
124
Automatic Limited-Choice and Completion Test
Creation, Assessment and Feedback in modern Learning
Processes
Christian Gütl
Graz University of Technology, Inffeldgasse 16c, 8010 Graz, Austria
and
Infodelio Information Systems and GÜTL IT Research & Consulting, Austria
[email protected] and [email protected]
Abstract. The objectives and expectations for learning processes have changed
dramatically from remedial repetitive learning to today‟s learning with
understanding to become independent in the learning process. Approaches such
as self-directed, explorative or example-based learning not only need advanced
e-learning solutions for the knowledge transfer process, but also require
enhanced methods for knowledge assessment and feedback. Motivated by the
situation stated so far, we have started a research program to support knowledge
assessment and feedback by computer-based automatic and peer assessment. In
this paper we will focus on the automatic generation of limited-choice and
completion questions from learning content, the answer evaluation and the
feedback provision.
Keywords: automatic knowledge assessment, automatic feedback, automatic
summarization, limited-choice test, natural language processing
1. INTRODUCTION
At the beginning of the 21st century our modern life is strongly influenced by effects
such as rapidly changing and developing information, technology-enhanced
communication and information access, and new forms of production and services in
a globalized world. Consequently, according to [1], the objectives and expectations of
learning processes have changed dramatically over the last 100 years, from remedial
repetitive learning to today‟s learning with understanding to become independent in
the learning process, strengthen metacognitive skills and link knowledge in cultural
context. Adopted instructional methods and learning styles need to be applied in such
modern learning settings. New research and development strands in e-learning
attempt to support these new learning-teaching processes. Approaches such as selfdirected, explorative or example-based learning not only need advanced e-learning
solutions for the knowledge transfer process, but also require enhanced methods for
knowledge assessment and feedback. The later will be used to get a more fine-grained
user model, allows instructors to get a better overview over the state of the learning
process, and supports students do improve their learning activities and strategies. To
125
cope with this requirements, an e-learning system must (1) deal with a great variety of
learning tasks and diverse learning content for individual learners, and (2) based on
that must also support continuous knowledge assessment according to the
instructional strategy and (3) provide immediate feedback.
Computer-assisted and computer-based assessment is indeed not a new concept and at
least can be traced back to early systems in the 1960s which followed the macroadaptive approach, such as computer-managed instructions (CMI) systems.
Assessment components have also been an essential part of Intelligent Tutoring
Systems (ITS) and Adaptive Hypermedia Systems (AHS) [2]. To cope with different
pedagogical goals, computer-based assessment developments offer different
assessment approaches such as limited-choice tests, short natural answer tests, openended questions and essays. Automated assessment – in particular of short natural
answers and essays - has been an active research topic since years. An overview over
research approaches and performance can be found elsewhere in [3]. Related to our
implementation discussed in this paper, Mitkov & Ha describe an interesting
approach for automatic, or at least computer-aided, generation of multiple-choice tests
from digital learning content [4].
Motivated by the situation stated so far, we have started a research program to support
knowledge assessment and feedback by computer-based automatic and peer
assessment. Our overall architecture is designed (1) to administer different didactic
objectives by supporting (semi-)automatic question generation, (2) to support the
(semi-)automatic generation and management of various exercise types, (3) to enable
the compilation and performance of personalized tests, (4) to execute (semi-)
automatic assessment, and (5) to deliver information for updating user models and
providing feedback.
In this paper we will focus on the automatic generation of limited-choice and
completion questions out of learning content, the answer evaluation and the feedback
provision. The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. Application scenarios
and high level requirements are given in Section 2. The technical solution of our
assessment tool, an overview about the architecture and our first implementation are
outlined in Section 3. Finally, Section 4 discusses major findings and room for further
improvements.
2. APPLICATION SCENARIOS AND REQUIREMENTS
In the planning stage of the research project, various application scenarios have been
identified in which such an assessment tool can support teaching and learning
activities in modern learning environments. Interesting application scenarios include
but are not limited the following: (1) Frank teaches a course in basic economics at
university level and he wants to get support to compile personalized tests referring to
the individual assignments of the individual students. (2) Miriam is senior lecturer in
the computer science department and she has decided to provide extensive
background material for her courses by an e-learning platform. She wants the students
to focus exemplarily on selected topics. After completion of the learning task, the
assessment of knowledge acquisition is performed by automatically generated
completion tests, feedback is provided to the students and to Miriam as well. (3) Eric
126
prefers to study on his own but he has some weakly developed meta-cognitive
capabilities. Thus he needs continuous feedback about his knowledge state in the
learning process and based on that some guidance in his learning activities. After
finishing learning activities, he initiates the performance of automatically generated
completion tests and benefits from the immediate feedback given by the tool.
Based on the literature review, our objectives for a (semi-)automatic tool for exercise
generation, assessment performance and feedback outlined above and illustrated by
some selected application scenarios, most important requirements on an abstract level
can be stated as follows: (1) flexible tool to be applicable in various application
scenarios, (2) handling of different types of content for exercise generation from predefined learning content to background knowledge of diverse sources to student
assignments, (3) designed to be used as module in pre-existing learning environments
and as stand alone application, and (4) privacy and security.
3. TECHNICAL SOLUTION AND IMPLEMENTATION
DETAILS
Test Word Extractor
LMS
Assessment System
Stopword Finder
Java GUI
POS Tagger
Morphological Analyzer
Communication Interface
Sentence Splitter
Exercise Creator
Tokeniser
GATE Core & Plugins
Test Words Identification
Automatic Summarizer
Document Filter
Document Fetcher
On a glance, our approach uses automatic summarization methods to extract the most
important information from content “units” used in learning tasks. Based on this
extracted and condensed information, natural language processing methods are
applied to (1) identify relevant concepts related to the knowledge domain, and to (2)
tag and annotate part of speech. This processed information will be used to generate
the limited-choice and completion questions.
For generating completion questions, identified concepts or candidate words in
specific relations are used, such as concept a ―is defined as‖, concept b ―comprises‖
concept c and concept d, and the like. Some of these identified concepts are omitted to
compile completion exercises. For generating limited-choice exercises, for each of the
aforementioned concepts synonyms and antonyms are computed. Out of this set of
concepts answer alternatives will be processed.
Fig. 4. Architecture overview for (semi-)automatic limited-choice and completion test creation,
assessment and feedback
Fig. 4 outlines the architecture overview of our solution, which is entirely
implemented in Java. In order to deal with different document types and sources, the
Document Fetcher supports the access to documents by hypertext transfer protocol
and in the file system. To be flexibly applicable as module in preexisting learning
127
systems, a specific interface call enables other components to send specific content
for processing. The Document Filter converts various document formats (such as
PDF, HTML and Word) into an internal format comprising content and some
structure information (headings, title and the like) which will be used for the further
processing steps.
The automatic summarization is based on the Automatic Summarizer from [5] which
“benefits from a mixture of ideas founded in the early days of automatic
summarization.” Unlike other modern approaches, the summarization is simply built
by identifying the most important sentences of the content. This is computed by 5
statistical features, namely (1) word frequency method (significant content words in
neighborhood within sentences), (2) cue phrase method (phrases which indicate the
importance of a sentence for a summary, such as ―the conclusion is‖), (3) location
method (appearance of topic sentences tend to appear at the beginning or the end of
sections), (4) title method (subject matter is addressed by the title), (5) query method
(summary content can be defined by a query which reflects the user‘s interest). Each
of the aforementioned features can be weighed positively or negatively, which
provide together with the compression ration (length of the origin text compared to
the summary) much room for flexible and tailored summaries. Further details about
automatic summarization can be found elsewhere in [6].
In order to identify relevant concepts to be used for completion and limited choice
exercises, further natural language processing is performed by the GATE (General
Architecture for Text Engineering) tool using appropriate plug-ins [7]. For our first
implementation, we focus instead of concepts on nouns, verbs, adjectives and on their
combinations for creating exercises. The automatically generated summary is
preprocessed by the Tokeniser and Sentence Splitter and the part of speech is
annotated by the POS Tagger. Nouns, verbs, adjectives are further processes to find
the basic form of the words as well as synonyms and antonyms by applying the
Morphological Analyzer. In the next step of the processing chain, the Stopword
Finder eliminates function words and the like. Moreover, predefined words or
concepts describing subject domains can also be applied to extract important words
from the automatic summary. Based on the aforementioned process steps, a list of
candidate words applicable for the exercise creation is processed by the Test Word
Extractor.
The automatically generated abstract together with the set of candidate words,
synonyms and antonyms is delivered to the Exercise Creator. It is designed either to
create completion exercises or limited choice answers. Parameters not only control
the type of exercise but also the number and type of concepts or words to be used for
the tests. For completion exercises, the selected concepts and words will be annotated
in the abstract for further processing or, to be more concrete, for visualizing the test
and for comparing the reference answers with the students‘ answers. Similarly,
limited choice answers are prepared by selecting proper words as well as synonyms
and antonyms, which are used to be presented as answer alternatives in the
assessment process.
Finally, the Communication Interface provides a layer to control the behaviors of the
tool and to access the prepared exercises based on a specific content object. The high
flexibility supports the tool‘s applicability in various application scenarios, as
illustrated in the outermost right side of Fig. 4. Thus our approach is designed to be
128
used together with a user interface as a stand-alone application or as a module in other
systems such as learning management systems or assessment systems.
Our current implementation is designed to be used as a stand-alone tool for
experimental purposes and also includes a graphical user interface. It is fully
implemented in Java and can be instantiated as an application or as an applet (see Fig.
5). In the first tab of the graphical user interface (GUI), the content of documents can
be imported or even be pasted into the text field. In the second tab (see A in Fig. 5),
based on compression rate and summarization method, automatic summarizations can
be generated and inspected. Types of words and word lists to be used for the test
creation can be configured in the third tab (see B in Fig. 5). In the fourth tab, the
number of words out of the set of candidate words for any supported word type can be
specified to create exercises randomly. Currently, the implementation only supports
completion tests (see C in Fig. 5). Finally, in the last tab, the solution of created
exercises can be inspected (see D in Fig. 5).
129
Fig. 5. Screen shot of the assessment prototype: (A) content summarization, (B), candidate
concept extraction based on content and predefined lists (C) exercise creation, and (D) exercise
solution for self-assessment.
4. CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER WORK
Modern learning settings require enhanced knowledge assessment procedures and
tools which can deal not only with course content but also with related content and
background material as well as provide feedback to students immediately. Automatic
or at least semi-automatic assessment and feedback approaches can support modern
learning environments. First experiences of our tool for automatic limited-choice and
completion test creation, assessment and feedback are promising. First tests have also
shown that the tools can easily be used as loosely coupled stand-alone applications or
as integrative modules in pre-existing learning environments, such as the dotLRN
platform.
Although our first promising results, there is much room for improvements. From the
solution approach viewpoint we want to apply more advanced summarization
techniques and more intelligent methods for the creation of exercises. From the
implementation point of view, we want to redesign the tool that any of the modules
can be used as plug-ins for the GATE system. Furthermore, for the exchange of
exercises or tests we will support the IMS QTI standard.
130
REFERENCES
1. Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., & Cocking; R.R. (Eds.) (2000). How People Learn: Brain,
Mind, Experience, and School. Expanded Edition. Washington DC: National Academies
Press.
2. Park, O., & Lee, J. (2003) Adaptive Instructional Systems. Educational Technology
Research and Development, 2003(25). p. 651-684, 2003.
3. Gütl, C. (2007). Moving towards a Fully-Automatic Knowledge Assessment Tool. iJET
International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, to be published.
4. Mitkov, R., & Ha, L. (2003). Computer-aided generation of multiple-choice tests”,
Proceedings of the HLT-NAACL 2003 Workshop on Building Educational Applications
Using Natural Language Processing, 2003, pp. 17-22.
5. Visser, W.T., & Wieling, M.B. Sentence-based Summarization of Scientific Documents.
The design and implementation of an online available automatic summarizer. Report, last
retrieved Nov. 29th, 2007 form
http://home.hccnet.nl/m.b.wieling/files/wielingvisser05automaticsummarization.pdf
6. Mani, I., & Maybury, M.T. (Eds.) (1999). Advances in Automatic Text Summarization.
MIT Press, Cambridge: MA.
7. GATE. Overview. Natural Language Processing Research Group, University of Sheffield,
UK, last retrieved Nov. 29th, 2007 form http://gate.ac.uk/sale/gate-flyer/2007/gate-flyer-4page.pdf
Acknowledgement
The author gratefully acknowledges Mario Ouschan and Christian Slamanig, both students at
Graz University of Technology, for their development and implementation effort of the
automatic assessment system, which contributed valuable input for this paper.
131
132
Ronald Aust1, Rich Furman2 and Allen Quesada3
1 Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, University of Kansas.
Lawrence, 66045, [email protected].
2 Department of Social Work, University of North Carolina, Charlotte,
28223
[email protected].
3 Facultad de Letras, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Costa
Rica, [email protected].
Abstract. As the world becomes more transnational, with resources
and people moving across nation boundaries, there is a need to engage
learners in collaborative activities that empower learners with
technical skills and diverse cultural perspectives. We advocate
extending constructivist educational approaches to transnational
setting using rapidly emerging communications, e-communities
systems, collaboration and translation technologies. Students work in
international teams on topics such as immigration, world health and
global warming. Activities are scaffolded beginning with relatively
simple team-oriented tasks and culminating in original multimedia
projects (wikis, web sites, powerpoint decks) that are posted on public
internet sites. An affordable open-source framework is essential in
helping students with diverse opportunities to engage in transnational
learning. The authors note that language barriers pose a significant
challenges facing collaborative transnational education. Universities
seeking to become increasingly globalized may wish to support a
transnational focus with appropriate educational technologies for
faculty and contribute to developing open source translation software.
Keywords: Constructivist learning, open source, transnational .
eLearning, collaboration.
1. INTRODUCTION
The world's cultures, societies and economies are becoming increasingly globalized.
People and nations are more interdependent with the integration of world economic
structures, the mass movements of people across borders, the advance of
neoliberalism, and the proliferation of advanced technologies [1]. Recently,
researchers, scholars and practitioners have come to understand that the world is
becoming more transnational [2, 3]. That is, resources and people move across and
between nation state boundaries. This has presented numerous problems for nations,
especially those who have not developed the structures to provide educational
133
services to transnational populations, and who have not maximized the benefits of
thinking globally for their own nationals.
This paper explores the current and potential impact of rapidly evolving
communication technologies on transnational education, social awareness and
economic development. We use the term technology broadly to encompass the
physical hardware, software and pedagogical strategies to support transnational
education.
The conversion of international access to the internet, mobile
communications, collaborative e-communities, and language translation software
provides new opportunities for engaging students worldwide on topics that have
currency and relevance across national and cultural contexts. These range from macro
social issues such as migration, transmigration, sustainable development, health,
poverty, and wealth distribution, to psychosocial maladies such as mental illness,
substance abuse, and domestic violence. Since each of these problems is culturally
constructed, the notion of cultural competence is addressed. An affordable opensource framework is essential in helping students with diverse opportunities to
develop the requisite skills for cross-cultural and transnational dialogues. The
dialogues that begin in the collaborative transnational investigations open doors of
understanding concerning topics of international importance and with colleagues from
diverse cultures perspectives.
2. POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF TRANSNATIONAL
EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
The rationale for engaging learners in transnational education experiences include: 1)
providing education for highly mobile transnational communities; 2) offering
knowledge to expand the cultural competence of educators and other professionals
who are increasingly called upon to perform in the global, transnational arena, and 3)
to engage participants in using and developing information technologies that benefit
their learning and work opportunities.
Developing global social awareness is an essential task in many professions,
including social work, nursing, business and education. Education and other human
service professions need to become increasingly global in response to mass
movements of people across nation-state boundaries. These movements have
challenged the way educators and human service professionals traditionally think
about practice. For instance, Central American migrant laborers will often work in the
construction industry in the Untied States during the summer, and return to their
countries of origin when work has finished. These transmigrants fall through the
cracks of educational and social welfare systems that are largely constructed to
provide services to non-mobile populations [4]. Nations often neglect responsibly for
providing services to these populations, continuing to ignore the transnational context
of the 21st century. The consequences of these nationalistic practices are unfortunate
at best, and often profound. Many transmigrants will ultimately become citizens, or
will have children who become American citizens. Not providing educational and
134
social services to each generation contributes to a cycle of poverty that creates
economic, social and personal tragedies [5].
One critical National Educational Technology standard in the United States focuses
on enriching the educators' and learners' understanding of the "social, ethical, legal,
and human issues surrounding the use of technology in PK-12 schools including the
ability to identify and use technology resources that affirm diversity and empower
learners with diverse backgrounds, characteristics, and abilities." This standard
becomes even more meaningful when viewed from a transnational perspective.
Through our international collaborations, we have found that students clearly
recognized the value of collaborating with students from different cultures in
investigating these topics. Students who have access to multiple communication [9]
have been developed to support the direct instruction approach where the teacher's
knowltechnologies and properly scaffolded challenges that culminate in meaningful
knowledge artifacts have demonstrated significant growth in their knowledge and
awareness of critical transnational issues.
A key aspects of this collaborative approach to education is the development of
cultural competence, or the capacity to provide educational, professional and social
services to those from other cultures [6]. Cultural competence demands the
development of a constellation of skills, knowledge and values that allow educators
and human service professionals to step outside of their own world views and
assumptions, and prove education and services in a manner that is meaningful [7].
Facilitating development of this knowledge, values and skills demands cross-cultural
exchanges through which one can construct and deconstruct responses to social
events. Transnational education incorporates important elements of culturally
competent practices, and extends it to the international/transnational domain. Students
begin to learn the complex tasks of working in teams and communities, and
understand and integrate into their behavioral repertoires the confluence of language,
cultural and transnational dynamics.
3. STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE TRANSNATIONAL
EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
One of the most significant advances in education theory and practice has been the
move from direct instruction approach, where the teachers serve as authorities who
dispenses knowledge, to a more constructivist approach [8] where educators create
conditions for learners to become actively involved in working together to discover
knowledge. Information technologies can serve as conduits for either the direct
instruction or constructivist approaches to learning.
For example, Learning
Management Systems often capture and systematically dispense knowledge as
tutorials and remediation on the basis of performance assessment models.
In a constructivist approach, technology is used in multiple ways to support access to
information, collaboration, inquiry, and knowledge construction. Instead of being
characterized as knowledge authorities, teachers serve as facilitators who assist
learners in identifying topics and employing successful internet search strategies to
135
locate and validate critical information related to their chosen topics. Once the
information is collected and organized, learners collaborate in investigating
relationships and form hypotheses using such tools as concept mapping programs
(e.g. Inspiration), spreadsheets, statistical and data bases software. Typically this
approach takes place in a classroom or workplace setting where learners have access
to a common set of equipment and software programs.
We are advocating to extend this constructivist approach to transnational setting using
rapidly emerging communications, collaboration and translation technologies. Our
initial investigations and field trails were first developed as part of a partnership
between students and faculty at the University of Kansas (KU) and the University of
Costa Rica (UCR). Students worked in teams, with representatives from both KU and
UCR, to investigate and report on topics with international significance such as
Global Warming, Immigration and the Central American Free Trade Agreement
(CAFTA). These activities built on previous software development work [10, 11] and
collaborations [12] in familiar settings using technologies and software that were
available in both locations.
During these initial trials we discovered and refined the learning environment
associated with the transnational collaborative activities. The collaborative activities
begin with students identifying topics that are relevant and current across national and
cultural contexts. The students then form teams with the understanding that each
group will contain at least 3 and no more than 7 members. Students are encouraged to
work in teams with approximately equal representation and must have at least one
representative from each institution. The activities are scaffolded so that the learners
begin with the relatively simple challenge of identifying web resources for their topic
and ultimately advance to a culminating presentations of original multimedia projects
(wiki, web site, powerpoint deck) that are posted on a public internet site. One
strategy we used to improve communications among the teams is to engage students
in collective decision making early on. As soon as students have identified the web
resources for their topic, they rank the top 10 resources as a team. This simple tasks
requires considerable communication among team members. Similarly, the teams are
asked to create and present a concept map for their topic about half way through the
development cycle.
ELearning Advocates often cite the advantages of "Any Time, Any Place, Any Path,
Any Pace" [13]. While this may be good for programmed instruction approaches, we
have found the "Any Time" approach to be less effective when students from different
countries work together in constructive learning environments. People enjoy learning
with others, yet they often must adhere to schedules. Schedules are especially
important for adult learners who have family and work obligations. We have found
that the quality and quantity of the communications among students from different
countries improves when their classes meet at the same time. In this case they are
more likely to communicate in real time using teleconferencing tools such as Skype
and they appear to become more engaged in the collaborative activities. While the
collaborative development advances well when classes meet at different times, the
ideal approach may be "Any Place" but "Same Time and Same Pace."
136
Our initial investigations found that participants clearly recognized the value of
collaborating with students from different cultured. Some benefits that they described
in the qualitative analysis included:
"I enjoyed discovering our partner’s perspective especially since our
topic highly relates to the preservation of their own Rainforest."
"Cultural exchange is important in all areas of learning."
"Any contact with other cultures improves interest in the classroom!"
"It provides a different social view point that complements the USA."
"Working with students from other countries allows us to develop new
ideas and projects."
"Makes everyone more socially aware …a very good thing!"
4. ADVANTAGES OF OPEN SOURCE APPROACHES TO
TRANSNATIONAL EDUCATION
Much of the software used in this transnational collaboration was free and/or open
source. For example, students used the Firefox internet browser, Skype software for
real time teleconferencing, internet email and open source threaded discussion
software to communicate during the development of final reports. Students also
created and posted knowledge artifacts that reflect their new understandings. In
some case the students used open source software to create web pages, transfer files
and create wikis. Proprietary software, that was also used in developing reports,
included Microsoft Powerpoint and Word, Inspiration and Adobe Photoshop.
Although the use of proprietary software did not limit this initial trial, because both
locations owned the software, we anticipate that an even more open source approach
would benefit wider adoption of transnational educational technology.
Burce Perens defines open source as a broad software license that allows the general
public access to the software code under relaxed or non-existent copyright restrictions
[14]. In his recent bestseller, Thomas Friedman [15] sees open sourcing as one of ten
key factors that is leveling the global playing field. Some have argued that Friedman
overstates the importance of open sourcing. Yet, consider that open source
encourages the use, development and distribution of software and derivatives to the
widest possible audiences and settings. Movements such as One Laptop per Child
(OLPC), advocated by Nicholas Negroponte and Seymour Papert
(http://www.laptop.org/), are seeking to provide one connected energy efficient "XO"
laptop for every school-age child world-wide. Many of the children who are
receiving these XO computers are located in regions where they cannot afford to
purchase hardware or software. Imagine that these students have access to laptops
and software that allows them to communicate and learn together with other children
137
their age from around the world. They might address critical issues of hunger, world
health, immigration, global warming or even learn basic literacy skills together.
Aside from learning about the topics, the participants would learn the values and
perspectives of students from diverse cultures, settings and economic backgrounds. If
this vision is to be realized, the software would need to be either open source or
donated. Aside from the advantages of cost, the open source approach supports the
evolution of the software as needs change and provides greater opportunity for
collaborative development from multiple institutions and perspectives.
5.
OVERCOMING LANGUAGE BARRIERS
One of the most significant challenges facing collaborative transnational education is
overcoming language barriers. In our pilot projects we used English language as a
common mode of communication. One concern when limiting communication to
English is that this will facilitate a privileging of the native English-speaking group,
thereby perpetuating hierarchical relationships. The benefits of transnational
education should not be limited by language. The need for advanced translation
software argues again for an open source approaches to software development. Many
"free" translation systems are available online and they are becoming increasingly
more efficient and effective for brief translations across a limited set of languages. A
readily available comprehensive suite of open source translation tools will greatly
benefit the advance of transnational education. Universities world-wide may wish to
seek a more transnational focus by supporting faculty with appropriate educational
technologies and contributing to the development of open source translation software.
REFERENCES
1. Furman, R. Negi, N. J., Schatz, M. C. S. Positing the transnational social work agency:
Using a wrap-around model. Global Networks (in review 2008).
2. Portes, A. Immigration theory for a new century: Some problems and opportunities.
International Migration Review 31(3): 799–825 (1997).
Alavi, M. and Leidner D. E. (2001). Review: knowledge management and knowledge
management systems: Conceptual foundations and research. MIS Quarterly 25(1), 107-36.
3. Pries, L. Determining the causes and durability of transnacional labour migration of
transnacional labour migration between Mexico and the United Status: Some empirical
findings. International Migration, 42(2) (2004).
4. Latapi, A. E. Low skill emigration from Mexico to the United States. Current situation,
prospects and government policy. International Migration, 37(1) (1999).
5. Furman, R., & Negi, N. Social work practice with transnational Latino populations.
International Social Work, 50(1), 107-112 (2007).
138
6. Poole, D. L., & Salgado De Snyder, V. N. Pathways to health and mental health care:
Guidelines for culturally competent practice. In A. R. R. G. J. Greene (Ed.), Social Workers'
Desk Reference (pp. 51-56). New York: Oxford University Press (2002).
7. Furman, R. & Collins, K. Culturally sensitive practices and crisis management: Social
constructionism as an integrative model. Journal of Police Crisis Negotiation, 5(2), 47-57
(2005).
8. Yager, R. E. The constructivist learning model. Science Teacher, 67(1), 44-45 (2000).
9. Alavi, M. and Leidner D. E. (2001). Review: knowledge management and knowledge
management systems: Conceptual foundations and research. MIS Quarterly 25(1), 107-36.
10. Aust, R. & Isaacson, R. (2005). Designing and Evaluating User Interfaces for eLearning. In
G. Richards (Ed.), World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare,
and Higher Education. (1195-1202). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
11. Aust, R.J., Newberry B.W. OBrien, J, (2005). Learning generation: fostering innovation
with tomorrow's teachers and technology. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education.
13(2), 167 - 195.
12. Quesada A. G. P., Aust R. CyberL@b: Technology enriched english language learning in
costa rica. Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Computers and Advanced
Technologies in Education. ISBN 0-889896-626-0 (2006).
13. NASBE. Any time, any place, any path, any pace: Taking the lead on e-Learning policy.
National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE). Retrieved January 7, 2008, from
http://www.nasbe.org/e_Learning.html (2001).
14. DiBona, C, Stone, M. & Cooper, D. (2005). Open sources 2.0: The continuing evolution.
Cambridge, MA: O'Riley.
15. Friedman, T. L. The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century. New York:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2005).
139
140
Ajax, Listbuilder, and Dynamic Types
David Bauer
Solution Grove
[email protected]
Abstract. OpenACS is a powerful platform for dynamic data collection.
Enhancing listbuilder with Ajax features makes OpenACS an equally powerful
reporting tool.
Keywords: Ajax, Web Applications, OpenACS, Listbuilder, Reporting
1. INTRODUCTION
Combining a dynamically generated Ajax user interface with data-driven OpenACS
List Builder definition, we can build a useful web-based user interface for reporting.
This allows the end-user to define, save, and reuse reports without the need for a
programmer, once the initial data definition and list definition are created.
1.1 Standard Listbuilder
The standard OpenACS listbuilder allows a programmer to define a fixed query for
display of any data collected in the database. This can be modified in predefined ways
such as sorting a column, grouping data, or applying a filter on the data. The current
filtering user interface can be unweildy for filters with many options, and it can be
confusing to see exactly how the data is currently filtered. There is no way to save the
sorting, grouping, and filter criteria for reuse and sharing except through an extremely
long URL, which can cause problems in some browsers, and which is very difficult to
send in an email.
2. LIST-BUILDER ENHANCED WITH AJAX
The enhanced Ajax List-builder provides a concise dynamic user interface with more
options, and a more interactive experience. The new features allow a more dynamic
query, including adding or hiding certain columns. The Ajax user interface provides a
drop-down menu for each column in the data table. The options can include move
column, hide column, sort ascending or descending, group by this column value, or
filter by values in this column. In addition there is a drop-down menu to allow adding
any columns that are available, but not currently displayed in the list. The options for
each drop-down menu are determined by the column's definition with the List-builder
141
list definition. This allows the programmer to enhance a list without custom Javascript
programming for each list.
To accommodate reuse of complex sorting, grouping, filtering, and visible column
specifications, a new concept of a ―report‖ has been introduced. Each report may be
named. Reports are scoped at the listbuilder list name scope, and keyed to the package
instance where the report is created. Once a report has been saved, it can be reloaded
at any time. A report is a set of criteria to build the report, and does not contain any of
the actual data. Each time the report is chosen, the query is run on the current existing
data. Right now, to create a snapshot of a report at a certain time, the user can export
the data as a CSV file.
Grouping of data in List-builder allows aggregate data to be generated on columns
that support this feature. The aggregates currently supported are sum and count. When
the data is grouped in the standard listbuilder, all the details of each group are
displayed. This can make it difficult to compare the aggregate results between groups.
The Ajax List-builder support an additional parameter to hide group detail rows and
just display the aggregate data per group.
3. USABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY
An Ajax enhanced user interface can increase usability by providing for a visually
simplified user interface for data display, while allowing for rich interaction with the
user interface. This increased interactivity can lead to accessibility problems and this
issues need to be addressed to make sure the interface is usable by all.
A first step we took to provide accessibility is to require a page reload when the
display is changed. When any sort, group, column visibility, or filter criteria is
changed, the page is reloading completely. With efficient database queries, this still
provides a highly interactive application while avoiding the page update problems that
can occur in screen readers or other alternative browsers.
Another technique to address accessibility is generating a fully specified semantic
HTML document. This semantic HTML is then enhanced with CSS, and Javascript to
add the interactive behaviors, while still making the full application available to any
browsing technology. The current implementation has shortcomings in this regard and
we are interested in working with others to improve the accessibility of these new
features.
4. IMPLEMENTATION
The new interactive features were added to List-builder without making major
changes to the core code. This is important to allow an incremental development
process, and allow the use of the Ajax List-builder without requiring adding the code
into the OpenACS core.
142
At this time, the programmer can enhance an existing list by calling procedures in the
ajax::lb::* namespace and specifying the dynamic list template. In addition to support
saving views, and the Ajax filter form interface, some code is required to be added to
the application page template. In the future it should be possible to entirely abstract
this code into the list filter template and list template.
To support the highly dynamic database queries required for the add/hide column and
filter interfaces, some extended list and list element attributes need to be set. To
support additional arbitrary attributes to be added to the template::list data structures
an additional parameter to template::list::create is added to suppress checking the
built-in list of list, element, and filter attributes. This enables a simply way to extend a
list without adding additional complexity to the existing list tcl libraries.
5. DATA COLLECTION
The OpenACS toolkit provides many ways to collect data. We will look at two
possibilities. The first, Assessment, has been enabled to dynamically generate a list
specification from the existing assessment data structures. The second, dynamic-types
, defines a standard way to create and manage OpenACS object types, including
forms for data collection.
5.1 Assessment
Assessment provides a rich administration interface to define data to be collected. It
allows for short text, long text, file uploads, multiple choice (radio or dropdown), and
multiple selection (checkbox) questions. Assessment uses a generic storage model,
with one row for each question within a form response. A List-builder definition can
be created from an assessment, which one column defined for each question. This
required the ability to build up a query specification including the columns to be
included in the select clause. The generic storage technique requires a separate join on
the data table for each question/column to be displayed. With the number of columns
that can be effectively displayed on a web interface, this provides acceptable
performance. The filters are defined for multiple choice/selection questions providing
a standard drop-down to choose from the multiple options to filter on. For text
responses a standard text filter will be used.
5.2 Dynamic Types
Dynamic types provides a Tcl API to create and manage OpenACS object types and
forms to create and manage those objects. This builds on the standard OpenACS
object type attribute system. Using the attribute and form definitions it will be
possible to generate a dynamic Ajax List-builder list definition automatically.
143
6. POSSIBLE FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
6.1 XoTcl Types and Lists
XoTcl Core provides an alternative interface to define OpenACS objects, specifically
subtypes of Content Revision. It also provides an object oriented interface to define
forms and lists for data display. It should be possible to take these definitions and
generate an Ajax enhanced XoTcl based list.
6.2 New Features
There are more features that can be added to the Ajax List-builder interface. These
include
 Complex datatypes for filtering such as addresses
 Numerical filter types allowing greater than, and less than filtering
 Enhanced text filtering allowing wild-cards, or full text search
 Adding a “not” modifier to filters to invert the filter
 Generating of graphs from list data using a Javascript graph library or
Google Charts API
REFERENCES
144
145
146
César Clavería, Rocael Hernández,
(cesar, roc)@viaro.net
1. INTRODUCTION
The web storage website was designed with the purpose of replicating the behavior of
a file system explorer shell found on many Operating Systems. By providing an easy
and intuitive user interface, that at the same time was feature rich enough to make
managing files online an easy task. Among the desired functionality was also the
ability to share files to other users of the same site and providing an easy access to the
files via mobile devices, like a PDA, Pocket PC, iPhone, etc.
The web storage web site takes advantage of the support of modern browsers of the
AJAX technology, implementing an AJAX/DOM Scripting solution to achieve the
desire functionality, also it uses the extensive set of services and API present on
OpenACS, specially the File Storage package and the Content Repository service.
2. TECHNOLOGIES USED
2.1 OpenACS1:
OpenACS was chosen because of its great user administrations, robust permission
architecture, great content repository capabilities and file storage implementation. It
was a natural fit to our needs, because it already provides the infrastructure and most
functionality needed to achieve our goal. While OpenACS took care of most of the
file handling tasks behind the curtains, we focused on creating the front end. To
achieve this goal a new package was created to enclose the new functionality.
The OpenACS features we used are:




User handling.
Independent instances creation
File handling, through the File Storage package
The extensive API was quite helpful to handle files the way we wanted it.
2.2 Yahoo User Interface2:
As required, the different functions of the site would rely heavily on AJAX to make it
147
usable, especially because a normal approach would have required constant page
reloads that would have made using the site harder for the users. The Yahoo User
Interface (YUI) provides the AJAX infrastructure for the asynchronous requests and
the DOM scripting framework.
The YUI functionalities that were used the most are:
 The connection manager, for the asynchronous requests.
 Containers
 Used on the main files module.
 Dialogs
 Simple Dialogs
 Context Menus.
 Tabview
 Used for the tabs enclosing the main application.
 Treeview
 Drag and Drop among the previous objects
3. SITE FEATURES
3.1 A visual representation of the files and folders on a file storage instance.
Intended to present a familiar environment, with icons and thumbnails representing
the user's files and folders, this is the main way for the user to interact with his files.
There are two ways to view the files, an icon view where the user is presented with a
grid of icons to interact with and a list view, somewhat less feature rich than the icon
view but it made possible to see more files in the same screen space with more
information.
3.2 Icons:
Each icon on this view presents quite a number of characteristics and it is the main
way for the user to interact with the files. Each icon reacts to different user actions.



Clicking an icon will download it.
Clicking and dragging the icon may perform different actions
depending on where the icon is released
1.1 Over a folder icon: Will move the icon into that folder.
1.2 Over a contact label: Will instantly share the file with the selected
contact.
Right-Clicking an icon will open the context menu of the icon,
displaying a number of new options. These options include.
148

1.3 Renaming
1.4 Deleting
1.5 Sharing
1.6 View its properties.
1.7 Move it
1.8 Copy it
Shared status, depending on its share status the icon will display a
slightly different image.
3.3 Image Thumbnails:
When displaying image files, the icon used is thumbnail representation of the image.
The thumbnail image is created using the TclMagick API to the ImageMagick
"Wand" command. The thumbnail is created and saved at the time that the user
uploads the image.
The TclMagick API integrates without a problem to OpenACS and provides an easy
way to manipulate image files, in this case we used some of it basic options to create
the thumbnail of an image. This process could be separated in 3 easy steps.
1. Create the necessary TclMagick Objects
#loadsTclMagick
package require TclMagick
#creates new wand and draw objects
set wand [magick create wand]
set draw [magick create draw]
2. Load and Resize the image
$wand ReadImage $file_path
$wand ResizeImage 50 43 cubic
3. Write out the new thumbnail image
$wand WriteImage "/tmp/$image_thumb.jpg"
#return the path to the thumbFile
return "/tmp/$image_thumb.jpg"
With the path to the thumbnail file we can then manipulate it with the File
149
Storage API and treat it like we would treat an uploaded file.
3.4 Drag and Drop functionality:
Most of the functionality of the icon representation is done using the rich API
provided by the YUI Library, especially the "Drag and Drop" functionality achieved
by making each icon a "draggable" object and in the case of folder's icons, also a
target for the draggable objects, this allow us to move a folder into another folder.
Creating Draggable items:
var temp_dd = new YAHOO.util.DDProxy(item_id);
We use the DDProxy subclass because it is faster than "dragging" the actual object.
On each "draggable" item we declare how it will react to different events, for instance
the most basic event, being dropped on a Drag and Drop target could be declared like
this.
temp_dd.onDragDrop = function(event, target_id)
{
moveFile(this.id, target_id);
}
Creating Drag and Drop targets:
This type of object need only one line of code to be created:
var _ddt = new YAHOO.util.DDTarget(folders_id);
3.5 Contextual menus
While trying to keep the UI uncluttered but at the same time provide easy access to
some of the most important and common tasks performed while manipulating files,
the context menu functionality provided by the YUI Library was a perfect solution.
150
Each time the user right-clicks an icon a context menu is displayed next to the icon, in
this menu the user is able to access new functionality, including some common tasks
as deleting and renaming a file and some more advanced features as it is the ability to
share a file with other users.
This functionality was implemented using only 1 menu object, that depending on the
context would be displayed on different positions and cause different actions to take
place, this means, if the context menu was brought up by file A, selecting delete will
not delete any other file, but file A.
Each object would relocate the menu on the "OnMouseOver" event, this allowed us to
create just one menu object instance instead of one instead per object.
To create the contextual menu we used the subclass "ContextMenu" of the Menu
Family of classes that the YUI Library presents us.
The first thing we need is an array of elements that will form the menu:
//menu entries for the context and arrow menus
var menu_entries = Array( rename_text,
delete_text,
properties_text,
share_text,
move_text,
download_text,
unshare_text,
mark_as_mobile
);
Note: The value of each of these menu entries was declared on a separate file with
values coming from the message keys of the corresponding language.
Then we create the actual menu object, we set the trigger of the menu to each object
of an array called "items_array" that contains the elements of the folder we are
showing.
Once created, we add the items to the menu, by referencing the entries array we
created earlier. The last step is subscribing the menu to a function that will handle the
corresponding menu actions.
151
var oContextMenu = new
YAHOO.widget.ContextMenu("items_cmenu",
{ trigger: items_array, effect: {
effect:YAHOO.widget.ContainerEffect.FADE, duration:0.25 }
});
oContextMenu.addItems(menu_entries);
oContextMenu.render(document.body);
oContextMenu.clickEvent.subscribe(onItemContextMenuClick,
oContextMenu, true);
The handler function would be something like this, receiving the information we need
in the "p_Args" parameter:
function onItemContextMenuClick(p_sType, p_aArgs, p_oMenu) {
//get which
action is going to be performed
var oItem = p_aArgs[1]; //get the args
var item_id = last_item_on_mouse_over;
switch (oItem.index) {
case 0: //Rename
//alert("Rename item " + item_id);
rename_item(item_id);
break;
case 1: //Delete
//alert("Delete item " + item_id);
delete_item(item_id);
break;
We must note that the global variable "last_item_on_mouse_over" is set by the
"OnMouseOver"
each element
on the items array; this item must be the
caseevent
2: of
//Show
properties
same we are clicking.
//alert("Show properties of item " +
item_id);
show_properties(item_id);
break;
//Rest of the entries omitted.
}
152
3.6 Ability to Share files and Folders:
The users have the ability to manage a contact list, they can add contacts (whether this
are users of the site or not) and share files with them.
The files shared with another user will appear on a special area on the side panel of
the main files module, from there, they can choose to copy the received files to their
own instance download the file or discard it.
The action of sharing a file was easy to implement thanks to the OpenACS
permissions system, where sharing a file between two users was little more than
granting
the
permission
to
read
a
file
to
another
user.
The ability to copy a file was too an easy task, copying a file could be reduced to a
simple
function
call:
set new_file_id [fs::file_copy -file_id $file_id
-target_folder_id
$target_folder]
But, when it comes to copying folders some extra work needed to be done, but even
then, the file storage API made the work easier, when a folder was to be copied, the
first step was to create a new folder under the given parent, then we would
recursively copy each file or sub-folder to its new location.
153
ad_proc -public tilidom::copy_folder {folder_id
user_id parent_id } {
set folder_items [fs::get_folder_objects -folder_id
$folder_id
-user_id $user_id]
set folder_name
[fs::get_object_prettyname object_id $folder_id]
set new_folder_id [tilidom::create_folder
$folder_name $parent_id]
foreach item $folder_items {
if {[fs_folder_p $item] } {
tilidom::copy_folder $item $user_id
$new_folder_id
} else {
tilidom::copy_file -target_folder
$new_folder_id $item $user_id
}
}
}
In the case that the file has been shared with a non-registered user an invitation to join
the site will be send and once registered the file (and any other received file) will be
added to its received files.
A user can choose to receive text messages when a file has been received. An account
was set up with sms gateway provider, Clickattel; it actually does a pretty simple call
to clickatell's site to send the messages. The call is made using the procedure
"util_httppost" to a URL given by Clickattel; the call includes the needed variables to
send the message.
set url "http://api.clickatell.com/http/sendmsg"
set api_id NNNN
set user "my_user"
set password "XXXXXXXXXX"
set mobile "05111111111111"
set formvars
"api_id=$api_id&user=$user&password=$password&to=$mobil
e&text=$encoded_msg"
set return_message [util_httppost $url $formvars]
return $return_message
154
3.7 Dynamic Folder Tree:
Along with the files displayed for the current folder, a tree view of the user's entire
instance is presented, this tree view allows the user to quickly navigate to any of its
folders and move any file to any folder. This tree view updates dynamically with the
user actions. This tree was built using the "Treeview" functionality of the YUI
Library.
The content of each branch of the tree is generated at the moment the user opens it,
for this to happen 3 things are needed:
1) While creating the tree we must declare a function that will provide the content:
tree = new YAHOO.widget.TreeView("dynamic_tree_div");
tree.setDynamicLoad(loadDataForNode);
2) We must create the function that will take care of the actual load, the functions get
its data with an asynchronous request made to a tcl page.
155
function loadDataForNode(node, onCompleteCallback) {
var id= node.data.id;
tree_Url = "dynamic-tree?folder_id=" + id;
var handleSuccess = function(o) {
if(o.responseText !== undefined) {
.
.//Here we parse the results to get the folders
name (fname) and folders id (fid) returned by the tcl
page
.
//Create the object to be used on the node.
var myobj = { label: fname, id:"tf_"+fid } ;
//Create a new node.
var tmpNode = new YAHOO.widget.TextNode(myobj, node,
false);
.
.
.
}
// Be sure to notify the TreeView component when the
data load is complete
onCompleteCallback();
}
var handleFailure = function(o) {
if(o.responseText !== undefined) {
onCompleteCallback();
}
}
var callback = {
success:handleSuccess,
failure: handleFailure
};
//this executes the asynch call
var transaction =
YAHOO.util.Connect.asyncRequest('GET', tree_Url,
callback, null);
}
3) The third element needed to create and populate the Treeview object is the actual
156
page that provides the data. In this case the page is a Tcl page that receives as
parameter a folder_id and uses the File Storage API to gather the information about
any sub-folders present and return it.
3.8 Mobile Devices Support:
In addition to the normal interface and it's both views (icon and list), a special
lightweight interface is available to mobile users, by mobile we don't mean just cell
phone
users
but
PDAs,
Pocket
PCs,
etc.
This interface is design to be accessible on devices with small displays and relatively
underpowered, it is certainly not as rich as the main interface, but it provides the main
functionality including:
5 File Downloads
6 Browsing files
7 Sharing files
This interface presents a special kind of folders as its start page, this folder, called the
"Mobile Folder", and contains all the files marked as "mobile" on the main
application. This is with the intent of allowing the user a faster access to its folders
while
browsing
on
a
mobile
device.
Following the recommendations from the W3's "Mobile Best Practices" 3 we tried to
create an interface suitable for mobile devices, focusing on simplicity and
functionality.
The interface looks good on small screens, but at the same time it can adapt itself to
larger screens, there are no unnecessary elements on the page just the necessary links
and labels to navigate through the site.
3.9 The Mobile Folder:
While using the main application, the user is able to mark any file or folder as
"mobile", this makes that file to appear on the special start page of the mobile
interface called the "Mobile Folder", this makes easier the access to files stored
anywhere on the user account, saving precious time while browsing on a mobile
device.
4. IMPLEMENTATION
Most of the package's files are tcl/adp pages designed to return a simple set of data,
these pages are intended to be called asynchronously from the main application to
gather information or perform a specific action. This set of pages then become a sort
157
of library of functions that the package uses, many of the tcl pages have a
correspondent tcl procedure that it is the one to perform the actual operation.
When a new users registers to the site a new instance of the File-Storage package is
created, this instance will be where all the user's files will be actually stored. When
the user logins to the site it is redirected to the Web Storage package and the
information related to its file storage instance is displayed. This means that the files
and folders displayed on the Ajax applications represent actual files on the user's file
storage instance.
5. CONCLUSIONS
OpenACS was a great choice for this project; it´s file management functionality, the
File Storage API and Content Repository, were a perfect fit for our needs.
Along with the file management functionality, the vast number of existing APIs and
services, especially the user management and permissions system, allowed us to focus
on the application specific issues and ensure that our applications were secured.
The modern browsers and technologies like AJAX, DOM Scripting and the use of
CSS makes possible to create highly functional and dynamic applications, making the
web based applications approach even more the functionality, look, feel and
responsiveness of desktop applications.
The Yahoo! User Interface library provides a great deal of functionality, covering
most, if not all, of the needs of an Ajax based web application, all of this along with
extensive documentation and an easy to learn and easy to use API.
6. LIMITATIONS AND DRAWBACKS:
Working with OpenACS and AJAX was easy for the most part, but some of the
system's parts required a great deal of customization to make them play nice with an
asynchronous request of data. The form handling and redirecting were especially
problematic on some parts of the site.
REFERENCES:
5
6
7
OpenACS toolkit
http://www.openacs.org
Yahoo! User Interface
http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/
W3C's Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0
http://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/
158
159
160
Ajax Interfaces inside Open ACS
Ing. Rocael Hernández, Ing. Victor Guerra, Ing. Byron Linares, César Hernández,
[roc, guerra, bhlr, cesarhj]@galileo.edu
1. INTRODUCTION
The information disorder in one web interface can cause negative effects in the users
(loss of interest in the showed information, make the user gets a wrong message, or
that the user would not find the information that it needs). A lot of sites like Gmail
have chosen to have interfaces in which they make divisions of information by
sections; another example of grouping of this type is FireFox explorer. Each one of
these information sections is accessed for a tab that has a title that gives a general idea
of the information that is inside that section.
Another issue that has to be taken into account inside the interfaces that include
AJAX effects is the relation between these interfaces and the back or forward button
of the explorers. It‘s very irritating to lose a series of actions that has been done in a
interface just for having clicked in the back or forward button, the ideal thing would
be that the explorer ―remind‖ these series of actions.
You need to have some way of being able to interact and organize information in this
way within OpenACS.
1 Yahoo IU Library.
There are 2 components within Yahoo UI Library [1] keys for the making of the
interfaces based in AJAX:
-
TabView Component [2]: Allows to the developers create navigable interfaces
using tabas to make divisions of information.
Browser History Manager[3]: It facilitates the creation of web applications in
where the navigation buttons of the explorer are very useful to reflex the
changes in the state of the applications.
2. INTEGRATION OF THESE COMPONENTS TO THE
TOOLKIT:
The usages of the mentioned components in the previous paragraph in the toolkit are
key elements. Extensions were made to the procedures defined in the AjaxHelper
package to bear the usage of these components. The developer can make use of the
following procs: ah::yui::tabs, to generate the view of the tabs, the integration of the
tabs with the browser historical module is optional.
This is an example of how you can use it:
161
lappend tablist [list [list dataSrc: 'index-grupos',cacheData: true,active: true]
"'Busqueda de Grupos'"]
lappend tablist [list [list dataSrc: 'index-alumnos',cacheData: true,active: true]
"'Busqueda de Alumnos'"]
lappend tablist [list [list dataSrc: 'index-profesor',cacheData: true,active: true]
"'Busqueda de Profesores'"]
ah::yui::tabs \
-varname "tabGES" \
-id "tabsGES" \
-array ajax_tabs \
-tabs_list $tablist \
-module_browser_history tabHisto \
-loading_animation
After calling the procedure we can access to the following fields in the array
(ajax_tabs for this case):
-
head_content: It contains the javascript code generated automatically for the
tab creation.
body_content: It contains the html code generated automatically for the
deployment of the tabs.
In the previous example we can note that the tab list contains the list of the tabs that
will be created, this is sent as a parameter of the procedure. Another element that is
important to see is that you can habilitate the usage of the module of ―Browser
History‖ with the switch - module_browser_history, this implementation of the
module is specific for the interfaces with the tabs. The switch –loading_animation
enables the usage of an animation that is being executed whtn the content of the tab is
reloading.
The use of forms and list-builders is very common within the toolkit, so it had to be
taken into account some considerations for the form generation of tables starting from
the list-builders. This considerations include the power of making some requisitions
in the background when the information was gathered in tabs; this is due to
implement the proc:
ah::yui::background_submit, uses the connection module of YUI. This is an example
of how use it:
set script [ah::yui::background_submit -form group_new \
-url "group-new" \
-tab_integration -encodeuri \
-method "POST"]
162
This procedure generates the necessary code in javascript to make a call in the
background. The description of the used switch´s is the following:
-
-form: form name.
-url: which the form is making a POST or GET.
-tab_integration: Is indicating if the form is being used within a tab or out of
it.
-method: It indicates the used method in the connection of the background.
(POST o GET)
As for definition of the form, it is necessary to eliminate the buttons that make submit.
Instead of these buttons you have to provide the button that executes a function in
javascipt; this function is generated for the el proc ah::yui::background_submit. For
example: we can add a link as follows:
<a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="javascript: background_submit_group_new();"
class="ALTbutton">#evaluation.Create_Group_#</a>
With this procs, we can generate interfaces within the toolkit of Open ACS with tabs
and taking in account the state changes of applications and this could be saved in the
browsing history.
3. SOME FUNCTIONAL EXAMPLES:
Inside Galileo we have used these improvements in the following applications:
-
Evaluation: Some interfaces were improved inside this package, mainly to
organize in a much better way the deployed information.
o
Administrative interface improvement.
 BEFORE: One page contained all the students lists (no
evaluated, evaluated, students that had not delivered the
homework, etc)
With all the information of the homework
163

o
AFTER: All the information grouped in tabs
Improvement in the report notes.
 BEFORE: A list-builder was shown, describing the
accumulated notes en every assignment for each student. In
the report you could see the notes for one assignment.
164

-
AFTER: You can find a tab for each assignment and one
tab for the general report.
Search of profiles within Galileo: Galileo counts with an interface for
advanced searching of students and professors. An interface was used with
tabs to gather search parameters.
o
BEFORE: The search was divided in a confuse way, you have
several buttons of submit so the used had to be very careful when he
used the forms.
165
o
AFTER: Each one of the sections of the search will be divided in
tabs.
166
4. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN THE IMPLEMENTATION:
The use of forms inside the tabs, when you submit the page reloads: Inside
the content of each one of the tabs some interfaces include forms; when you make
submit of these forms the page was reloaded. The expected thing to happen would
be that it reloaded only the content of the tab, from the implementation point of
view the problem solved as follows:
o
-
A procedure was developed that builds the code in JavaScript
automatically to enable the use of the ―Connection‖ module of YUI;
this module allows to make http requisitions in the background. The
procedure creates the functional code in JavaScript for the cases in
which the form is out or inside the tab. In case the form is out of the
tab, the content that
Filters, orders and bulk actions inside the used list-buiders inside the tabs.
o
To solve this problem the creation of lists-builders definition was
modified, so that the links could be created automatically and this
will make the so call javascript functions that interact with the tabs
so that the content could be reloaded.
167
5. CONCLUSIONS
The importance of the information organization in a web interface is key for the
users´ orientation, so they can access in an easy way to the information they are
looking for. The interfaces with tabs are an easy way of organize the information by
the criteria of what they want to see, these interfaces are being used in several sites
that have a great number of users.
At the present there are many AJAX libraries that provide the functionality of tab
handling, one of them is the YUI tab component.
When implementing this type of interfaces based in AJAX libraries you should be
very careful with the interaction between the user and the interface. One main issue is
to maintain the state of the application; as the user goes interacting with the interface
the application changes of state. Depending in the nature of the application saving
this changes is vital, for this, you can interact with the explorer, making use of the
navigators history that the browser saves, with this the back and forward buttons can
be used to restore the states of the application. The ―Browser History‖ module that is
included inside the AJAX libraries of YUI allow us to make this interaction with the
browser.
6. RECOMMENDATIONS:
-
Not all the interfaces can be organized in tabs; this depends on the nature of
the information that is being manipulated, so the excessive use of the tabs
shouldn‘t be abused. So the feasibility of using interfaces with tags should
be, above all, analyzed.
-
Likewise, saving and keeping a record of the interfaces states in AJAX does
not imply in every cases; in some of the cases it is not worth implement code
for the restoration of the application state, the user might not be interested in
the activities that has done in the interface, so it doesn‘t have any sense to
keep a record.
-
Definitely the good handling of AJAX libraries is important in the interfaces;
but it should be taken into account the maintenance of the accessibility to our
applications. The applications should be accessed for all the potential users.
REFERENCES
[1]: http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/
[2]: http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/tabview/
[3]: http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/history/
168
169
170
XOWIKI AS CMS?
Rocael Hernández, Alvaro Rodríguez
Viaro Networks
Guatemala
Abstract
Considering the fact that every day the world is all about the web, we feel the
need of simplifying the creation and publish processes for informative web
pages with pretty much all the HTML options and now the web has come to
make the people around the world closer so we also have the need of publishing
all the information in multi-language option.
This document is focused on providing a solution to all the current needs
using OpenACS framework[1] and additional tools like xowiki that gives us an
abstraction that manages the content in the db letting us flexibility to create and
publish web pages with permalinks editable at any time from our web browser,
never interacting with real files.
We used the xowiki functionality[2] to provide solutions like dynamic
menus, including scripts to give xowiki pages more tools like news and login,
in addition we created a management for forms with read/write/admin
permissions to collect information in specific forms and assign forms to
specific users.
1. INTRODUCTION
This project started with the need of a web site that has content editable by many
users in a interactive way making it easier and faster to publish web pages, everything
multi-language, also needs to be able to collect information from certain cities by
assigning forms to a specific user, the information collected from the forms of each
city has to be published in a public space of each city.
We used xowiki[2] for the main site adding a few tools to increase its functionality,
we used a file-storage instance and one instance of news for each language and login
section in a xowiki page, we used the production mode and a different policy for each
page so that it can be published or unpublished at any time and permissions can be set
individually. Xowiki forms are very customizable to collect all kind of information
making easy to assign an instance of the form to a specific user by setting up
individual permissions, we made a friendly interface to the users and admin of the
form_pages to fill, assign and publish the forms.
171
2. CONTENT
2.1 Public Site
We started with the need of creating a environment to work as a cms with the xowiki
package, we used all the tools that xowiki has to create a dynamic template building
each part as an independent page and creating the whole idea of a template including
different pages, each one of them editable with a specific design to follow the same
style with the added or removed content.
A CMS has much functionality and we tried to integrate everything we need from
OpenACS to create the same interface, we created a xowiki page for the index that
includes a login section, a news section, a different master from dotlrn interface, each
one of this sections we made them multi-language with message keys and different
instances of news for each language we also added a cookie for the actual language
and set up xowiki to use the browser's default language for unregistered users so that
each user can have different language even if they're not registered,a file-storage
instance for the xowiki instance to fulfill all the needs from the xowiki as cms.
if { $user_id !=0 } { lang::user::set_locale $user_locale
} else { ad_set_cookie locale [lang::system::locale] }
This is the index of the web site which is a xowiki instance, the page is the result of
including different xowiki pages
{{page -options}} {{adp file -options}}
with either html code or scripts customized for this template to make the news and
login section work. This allows us to make everything completely independent and
editable as a xowiki page.
172
The whole idea of creating this interface was to make this the public section of this
site leaving dotlrn and the rest as the intranet but keeping them separately because the
public content is going to be changing all the time and xowiki is very customizable
for many needs.
To make the news section work with multi-language we mounted one instance of
news for each language in a specific node using the notation /es/news, /en/news and
the xowiki page which includes the content for the news instance includes the
different content for each language, customized for showing the name and lead of the
last three published news.
2. 2 Intranet
We are using dotlrn[1] with some customizations as the intranet, we are using
different headers for the public and private sections, but leaving the rest of OpenACS
typical tools, we added two different sections taking advantages from xowiki forms.
2.3 Forms Section
One of the main goals of this organization was to be able to collect specific
information from different countries and use this information for the records and to
publish important things.
We used xowiki forms[2] instead of assessments and the reason was because xowiki
forms design can be very customizable, easier to modify and allows us to easily share
the information in other pages or even different instances of xowiki.
The important part of this was to be able to let some specific user to fill a form and
then let some of this content available for the public site, so we created a table to
assign forms to different cities and give permissions to specific users to be able to
read/write this forms, so we used a different policy for xowiki pages together with the
production mode to be able to show/hide the content of the forms and pages anytime.
Action
Policy (default)
Policy3
View
none
{{item_id read}}
Revisions
{{package_id write}}
{{item_id write}}
Diff
{{item_id write}}
Edit
{{item_id write}}
Make-Live-Revision
{{item_id write}}
173
Delete-Revision
{{package_id admin}}
swa
Delete
{{package_id admin}}
swa
Save-Tags
login
login
Create-New
{{item_id write}}
{{item_id write}}
We created an interface to create/admin cities where you can add a specific form to a
city and assign a user or members from a community to admin the form for that city,
the swa has the access to create new cities an assign the forms but registered users
only have access to the forms that had been assign to them.
Each user has up to three sections in the forms page, the read, write and admin section
where they can see all the different forms that they have different permissions on.
174
The admin section has different options, every form can be added to a specific city
only once and the admin can decide which user of group has permissions on a specific
form, every form added to a city can be assigned to a different user or group. When
adding a form to a city we can choose from the existing and not added forms to add
and this automatically creates an empty xowiki form page and adds an entry to the
table where we have the form_id and form_page_id for each city form assigned.
Another option in the admin section is to manage a profile for each city which is a
specific form that we created to collect information about each country and add some
extra information from the forms filled by that country to show in a public space for
each city, for each city we can choose to add and set permissions for the profile so
that can be filled and then the admin decides which information wants to add from the
rest of the forms filled before using an existing option to include a variable from a
specific instance of xowiki :
{{get -variable title -source //otherinstance/en:p1}}.
2.4. Profiles Section
Profile section is form pages with assigned to each city with a specific url depending
on the city, and this information is add by the assigned user and published when they
175
are ready. In the index for cities each user has access to admin all the profiles that has
assigned, to be able to let every user change a form page from published/unpublished
we used a proc from the admin section of xowiki outside of the admin section so that
users with no admin permission on the package, but permission on the object can do
this.
3. CONCLUSIONS
3.2 Xowiki is a powerful tool very customizable that allows us to easily collect and
manage information together with permissions and publish tools give us a very
efficient way of automatically get information keeping privacy and order very high.
3.3Using xowiki package as a main site helps us fulfills the need of easy editable
content but we face the limitation of rich text editors not letting us show the content in
the exact way we want because adds to much unnecessary html code altering the
view.
REFERENCES
[1] www.openacs.org
[2] http://media.wu-wien.ac.at/download/xowiki-doc/
176
177
178
A General Tracking and Auditing
Architecture for the OpenACS
framework
Jorge Couchet1, Olga C. Santos2, Emmanuelle Raffenne2,
Jesús G. Boticario2, and Daniel Manrique3
1Applied Artificial Intelligence Center, Computer Science School.
ORT, Montevideo, Uruguay [email protected]
2aDeNu Research Group, Artificial Intelligence Department,
Computer Science School. UNED, Madrid, Spain
{ocsantos, eraffenne, jgb}@dia.uned.es
3LIA Research Group, Artificial Intelligence Department,
Computer Science School. UPM, Madrid, Spain
[email protected]
Abstract. The paper describes the Tracking and Auditing Engines (TAE) in
process of development for the OpenACS framework through the
implementation of a tracking subsystem and an auditing API built upon it. The
main theoretical considerations that must fulfill such system are discussed in
the paper, specially the differences between the responsibilities and functions
for the tracking and auditing processes. The data required and where to get it
from the framework, the architecture designed, and the technology to be used in
the implementation are also presented. As a practical use of the TAE, the paper
presents on-going authors‘ research that is based on analyzing dotLRN users‘
interactions. These research works will benefit from the audit trails provided by
the TAE.
Keywords: Tracking, auditing, web development
framework, OpenACS, dotLRN, web service support.
1. INTRODUCTION
The Open Architecture Community System (OpenACS) is a full featured web
evelopment framework used by many big players in several important social areas,
such as the NGOs world as their infrastructure platform (Greenpeace, AIESEC, and
others). dotLRN, an application for e-learning built on top of OpenACS framework is
also widely used (University of Heidelberg, the MIT Sloan School of Management,
Spanish National University for Distance Education, and many others). In those
contexts, a key feature is the tracking and auditing capabilities. It should be compliant
with the standards required in
179
each case and facilitate the understanding of the software system (or subsystem)
behavior. In particular, it should i) help to evaluate the adequacy of the policies,
procedures and other mechanisms implemented, ii) provide an on-going feedback to
the administrators, iii) assess the system for security, and iv) support the development
of new useful applications over the audit trails.
Despite the importance of having a coherent common data model and API to gain
access to the tracking and auditing services, the support provided in the OpenACS
framework is rather limited. There exist services to solve specific situations, but the
framework lacks of a generalized and flexible architecture that can be used to satisfy
the different needs that may arise. OpenACS offers two ad-hoc solutions: the
ClickStream [1], [2] and the User Tracking [3] packages, both of them with the aim to
resolve specific needs and problems. Those packages are very good at resolving the
concrete situation for which they were designed, but they do not offer a metadata
model to solve any situation where the tracking and auditing services may be
required.
This paper presents a general tracking and auditing architecture that implements a
metadata model that intends to extend OpenACS functionality. First, the tracking and
auditing basis are introduced. Next, the details of the proposed architecture are
presented. Then, the on-going development of a new application built over the audit
trails, is shown. Finally, the benefits of the proposal and its open issues are discussed.
2. TRACKING AND AUDITING BASIS
The Tracking and Auditing Engines (TAE) of a software system as is described in the
Fig. 1, provide the means to record all the actions performed both by the direct users
of a system and by the system itself; where an action is defined as a specific piece of
functionality of the system. The execution of an action implies some kind of
processing to be applied over an object, or a set of objects on a dataset. An object in
this context is defined as a set of attributes, where an attribute is a unique name-value
pair [4]. We are not referring here to OpenACS objects.
Fig. 1. Tracking and auditing processes
180
It is important to separate the responsibilities of the Tracking and the Auditing
processes, as is specified in Fig.1. The Auditing Engine is in charge of the definition
of the objects that need to be audited, the definition of the necessary data to be
recorded in order to audit the defined objects, and the performing of the semantic
processing over the recorded data, in order to extract the objects and the meaning of
the interaction between those objects. The Tracking Engine is in charge of recording
the data defined by the Auditing Engine.
2.1 The Tracking and Auditing Engines requirements
The requirements that a TAE should fulfill could be classified in two types,
functionality and securityrequirements [4]. The first one implies that the TAE should
implement the following minimum requirements: a) record the actions performed
through the system, b) record the object states, c) provide means to retrieve audit data,
d) provide means to track the history of an object, and e) provide means to detect any
external change of the data.
The security requirements to be addressed are: a) the audit data must be stored in a
secure manner, b) continuous audit must be assured, and c) compliancy and
integration with standards must be provided.
Those requirements can be analyzed and assigned to each TAE module, according to
the responsibility described above.
2.1.1 Tracking Engine requirements
The Tracking Engine should fulfill the following functional requirements:
− Record the actions performed through the system: in a consistent way and in a
universal format.
The Tracking Engine should fulfill the following security requirements:
− The audit data must be stored in a secure manner: only authorized users can
access the stored
information, and no external modification of the data must be allowed.
− Continuous audit must be assured: during the whole life cycle of the application
objects a full audit
must be maintained.
− Compliancy and integration with standards must be provided: the Tracking
Engine should fulfill the
standards required, and provide the means to help the applications in the framework
to fulfill the
standards required.
2.1.2 Auditing Engine requirements
The Auditing Engine should fulfill the following functional requirements:
− Record the object states: keep track of the initial object‘s state (before the action),
and the final
181
object‘s state (after the action).
− Provide means to retrieve audit data: a reporting engine that enables to the
authorized users to query
the audit data.
− Provide means to track the history of an object: the reporting engine must be
capable to search the
history of an object.
− Provide means to detect any external change of the data: detect direct (bypassing
the framework)
modifications to the dataset.
The Auditing Engine should fulfill the following security requirements:
− The audit data must be stored in a secure manner: only authorized users can
access the reports and
Auditing Engine configuration.
− Compliancy and integration with standards: the Auditing Engine must
complement the Tracking
Engine in this task.
2.2 Users of the TAE
The users of the TAE can be divided into two groups [5]. The first group consists of
the auditor, who is an
individual with administrative duties. The auditor selects the events to be audited on
the system, configures
the system, and analyzes the trail of audit events.
The second group of users of the audit mechanism consists of the system users
themselves. This group
includes the administrators, the operators, the system programmers, and all other
users. They are
considered users of the audit mechanism not only because they, and their applications,
generate audit
events, but because they must understand the audit mechanism and the impact that it
has on them.
3. TAE PROPOSED ARCHITECTURE FOR OPENACS
The main goal of the TAE architecture is to offer a coherent common data model and
API that the applications can use in order to access to the tracking and auditing
services. With the proposed architecture, a new application only needs to hook to the
metadata model offered in order to gain access to the TAE services, avoiding or
minimizing the amount of code repetition.
3.1 OpenACS data gathering
182
When a user interacts with the OpenACS framework, he goes through the AOLserver
web server, so all the user performed actions1 are going through the AOLserver. For
this reason, the AOLserver‘s filters have been selected as the main data gatherer for
the TAE system. 1 The exception is a direct modification of the OpenACS database.
3.2 Architecture Description
The main features for the proposed General Tracking and Auditing Architecture for
the OpenACS Framework can be observed in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2. General Tracking and Auditing Architecture for the OpenACS Framework
The architecture‘s components are:
− Auditing Engine: It offers a centralized access and administration to the TAE, and
defines a Service Contract for the Auditing Engine (SCae) in order to distribute the
audit function among the different OpenACS packages, each one with its own
information.
− Tracking Engine: It hides to the Auditing Engine (and the TAE user) the recording
mechanism. The engine receives the definition of the data (raw data and metadata)
that needs to be recorded, and creates automatically the AOLserver filters needed.
− Report Engine: It hides to the Auditing Engine (and the TAE user) the complexities
of the report creation. The engine receives the data source definition (XML) and the
report configuration (XML), and creates the requested report.
− SCae Implementation for the audited packages: Each OpenACS package that would
like to take advantage of the Tracking and Auditing functionality has to provide its
implementation for the SCae.
183
It should define the objects of interest, and the actions that need to be recorded,
providing to the Auditing Engine their definition. It must also provide its own semantic
processing functions in order to do the meaning extract from the Tracking Engine‘s
recorded data.
4. APPLICATIONS
4.1 Previous Background
An important part of the authors‘ research is to develop new machine learning
algorithms in order to be used to extract useful knowledge from big datasets. For
example, the logs of a web framework that supports an online community. This
research work has produced a Java-based machine learning library that automatically
captures, through the application of an adaptive outlier detection algorithm (LOF), the
emergent properties of self-organizing system of neurons, and generates a 3D
visualization of them [6].
Self organization is the ability of a system to adapt its internal structure to the external
stimulus received though its sensors. The adaptation process should satisfied the
following conditions; a) no external intervention (unsupervised learning), and b) the
internal structure of the system represents the structure of the external data space that
is relevant to the system. A kind of self-organizing system are the selforganizing
maps (SOM), which are neural networks (a system of neurons), trained (the
adaptation process) using an unsupervised learning algorithm (the a condition), to
produce a low-dimensional, discretized representation of the input space of the
training samples, called a map (the b condition). The map seeks to preserve the
topological properties of the input space, and therefore de development of
visualization techniques over it, is useful for visualizing high-dimensional data [7].
Emergence appears in a system through the properties of the collective behavior of
the elements which the system is composed of. Looking at the system as a whole, a
global emergent property comes as a new entity of the interdependency of its parts.
The emergent property is the ability of a system to create a new entity at a higher
level. This level change is the product of the cooperation of a large number of
lemental processes. The emergent structures created give a more abstract description
(higher level) of the original complex system of elemental processes (lower level) [8].
Emergence through self organization is a non trivial property of SOMs. For
emergence to appear, a system should consist of simple but highly correlated
elements. Without these correlations, emergence is not possible. A SOM with large
numbers of neurons, being large of the order of thousands, presents emergent
properties, and this kind of SOMs are named Emergent SOMs (ESOM) [9].
The Local Outlier Factor (LOF) algorithm finds data points (outliers), that lies an
abnormal distance from other values in a multidimensional dataset [10]. A LOF value
is defined for each object in the dataset being studied. It is called local since only a
restricted neighborhood of the object is used to compute it. This approach makes it
possible to adapt dynamically in the presence of clusters with different densities as
184
opposed to other global methods. To compute the LOF, the parameter k has to be
chosen, which is taken as the number of nearest neighbors used to define the local
neighborhood of an object. For each object, its LOF is not a binary value. Instead, it
represents the degree by which that object can be considered an outlier. A theoretical
property is that a LOF value close to 1 means the object is deep inside the cluster.
The machine learning algorithms developed by the authors extends the ESOM
concept, to the recurrent ESOM with LOF (LR-ESOM); which adds to the ESOM an
explicit context representation, and modifies its distance function and learning
algorithms with the goal to deal with sequences, through a fractal codification of
them, obtaining a recurrent ESOM (R-ESOM). Finally, over the R-ESOM map, the
LOF algorithm is used to capture the map‘s emergent properties automatically (LRESOM). Additionally, a 3D visual tool was added for the LR-ESOM map, through the
development of the LMATRIX concept [6]. The 3D representation of the L-Matrix
assigns coordinates (x, y, z) to each unit, where (x, y) are the position of the unit in
the map and z its LOF. The cloud of points obtained is interpolated using Bi-Cubic
Bezier Patches [11] to generate a smooth surface. In order to take advantage of the
LOF theoretical properties, the surface is colored, assigning the same color to units
with LOF inside [0,LINF], with LINF = 1. The color for units with LOF higher than
LINF is calculated using a mapping between a color scale and the range (LINF,
LMAX], where LMAX is the maximum LOF of the units. Changing LINF may be
used as a zoom in/out function of the emergent properties.
4.2 Mining the dotLRN User’s Needs
A Tracking and Auditing architecture for managing the interaction data of the system
that supports standards and metadata provides a very powerful mechanism to develop
adaptive functionality for the endusers.
As a practical use of the OpenACS‘s TAE, the authors are developing a new model
which rely on this processing layer, utilizing the properties of auto-organized systems
and combining them in learning scenarios defined in terms of educational
specifications, such as IMS Learning Design (IMS-LD) [12].
IMS-LD provides a workflow oriented approach for defining the sequence of
activities users may perform in an e-learning scenario. Research works as aLFanet
project (IST-2001-33288) have already used the IMSLD design, together with an
intensive metadata description of the users and the contents, to manage and support
runtime adaptation [13]. By combining both approaches (i.e. auto-organized systems
and learning design specifications), we intend to mine, analyze and categorize the
sequence of actions followed by learners in learning environments to provide dynamic
recommendations that improve the efficiency and efficacy of their learning. This
dynamic support for recommending users in OpenACS is also being implemented
[14].
The model proposed is built on a sequential and independent three-level process (see
in Fig. 3).
185
Fig. 3. Model to mine the dotLRN user‘s needs built over the TAE‘s audit data
From the concepts and the machine learning library detailed in the preceding section,
the first level of the model is obtained following an auto-organized approach with a
Recurrent Emergent Self-Organizing Map (R-ESOM). At this level, a fractal
codification of the sequence of actions done by the learner in a certain interval
(dotLRN session) is made. With this fractal codification emergent global properties
are obtained.
These properties arise from the collective behavior and interrelation of the different
dotLRN users action sequences. Those emergent global properties are automatically
extracted with the LOF algorithm and are viewed as the different regions in the new LRESOM map. Finally, an educational standard-based context is given to the results obtained
in the previous levels, so that it can be applied in standard-based learning scenarios. This
third level categorizes learners in classes according to their individual learning needs. This
innovative modeling approach uses the visual method LMATRIX, that allows the 3D
generation of visual patterns for the analysis and interpretation of learner‘s sequence of
actions in the environment.
5. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
The TAE architecture proposed intends to resolve an open issue in the OpenACS
framework, which is the lacking of a proper TAE subsystem. This proposal offers a
metadata model fully open and very flexible, in which different modules (the audited
packages) and their corresponding data models can be added or removed, depending
of the diverse audit needs that may arise. The implementation of a TAE subsystem
with the characteristics described in the current paper can lead the OpenACS
framework to the next maturity level. Offering a tracking and auditing functionality
embedded in its kernel will make it stand out other systems and stress its role in the
186
collaboration and online software communities, extending also its penetration in that
market.
In order to assure a scalable TAE subsystem, there are still some open issues to solve.
One is to determine the best mechanism for the recorded data growth. For this
problem, there could be two solutions.
The first one is to put a limit on the number of changes that will be tracked on each
record. The second involves setting a periodic process that archives the log data to a
separate file and deletes the archived content from the log files.
The other open issue is the record process itself. More specifically, it is necessary to
determine if the database is used directly to store the tracked data, or if it is better to
use an intermediate step, which involves storing first the data in a plain text file, and
next use a background process that transfers the data to the database.
Future work is focused on implementing the TAE described here. In the design
process of the architecture we have dealt with a very challenging question. And this
question is how to extend the current OpenACS object API to support directly
auditing functions, while the API is endow ed with the necessary knowledge about the
meaning of the interaction between objects.
REFERENCES
1. Carroll, N. Clickstream Data Warehouse. Undergraduate Thesis Projects 2002,
http://www.weg.ee.usyd.edu.au/projects/ug_projects#thesis2002
2. Surath, Vasudev.: A Web Traffic Analysis Tool. Undergraduate Thesis Projects 2003,
http://www.weg.ee.usyd.edu.au/projects/ug_projects#thesis2003
3. Ortega, D., Arozarena, P., Hernández, R.: Desarrollo de un Paquete para el Seguimiento de
Usuarios para dotLRN,
http://dotlrn.org/file-storage/view/madrid05/09.pdf
4. Patriciu, V., Vaduva, C., Morariu, O., Vanca, M., Tofan, O.: Modeling the Audit in IT
Distributed Applications. J. Applied Quantitative Methods. 2, 109—107 (2007)
5.
A
Guide
to
Understanding
Audit
in
Trusted
Systems,
http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/rainbow/tg001.htm
6. Couchet, J., Ferreira, E., Fonseca, A., Manrique, D.. A Novel Architecture for the
Classification and Visualization of Sequential data. Springer Verlag, pp 730-738 (2007)
7. Kohonen, T.: Self Organizing Maps. Third edn. Springer Verlag (2001)
8. Yaneer, B.: Dynamics of Complex Systems. Addison-Wesley (1997)
9. Ultsch, A.: Emergence in Self-Organizing Feature Maps, In Proceedings Workshop on SelfOrganizing Maps (WSOM '07), Bielefeld, Germany, ISBN: 978-3-00-022473-7
10. Breunig, M.M., Kriegel, H.P., Ng, R.T., Sander, J.: LOF: identifying density-based local
outliers. SIGMOD Rec. 29(2) 93–104 (2000)
11. Salomon, D.: Curves and Surfaces for Computer Graphics. Springer (2005)
12. IMS Learning Design Specification, http://www.imsglobal.org/learningdesign/
13. Boticario, J.G. and Santos, O.C. An open IMS-based user modelling approach for
developing adaptive learning management systems. Journal of Interactive Media in Education.
Special issue on Adaptation and IMS Learning Design, 2007
14. Santos, O.C., Raffenne, E, Granado, J. and Boticario, J.G. Dynamic support in
OpenACS/dotLRN: Technological infrastructure for providing dynamic recommendations for
all in open and standard-based LMS. Proceedings of the International Conference and
Workshops on Community based environments, 2008 (in press).
187
188
and Device Profiles in OpenACS
Adrián Cuartero, Olga C. Santos, Jorge Granado,
Emmanuelle Raffenne, Jesús G. Boticario
aDeNu Research Group, Artificial Intelligence
Department, Computer Science School,
[email protected]; {ocsantos,jorge.granado,eraffenne,jgb}@dia.uned.es
http://adenu.ia.uned.es/
Abstract. In this paper, we present a web service solution to provide an
adapted
and inclusive support in current Learning Management Systems by managing
the user model and the device profile in a standard way. This solution supports
IMS-LIP, IMS-AccLIP and CC/PP specifications. Considering the web services
support available in OpenACS/dotLRN, we make a proposal upon the
OpenACS/dotLRN framework so it can be extended to support the users in a
personalized way, by considering their needs and preferences as well as the
device being used. This support will facilitate the production of adaptation
tasks.
Keywords: OpenACS, dotLRN, Standards, Adaptation, User Modelling,
Accessibility preferences, IMS-LIP, IMS Access For All, Device Profile,
CC/PP, UAProf, Web Services.
1. INTRODUCTION
In order to provide an adapted and inclusive support in current Learning Management
Systems (LMS), there is a need to manage the user model and the device profile in a
standard way. An initial proposal for modelling learners interaction preferences in
dotLRN was provided at the OpenACS/dotRLN conference in Vienna (Austria) [1]. A
wiki page was set up to gather input from the community1. In that presentation, the
support for those specifications was described as one of the open issues that should be
addressed by the OpenACS/dotLRN community (and the LMS in general) to build in
the framework the support for users‘ modelling. In particular, three standards or
specifications were identified:
• IMS-AccLIP: models learners interactions preferences.
• CC/PP: models devices capabilities.
• CMI: models learners interactions in SCORM courses.
The work presented in this paper has focused on the first two, which model users and
devices in generic settings.
189
1 Presentation
at OpenACS/dotLRN 2007: http://openacs.org/xowiki/Modelling_Learners
Taking this initial proposal as a starting point, a set of web services has been develop
as part of a final degree project [2] conducted at the aDeNu2 Research Group to cope
with both issues. On the one hand, the service supports IMS-LIP 1.0.13 and IMSAccLIP 1.04 specifications to define the Learner Information Profile, considering the
accessibility preferences. On the other hand, the User Agent Profile base vocabulary
2.0 (UAProf)5 from the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) has been implemented. This
vocabulary follows the Composite Capabilities Preference Profile (CC/PP)6
specification to allow modelling the device that the user is using to access the
information. Traditionally it has been a personal computer, but currently it is
increasing the usage of PDA or smartphones, among others, in what is being called
the m-learning (mobile learning).
In the following sections of the paper, first we introduce the specifications supported
(IMS-LIP, IMS-AccLIP and CC/PP). Next, we describe implementation issues on the
server. In the third place, we present how these services could be used from the
OpenACS/dotLRN framework. Finally, we present some conclusions and future
works.
2. SPECIFICATIONS USED FOR THE MODELLING
An adapted and inclusive support in current LMS can be provided if the user model
and device profiles are integrated in the internal data model of the system. To allow
for interoperability, standards and specifications are to be used. The current public
specifications for modelling users are provided by the IMS consortium. They are the
Learner Information Package (IMS-LIP 1.0.1) and the Access For All extension
(IMS-AccLIP 1.0). The combination of these two specifications define the learner
information profile, considering accessibility preferences.
To model the device capabilities, the W3C has produced the Composite Capabilities
Preference Profile (CC/PP) specification. Since CC/PP does not provide detailed
information, the User Agent Profile (UAProf) base vocabulary from the Open Mobile
Alliance (OMA) has been used.
2.1. IMS-LIP and IMS-AccLIP specifications
This learner profile is defined in terms of two IMS specifications defined with XML
Schema. In particular, the learner profile combines IMS Learner Information Package
and IMS Access For All specifications. The former is a collection of information
structured upon the following elements: accessibilities, activities, affiliations,
competencies, goals, identifications, interests, qualifications, certifications and
licences, relationship, security keys, and transcripts. The later provides a means of
2 aDeNu
Research Group: http://adenu.ia.uned.es
http://www.imsglobal.org/profiles/
4 IMS-AccLIP: http://www.imsglobal.org/accessibility/index.html
5 UaProf: http://www.openmobilealliance.org/tech/profiles/ccppschema-20030226.html
3 IMS-LIP:
190
6 CC/PP:
http://www.w3.org/Mobile/CCPP/
describing preferences so that learners can interact with an e-learning system
regardless of disability, hardware or environment. These preferences are based on
those parts of a computer system (hardware and software) that can be adjusted to
improve accessibility, rather than on type of disability. It concentrates on the display,
control and selection of learning content, so that learners with alternative content or
interface requirements can be supported. These preferences or needs would be
declared using the IMS-LIP accessibility element of the specification.
2.2. CC/PP and the UAProf vocabulary
The Composite Capability/Preferences Profile (CC/PP) is built on RDF technology
and benefits from the power that RDF provides to represent information about
resources on the World Wide Web. The format is flexible and extensible, allowing for
the definition of a wide variety of hardware, software and user agent technologies. In
order to provide a standard description, a vocabulary can be defined for use as an
RDF schema. For each vocabulary, each resource is defined as having a set of
required CC/PP attributes. Through the use of vocabularies it is possible to define
new attribute types, allowing for the specialization of device descriptions to better
support the assistive technologies and user agents used by people with disabilities.
There are a number of CC/PP implementations to date. Unfortunately, not all are
available outside the companies or products in which they are used, and sometimes
they may be part of discontinued products. The User Agent Profile, based on CC/PP,
has a base of existing implementations for many devices7. The Open Mobile Alliance
developed this standard to allow the communication of the capabilities of mobile
devices throughout the Internet in order to receive the content adapted to the
characteristics of the users‘ mobile device. The design was guided by the desire to
solve one of the main problems of the development of web applications for
multidevice environments: how to know the characteristics of the device that is going
to present/display the content and provide a common framework in order to allow to
the mobile telephone industry to describe the technical characteristics and
functionality of their mobile telephones.
3. IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS
A prototype for a user model and device profile server has been implemented. The
developments have been done in JDK1.5 to be run on Apache Tomcat open source
servlet container. On top of it, the open source Apache Axis2 architecture has been
used as web service engine. The classes to support the webservice communication
have been obtained designing first the services and message format. With this
information we created the WSDL, and using a tool provided by Axis2 (wsdl2java),
the stubs, skeletons and data types were automatically generated.
The storage of both models was done in PostgreSQL relational database in two
independent tables, one for the user model and the other for the device profile.
7 UAProf profile repository : http://w3development.de/rdf/uaprof_repository/
191
Although the specifications are XML based, a relational database was chosen instead
of an XML one. To store the data, we assign an univocal identifier (auto-incremental)
sequence to the model and store the whole file (as a BLOB field) in the database.
However, as there is no a real identifier defined in the specifications, we have agreed
in a field for each specification that would be the identifier for the client (and which
relies on the client logic to be univocal, so the server has to manage its own
identifier). To facilitate the queries, the value of this agreed field is extracted and
store together with the database identifier and the file. Storing the whole file (as
opposite to processing the file and storing each attribute in a data base field), makes
the storage of the data simpler and the application upgrade (if the specification
schema changes) easier. This approach does not limit the response options, since the
server can send back an attribute from the file, a subset of elements of this file or the
whole file, depending on the client request.
Regarding the exchange of the request and response messages, SOAP protocol is
being used. Since XML files are being exchanged within the message, the < and >
characters have being escaped.
3.1 User Models server
The server was designed to use XML files in the request/response calls. XMLBeans
have been chosen as the data binding framework because of its compliance with the
requirements and its easy learning curve. It provides the following interfaces:
• getUserModelAttribute: takes the identifier of the model where the attribute has to
be looked for and an XML file where the conditions for the queries are defined. It
sends back another XML file with the data.
• setUserModelAttribute: allows the client to add to a previous node a new one by
sending an XML file specifying the target node, the new value and the identifier of
the model in the database. Due to the IMS specification does not have a field that
could be used as identifier for each node, the server may found several nodes that
match the client request. In this case, the client is provided with the parameter
"allowDuplicated". If true, the server will set the value in all found nodes. If false, and
more than one node is found, the server will abort the operation and send an error.
• updateUserModelAttribute: similar to the previous one but instead of adding a
new node, it will update an existing node with the received value.
The target node and the new node must be objects of the same type.
• deleteUserModelAttribute: deletes the targeted node (or nodes if the client marks
"allowDuplicated" as true).
• getUserModel: returns the XML file of the model stored in the database.
• setUserModel: stores the received model in the database and returns the identifier
assigned (auto-incremental sequence) in the database.
• updateUserModel: updates the existing model with the new one.
• deleteUserModel: deletes the model from the data base.
• getIdentifier: since there is not an univocal identifier in the IMS specification for
the learner profile, for this implementation we have agreed that the client manages as
identifier the value stored in the element contenttype.referential.sourceid.id. However,
the request to the database defined by the above methods has to be done with the
192
identifier created in the database. Thus, this method provides the database identifier(s)
associated
to the given contenttype.referential.sourceid.id element. If the client logic is properly
implemented, only one database identifier should be returned.
3.2 Device profile server
The device profile server has been implemented using Deli v.0,9,78 to parse the
UAProf files because the library developed by Sun to work with CC/PP called jsr 188
(which was the initial option) is not currently supported and has not been updated to
work with the UAProf 2.0 version. Deli is a library developed by Mark Butler in the
HP labs9 that uses Jena10 to easily parse RDF. It does not fully support the UAProf
2.0 version, but is the library that the Open Mobile Alliance recommends the
manufacturers to use to test their profiles. For the device profile server, the following
interfaces have been implemented:
• getIdentifier: when a profile is set in the database the server stores creates the autoincremental value as the identifier. However, the profile manages one of the fields of
the profile as the identifier. As the corresponding method in the user model, this one
allows the client to know the value of the database identifier associated to this client
identifier. Since it can be more than one client identifier, more than one database
identifier could be returned.
• getDeviceProfileParameter: receives the identifier of the profile in the database
and the device feature the client wants to know, and returns the value (or values) of
this parameter in the device.
• getDeviceProfile: returns the RDF profile stored in the database
• setDeviceProfile: stores the profile in the database and returns the identifier
assigned to it.
• deleteDeviceProfile: deletes the device profile from the database.
• updateDeviceProfile: changes the device profile with the new one for the given
database identifier.
4. INTEGRATION IN THE OPENACS/DOTLRN FRAMEWORK
The integration in OpenACS/dotLRN framework can be done by using the xo-soap
package, a SOAP protocol plugin for xorb. Xorb stands for XOTcl Request Broker,
an OO-interface that wraps up OpenACS‘s Service Contracts and provides a generic
8 Deli:
http://delicon.sourceforge.net/
HP Labs: http://www.hpl.hp.com/techreports/2001/HPL-2001-260.html
10 Jena: http://jena.sourceforge.net/
9
193
invocation dispatcher, supporting local (original ACS Service Contracts) and remote
redirection (protocol-plugins: xotcl-soap) [3].
Considering the current information architecture in OpenACS/dotLRN, we propose to
link the user model and device profile information from the Control Panel. Both will
present in a user-friendly way, the information about user and device.
Regarding the user model, when the user is registered in the system, an instance for
her user model is created in the server. This information should be sent to the user
model server. As the user fills in her personal information (name, address, email, ...)
the corresponding data should be update in the server, too. Moreover, as the user
enrols in the platform communities and courses, and progresses in the course with
qualifications, update of the corresponding information have to be sent, too.. From the
control panel, the user will be able to see the information stored in her profile, such as
the learning styles, activities in the communities and courses, and so no. If the user is
dropped from the system (or does not want to have her profile stored, the profile has
to be deleted).
For the device profile, the user will be able to access information about the features of
the device she is using, so the information can be sent within the request. In any case,
the user may be able to upload the information about her device profile into the
server. In this way, the information presented to the user can be adapted to the
characteristics of the device of the user.
A prototype for a user model and device profile service has been implemented in an
Axis2 framework. This solution supports IMS-LIP, IMS-AccLIP and CC/PP
specifications. Considering the web services support available in OpenACS/dotLRN,
we have made a proposal upon the OpenACS/dotLRN framework to integrate the
services offered. In this way, the functionality of OpenACS/dotLRN framework can
be extended to support the users in a personalized way, by considering their needs and
preferences as well as the device being used. This support will facilitate the
production of adaptation tasks in terms of a dynamic support based on
recommendations, as described in [4].
IMS AccLIP is being internationalised in the ISO/IEC JTC1 standard on
Individualised Adaptability and Accessibility in Learning, Education and Training
(24751) as ISO Personal Needs and Preferences [5]. Since this standard is RDF based,
a similar solution as the device profile server will have to be implemented in the user
model server to manage. The follow-up of this work is carried out in the framework
of the EU4ALL project11. Furthermore, IMS is currently developing version 2.0 of
AccLIP and it is expected to harmonise with the ISO version.
The implementation of this prototype has encountered various difficulties. On the one
hand, regarding the user model specifications, LIP and AccLIP specifications sem not
to have been developed in collaboration, as the naming schema and XML types are
different, which did not allow reusability of the code to implement both.
11 EU4ALL:
http://www.eu4all-project.eu/
194
Moreover, the AccLIP schemas in the document validate only with a schema version
that is not publicly available. On the other hand, regarding the device profile, it seems
that UAProf has not in practice being accepted by the market. There is no library that
fully supports the 2.0 version. In fact, Sun was going to develop a library for it, but
stopped the project. And the device profiles found are usual for old mobiles, except
for Nokia. The way to go seems to be an extension of the UAProf called Wireless
Universal Resource File (WURFL). It consists on an XML configuration file which
contains information about capabilities and features of many mobile devices and it is
basically an extension of UAProf.
REFERENCES
1. Santos, O.C., Boticario, J.G., Rodríguez-Ascaso, A. and Barrera, C. Modelling Learners
Interaction Preferences in dotLRN. OpenACS/dotLRN Spring Conference. International
Conference and Workshops on Community Based Environments, 2007.
2. Cuartero, A. Implementation of a User Model based on standards and open source to support
adaptation tasks. Final Degree Project. Supervised by Boticario, J.G. and Santos, O.C. aDeNu
Group, 2008.
3. Sobernig, S. Xorb/xosoap. Remoting for OACS / .LRN. dotLRN Conference Boston, 2006.
4. Santos, O.C., Raffenne, E, Granado, J. and Boticario, J.G. Dynamic support in
OpenACS/dotLRN: Recommending actions for all. Proceedings of the International
Conference and Workshops on Community based environments, 2008 (in press).
5. ISO IEC JTC1 Individualized Adaptability and Accessibility in E-.learning, Education and
Training - Part 2: Access For All Personal Needs and Preferences Statement most recent public
drafts on http://jtc1sc36.org/doc/36N1140.pdf, visited 14rd December 2007
6. ISO IEC JTC1 Individualized Adaptability and Accessibility in E-.learning, Education and
Training - Part 3: Access For All Digital Resource Description, most recent public drafts on
http://jtc1sc36.org/doc/36N1141.pdf , visited 14rd December 2007
195
196
for all in open and standard-based LMS
Olga C. Santos1, Emmanuelle Raffenne1,
Jorge Granado1, Jesús G. Boticario1
aDeNu Research Group, Artificial Intelligence
Department, Computer Science School,
{ocsantos, eraffenne, jorge.granado, jgb}@dia.uned.es
http://adenu.ia.uned.es/
1
Abstract. The paper presents a recommending service that we have integrated
into the OpenACS/dotLRN framework via web services. The recommending
service that we are currently developing at aDeNu group is to be used by
learning management systems (LMS) to ask for the appropriate
recommendations for the user currently working in the LMS. These
recommendations are very diverse and currently are being produced in an
inclusive way with standard-based user modelling techniques. Their objective
is to provide dynamic support to the user at the course execution to overcome
impasses that learners may encounter, and which are not covered by the design
of the course. To provide this support, the learner‘s interactions and their
evolution overtime are considered.
Keywords: OpenACS, dotLRN, Accessible services, Open architectures, Web
Services, Life Long Learning, Standards, Adaptation, User Modelling, MultiAgent Systems, Machine Learning techniques, Artificial Intelligence.
1. INTRODUCTION
A key working area at aDeNu1 Research Group is focused on developing a flexible,
open, standard-based architecture to support universal online access to the life long
learning (LLL) by applying user modelling and machine learning techniques. The
main purpose here is to produce adaptive interfaces that cope with the diverse
functional needs for all, including people with the so-called disabilities and an
increasing number of adult learners whose main educational option is LLL. This
approach is applied in different projects we have been involved (aLFanet 2, SAMAP3,
FAA4) as well as the ones currently in progress: ALPE 5, EU4ALL6, ADAPTAPlan7.
1 aDeNu:
https://adenu.ia.uned.es
http://adenu.ia.uned.es/alfanet/
3 SAMAP: http://scalab.uc3m.es/~dborrajo/samap/
4 FAA: http://adenu.ia.uned.es/faa/
5 ALPE: http://adenu.ia.uned.es/alpe/
2 aLFanet:
197
In particular, EU4ALL is intended to improve the efficiency and efficacy of
implementing Accessible Lifelong Learning (ALL) following three key strategies [1]:
1. That the technology that mediates lifelong learning does so accommodating the
diversity of ways people interact with technology and the content and services it
delivers.
2. That this technology is used to bring support services to disabled learners.
3. Supporting services and technical infrastructure that enable teaching, technical and
administrative staff of educational institutions to offer their teaching and services in a
way that is accessible to disabled learners.
According to the first and third strategies, there is a need for modelling user
requirements and providing adapted responses to them to ―accommodate the diversity
of ways people interact with technology and the content and services it delivers‖ to
―offer their teaching and services in a way that is accessible to all learners including
those that are sometimes described as disabled learners‖.
Nevertheless, in aLFanet project we detected some difficulties in developing and
modelling standard-based adaptive scenarios [2], which we are currently trying to
solve in ADAPTAPlan project. The goal of ADAPTAPlan is to reduce the design
effort, which is proven as a major bottleneck in adaptive standard-based learning
management systems that support the full life cycle of eLearning [3]. Current
educational specifications assume an ideal design scenario where all required
elements can be managed at design time. Nevertheless, diverse issues make
unaffordable to design in advance all possible situations: a) learners‘ performance, b)
synchronization and temporization issues, c) evolving learners‘ needs and
preferences, d) adaptation process sustainable over time, e) pedagogical requirements
affected by runtime adaptations and f) dynamic modelling. Universal design
approaches does not suffice. Therefore, there is a need for dynamic support at runtime
[4] that considers the learners‘ interactions and their evolution over time.
In order to deliver contents, activities and services following the appropriate
instructional design and fostering collaboration, a learning environment that supports
this wide range of functionalities is needed. Moreover, these functionalities have to be
provided in an accessible and adaptive way. Although the current state of the art in
learning environments shows that there is no environment that fulfil these
requirements, our experience shows that the OpenACS8/dotLRN9 framework is the
most suitable platform [5].
OpenACS/dotLRN is an open source learning environment that provides the main
functionality in terms of learning and collaboration services, and whose internal
architecture and data model allows us to consider accessibility and adaptation. The
functionality provided comprises, among others, calendar, discussion forum, file
storage, notifications of members‘ contributions, management of user preferences,
user tracking of interactions, assessments in IMS-QTI10 standard, management of
IMS-CP11 and SCORM12 based courses and IMS-LD13 pedagogical designs.
6 EU4ALL:
http://www.eu4all-project.eu/
http://adenu.ia.uned.es/adaptaplan/
8 OpenACS: http://openacs.org/
9 dotLRN: http://dotlrn.org/
10 IMS-QTI: http://www.imsglobal.org/question/
11 IMS-CP: http://www.imsglobal.org/content/packaging/
7 ADAPTAPlan:
198
Moreover, regarding the interface, it provides the Zen theme based on style sheets
which are easily configurable to change the user interface according to the users‘
preferences. Although not external accessibility reviews have been published so far,
OpenACS/dotLRN framework claims itself to be compliant with WAI WCAG14 AA
for the front-end of the platform (i.e. there the users access to use the services).
Unfortunately, preliminary studies done on the back-end (e.g. in the course
administration) show that professors face big accessibility problems when
administering the educational packages for SCORM, IMS-QTI and IMS-LD (i.e.
LORS, Assessment and Grail packages) [6]. Regarding usability, dotLRN has
obtained the highest score in a heuristics comparison with two of its main competitors
(Moodle and Sakai) [7].
Under this context, this paper presents our ongoing work on providing a web services
support in OpenACS/dotLRN framework for a recommending system. This
recommending service it to be used by learning management systems (LMS) to ask
for the appropriate recommendations for the user currently working in the LMS. It
focuses on providing user-centred services that consider individual user‘s needs and
preferences, past interactions, the current context and psychopedagogical guidelines.
It defines the service provision in a reusable way, integrating learning design in their
definition and establishing clear procedures and measures for quality assurance. In
particular, the paper introduces relevant issues to be considered in the user modelling
and the recommending process and presents the technological support provided in the
first prototype, which is intended to support in a general way recommendations to be
integrated in different LMS.
2. USER MODELLING AND THE RECOMMENDING
PROCESS
The application of user modelling techniques to provide adaptation is very diverse [8],
including any personalised service that is to be provided by the user in an electronic
environment. These techniques deal with storing user information and matching users
with the appropriate adaptation strategies considering their preferences and the
context at hand. Different users of a system have different interests and sets of needs
that may evolve over time. Moreover, system responses can often be improved in
terms of usability by using information derived from detailed user interactions. This
information can be used to guide system behaviour by producing adapted responses in
terms of recommendations.
Recommender technology has been widely used [9] and can be applied to provide
dynamic support to learners during the course execution in an inclusive way. In
particular, it can be used to support learners overcome impasses at course execution
(runtime). Recommending systems in education can be used to guide people to
interesting materials [10] or services based on opinions or behaviours of others and
can be personalized to the preferences of different users. There is a large design space
of alternative ways to organize such systems. The information that other people
12 SCORM:
13 IMS-LD:
http://www.adlnet.gov/
http://www.imsglobal.org/learningdesign/
199
14 WCAG:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/
provide may come from explicit ratings, tags, or reviews, or implicitly from how they
interact with the system. The information can be aggregated and used to select, filter,
sort or highlight items.
In order to support learners at runtime, it has to be described what, when, how and
why recommend [11]. At the recommendation process, the context, the record of
interactions and the user model are used to produce recommendations. A key issue in
the recommendation process is the follow-up of the recommendation provided, to
measure the degree of success.
To support this approach, an Accessible and Adaptive Module (A2M) [4] is being
developed on top of a multi-agent architecture (of Jade15 agents). It is based on open
software solutions and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques that makes a pervasive
use of standards to i) model learners and resources accessibility features, ii) follow the
course design, iii) generate the presentation of the information and iv) communicate
with other systems. The objective of the A2M is twofold:
1. Update the user models from the learners‘ interactions with machine learning
techniques.
2. Generate dynamic contextual recommendations during the course execution based
on these models and collaborative filtering and collaborative content techniques.
The dynamic support is provided to overcome the impasses that learners may
encounter at the course execution, which are not covered within the design of the
course. In this approach, the design is used to build the skeleton of standard-based
models which are dynamically updated according to learners‘ interactions over time
with machine learning techniques [12].
2.1. First approach for modelling
The first step has been to apply and relate existing specifications to promote
reusability among systems. Moreover, complying with specifications contribute to
build open models, which can be accessed by the learners and help to increase the
learning performance [13].
ADAPTAPlan approach as described in [3] has been followed. There, a proposal for
linking different educational specifications to support the dynamic modelling during
the learning process is presented and three types of user characteristics are considered
to generate the adaptation:
Felder learning styles, which define several dimensions regarding how people
process information [14, 15].
The knowledge competency level per course objective based on Bloom‘s taxonomy
[16], whose improvement is measured through IMS-QTI questionnaires.
The collaborative competency level per course, which is computed with AI
techniques, which take into account the usage of the course services.
Moreover, the device capabilities as introduced in [17] as well as the accessibility
preferences of the users are also considered.
15 JADE:
http://jade.tilab.com/
200
The learning styles, the knowledge and collaborative competency levels, and the
accessibility preferences are stored in the learner profile. This learner profile is
defined in terms of two IMS specifications. In particular, the learner profile combines
IMS Learner Information Package16 and IMS Access For All17 specifications. The
former is a collection of information structured upon the following elements:
accessibilities, activities, affiliations, competencies, goals, identifications, interests,
qualifications, certifications and licences, relationship, security keys, and transcripts.
The later defines the preferences or needs for alternative presentations of resources,
alternative methods of controlling resources, alternative equivalents to the resources
themselves and enhancements or supports required by the user. These preferences or
needs would be declared using the IMS-LIP accessibility element of the specification.
To model the device capabilities, we use the Composite Capabilities Preference
Profile (CC/PP)18 specification, and we have applied the User Agent Profile base
vocabulary19 from the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). The device to access the LMS
have traditionally been personal computers. However, there is a significant growth in
the usage of PDA or smartphones, among others, to access learning contents and
perform associated learning activities. This new paradigm is being called the
mlearning (mobile learning).
2.2. First approach for producing recommendations
For the recommendation process we are considering an hybrid approach that consists
on a part based on knowledge (the filter) and a part based on learning (the guide), as
proposed in [18], [19]. For the first type, the user model has to be induced in some
way from user interactions. Three techniques have been defined:
Collaborative filtering techniques: predict the utility of the objects for each
particular user based on a database of scores from other users. Scores can be obtained
implicitly (inferring from the user behaviour) or explicitly (from direct voting of each
item by each user). These type of systems are based on people-to-people correlation
('users like you' – assumes users will prefer like-minded prefer and dissimilar dislike,
based on objects ranking by users), which allows its application to any kind of object.
This means that no specific information is required for the objects, but if the objects
have not been rated in advance by the users, they cannot be recommended.
Content based techniques: also build the user model from the scores (explicit or
implicit) on the items using supervised machine learning to induce a classifier to
discriminate between interesting and uninteresting items for the user. Each item is
represented by a set of descriptors and models are built by machine learning
algorithms using the items rated by a user as training examples, and the descriptors as
the predictive attributes (i.e. the attributes that are to be learnt). Therefore, the
technique used is called item-to-item correlation ('people who did this also did...' -
16 IMS-LIP:
http://www.imsglobal.org/profiles/
http://www.imsglobal.org/accessibility/index.html
18 CC/PP: http://www.w3.org/Mobile/CCPP/
19 UaProf: http://www.openmobilealliance.org/tech/profiles/ccppschema-20030226.html
17 IMS-AccessForAll:
201
connects users to items they may be unaware of based on the items features).
Demographic techniques: the techniques used are similar to collaborative filtering,
but instead of using the scores to find similar users, they use personal attributes and
classify users in stereotypes. The interest for an object is predicted from the scores of
demographically similar users. They also use people-to-people correlation.
For the second type, the user model is filled in explicitly by the users or introduced
externally in terms of rules.
Utility based: provide recommendations after computing the utility of each object
for the user. The problem is to build the utility function. Usually, each user has to
built her own preferences function by assigning a weight to each possible feature of
the existing objects, such as price, quality, etc.
Knowledge based: recommend items from inferences regarding the needs and
preferences of the users. They have an explicit knowledge (usually defined in terms of
rules) regarding the relation among items and user needs.
For any of the cases above, three elements are considered for producing the
recommendation: a) the initial data (what the system knows before the
recommendation), b) the input data (information from the user that is required by the
system to generate the recommendation), and c) an algorithm (combines initial and
input data to solve the recommendation) [18].
3. THE PROTOTYPE
A prototype of a recommending service has been developed and the corresponding
client has been implemented in OpenACS/dotLRN. The prototype offers a
recommendation service to be used by external components (i.e. LMS) to ask for the
appropriate recommendations for the user currently working in the LMS. This first
prototype is focused on the integration with the LMS via web services communication
and the management of the data in the database. To access the required information as
defined in section 2.1, two parallel developments are used:
An OpenACS/dotLRN package to compute the learning style of the user.
This ackage has been developed at aDeNu group to be used at educational
institutions for
educational purposes following the Felder‘s Learning Style
Inventory20. From the OpenACS control panel, the user can fill in the questionnaire
and the four dimensions of Felder learning style (i.e. processing, perception, input and
understanding) are computed. Moreover, from the administrator of a group (class or
community), the professor can access the learning styles‘ information for the
members of the group.
An external component which offers web services communication to manage the
learner and the device profiles. This package is described in [20].
Moreover, it will take into account the Tracking and Auditing Engines infrastructure
(TAE package) that is being built in OpenACS [21].
20 Felder
LSI: http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/ILS.pdf
202
3.1 Client side on OpenACS/dotLRN
Two packages (recommendation-portlet and dotlrn-recommendation) have been
implemented in OpenACS to send requests to the recommending service. The
recommendation client relies on xo-soap, a SOAP protocol plugin for xorb. Xorb
stands for XOTcl Request Broker, an OO-interface that wraps up OpenACS‘s Service
Contracts and provides a generic invocation dispatcher supporting local (original
OpenACS Service Contracts) and remote (protocol-plugins: xotcl-soap) redirection
[22].
A portlet displays the result from the request. The response consists on an
introductory text (personalized with the user‘s name) and an HTML list of
recommendations. Each of these recommendations (item list) is a piece of text
(message) describing a possible action to be done by the user. Part of the text is
defined as a hyperlink (or more commonly called, link). Since the link may most of
the times be within the recommendation text, the message is usually divided into two
parts (text before the link and text after the link). The link is defined by:
the content: the text that is shown to the user and consists on the underlying part of
the recommendation offered
the title: the information saying where the link goes
the pointer: the URI that opens the link, it can be a URL or an object identifier
within the LMS, depending on the type
the type: it can be internal to the LMS or an external URL Each time the page with
the recommendation portlet is loaded, a request is sent to the recommending system.
The response (i.e. the list of recommendations) is printed on this portlet. The user is
free to follow them. If the user clicks on the link of any of the recommendations, the
OpenACS recommendation client captures the action, calls the recommending system
to tell it that the corresponding recommendation has been selected and redirects the
user to the link of the recommendation. This allows the recommending sytem to
follow up the user‘s choice.
The following figure shows what the recommending system looks like in the
OpenACS/dotLRN user interface within a community (it could also be within a
course).
Figure 1: Snapshot of the Recommendations portlet in OpenACS/dotLRN
203
3.2 Server side on Axis
The server side implements the basic infrastructure of the A2M as introduced in
section 2. Currently, it allows the integration with the LMS and provides persistence
of the data exchange.
The developments have been done in JDK1.5 to be run on Apache Tomcat open
source servlet container. On top of it, the open source Apache Axis2 architecture has
been used as web service engine. The classes to support the webservice
communication have been obtained by first designing the services and message
format. With this information we created the WSDL, and using a tool provided by
Axis2 (wsdl2java), stubs, skeletons and data types were automatically generated. For
the latter, XMLBeans has been chosen as the data binding framework because of its
compliance with the requirements and its easy learning curve.
The recommending service consists on two parts, the front-end and the back-end.
The front-end waits for a request from the client. When received, it connects to the
database, stores the request information and retrieves the recommendations available
for the user for whom the request was made, prepares the list of recommendations and
sends it back to the client.
The back-end is the core of the A2M and is still under development. It is in charge of
producing the appropriate recommendations for each user taking into account her user
model, the context, past interactions and psychopedagogical guidelines. Two
hierarchies of agents are being defined, following the aLFanet approach for the
Adaptation Module [2]. On the one hand, a set of recommender agents are in charge
of producing the recommendations. These agents are diverse, and look independently
for the recommendations. Collaborative filtering techniques are applied. Each
recommender agent contacts the appropriate model agents to gather information about
the learners, course, contents, device and interactions. The information is stored in the
database following the specifications and theories mentioned above (IMS, Felder,
Bloom and CC/PP). These model agents have the knowledge to extract the relevant
information for the recommender agents. They obtain this information from the
developments introduced at the beginning of section 3, i.e. the Felder Learning Style
Inventory and the web service support for the learner and device profiles. As
mentioned above, they will also benefit from the TAE package.
The process described so far takes place at runtime (on-line), during the course
execution. However, there is also an off-line process that happens in the second
hierarchy of agents. Here is where the attributes for the user models are updated. This
off-line process can be activated by the model agents or self-activated. This update of
the values of the attributes is performed by a set of modelling agents. These agents
can implement diverse AI techniques, such as fuzzy logic, data mining, machine
learning and bayesian networks.
A prototype of a recommending service has been implemented in an Axis2
framework and the corresponding client has been integrated in OpenACS/dotLRN. It
offers a recommendation service to be used by external components to ask for the
204
appropriate recommendations for the user currently working in the LMS. This
prototype is focused on the integration with the LMS via web services communication
and the management of the data in the database.
The recommendation service focuses on providing user-centred services that consider
individual user‘s needs and preferences, past interactions, the current context and
psychopedagogical guidelines, and defines the service provision in a reusable way,
integrating learning design in their definition and establishing clear procedures and
measures for quality assurance. The objective of the recommendations is to provide
dynamic support to the user at the course execution to overcome impasses that
learners may encounter, and which are not covered by the design of the course.
To provide this support, the learner‘s interactions and their evolution overtime are
considered. In this approach, the design is used to build the skeleton of standard-based
models which are dynamically updated according to learners‘ interactions over time
with machine learning techniques.
The paper has introduced relevant issues to be considered in the user modelling and
the recommending process and presented the technological support provided in the
first prototype, which is intended to support in a general way recommendations to be
integrated in different LMS.
Current works are focused on the back-end of the A2M, where an intensive use of AI
techniques is being done to offer dynamic support in learning management systems.
These tasks are being undertaken within the scope of a Ph.D thesis [23].
Acknowledgments. Authors would like to thank the European Commission and the
Spanish Government for funding the research involved in this work. Authors would
also like to thank the backing from the OpenACS/dotLRN community for these tasks.
REFERENCES
1. Cooper, M., Boticario, J.G., Montandon, L. An introduction to Accessible Lifelong Learning
(ALL) - a strategy for research and development uniting accessible technology, services, and
e-learning infrastructure. Proceedings of the 14th EDEN (European Distance and ELearning
Network) Research Workshop: Research into online distance and e-learning: Making the
Difference. Barcelona, October 25-28, 2006.
2. Boticario, J.G. and Santos, O.C. An open IMS-based user modelling approach for developing
adaptive learning management systems. Journal of Interactive Media in Education. Special
issue on Adaptation and IMS Learning Design, 2007
3. Baldiris, S, Santos O., Barrera C., Boticario J.G., Velez J., Fabregat, R. Integration of
Educational Specifications and Standards to Support Adaptive Learning Scenarios in
ADAPTAPlan. Special Issue on New Trends on AI techniques for Educational Technologies.
International Journal of Computer Science and Applications (IJCSA), 2008 (in press).
4. Santos O.C. Dynamic recommendations to support ‗all‘ in open standard-based adaptive
learning environments. In Proceedings for the 1st Doctoral Consortium. 13rd International
Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education, 2007.
5. Santos, O.C., Boticario, J.G., Raffenne, E., Pastor, R. Why using dotLRN? UNED use cases.
FLOSS International Conference, 2007.
6. Revilla, O. Can dotLRN be administered by all professors? Proceedings of the International
Conference and Workshops on Community based environments, 2008 (in press).
7. Martin, L., Roldán, D., Revilla, O., Aguilar, M.J., Santos, O.C. Boticario. J.G. Usability in eLearning Platforms: heuristics comparison between Moodle, Sakai and dotLRN.
205
Proceedings of the International Conference and Workshops on Community based
environments, 2008 (in press).
8. Kobsa A . Generic User Modeling Systems. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction,
11, pp 49—63. The Netherlands: Kluwer, 2001
9. Resnik, P., and Varian H.R. Recommender Systems. Communications of the ACM, 1997.
10. Tang, T. and McCalla, G. Smart Recommendation for an Evolving E-Learning System.
Workshop on Technologies for Electronic Documents for Supporting Learning,
International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED 2003), 2003.
11. Santos, O.C., Boticario, J.G. Supporting learners in an inclusive way with standard-based
user modelling techniques. Educational Technology Newsletter. Volume 9, Issue 3-4.
October 2007.
12. Santos, O.C., Baldiris, S., Velez, J., Boticario, J.G., Fabregat, R. Dynamic Support in
ADAPTAPlan: ADA+. Proceedings of CAEPIA. (Eds.) Borrajo, D., Castillo, L. and
Corchado, J.M. Actas de la XII Conferencia de la Asociación Española para la Inteligencia
Artificial. Vol. II. 2007, p. 131-140.
13. Bull, S. and Kay, J. A framework for designing and analysing open learner modelling. 12
International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education. Workshop 11, Kay, J.,
Lum, A., Zapata-Rivera (eds.), p. 81-90, 2005.
14. Felder R. M., Silverman L. K., ‗Learning and Teaching Styles In Engineering Education‘,
Engr. Education, 78(7), 674–681 (1988) – Preface: Felder R. M., June 2002.
15. Felder, R.M. and Soloman, B.A. Index of Learning Styles.
http://www.ncsu.edu/felderpublic/
ILSpage.html>, accessed January 11, 2008.
16. Bloom, B.S. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: David Mckay, 1956.
17. Santos, O.C. A standard-based approach for modeling ‗all‘ users in adaptive learning
management systems with artificial intelligence techniques. Proceedings of CAEPIA. (Eds.)
Borrajo, D., Castillo, L. and Corchado, J.M. Actas de la XII Conferencia de la Asociación
Española para la Inteligencia Artificial. Vol. II. 2007, p. 339-342.
18. Burke, R. Hybrid Recommender systems. User Modelling and User-Adapted Interaction, 12
(4):331-370, 2002.
19. Hernández, F. Contributions to the evaluation to adaptive recomendar sstems
(Contribuciones a la evaluación de sistemas recomendadores adaptativos). Ph. D Thesis.
Supervised by Jesús G. Boticario. Artificial Intelligence Department. UNED, 2005.
20. Cuartero, A., Santos, O.C., Granado, J., Raffenne, E. and Boticario, J.G. Mangement of
standard-based User Model and Device Profile in OpenACS. Proceedings of the
International Conference and Workshops on Community based environments, 2008 (in
press).
21.Couchet, J., Santos, O.C., Raffenne, E. Granado, J., Boticario, J.G. and Manrique, D. A
General Tracking and Auditing Architecture for the OpenACS framework. Proceedings of
the International Conference and Workshops on Community based environments, 2008 (in
press).
22.Sobernig, S. Xorb/xosoap. Remoting for OACS / .LRN. dotLRN Conference Boston, 2006.
23. Santos, O.C. Contributions to the Design, Implementation and Evaluation of Adaptive
Learning Management Systems based on standards, which integrate Instructional Design
with User Modelling based on Machine Learning. Ph.D Thesis. Supervised by Jesús G.
Boticario. Artificial Intelligence Department. UNED. To be presented in the last quarter of
2008.
206
Sesión de Pósters
Universidad Galileo
MEMORIAS
2ª. Conferencia Internacional E-Learning Integral 2.0
Y
6ª. Conferencia Internacional de OpenACS y .LRN
Guatemala, 12 al 15 de febrero de 2008
207
Galileo´s Infrastructure
Ing. Rocael Hernández, Ing. Victor Guerra, Ing. Byron Linares, César Hernández,
[roc, guerra, bhlr, cesarhj]@galileo.edu
Este poster detalla la infraestructura con la que cuenta el LMS (Learning Management
System) que utiliza la Universidad Galileo. En él se mencionan los subsistemas que
conforman esta estructura tecnologica. El poster describe, las tecnologías que le dan
vida al sistema, la forma en que fluyen los datos dentro del mismo y presenta de una
forma grafica la interaccion que existe entre cada uno de los subsistemas. De igual
manera se especifican configuraciones de algunos servidores utilizados en los
subsistemas.
La finalidad del poster es proveer una idea general de la configuración e interacción
que tienen los subsistemas dentro de la Universidad Galileo; el exponer las
experiencias que la Universidad Galileo ha tenido puede ser de gran ayuda a otras
entidades para mejorar la calidad de los servicios que prestan.
Workshop: OpenACS
Contribuciones y fácil utilización de la herramienta.
Uno de los puntos claves en el crecimiento de proyectos como OpenACS, es la fácil
incorporación de actualizaciones de la herramienta hacia las instalaciones que tienen
los usuarios que utilizan la plataforma. Igual de importante es para el proyecto, poder
contar con las contribuciones de los usuarios de vuelta al repositorio de código;
muchas veces los miembros de la comunidad no contribuyen debido a que el proceso
de tomar cambios locales e incorporarlos al repositorio de OpenACS es demasiado
complicado.
Por lo general los usuarios que utilizan OpenACS cuentan con un repositorio local de
código, normalmente implementado sobre CVS, de hecho, la herramienta CVS es
utilizada para mantener el repositorio de código de OpenACS. Actualmente ha
habido esfuerzos para utilizar la herramienta SVN, la cual facilita el manejo del
código (la mejora mas importante es en el Merge). Pero este cambio no ataca el
problema de mantenerse actualizado ante los cambios que sufre el código de
OpenACS.
La idea de este Workshop es presentar algunas ideas de cómo se podría mejorar el
proceso de contribución de las mejoras que los usuarios de OpenACS puedan tener.
La herramienta que se pretende utilizar en este Workshop es GIT; la cual es una
herramienta para el control de versiones, utilizada en grandes proyectos, con la
característica de adaptarse a modelos de desarrollo distribuidos.
Workshop: Contribuciones de Galileo
El equipo de desarrollo de la Universidad Galileo se encuentra en constante desarrollo
de aplicaciones basadas en las tecnologías que utiliza OpenACS/.LRN. Hemos
tomado varias aplicaciones existentes en el repositorio de código de OpenACS y
208
hemos customizado algunas interfaces para suplir algunos requermientos que han
surgido dentro de la Universidad. Dentro de estos desarrollos podemos citar:
-
Aplicación de evaluaciones a catedráticos: Basado en el paquete de
assessment, se construyo un paquete de manejo de cuestionarios, con la
finalidad de proveer al personal administrativo de la Universidad una
herramienta para poder administrar las evaluaciones que miden el
rendimiento de los catedráticos y auxiliares. Este paquete cuenta con la
versatilidad de manejar encuestas para poder recoger opiniones de los
estudiantes.
-
Copia de elementos entre cursos: Dentro de la Universidad Galileo los
catedráticos regularmente hacían la requisicion de poder hacer uso del
material que habían utilizado en cursos pasados. En base a estas
requisiciones se realizo una aplicación que permite al catedrático copiar
elementos de los paquetes ―file-storage‖ y ―evaluation‖; con esto el
catedrático puede obtener todo el material que utilizo asi como la
ponderación de sus calificaciones.
Durante el workshop, algunas otras contribuciones de la Universidad Galileo serán
presentadas.
Workshop: JavaScript en OACS
La experiencia que los usuarios tienen dentro de un sitio web marca la pauta para que
los usuarios regresen y sigan utilizando los servicios que el sitio provee, sin importar
que tipo de servicios sean. Hoy en día, tecnologías como AJAX ayudan a mejorar la
experiencia que el usuario tiene ante una interfaz web, es por eso que es de suma
importancia para el proyecto OpenACS el poder adaptar este tipo de tecnologías
dentro de la plataforma. Actualmente existe el paquete AjaxHelper, el cual incluye un
conjunto de librerías de ajax ( las más utilizadas ); el paquete también incluye algunos
procedimientos en TCL para una mejor integración con la plataforma.
La Universidad Galileo ha extendido los procedimientos para poder utilizar algunas
otras funcionalidades que proveen las librerías de AJAX: Como por ejemplo:
- Interfaces divididas por TABS – YUI.
-
Integración de modulo de historial del explorador.
-
Submit de formularios en el background (integración con TABS ).
El propósito es de presentar las formas en que la Universidad Galileo ha mejorado sus
interfaces, haciendo uso de estas tecnologías.
209
210
Diseño y Evolución del Clúster de E-Learning (.LRN) en
la Universitat de València
Aula Virtual: Una aplicación en contínuo crecimiento
Salvador Roca Marquina
Agustín López Bueno
Darío Roig García
Servei d‟ Informàtica de la Universitat de València
C/ Dr. Moliner, 50 - Campus de Burjassot
46100 - Burjassot (VALENCIA) Spain
http://www.uv.es/siuv
http://aulavirtual.uv.es
[email protected]
Palabras clave: Software de apoyo a la docencia universitaria, evaluación e
implantación de sistemas de gestión del aprendizaje, virtualización del aprendizaje,
software libre, cluster, alta disponibilidad.
Línea prioritaria: Sistemas de Aula Virtual y teledocencia.
Resumen
En el curso académico 2004-2005 se implantó en la Universitat de València (UV) la primera
versión de la actual plataforma de eLearning (OpenACS / .LRN) tras un piloto de 6 meses con
un grupo de profesores interesados y tras un estudio de las plataformas existentes. Esta
implantación, su mantenimiento y los desarrollos posteriores han sido realizados por técnicos
del Servicio de Informática.
La arquitectura inicial del sistema en tres capas (presentación, lógica de negocio y datos) se
implementó sobre dos servidores con procesadores duales AMD Opteron y sistema operativo
Debian GNU/Linux, de los cuales, uno tenía instalado el servidor web AOLServer junto con la
aplicación .LRN, y el otro el servidor de base de datos PostgreSQL (7.4). La versión de la
aplicación instalada correspondía a OpenACS 5.1 y .LRN 2.0. Este diseño inicial carecía de
tolerancia a fallos y estaba limitado en cuanto a escalabilidad. El éxito de la implantación de la
herramienta entre nuestros usuarios llevó a un incremento en la carga de los sistemas. Se pasó
de 40 sesiones de media y máximos de 80 al centenar de sesiones concurrentes.
En 2006-2007 se modificó el diseño incorporando un clúster de cuatro nodos en las capas web
y de aplicación, y se separó el servicio de elementos estáticos incorporando servidores Apache.
Aprovechamos para ello que la aplicación OpenACS está preparada para funcionamiento en
clúster e instalamos un balanceador por software (Pound) para los servidores Web con un
conjunto de reglas de reescritura adecuadas para gestión de las Urls. El código de la aplicación
se compartió mediante NFS entre los nodos del clúster para facilitar el mantenimiento. Con esta
211
modificación de la arquitectura, la carga total pudo aumentar hasta las 400 sesiones
concurrentes (con picos de 1.000) con tiempos de respuesta similares a las del año anterior.
El curso 2007-2008 se ha iniciado con otra serie de mejoras. Se ha aumentado el número de
elementos del clúster hasta seis. Se han virtualizado los servidores web y de aplicaciones (bajo
un entorno Xen) para favorecer y simplificar su mantenimiento y la gestión de nuevos
elementos. Se ha simplificado el diseño sustituyendo el par Apache + Pound por el servidor
Nginx. Para eliminar el punto de fallo del balanceador se ha incorporado una solución basada
en ―heart-beat‖ de manera que otro elemento del clúster toma el rol de balanceador en caso de
fallo del principal. Se ha adquirido e integrado en la arquitectura general del sistema un
servidor multimedia (streaming). Actualmente, nuestra mayor preocupación reside en la
tolerancia a fallos de la base de datos. Bien es cierto que disponemos de la información
replicada en armarios de discos (SAN) y copias de seguridad, pero este escenario no garantiza
la alta disponibilidad del servidor de base de datos. Esperemos que las soluciones que ofrece el
software libre nos permitan mejorar en este aspecto.
212
Universidad Galileo
Proyectos de e-Learning desarrollados en Universidad
Galileo 2006-2007
Universidad Galileo
Ing. Miguel Morales, Inga, Mónica De La Roca, Licda. Sonia García
(amorales, monica_dlr, sonia_ges) @galileo.edu
Modelo Educativo de e-Learning
El modelo educativo de e-Learning implementado en Universidad Galileo es una
representación del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje que se emplea en los cursos e-Learning,
en éste se exhibe la distribución de funciones y la secuencia de operaciones en la forma ideal
que resulta de las experiencias recogidas al ejecutar una o varias teorías del aprendizaje.
El conocimiento de este modelo educativo permite tener un panorama de cómo se elaboran los
cursos, de cómo operan y cuáles son los elementos que desempeñan un papel determinante en
la implementación.
Proyectos de e-Learning desarrollados en Universidad Galileo 2006-2007
Presentación de los diferentes proyectos que se han implementado en Universidad Galileo, así
como, proyectos en alianzas estratégicas con otras organizaciones importantes del país como lo
son Prensa Libre, periódico de mayor circulación en Guatemala y La Super Intendencia de
Administración Tributaria, SAT.
213
214
Arquitectura de .LRN
Vivian Aguilar
Viaro Networks
[email protected]
Se presenta la arquitectura e infraestructura de .LRN, organizada en 4 capas
1. SISTEMA
Comprende una descripción de sistemas operativos, bases de datos, motores de
búsqueda, servidores web, lenguaje de programación y otros.
2. SERVICIOS DE LA PLATAFORMA
Comprende 3 grandes áreas que son Desarrollo de Software, Orientación a Objetos,
Seguridad.
3. SERVICIOS DE APLICACIÓN
Los cuales son herramientas a ser utilizadas por aplicaciones para usuarios.
4. MÓDULOS DE APLICACIÓN
Comprende Estándares, Contenidos, Colaboración Administración del Curso y otros.
215

Memorias Conferencia Universidad Galileo

Transcripción

Documentos relacionados

saint pius x - St. Pius X Catholic Church

04-24-2016 - Mother of Our Redeemer

Resurrection Catholic Church

Saint Mary Parish - Waltham, MA Catholic Church