Remote Mixed Reality Collaborative Laboratory Activities: Learning Activities within the InterReality Portal

Technology is changing our way to experience education from one-dimensional (physical) to multi-dimensional (physical and virtual) education using a diversity of resources such as web-based platforms (eLearning), videoconferences, eBooks and innovative technologies (e.g. mixed reality, virtual worlds, immersive technology, etc.). This represents bigger opportunities for universities and educational institutions to collaborate with partners from around the world and to be part of today's knowledge economy. This also enables greater opportunities to experience distance learning, modifying our experience of both space and time, changing specific spatial locations to ubiquitous locations and time as asynchronous/synchronous according to our necessities. The use of virtual and remote laboratory activities is an example of the application of some of these concepts. In this work-in-progress paper we propose a different approach to the integration of the physical and virtual world by creating remote mixed reality collaborative laboratory activities within an Inter Reality Portal learning environment, thereby extending our previous progress towards these goals. The learning goal of our mixed reality lab activity is to produce Internet-of-Things-based computer projects using combinations of Cross-Reality (xReality) and Virtual objects based on co-creative and collaborative interaction between geographically dispersed students. © 2012 IEEE

Experimental Results and Evaluation of SmartBox Stimulation Device in a P2P E-learning System

In this paper, we present the experimental results and evaluation of the SmartBox stimulation device in P2P e-learning system which is based on JXTA-Overlay. We also show the design and implementation of the SmartBox environment that is used for stimulating the learners motivation to increase the learning efficiency. The SmartBox is integrated with our P2P system as a useful tool for monitoring and controlling learners¿ activity. We found by experimental results that the SmartBox is an effective way to increase the learner¿s concentration. We also investigated the relation between learner¿s body movement, concentration, and amount of study. From the experimental results, we conclude that the use of SmartBox is an effective way to stimulate the learners in order to continue studying while maintaining the concentration.En aquest article es presenten els resultats experimentals i l'avaluació del dispositiu d'estimulació SmartBox en un sistema d'aprenentatge en línia P2P que es basa en la superposició de JXTA. També es mostra el disseny i implementació de l'ambient de l'SmartBox que s'utilitza per a estimular la motivació dels estudiants per augmentar l'eficiència en l'aprenentatge. L'SmartBox s'integra amb el nostre sistema de P2P com una eina útil per al monitoratge i per controlar l'activitat dels alumnes. Pels resultats experimentals trobem que l'SmartBox és una forma efectiva d'augmentar la concentració de l'alumne. També es va investigar la relació entre el moviment del cos de l'alumne, la concentració i la quantitat d'estudis. Dels resultats experimentals es conclou que l'ús de l'SmartBox és una manera efectiva d'estimular els estudiants per tal que continuïn els seus estudis mentre es manté la seva concentració.En este artículo se presentan los resultados experimentales y la evaluación del dispositivo de estimulación SmartBox en un sistema de aprendizaje en línea P2P que se basa en la superposición de JXTA. También se muestra el diseño e implementación del ambiente del SmartBox que se utiliza para estimular la motivación de los estudiantes para aumentar la eficiencia en el aprendizaje. El SmartBox se integra con nuestro sistema de P2P como una herramienta útil para la monitorización y para controlar la actividad de los alumnos. Por los resultados experimentales encontramos que la SmartBox es una forma efectiva de aumentar la concentración del alumno. También se investigó la relación entre el movimiento del cuerpo del alumno, la concentración y la cantidad de estudios. De los resultados experimentales se concluye que el uso del SmartBox es una manera efectiva de estimular a los estudiantes para que continúen sus estudios mientras se mantiene su concentración

Context-Aware and Adaptable eLearning Systems

The full text file attached to this record contains a copy of the thesis without the authors publications attached. The list of publications that are attached to the complete thesis can be found on pages 6-7 in the thesis.This thesis proposed solutions to some shortcomings to current eLearning architectures. The proposed DeLC architecture supports context-aware and adaptable provision of eLearning services and electronic content. The architecture is fully distributed and integrates service-oriented development with agent technology. Central to this architecture is that a node is our unit of computation (known as eLearning node) which can have purely service-oriented architecture, agent-oriented architecture or mixed architecture. Three eLeaerning Nodes have been implemented in order to demonstrate the vitality of the DeLC concept. The Mobile eLearning Node uses a three-level communication network, called InfoStations network, supporting mobile service provision. The services, displayed on this node, are to be aware of its context, gather required learning material and adapted to the learner request. This is supported trough a multi-layered hybrid (service- and agent-oriented) architecture whose kernel is implemented as middleware. For testing of the middleware a simulation environment has been developed. In addition, the DeLC development approach is proposed. The second eLearning node has been implemented as Education Portal. The architecture of this node is poorly service-oriented and it adopts a client-server architecture. In the education portal, there are incorporated education services and system services, called engines. The electronic content is kept in Digital Libraries. Furthermore, in order to facilitate content creators in DeLC, the environment Selbo2 was developed. The environment allows for creating new content, editing available content, as well as generating educational units out of preexisting standardized elements. In the last two years, the portal is used in actual education at the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, University of Plovdiv. The third eLearning node, known as Agent Village, exhibits a purely agent-oriented architecture. The purpose of this node is to provide intelligent assistance to the services deployed on the Education Pportal. Currently, two kinds of assistants are implemented in the node - eTesting Assistants and Refactoring eLearning Environment (ReLE). A more complex architecture, known as Education Cluster, is presented in this thesis as well. The Education Cluster incorporates two eLearning nodes, namely the Education Portal and the Agent Village. eLearning services and intelligent agents interact in the cluster

Web-based medical teaching using a multi-agent system

Web-based teaching via Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) is considered as one of the most successful enterprises in artificial intelligence. Indeed, there is a long list of ITSs that have been tested on humans and have proven to facilitate learning, among which we may find the well-tested and known tutors of algebra, geometry, and computer languages. These ITSs use a variety of computational paradigms, as production systems, Bayesian networks, schema-templates, theorem proving, and explanatory reasoning. The next generation of ITSs are expected to go one step further by adopting not only more intelligent interfaces but will focus on integration. This article will describe some particularities of a tutoring system that we are developing to simulate conversational dialogue in the area of Medicine, that enables the integration of highly heterogeneous sources of information into a coherent knowledge base, either from the tutor’s point of view or the development of the discipline in itself, i.e. the system’s content is created automatically by the physicians as their daily work goes on. This will encourage students to articulate lengthier answers that exhibit deep reasoning, rather than to deliver straight tips of shallow knowledge. The goal is to take advantage of the normal functioning of the health care units to build on the fly a knowledge base of cases and data for teaching and research purposes

Challenges to Teaching Credibility Assessment in Contemporary Schooling

Part of the Volume on Digital Media, Youth, and CredibilityThis chapter explores several challenges that exist to teaching credibility assessment in the school environment. Challenges range from institutional barriers such as government regulation and school policies and procedures to dynamic challenges related to young people's cognitive development and the consequent difficulties of navigating a complex web environment. The chapter includes a critique of current practices for teaching kids credibility assessment and highlights some best practices for credibility education

Networked learning environments

This chapter introduces the idea of networked learning environments and argues that these environments provide the totality of surrounding conditions for learning in digital networks. It provides illustrative vignettes of the ways that students appropriate networked environments for learning. The chapter then examines the notion of networked learning environments in relation to the idea of infrastructure and infrastructures for learning and sets out some issues arising from this perspective. The chapter suggests that students and teachers selectively constitute their own contexts and that design can only have an indirect effect on learning. The chapter goes on to argue that design needs to be located at the meso level of the institution and that a solution to the problem of indirect design lies in refocusing design at the meso level and on the design of infrastructures for learning

A Design Model for Lifelong Learning Networks

The provision of lifelong learning facilities is considered to be a major new direction for higher and distance teaching educational institutes catering for the demands of industry and society. ICT networks will in future support seamless, ubiquitous access to lifelong learning facilities at home, at work, in schools and universities. This implies the development of new ways of organizing learning delivery that goes beyond course and programme-centric models. It envisions a learner-centred, learner-controlled model of distributed lifelong learning. We present a conceptual model for the support of lifelong learning which is based on notions from self-organization theory, learning communities, agent technologies and learning technology specifications such as IMS Learning Design. An exploratory implementation has been developed and used in practice. We reflect on the findings and future directions