Experts on e-learning: insights gained from listening to the student voice!

The Student Experience of e-Learning Laboratory (SEEL) project at the University of Greenwich was designed to explore and then implement a number of approaches to investigate learners’ experiences of using technology to support their learning. In this paper members of the SEEL team present initial findings from a University-wide survey of nearly a 1000 students. A selection of 90 ‘cameos’, drawn from the survey data, offer further insights into personal perceptions of e-learning and illustrate the diversity of students experiences. The cameos provide a more coherent picture of individual student experience based on the totality of each person’s responses to the questionnaire. Finally, extracts from follow-up case studies, based on interviews with a small number of students, allow us to ‘hear’ the student voice more clearly. Issues arising from an analysis of the data include student preferences for communication and social networking tools, views on the ‘smartness’ of their tutors’ uses of technology and perceptions of the value of e-learning. A primary finding and the focus of this paper, is that students effectively arrive at their own individualised selection, configuration and use of technologies and software that meets their perceived needs. This ‘personalisation’ does not imply that such configurations are the most efficient, nor does it automatically suggest that effective learning is occurring. SEEL reminds us that learners are individuals, who approach learning both with and without technology in their own distinctive ways. Hearing, understanding and responding to the student voice is fundamental in maximising learning effectiveness. Institutions should consider actively developing the capacity of academic staff to advise students on the usefulness of particular online tools and resources in support of learning and consider the potential benefits of building on what students already use in their everyday lives. Given the widespread perception that students tend to be ‘digital natives’ and academic staff ‘digital immigrants’ (Prensky, 2001), this could represent a considerable cultural challenge

Modelo de seleção dinâmica de objetos de aprendizagem baseado em agentes

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Computação, Florianópolis, 2015.Este trabalho descreve um modelo que possibilita o oferecimento de experiências de aprendizagem na educação on-line, baseado no paradigma de Sistemas Multiagente (SMA), com o intuito de facilitar ouso de Objetos de Aprendizagem (OA) de forma adaptativa em sistemas de gerenciamento de aprendizagem (LMS), bem como de favorecer o reuso de materiais instrucionais que sigam padrões de referência. O modelo proposto estende o conceito de Objetos Inteligentes de Aprendizagem (OIA), através da utilização de uma arquitetura de agentes BDI (Belief, Desire, Intention), sendo capaz de se comunicar com os elementos que constituem o OA, de acordo com um padrão de empacotamento e sequenciamento de objetos. O modelo teórico proposto possibilita a seleção dinâmica de recursos instrucionais com base em informações do LMS, dos metadados do OA,e do desempenho obtido pelo estudante durante a interação com o objeto. Esses elementos do modelo de dados são usados no processo de raciocínio dos agentes, possibilitando o desenvolvimento de experiências de aprendizagem aprimoradas, e com adaptatividade dinâmica. Além disso, a integração com um LMS favorece o reuso de recursos educacionais que são desenvolvidos segundo padrões de referência, e que podem ficar acessíveis ao processo de adaptação automaticamente, logo que forem incluídos no repositório de objetos, sem a necessidade de reconfigurar a estrutura do curso. Para instanciar o modelo teórico, foi desenvolvido um protótipo compatível com objetos de aprendizagem segundo o padrão de integração SCORM e cujos metadados sigam o padrão IEEE-LOM. Este protótipo integra o ambiente de agentes (denominado ILOMAS) ao LMS Moodle, permitindo o acesso aos OIA de forma integrada a cursos reais de instituições que se utilizem da plataforma Moodle. O protótipo foi desenvolvido com base em um subconjunto do modelo teórico, com o intuito de permitir a validação do sistema proposto, do ponto de vista computacional, através de simulações. Conforme verificado na avaliação deste protótipo, obteve-se adaptatividade e reuso. Por fim, apontou-se possibilidades de evolução do modelo, principalmente com a integração à busca semântica de objetos de aprendizagem com base em ontologias.Abstract : This work describes a model that enables the offering of learning experiences in online education, based on the paradigm of Multi-Agent Systems (MAS), in order to facilitate the use of Learning Objects (LO) adaptively in learning management systems (LMS) as well as to encourage the reuse of instructional materials that follow standards. The proposed model extends the concept of intelligent learning objects (ILO), by using a BDI agents' architecture (Belief, Desire, Intention), being able to communicate with the LO's elements, according to apackaging and sequencing standard. The proposed theoretical model enables dynamic selection of instructional resources based on information from the LMS, the learning object metadata, and the performance achieved by the student during the interaction with the LO. These elements of the data model are used in theagent's reasoning process, enabling the development of improved learning experiences, and dynamic adaptivity. Furthermore, the integration with an LMS promotes reuse of educational resources that are developed following reference standards, enabling their access in the adaptation process automatically, as soon as they are included in the LO repository, without having to reconfigure the course structure. To instantiate the theoretical model, it was developed a prototype compliant with SCORM standard LO and whose metadata follow the IEEE-LOM standard. This prototype integrates the agent environment (called ILOMAS) to LMS Moodle, allowing access to the ILO seamlessly to real courses of institutions that use Moodle platform. The prototype was developed based on a subset of the theoretical model, in order to enable the computational validation of the proposed system, through simulations. As verified on this prototype's evaluation, adaptivity and reuse were obtained. Finally, evolution opportunities to the model was pointed, especially with the integration of semantic search for learning objects based on ontologies