Defining adaptation in a generic multi layer model : CAM: the GRAPPLE conceptual adaptation model

Authoring of Adaptive Hypermedia is a difficult and time consuming task. Reference models like LAOS and AHAM separate adaptation and content in different layers. Systems like AHA! offer graphical tools based on these models to allow authors to define adaptation without knowing any adaptation language. The adaptation that can be defined using such tools is still limited. Authoring systems like MOT are more flexible, but usability of adaptation specification is low. This paper proposes a more generic model which allows the adaptation to be defined in an arbitrary number of layers, where adaptation is expressed in terms of relationships between concepts. This model allows the creation of more powerful yet easier to use graphical authoring tools. This paper presents the structure of the Conceptual Adaptation Models used in adaptive applications created within the GRAPPLE adaptive learning environment, and their representation in a graphical authoring tool

Defining adaptation in a generic multi layer model : CAM: the GRAPPLE conceptual adaptation model

Authoring of Adaptive Hypermedia is a difficult and time consuming task. Reference models like LAOS and AHAM separate adaptation and content in different layers. Systems like AHA! offer graphical tools based on these models to allow authors to define adaptation without knowing any adaptation language. The adaptation that can be defined using such tools is still limited. Authoring systems like MOT are more flexible, but usability of adaptation specification is low. This paper proposes a more generic model which allows the adaptation to be defined in an arbitrary number of layers, where adaptation is expressed in terms of relationships between concepts. This model allows the creation of more powerful yet easier to use graphical authoring tools. This paper presents the structure of the Conceptual Adaptation Models used in adaptive applications created within the GRAPPLE adaptive learning environment, and their representation in a graphical authoring tool

User-centred design of flexible hypermedia for a mobile guide: Reflections on the hyperaudio experience

A user-centred design approach involves end-users from the very beginning. Considering users at the early stages compels designers to think in terms of utility and usability and helps develop the system on what is actually needed. This paper discusses the case of HyperAudio, a context-sensitive adaptive and mobile guide to museums developed in the late 90s. User requirements were collected via a survey to understand visitors’ profiles and visit styles in Natural Science museums. The knowledge acquired supported the specification of system requirements, helping defining user model, data structure and adaptive behaviour of the system. User requirements guided the design decisions on what could be implemented by using simple adaptable triggers and what instead needed more sophisticated adaptive techniques, a fundamental choice when all the computation must be done on a PDA. Graphical and interactive environments for developing and testing complex adaptive systems are discussed as a further step towards an iterative design that considers the user interaction a central point. The paper discusses how such an environment allows designers and developers to experiment with different system’s behaviours and to widely test it under realistic conditions by simulation of the actual context evolving over time. The understanding gained in HyperAudio is then considered in the perspective of the developments that followed that first experience: our findings seem still valid despite the passed time

A meta level to LAG for adaptation language re-use

Recently, a growing body of research targets authoring of content and adaptation strategies for adaptive systems. The driving force behind it is semantics-based reuse: the same adaptation strategy can be used for various domains, and vice versa. E.g., a Java course can be taught via a strategy differentiating between beginner and advanced users, or between visual versus verbal users. Whilst using an Adaptation Language (LAG) to express reusable adaptation strategies, we noticed, however, that: a) the created strategies have common patterns that, themselves, could be reused; b) templates based on these patterns could reduce the designers' work; c) there is a strong preference towards XML-based processing and interfacing. This has lead us to define a new meta-language for the LAG Adaptation Language, facilitating the extraction of common design patterns. This paper provides more insight into the LAG language, as well as describes this meta-language, and shows how introducing it can overcome some redundancy issues

Adaptive Hypermedia made simple using HTML/XML Style Sheet Selectors

This paper addresses enhancing HTML and XML with adaptation functionalities. The approach consists in using the path selectors of the HTML and XML style sheet languages CSS and XSLT for expressing content and navigation adaptation. Thus, the necessary extensions of the selector languages are minimal (a few additional constructs suffice), the processors of these languages can be kept almost unchanged, and no new algorithms are needed. In addition, XML is used for expressing the user model data like browsing history, browsing environment (such as device, location, time, etc.), and application data (such as user performances on exercises). The goal of the research presented here is not to propose novel forms or applications of adaptation, but instead to extend widespread web standards with adaptation functionalities. Essential features of the proposed approach are its simplicity and both the upwards and downwards compatibility of the extension

Addictive links: The motivational value of adaptive link annotation

Adaptive link annotation is a popular adaptive navigation support technology. Empirical studies of adaptive annotation in the educational context have demonstrated that it can help students to acquire knowledge faster, improve learning outcomes, reduce navigational overhead, and encourage non-sequential navigation. In this paper, we present our exploration of a lesser known effect of adaptive annotation, its ability to significantly increase students' motivation to work with non-mandatory educational content. We explored this effect and confirmed its significance in the context of two different adaptive hypermedia systems. The paper presents and discusses the results of our work

Empirical evaluation of an adaptive e-learning system and the effects of knowledge, learning styles and multimedia mode on student achievement

This paper presents an empirical evaluation of an adaptive e-learning system (AES). The system was evaluated in an experimental research. During the 9 weeks of experimentation, the students studied the learning material in two randomly allocated groups, an experimental group using the AES and a control group using the non-AES. Research findings are described as follows. Students who learned using the AES performed better significantly than those who learned using the non-AES. The implementation of test repetition as a function of knowledge adaptation in the AES increased student achievement significantly. When the effect of test repetition was removed, the implementation of learning style and multimedia mode adaptation in the AES was still found to have significant effect upon student performance. Students whose learning style and multimedia preferences were matched with the system achieved better results

Perspectives for Electronic Books in the World Wide Web Age

While the World Wide Web (WWW or Web) is steadily expanding, electronic books (e-books) remain a niche market. In this article, it is first postulated that specialized contents and device independence can make Web-based e-books compete with paper prints; and that adaptive features that can be implemented by client-side computing are relevant for e-books, while more complex forms of adaptation requiring server-side computations are not. Then, enhancements of the WWW standards (specifically of XML, XHTML, of the style-sheet languages CSS and XSL, and of the linking language XLink) are proposed for a better support of client-side adaptation and device independent content modeling. Finally, advanced browsing functionalities desirable for e-books as well as their implementation in the WWW context are described

Layered evaluation of interactive adaptive systems : framework and formative methods

Peer reviewedPostprin

Personalization in cultural heritage: the road travelled and the one ahead

Over the last 20 years, cultural heritage has been a favored domain for personalization research. For years, researchers have experimented with the cutting edge technology of the day; now, with the convergence of internet and wireless technology, and the increasing adoption of the Web as a platform for the publication of information, the visitor is able to exploit cultural heritage material before, during and after the visit, having different goals and requirements in each phase. However, cultural heritage sites have a huge amount of information to present, which must be filtered and personalized in order to enable the individual user to easily access it. Personalization of cultural heritage information requires a system that is able to model the user (e.g., interest, knowledge and other personal characteristics), as well as contextual aspects, select the most appropriate content, and deliver it in the most suitable way. It should be noted that achieving this result is extremely challenging in the case of first-time users, such as tourists who visit a cultural heritage site for the first time (and maybe the only time in their life). In addition, as tourism is a social activity, adapting to the individual is not enough because groups and communities have to be modeled and supported as well, taking into account their mutual interests, previous mutual experience, and requirements. How to model and represent the user(s) and the context of the visit and how to reason with regard to the information that is available are the challenges faced by researchers in personalization of cultural heritage. Notwithstanding the effort invested so far, a definite solution is far from being reached, mainly because new technology and new aspects of personalization are constantly being introduced. This article surveys the research in this area. Starting from the earlier systems, which presented cultural heritage information in kiosks, it summarizes the evolution of personalization techniques in museum web sites, virtual collections and mobile guides, until recent extension of cultural heritage toward the semantic and social web. The paper concludes with current challenges and points out areas where future research is needed