E-Learning

E-learning enables students to pace their studies according to their needs, making learning accessible to (1) people who do not have enough free time for studying - they can program their lessons according to their available schedule; (2) those far from a school (geographical issues), or the ones unable to attend classes due to some physical or medical restriction. Therefore, cultural, geographical and physical obstructions can be removed, making it possible for students to select their path and time for the learning course. Students are then allowed to choose the main objectives they are suitable to fulfill. This book regards E-learning challenges, opening a way to understand and discuss questions related to long-distance and lifelong learning, E-learning for people with special needs and, lastly, presenting case study about the relationship between the quality of interaction and the quality of learning achieved in experiences of E-learning formation

Towards semi-automatic generation of training scenarios in industrial automated systems

International audienceIn the context of E-Learning, remote hands-on training has become an insisting need as in traditional learning, especially in scientific and technical disciplines. Electronic Laboratories (ELabs) have been growing for the last few years. But till now, exchanging learning scenarios of ELabs is still difficult as existing scenarios (elaborated by means of standard ELearning authoring tools) are restricted to specific apparatuses, which prevents instructors from reusing or exchanging scenarios. Actually, LIESP team started in 2002 a research aiming to provide a framework which helps towards exchanging ELab learning scenarios when they fit to similar apparatuses (same functions, maybe not the same hardware). Meanwhile, LIMOS team focused on a design process to automate PLC code generation to help to design and generate programs for industrial discrete systems. This paper presents a project of merging these works to help ELab designers to design and integrate apparatuses into ELab frameworks when these apparatuses are discrete systems

Self-regulation and time factor in virtual and remote laboratories

In the field of practical development of competences in scientific and engineering studies, the emergence of distance learning programs in these disciplines, as well as the rapid development of ICT, has allowed the evolution of classical laboratories towards a new typology of laboratories: the commonly called virtual labs, focused on the development of simulation-based practices in both classroom or remote sessions and remote laboratories equipped with real equipment that are connected and accessible remotely, by providing the student a practical resource not defined in a specific space and time such as onsite laboratories.Currently extensive information on the different types of laboratories can be found; their structure, the tools that they use, the type of experiment performed, but there is less information about teaching and pedagogical application of these technologies. Factors like self-regulation, allowing a constructivist approach to training with these tools; the Time factor and assessment are subjects susceptible to be studied.Starting from the generic structure of remote laboratory, exposed in the first section, we will study how this structure can influence the factors under study: self-regulation and Time Factor, and how to approach this structure and the elements that make it up to improve these aspects

Towards automatic apparatus integration in Automation Remote Laboratories

International audienceIn the context of ELearning, remote handson training has become an insisting need as in traditional learning, especially in scientific and technical disciplines. Electronic Laboratories (ELabs) have been growing for the last few years. LIESP team started in 2002 a research aiming to provide a framework which helps towards exchanging ELab learning scenarios when they fit to similar apparatuses (same functions, maybe not the same hardware). Meanwhile, LIMOS team focused on a design process to automate PLC code generation to help to design and generate programs for industrial discrete systems. This paper presents a project of merging these approaches to help ELab designers to design and integrate apparatuses into ELab frameworks when these apparatuses are discrete systems

FORGE: An eLearning Framework for Remote Laboratory Experimentation on FIRE Testbed Infrastructure

The Forging Online Education through FIRE (FORGE) initiative provides educators and learners in higher education with access to world-class FIRE testbed infrastructure. FORGE supports experimentally driven research in an eLearning environment by complementing traditional classroom and online courses with interactive remote laboratory experiments. The project has achieved its objectives by defining and implementing a framework called FORGEBox. This framework offers the methodology, environment, tools and resources to support the creation of HTML-based online educational material capable accessing virtualized and physical FIRE testbed infrastruc- ture easily. FORGEBox also captures valuable quantitative and qualitative learning analytic information using questionnaires and Learning Analytics that can help optimise and support student learning. To date, FORGE has produced courses covering a wide range of networking and communication domains. These are freely available from FORGEBox.eu and have resulted in over 24,000 experiments undertaken by more than 1,800 students across 10 countries worldwide. This work has shown that the use of remote high- performance testbed facilities for hands-on remote experimentation can have a valuable impact on the learning experience for both educators and learners. Additionally, certain challenges in developing FIRE-based courseware have been identified, which has led to a set of recommendations in order to support the use of FIRE facilities for teaching and learning purposes

A bot spooler architecture to integrate virtual worlds with e-learning management systems for corporate training

Joining efforts of academic and corporate teams, we developed an integration architecture - MULTIS - that enables corporate e-learning managers to use a Learning Management System (LMS) for management of educational activities in virtual worlds. This architecture was then implemented for the Formare LMS. In this paper we present this architecture and concretizations of its implementation for the Second Life Grid/OpenSimulator virtual world platforms. Current systems are focused on activities managed by individual trainers, rather than groups of trainers and large numbers of trainees: they focus on providing the LMS with information about educational activities taking place in a virtual world and/or being able to access within the virtual world some of the information stored in the LMS, and disregard the streamlining of activity setup and data collection in multi-trainer contexts, among other administrative issues. This architecture aims to overcome the limitations of existing systems for organizational management of corporate e-learning activities.Portugal Telecom Inovação (atualmente, Altice Labs