BROA: An agent-based model to recommend relevant Learning Objects from Repository Federations adapted to learner profile

Learning Objects (LOs) are distinguished from traditional educational resources for their easy and quickly availability through Web-based repositories, from which they are accessed through their metadata. In addition, having a user profile allows an educational recommender system to help the learner to find the most relevant LOs based on their needs and preferences. The aim of this paper is to propose an agent-based model so-called BROA to recommend relevant LOs recovered from Repository Federations as well as LOs adapted to learner profile. The model proposed uses both role and service models of GAIA methodology, and the analysis models of the MAS-CommonKADS methodology. A prototype was built based on this model and validated to obtain some assessing results that are finally presented

Search of learning objects from a repositories federation: an experimental assessment

En este artículo se presenta la evaluación de la eficiencia de las búsquedas sobre una federación de repositorios de objetos de aprendizaje, en particular la Federação de Repositórios Educa Brasil – FEB, respecto a la velocidad de respuesta y cantidad de registros recuperados. El objetivo es determinar las bondades de esta arquitectura en las búsquedas centralizadas sobre recursos distribuidos, pensando en un futuro cercano en realizar una implementación similar para Colombia. Tal evaluación se llevó a cabo mediante un experimento, usando 10 términos de búsqueda del campo de la salud, y se hizo una comparación entre FEB y dos repositorios reconocidos: MERLOT y The Gateway. Para no tener sesgos respecto a los momentos y orígenes de las búsquedas, estas se realizaron 30 veces, cada una desde 3 ubicaciones diferentes: Brasil, Colombia y España. Los resultados obtenidos demostraron un menor tiempo promedio de respuesta estadísticamente significante comparado con MERLOT (valor P < 0,001), pero mayor comparado con The Gateway (valor P < 0,001). Finalmente, se evidenció un crecimiento constante de la cantidad de objetos de aprendizaje registrados en FEB durante los últimos dos años.We present in this paper the assessment of the searching performance over a federation of learning objects repositories, in particular the Federação de Repositórios Educa Brasil – FEB, with regard to the response speed and quantity of retrieved records. The aim is to determine the benefits of this structure in the centralized searches over distributed resources, thinking in a near future to build a similar implementation for Colombia. Such an evaluation was done throughout an experiment with 10 search terms in the health field and a comparison was made between FEB and two well-known repositories: MERLOT and The Gateway. In order to avoid biases regarding the searching times and locations, such searches were done 30 times from 3 different locations each: Brazil, Colombia and Spain. The results obtained showed a lower mean response time which was statistically significant compared to MERLOT (P value < 0,001), but a larger time compared to The Gateway (P value < 0,001). Finally, a continuous grow was evident in the amount of learning objects registered in FEB during the last two years

Linux Educacional – possibilidades práticas de aplicação em contextos educacionais

Esse artigo destaca a construção do curso Linux Educacional, o qual integra o Programa Nacional de Tecnologia Educacional (ProInfo). O curso foi desenvolvido com o objetivo de apoiar a prática pedagógica dos professores do ensino fundamental de escolas públicas de todo o território nacional. Com base nessa perspectiva, o foco está em promover a inclusão digital de professores e gestores, dinamizando e qualificando os processos de ensino e aprendizagem, tendo a tecnologia como recurso que pode potencializar essa prática. Assim, este estudo descreve como o curso foi estruturado com vistas à atender os objetivos propostos

Enhancing Affective Communication in Embodied Conversational Agents

Abstract. In this article, we present current work being developed in collaboration between UFRGS (Brazil) and LIG laboratory (France) inserted in the scope of PRAIA Project -international project of cooperation between UFRGS and LIG. We first motivate the use of Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs) by showing and contextualizing research, in order to establish a foundation for understanding how these agents may be useful in human-computer interaction. We then give more details about the agent, its purpose and scenario, together with important characteristics of its development. Finally we conclude with more information about the cooperation and also demonstrating the importance of the research in this field