Design criteria for the development of an institutional learning object repository

The production of educational contents in academic environments has been traditionally developed without an integral plan which allows their adequate distribution and access. In addition, it produces effort duplication and misuse of resources. As a possible solution, this work proposes Learning Objects and Knowledge Repositories to be used. The authors state some design criteria for developing a web-enabled Learning Object Repository, according to the IEEE Learning Object Metadata standard. This repository would be used in a university educational context, replacing the disjointed procedures that are currently employed. Not only knowledge, but also human resources are the main entities in this proposal. Interoperability, portability and efficiency are the non-functional requirements considered at this design stage. In order to satisfy all of requirements, the combined usage of standard-compliant file-repositories and a relational database is proposed. The data consistence between these storage methods is assured by a specific mechanism delineated with this intention; in addition, some intuitive operators are defined for the specification of search criteria in arbitrary metadata queries.V Workshop de Tecnología Informática Aplicada en Educación (WTIAE)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

E-Learning and microformats: a learning object harvesting model and a sample application

In order to support interoperability of learning tools and reusability of resources, this paper introduces a framework for harvesting learning objects from web-based content. Therefore, commonly-known web technologies are examined with respect to their suitability for harvesting embedded meta-data. Then, a lightweight application profile and a microformat for learning objects are proposed based on well-known learning object metadata standards. Additionally, we describe a web service which utilizes XSL transformation (GRDDL) to extract learning objects from different web pages, and provide a SQI target as a retrieval facility using a more complex query language called SPARQL. Finally, we outline the applicability of our framework on the basis of a search client employing the new SQI service for searching and retrieving learning objects

A utilização do Dublin Core qualificado na descrição semântica de uma revista científica em linha

Neste artigo fazemos uma breve descrição da Informattica Online, um projecto de uma revista em linha em desenvolvimento no Departamento de Sistemas de informação da Universidade do Minho. São também brevemente descritos os géneros de documentos a que o utilizador tem acesso. Alguns documentos pertencentes a esses géneros foram objecto de uma descrição RDF utilizando o Dublin Core Qualificado. De entre eles, seleccionámos, o Artigo Científico para apresentar, quer pela sua complexidade, quer pela riqueza da descrição RDF. De seguida retiramos algumas conclusões sobre a natureza do trabalho realizado e descrevemos o trabalho futuro

The organization ontology

Este documento describe una ontología fundamental para las estructuras de organización, destinada a apoyar la publicación de datos vinculados de información de la organización a través de un número de dominios. Está diseñado para permitir a las extensiones de dominios específicos agregar clasificaciones de organizaciones y funciones, así como extensiones para mantener información relacionada como por ejemplo actividades de la organización.W3

Mobile support in CSCW applications and groupware development frameworks

Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) is an established subset of the field of Human Computer Interaction that deals with the how people use computing technology to enhance group interaction and collaboration. Mobile CSCW has emerged as a result of the progression from personal desktop computing to the mobile device platforms that are ubiquitous today. CSCW aims to not only connect people and facilitate communication through using computers; it aims to provide conceptual models coupled with technology to manage, mediate, and assist collaborative processes. Mobile CSCW research looks to fulfil these aims through the adoption of mobile technology and consideration for the mobile user. Facilitating collaboration using mobile devices brings new challenges. Some of these challenges are inherent to the nature of the device hardware, while others focus on the understanding of how to engineer software to maximize effectiveness for the end-users. This paper reviews seminal and state-of-the-art cooperative software applications and development frameworks, and their support for mobile devices

MeLinDa: an interlinking framework for the web of data

The web of data consists of data published on the web in such a way that they can be interpreted and connected together. It is thus critical to establish links between these data, both for the web of data and for the semantic web that it contributes to feed. We consider here the various techniques developed for that purpose and analyze their commonalities and differences. We propose a general framework and show how the diverse techniques fit in the framework. From this framework we consider the relation between data interlinking and ontology matching. Although, they can be considered similar at a certain level (they both relate formal entities), they serve different purposes, but would find a mutual benefit at collaborating. We thus present a scheme under which it is possible for data linking tools to take advantage of ontology alignments.Comment: N° RR-7691 (2011

Personalised trails and learner profiling within e-learning environments

This deliverable focuses on personalisation and personalised trails. We begin by introducing and defining the concepts of personalisation and personalised trails. Personalisation requires that a user profile be stored, and so we assess currently available standard profile schemas and discuss the requirements for a profile to support personalised learning. We then review techniques for providing personalisation and some systems that implement these techniques, and discuss some of the issues around evaluating personalisation systems. We look especially at the use of learning and cognitive styles to support personalised learning, and also consider personalisation in the field of mobile learning, which has a slightly different take on the subject, and in commercially available systems, where personalisation support is found to currently be only at quite a low level. We conclude with a summary of the lessons to be learned from our review of personalisation and personalised trails