Claude Ghaoui

Interactive E-Learning

This paper introduces the new concept of improving student memory rentention using a Distance Learning Tool by establishing the student’s Communication Preference and Learning Style BEFORE the student uses the module contents. It argues that incorporating a Distance Learning Tool with an Intelligent/Interactive Tutoring System using various components (Psychometric tests, Communication Preference , Learning Styles, mapping Learning/Teaching Styles, Neurolinguistic Programming language patterns, Subliminal Text Messaging, Motivational Factors, Novice/Expert Factor, Student Model, and the Way We Learn) combined in WISDeM to create a HumanComputer Interactive Interface distance learning tool does inteed enhance

Motivation to E-Learn Within Organizational Settings: An Exploratory Factor Structure

ABSTRACT E-learning is expected to support organizations and individuals so they can become moreadaptable and competitive. However, in order for organizations to realize the full potential ofthis technology, they should create and sustain the right context to foster learning in articulationwith business objectives. This requires active participation and engagement of workers. Thiswork explores a variable called motivation-to-e-learn , a key component of this process. Ourgoal is to identify what motivation-related variables are critical for users’ engagements in theprocess. To this end, we explored the importance of a set of motivation-to-e-learn variables fora group of participants at our university. From this activity, an exploratory four-factor structureemerged that explains 67% of motivation to e-learn. We discuss our results, together with theirimplications for designing e-learning experiences, lessons learned, and future work. Ourcontribution is a step toward integrating business processes, learners, and e-learning systemsinto an effective and harmonious whole.Keywords: educational technology; human-computer interaction; IT evaluation; on-the-jobtraining; organizational needs analysis; user needs assessment; user satisfaction

Using Communication Preference and Mapping Learning Styles to Teaching Styles in the Distance Learning Intelligent Tutoring System – WISDeM

This paper discusses the generic requirements of a Human-Computer-Interface (HCI) Distance Learning Tool (DLT) providing the definitive requirements as developed from in-depth research, looks at Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS), discusses the-way-we-learn, highlights why a learner’s Communication Preference (CP) and Learning Styles (LS) need to be established and mapped to Teaching Styles before the learner starts using a DLT/ITS and how Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) Language Patterns are used to effect that CPLS mapping to Teaching Styles in WISDeM (Web-Intelligent-Distance-education Model).

Approaches to the construction of a medical informatics glossary and thesaurus

In a project concerned with establishing a glossary and thesaurus for the medical informatics domain, various approaches to the task have been investigated. The developers take the view that a glossary should be a coherent system of terms, reflecting a coherent system of concepts that underlies a body of knowledge about a domain. A framework for the conceptual analysis of the concepts/terms underlying the domain has been developed. The emphasis of this framework is on how the concepts relate together. This work has given an important insight into how the practical task of establishing well-structured vocabularies for a field can be better achieved. An eclectic approach to term selection was adopted. Criteria for assessing what constitutes good definitions for concepts in a field were examined. Using all these approaches glossaries, thesauri and domain models of the medical informatics field are being developed. Another aspect of our work of particular interest is the development of attributed definitions from which inheritance patterns can be defined.

Text to Hypertext and Back Again

The establishment of hypertext as a usable medium has raised problems when confronted with the transition to and from more traditional methods of writing documents. If hypertext is to become a viable and widely used methodology, the process of transferring from linear to hypertext forms and back again must be satisfactorily achieved. This paper mainly describes work investigating the hypertext to text transformation but the reverse process (text to hypertext) is also examined. Three experiments are reported, the first looking at document structures for guiding the linearisation process, the second looking at document content and semantics. The third experiment is the MUCH experiment where a semantic net is used to investigate the linearisation process. Finally methods will be described to quantify the success of the linearisation process and some conclusions on the role of semantics and structure within hyperdocuments are presented.

An Integrated Evaluation Method for E-Learning: A Case Study.

Technological improvements in broadband and distributed computing are making it possible to distribute live media content cost‐effectively. Because of this, organizations are looking into cost‐effective approaches to implement e‐Learning initiatives. Indeed, computing resources are not enough by themselves to promote better e‐Learning experiences. Hence, our goal is to share preliminary results on testing a holistic evaluation method for e‐Learning environments. To this end, we have built an experience within class dynamics using an open source Learning Virtual Environment integrated with webcast and video archive features. Our proposed evaluation method capyures user feedback by classifying it according to motivation to e‐learn in groups, since we have found this approach simpler than using classic behavioural methods. This helped us to define practical design guidelines to yield faster and more efficient e‐Learning development processes. Our results show that consistent communication both online and offline, translates into efficiency. It also dampens negative perceptions during the transition from traditional to online learning environments. These results will contribute in designing intervention strategies to optimize organizational investments in e‐Learning across user groups and contexts.

An OO model to generate knowledge structures for authoring instructional hypermedia

It is widely accepted that the issues of document coherence, and the avoidance of cognitive overhead, make the authoring of hypermedia documents difficult for user orientation and comprehension. Much current research aims to alleviate these problems by tailoring content and navigation options to individual users. OO provides a means of creating a modular framework for generating different, as opposed to singular, structures, enabling tailoring to different audiences. We present (part of) ExAM, an OO model that separates document concept-segments from the structure generating devices, providing a generic framework for structuring knowledge from any subject domain, according to any definable instructional techniques.

Dynamic reference to support authoring of Web based material

Generally, a system developed and based primarily on reusable software components is more reliable and of better quality, as frequently used components tend to be of a higher standard. Tools that support authoring of Web based material form a subclass of software. Thus, Web developers should benefit from such tools that make use of reusable components. This paper presents a way of improving the reusability of tools that support authoring of Web based material through dynamic reference (DR).

Document icon bar for the support of authoring, learning and navigation on the web: usability issues

Abstract Currently, no approved standards exist to aid authors in designing usable multimedia documents. Sites exist on the Internet offering style guides which are often very detailed. In most cases, only the most determined of authors will wade their way through such sites for advice. Icon bars contribute a great deal to resolving usability problems. Standard Internet browsers have an icon bar, which this paper refers to as a ‘Site level icon bar’, due to the functions of its buttons—they control functions of the browser which do not belong to the viewed document but rather to the Internet sites visited. This paper argues that major usability problems (i.e. in relation to authoring and navigation of Web documents) can be overcome by introducing another type of icon bars, i.e. a ‘Document level icon bar’—for which the functions are directly relevant to the document being viewed, rather than to the site visited as in the first type. A programmable document level icon bar would enable the authoring of a range of standard navigational buttons which in turn would increase the speed of document transmission. Furthermore, widespread adoption of this icon bar will reduce the total burden on the bandwidth of the Internet as a whole. A prototype tool, called WebCheck, has been developed with a programmable document level icon bar to demonstrate this idea.

Designing a Humane Multimedia Interface for the Visually Impaired.

Whilst graphical user interfaces (GUI) have gained much popularity in recent years, the need of the visually impaired to use applications in a non-visual environment is great. This paper promotes the provision of interfaces that allow users to access most of the functionality of existing GUIs using speech. This has been achieved by the design of a speech control tool that incorporates speech recognition and synthesis into existing packaged software, such as Teletext, the Internet or a word processor. The tool developed has taken the menu structure as a means of demonstrating what is accessible by the use of speech input and output. The tool provides the facility to dump screen text into clipboard and read it out loud. Adapting existing GUI applications in this way requires successful integration of speech, which in turn requires a profound understanding of the medium and the development of human engineering techniques.