Constanta-Nicoleta Bodea

Educational recommender systems and their application in lifelong learning

ABSTRACT The almost unlimited access to educational information plethora came with a drawback: finding meaningful material is not a straightforward task anymore. Recommender algorithms can be used to make smart decisions in complex information systems and help the users decide upon useful materials; therefore, they become a promising area in academia and industry. The current paper presents a survey on educational recommender systems (RS): a set of analysis criteria are exposed and the technological specifications and challenges of each analysed system are provided, in the context of the main trends in the development of RS. Also, an ontology-based educational recommendation mechanism is proposed and its application to lifelong learning is highlighted, proving that RS can successfully support new learning paradigms.

Quality of Project Management Education and Training Programmes

This paper examines the factors that influence the quality of training and education on project management. The authors present the results of two questionnaire-based surveys. The goal of the first survey was to find what factors influence the quality of project management education, according to the perspective of trainers, professors, and training providers. The respondents included Chinese and European academics and professionals, such as project managers, software developers, financial managers and professors. The respondents were not only involved in project management training but also served as team members or team managers, thus ensuring a balanced overview of theoretical and practical issues. The goal of the second survey was to explore the definition “quality†to trainees and students. Although there were small differences of perspective, both trainers and trainees have the same approach toward a qualitative project management education.

Project Management Competences Development Using an Ontology-Based e-Learning Platform

The paper presents a web based learning environment in project management, capable of building and conducting a complete and personalized training cycle from the definition of the learning objectives to the assessment of the learning results for each learner. This paper focuses on the organization of the learning content according to the course ontology developed by the author.

IT Risk Evaluation Model Using Risk Maps and Fuzzy Inference

A risk evaluation model for IT projects using fuzzy inference is proposed. The knowledge base for fuzzy processes is built using a causal and cognitive map of risks. This map was specially developed for IT projects and takes into account the typical lifecycle and the risk taxonomy created by the Software Engineering Institute. The model was used to compute the technological risk of an e-testing project. This project was positioned on the middle level of the risk map, implying that the probability of encountering technological difficulties depends on the number of technologies used and their market maturity. A software system for validating the model was also developed.

The TRAVEE neuromotor rehabilitation system: In-vivo testing

The TRAVEE system is a Virtual Reality (VR) based system that will assist patients disabled as a result of a cerebrovascular accident as well as doctors, physicians and physiotherapists working alongside the patients toward the rehabilitation of their upper limbs. The system has been developed throughout the past two years and it has reached the state of the first in-vivo tests with the patients. The initial testing sessions were directed towards discovering any potential improvements that can be brought to the system regarding ease of use, comfort as well as performance and accuracy. The feedback received from the patients showed the great potential TRAVEE has in the field of rehabilitation as well as the openness of the patients towards a VR rehabilitation solution.

Designing an Innovative Training Tool: A Formative E-Assessment System for Project Management

Learning is the only way of developing the necessary competences in the new economy and e-learning is a strategic instrument in this process. E-learning platforms must not be just tools of content distribution of pedagogical resources and not taking into account the real interests of the learners: “...without personalization, e-learning is only ever going to be a generic mass produced experience and will tend towards a model of teaching that makes the computer a virtual lecturer, rather than a virtual personal tutor” (Ashman et al., 2009). In order to correct this drawback of e-learning, coming from the lack of personalization, researchers and educators try to use various methods: evolutionary algorithms, personalized e-testing rules, adaptive feedback or exploiting recommender engines, connected to learning applications. All these methods are briefly described in this paper, in the context of e-assessment in project management (PM) domain. The interest towards the eassessment services in e-learning environments is explained by the applicability of the eassessment in various types of education, from formal education, in schools and universities, to work-based education and preparation activities for obtaining professional certifications. The interest for the PM domain is explained by the strategic importance of project, as main form of organization in current economy.

Towards a Smart University through the Adoption of a Social e-Learning Platform to Increase Graduates’ Employability

The current paper proposes the improvement of the smart university model, defined as a set of highly technical interrelated elements, by implementing a social learning platform within the university ecology. This platform should permit the collaboration of various stakeholders – students, professors, university representatives and companies and should increase the visibility of the most meritorious graduates. In this paper, the research methodology applied to check the feasibility of the concept is presented, as well as the results obtained from the various structured interviews and online surveys conducted mainly in Danube Region countries.

Virtual environments for training visually impaired for a sensory substitution device

Virtual reality represents an emerging technology, which can be successfully used to develop training tools in many domains, such as military, space, education or healthcare. The current paper proposes a training strategy for a sensory substitution device in order to improve the ability of visually impaired people to be autonomous, thus to increase the quality of their lives. The core of the strategy is a highly interactive virtual training environment, composed of 3D scenes simulating both realistic and imaginary settings. The training is based on gamification principles, as the virtual environment is designed as a highly immersive serious game, with essential elements such as quests, rewards or increasing complexity of tasks which can maintain its users motivated and help them acquire useful day-to-day life skills. Also, a series of mini-games are available in the training environment, as repetitive actions can facilitate the improvement of specific skills. By using appropriate hardware equipment, the virtual training environment can be rendered to the visually impaired users through acoustic and haptic means. The paper presents our proposed training strategy based on virtual reality in the context of numerous challenges of offering efficient training experiences to users with special needs.

Multi-Agent based Model for e-Learning in Entrepreneurship

In the past decade, a lot of educational programs for entrepreneurship have shown an increased interest in competences development, using innovative learning approaches. Some of them are based on educational simulations. The increasing availability of the simulation platforms and access to them also contribute to the improvement of simulation in entrepreneurship education. The aim of this paper is to present an architectural model for e-learning in entrepreneurship using agent-paradigm based simulations. The architecture of the e-learning platform was defined using ARCHIMATE model and language. The business, information and technology levels were designed. The defined architecture model includes the most important structural elements and also the main dynamic elements of the e-learning platform, offering information about the development of the agent-based platform. Taking into account the proposed model, the authors identified further directions for development.

A Multi-Agent System for Acquiring Transport Services

The economic crisis and the increased business environment uncertainty have led to shrinking the business figures and adopting cost-cutting programs in many industries, which had affected the service acquisition procedures. Companies asking for transport services and, also, the service providers have been improving the planning and decision making processes, asking for software systems adapted to the new business models. The multi-agent systems (MAS) represent an adequate approach in addressing these rapidly changing business needs. The chapter presents a multi-agent system, named TranServ for transport services acquisition, developed by the authors, in line with several FIPA compliant standards. In order to justify the development solution, the authors analyze several MAS standards and methodologies. For designing the system, the MASA methodology is applied. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) tree algorithm is used to model the agents’ behavior. The implementation is done on JADE Platform. The authors will continue the development of the system, improving the auction algorithm and refining the criteria for choosing the best service offers.