Cyrille Desmoulins

Pattern-based annotations on E-books: from personal to shared didactic content

Our research aims at defining models and software tools in order to provide learners with a training memory. This memory is a computer-based space where a learner can organize and manage the annotations he adds to his training documents. Following a literature review and after our first experiments, we set the specifications of the basic concepts: didactic annotations and e-books. This review enlightened the fact that the crucial issue is to solve the paradox that people use personal annotation visual forms whereas they have the same annotating objectives within their community. Our proposition is to provide learners with annotation patterns combining personal annotation visual forms and sharable annotation content. This annotation pattern model is based on ontologies structuring annotations content, particularly the didactic objectives. We are currently implementing these models on e-books on which usability and learning efficiency could more easily be obtained because of their properties (bare-handed interaction and mobility).

Cross-Curriculum Search for Intergeo

Intergeo is a European project dedicated to the sharing of interactive geometry constructions. This project is setting up an annotation and search web platform which will offer and provide access to thousands of interactive geometry constructions and resources using them. The search platform should cross the boundaries of the curriculum standards of Europe. A topics and competency based approach to retrieval for interactive geometry with designation of the semantic entities has been adopted: it requests the contributor of an interactive geometry resource to input the competencies and topics involved in a construction, and allows the searcher to find it by the input of competencies and topics close to them; both rely on plain-text-input. This paper describes the current prototypes, the input-methods, the workflows used, and the integration into the Intergeo platform.

MemoNote, a context-aware annotation tool for teachers

The objective of this article is to study and model the annotation context, to be used as a basis to design context- aware annotation functionalities dedicated to the teacher into the MemoNote tool. MemoNote tool is a semantic and personal annotation tool dedicated to teachers,. Starting from a specification of context and more precisely annotation context, we define how to capture it from elements of the teaching situation and to model it with ontologies. Annotation context can then be used by the two MemoNote annotation functionalities, manual annotation and pattern-based annotation.. It is done by selecting a set of ontologies and patterns suited for the current context.

Macro-Definitions, a Basic Component for Interoperability between ILEs at the Knowledge Level: Application to Geometry

Within a given domain, a significant number of Interactive Learning Environments (ILEs) have been developed during the last decade, but they can not interoperate because of incompatible hardware, operating systems or knowledge representations. Our research aims at defining principles and models for interoperation between ILEs. In this paper we focus on the knowledge level. Our goal is to present a general framework for domain knowledge translation, using what we call macro-definitions. They allow us to specify a general translator for a given domain. After analysing principles used in ad hoc approaches, we provide a formal definition of the macro-definition concept and we demonstrate that it meets our goals. We illustrate the ease of the implementation of this concept with the example of interoperation between two ILEs in the geometry domain, TALC and MENTONIEZH.

Context-Aware annotation patterns for teachers

The semantic annotation tool MemoNote [1] dedicated to teacher enables teacher to annotate digital documents with his own comments and point of view as on paper. The annotations created in the tool have an explicit semantics for both teacher and machine. To assist the teacher to rapidly and fluently create these semantic annotations, the tool provides him with annotation patterns facility. However, the same teacher during his/her activity can work in different contexts, where he/she annotates differently, using a specific group of patterns in each specific context. Consequently MemoNote has to be context-aware in order to adapt to each teachers context situation. This article studies and models the annotation context, in order to design context-aware annotation patterns dedicated to teachers.

Taking teaching context into account for semantic annotation patterns

In this article, starting from MemoNote pattern functionalities enabling teacher to memorize semantic and personal annotations, our objective is to extend them with context-aware capabilities. MemoNote uses annotation patterns to deduce annotation semantics from the form chosen by the teacher. We specify the annotation context, its capture from elements of the teaching situation and we model it with ontologies. Annotation context model is then directly integrated into the previous pattern formalism in MemoNote, in order to obtain context-aware pattern. Therefore, MemoNote can deduce annotation semantics from the annotation form depending on the current context.