Maria-Iuliana Dascalu

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.

Mixed reality to support new learning paradigms

Mixed reality (MR) concepts gained significant importance in recent years, tending to be more and more domain-specific. The current paper presents a survey on MR educational applications and debates whether they are suitable or not to support several new learning paradigms. The technological specifications and challenges of each analyzed application are provided, in the context of current trends of MR and technological developments. Among others, the innovative criterion of virtual-real merging degree is introduced. Also, the benefits and drawbacks of exploiting MR to implement such paradigms are underlined.

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.

Enhancing Employability Through e-Learning Communities: From Myth to Reality

The paper presents a tool which can be used to prove the correlation between social learning and employability. The tool aims to facilitate adults’ leap toward a better professional life and gives them the opportunity to find meaningful professional e-communities, in which they can learn from their peers. In the same time, during learning within platform communities, users’ professional visibility is enhanced, as exceptional behavior within those communities is rewarded by recommending them to job recruiters who seek competent workers. The proposed learning instrument is highly suitable for today’s social and cultural values and is based on latest technologies: semantic Web, recommender agents, ontologies, and social network connectors.

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.

Patient autonomy and disclosure of material information about hospital-acquired infections

Hospital-acquired infections are nowadays a major health care problem worldwide. The morbidity and mortality associated with them are highest in intensive care units, but their effects are identifiable in virtually any medical department. Information about hospital-acquired infections, especially about their preventive measures, are rarely presented nowadays in a correct fashion to patients. This article aims to present, in a structured manner, the theoretical and practical aspects related to disclosure of hospital-acquired infections–related information to patients and its importance in preventing their spread. We will analyze both the conceptual framework for disclosing medical information related to nosocomial infections (autonomy, veracity, social justice, the principle of double effect, the precautionary principle, and nonmaleficence) and the practicalities regarding the disclosure of proper information to patients.

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.

A Survey on Social Learning Analytics: Applications, Challenges and Importance

The current paper debates upon the importance of learning analytics, by underlining its place in current research directions and its influence in reshaping education with the aid of cutting-edge technologies. Definitions, successful examples of learning analytics tools, as well as the challenges of implementing them are revised. A special attention is awarded to learning analytics performed in social learning environments, due to their popularity and well-established value. In order to investigate the importance of learning analytics to end-users (students and teachers), a survey based on two questionnaires was performed and revealed the fact that advanced learning analytics features are highly requested in online environments. The questionnaires were filled by 59 IT teachers and more than 390 IT students, from various countries, fact that demonstrates the global significance of the study. Also, a model of developing a feasible social learning solution with learning analytics features is proposed, shaping thus the feature research directions.