Miguel Rodríguez-Artacho

The UNED's interoperable virtual campus service management architecture

The creation and maintenance of a virtual campus is a task that not only implies the deployment of sophisticated hardware and software but also requires considerable effort in the integration of the main university management systems with the chosen teaching tools present in the campus. Such integration requires the definition of a range of services tailored for the different user profiles. Hence, it has been necessary to develop a management environment for the virtual campus that enables it to be manipulated and controlled in an efficient manner where new services (above and beyond the basic e-Learning platform tools) can be integrated in a seamless fashion. The implementation of these services should guarantee a large degree of interoperability among virtual learning environments, VLEs and tools. To this end, some of these services have been implemented using the IMS Enterprise standard. This standard essentially contributes to the organization of a given e-Learning platform in terms of users, courses and roles therein; leaving to one side the formalization of other services more specific to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) together with the current technological framework.

Towards a model of Collaborative Support for Distance Learners to Perform Joint Tasks

This paper describes the design and implementation of a prototype to support collaborative learning. It is part of a larger effort dealing with the study of mechanisms of cooperation and collaboration between distance learners while performing joint tasks involving complex interactions. The final goal of the project is to produce a conceptual model and a tailorable system for describing a variety of collaborative distance learning scenarios providing active group support. A first web-based prototype integrating private and shared workspaces has been implemented, and a testbed carried out with graduate students. The learning scenario and the collaborative facilities offered by the system are presented.

Using Collaborative Concept Maps for Coordination and Knowledge-sharing in Learning Communities for Science

Concept maps are commonly used as knowledge representation mechanisms to classify a given domain in the scope of a constructivist knowledge building process. In this paper we carry out social constructivist learning experiences using concept maps as a collaborative knowledge-sharing tool with applications in the coordination of virtual communities for learning. In our experiment, the community studies an environmental area-theoretically and in-situ, collects data from a variety of experiments and makes a representation of it. Then, they build a common concept map representing their understanding of this area using a set of tools developed ad-hoc and integrated by a metamodel wrapping approach. Finally, they complete it linking their node with the collected information as a way to organize and to navigate through the different pieces of knowledge that they have been accumulating during several fieldtrips.

Providing instructional layers of abstraction in authoring tools for engineering education content

In the context of the authoring process of educational material in e-learning, the notion of learning specification has been considered the fundamental step for the development of an e-learning industry, based on reusability and interoperability of interchangeable components. However, when considering authoring based on instructional and pedagogical aspects, it is necessary to avoid being driven by LT specifications, and better rely on an abstract reference model based on instructional semantics. This paper proposes this instructional layer stack to provide independence from content specification in the authoring process and develop an authoring tool based on it with exporting capabilities to IMS specifications.

Instructional Theories to Model Educational Content: A Case Study

This paper describes an experience to apply instructional design theories using formal specifications to model educational content. Our aim is to extend learning content specifications to cover instructional theories in the current trend of learning technologies standards to provide a formalization framework for templates and instructional patterns. We use LODAS (Learning Object Design and Sequencing Theory) to define the theoretical instructional framework in combination with PALO modelling language. LODAS use Learning Objects and provides instructional methods to create and apply them within sequencing and classification models. PALO is a formal specification to model educational material based on instructional templates and ontology-based repositories of Learning Objects. Our work shows a case study to use PALO formal specification to provide instructional templates based on LODAS methods that could be incorporated into an authoring tool.

A framework for helping developers in the integration of external tools into virtual learning environments

In this paper we present a lightweight abstract framework to help developers to integrate tools into a learning environment. This approach is based on an abstract declarative layer and an integration library. The proposal follows the cloud computing paradigm, defining and storing the different integration models remotely. Finally, the proposed integration framework has been successfully used for integrating a tool called JBraindead into a real educational web environment. This integration showed how developers reduced the coding time, due to the fact that they did not have to deal with e-Learning standards and techniques and could focus on coding the own tool.

Ubiquitous anotation and a collaborative open mobile augmented reality

Mobile learning is impacting education using different technologies and methodologies. This article introduces two relevant learning experiences at UNED where new mobile technologies and pedagogical methodologies were applied. The first experience was based on a ubiquitous annotation system, while the second one used augmented reality to create an engaging mobile collaborative and open environment where students were learners and teachers at the same time, publishing content and learning from the content published by other peers.

An application for the collaborative development of semantic content

This paper shows an approach to build communities of students working collaboratively to create educational content. We present an evaluation of the usability of a customized semantic environment and show how it interacts with a semantic wiki-based approach. Additionally, a proposal for a manageable hybrid methodology for the creation of ontologies is given. The result is a tool: OntoWikiUTPL and SemanticWikiUTPL, which allows the academic community to create semantic content. Thus, it is an interesting step toward innovation in interactive educational projects and collaborative activities in the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL).

An adaptive multi-agent based architecture for engineering education

This paper proposes an agent-based adaptive Architecture to extend Moodle in order to support instructional decisions and adaptive behaviour in engineering education. The paper describes the characteristics, functions, and interactions of the agents which take part in each module of the adaptive architecture. In addition, we describe the origin and function of ToDei, the proposed intelligent agent for Instructional Decisions Making. This agent is in charge of collecting information generated by the rest of agents and deciding what is best for the final users, tutors and students, taking into account their attitudes towards the learning environment.

Enhancing authoring, modelling and collaboration in e-learning environments: UNED research outline in the context of E-Madrid excellence network

In the last years, authoring based on e-learning standards has been consolidated as a core factor of industry and development of interoperable and effective virtual learning environments. However, there is a need for further research on abstraction to provide a more instructional view in the context of authoring tools in a variety of ways, in order to avoid being driven by Learning Technology (LT) specifications, facilitate instructional knowledge aggregation, and to provide an appropriate level of clarity and semantics in the design of collaborative activities. We propose a combination of techniques to provide this instructional abstraction in the context of the new European educational model, combining instructional layers and collaborative scripts in authoring tools, and semantic web techniques for extending e-learning material in order to harness the wealth of existing web content and semantically labeled repositories.