Pierpaolo Di Bitonto

A recommendation method for e-learning environments: the rule-based technique

The ever growing importance of e-learning over the last decade has triggered an explosion of resources available on the Web. Although this multiplicity of available resources can foster the development of a critical spirit, discernment and the student’s ability to weigh up the merits of different points of view, it can also induce disorientation in the search for the resources best suited to her/his needs and learning style. This issue has driven research into recommendation systems, already well known in fields such as e-commerce, applied to e-learning environments. However, in such environments the recommendations can only be efficacious if the system is able to deal with the many different factors involved in the learning process, such as the learning goal and the student’s cognitive features. This work proposes a recommendation strategy that combines, by adopting a hybrid cascade approach, two knowledge-based techniques that can take these factors into account in the recommendation process.

Automated generation of itineraries in recommender systems for tourism

Current recommender systems can support tourists in choosing travel products (accommodation, activities, means of transport, etc.), in planning long trips, and in profitably spending time in a specific geographical area such as a region (or a city). In the last case, the system should be able to construct itineraries suited to the tourists interests. In this paper, a method for generating tourist itineraries in knowledge-based recommender systems is proposed. The method is based on a theoretical model that defines space-time relations among items of intangible cultural heritage (called events) and on transitive closure computation (of the relations), that is able to construct chains of events. The proposed method has been implemented in the T-Path recommender system, that suggests itineraries of cultural events occurring in the Apulia region.

Digitally enhanced assessment in virtual learning environments

One of the main challenges in teaching and learning activities is the assessment: it allows teachers and learners to improve the future activities on the basis of the previous ones. It allows a deep analysis and understanding of the whole learning process. This is particularly difficult in virtual learning environments where a general overview is not always available. In the latest years, Learning Analytics are becoming the most popular methods to analyze the data collected in the learning environments in order to support teachers and learners in the complex process of learning. If they are properly integrated in learning activities, indeed, they can supply useful information to adapt the activities on the basis of students needs. In this context, the paper presents a solution for the digitally enhanced assessment. Two different Learning Dashboards have been designed in order to represent the most interesting Learning Analytics aiming at providing teachers and learners with easy understandable view of learning data in virtual learning environments.

Smart Learning Environments Using Social Network, Gamification and Recommender System Approaches in e-Health Contexts

The fundamental role that ICT plays in the process of modernization of education and training, whether in formal or informal, is now universally recognized. The lifelong learning become increasingly urgent in many areas such as, for example, adult education, innovation and learning in the workplaces, health & wellbeing, cultural heritage, and so on. This requires the creation of learning paths cantered on the specific needs of the individual, for the development of skills and abilities as well as for the acquisition of content. Re-inventing the ecosystem training and re-strengthen the teaching and learning in the digital age, through practices more open and innovative in order to create learning experiences richer, engaging and motivating, is a priority. The article presents some solutions of smart learning environment in e-health domain that combines pedagogical approaches of social learning and game-based learning with technological approaches of the social network and recommender systems in order to provide engaging learning experiences.

A model for generating tourist itineraries

A challenge in the recommender systems currently available for the tourism domain is how to suggest tourist itineraries in a specific geographical area (city or region). The proposed theoretical model allows items of intangible cultural heritage (events) such as processions, festivals, special markets, etc. to be characterized and correlated. The model features both a set of functions characterizing the events and a space-time relation that defines whether two events are correlated. The model allows itineraries to be constructed by computing the transitive closure of the space-time relation on the set of events. It can be used to construct itineraries at different grain sizes. This capacity makes the model scalable and easily applicable in the development of several applications. It has been implemented in a first order logic knowledge base in order to make an empirical evaluation of the model.

Social, constructivist and informal learning processes: together on the Edge for designing digital game-based learning environments

The theoretical conceptions of game-based learning are different from those of traditional instruction. Indeed, the classical approaches of needs and task analysis seem to be not appropriate for designing digital serious games as computer-supported collaborative learning environments. This paper aimed at arguing that social, constructivist and informal learning processes provided accurate frameworks for analyzing needs, activities, and outcomes for designing digital serious games. After focusing on the epistemic assumptions of such theoretical frameworks, this paper described the digital serious game Cibopolis as case study, able to grasp different learning processes, involving players as learners in collaborative participation and knowledge building on nutrition and healthy lifestyle. Especially, the context, the training goal, the adopted learning solutions and the main features of the designed Cibopolis game were specified. Then, the results of the pilot test involving young learners (N=65; Range of Age=14-32 years old) was briefly reported. Specifically, it was pointed out how learners perceived the Cibopolis game in term of usability and engagement. To conclude, some relevant theoretical issues concerning digital game-based learning environments and practical implications that could support IT professionals – such as, instructional designers, developers, web designers, and so on – were highlighted.

Adaptive E-Learning Environments: Research Dimensions and Technological Approaches

One of the most closely investigated topics in e-learning research has always been the effectiveness of adaptive learning environments. The technological evolutions that have dramatically changed the educational world in the last six decades have allowed ever more advanced and smarter solutions to be proposed. The focus of this paper is to depict the three main dimensions that have driven research in the e-learning field and the evolution of the technological approaches adopted for the purposes of building advanced educational environments for distance learning. Then, the three different approaches adopted by the authors are discussed; these consist of a multi-agent system, an adaptive SCORM compliant package and an e-learning recommender system.

A recommendation system to promote local cultural heritage

The value of cultural heritage is widely recognised both at national and international level, because it allows the cultural roots, memories and identity of a territory to be discovered. For this reason it is not limited to historic sites, monuments or churches, but must necessarily include a knowledge of the traditions, legends and religious rites which are part of the culture of a place. Web portals for the promotion of tourism usually offer information limited to only one category of items and this information is not sufficient to gain a deeper knowledge of a place or event. Moreover, it is rare to find on the Net solutions that are able to support teachers choosing the sites to be visited in an educational tour. The paper describes a recommender system for cultural heritage that is able to support both tourists and teachers selecting items (tangible or intangible) to visit, and that is able to offer in-depth material, selected according to the interests of the target users, that can consolidate the knowledge of the places visited. The main features of the system are: the use of a user-centred and collaborative approach to promote knowledge; a set of metadata that allows the resources to be contextualised in the culture of a territory; the use of a recommender method that takes into account the user’s preferences, multi-criteria user feedbacks and the semantic relationships among the items.

Adapting SCORM Compliant LOs in a Knowledge Engineering Scenario

The success of communities generally implies both growth of the participants and thus of their contributions, and an increasing array of services offered. For this reason, it is often difficult for new users to fully understand the potential of the community, while for expert users it becomes difficult both to manage the resources available in an effective and efficacious way, and to keep track of the expansion of the community. In order to overcome this problem it is necessary to provide the user with some teaching about the changes occurring in the community. The present paper focuses on the problem of personalising such teaching, tailoring it to the users cognitive and learning styles in order to supply the didactic material in the form best suited to the user, and thus facilitate learning of the knowledge sharing environment. Tailoring the teaching strategy is an innovative issue in the context of knowledge sharing communities.

Formative evaluation of a didactic software for acquiring problem solving abilities using Prolog

Informatics has permeated the educational environments at all levels. In Italian primary schools Informatics teachers present the computer and how it works rather than the programming languages. At present, there is a deep debate about the use of programming languages and, in particular, logic programming in the primary school. On the basis of these premises, the paper presents a didactic software, named KidsPro, addressed to pupils attending fifth-grade of primary school. It aims at improving the user problem solving abilities using Prolog. In order to build an effective and efficient software the User-Centred Design approach was used and the paper presents the results of the formative evaluation performed. The results of this pilot study will be used in the further implementation of the software.