Ricardo José Rocha Amorim

On the use of an IMS LD ontology for creating and executing Units of Learning: Application to the Astronomy case study

This paper describes how the Astronomy case study is modelled, created and executed, using a IMS LD ontology. The ontology was aimed at overcoming the expressiveness limitations of the IMS LD XML Schema by means of a taxonomy of concepts and a set of formally defined axioms. With regard to the authoring (creation) stage, the ontology has been used to enable the automatic validation of IMS LD documents in WebLD, a web authoring tool to create IMS LD Units of Learning. With regard to the execution stage, a service-oriented architecture was developed to allow the execution of IMS LD Units of Learning, whose learning processes have been modelled through Petri Nets. Editors: Laurence Vignollet (Universite de Savoie, France)

Study of communication in a multi-agent system for collaborative learning scenarios

We present a multi-agent system (MAS) communication protocol for an intelligent learning management system that provides, among others, collaborative services. The motivation behind this study stems from the need to enhance the possibilities of the current software architecture of the EUME project. Our aim is to improve intelligent resource management and communication efficiency. Our approach consists of applying the FIPA agent paradigm to the entire architecture, thus coming up with a fully multi-agent system. To show how the new system works, we also provide a study of communications in a number of typical collaborative scenarios.

WebLD: A Web Portal to Design IMS LD Units of Learning

This paper presents WebLD, a web authoring tool to create units of learning following the IMS Learning Design (IMS LD) specification. WebLD presents two main features that distinguish it from other tools: (1) it is a Web application, therefore available anytime, anywhere from the Internet, and (2) it includes semantic technology, based on our IMS LD ontology, that enables the automatic validation of IMS LD documents.

A multi-tiered agent-based architecture for a cooperative learning environment

In this paper the problem of educational resource management in a cooperative learning environment is discussed. A task model was elaborated to determine both functional and level-of-service requirements. Among the former we salient: (1) the remote control of classroom hardware devices, and (2) the accessibility to course materials. Among the later we emphasize scalability, extensibility and reliability. A multi-tiered agent-based software architecture is proposed and a distributed deployment is presented in order to satisfy all the requirements. High-level resource management services are the key components that distinguish our architecture from others as well as prepare the proposed system for future evolution.

SmartLAK: A big data architecture for supporting learning analytics services

In this paper, we present a big data software architecture that uses an ontology, based on the Experience API specification, to semantically represent the data streams generated by the learners when they undertake the learning activities of a course, e.g., in a course. These data are stored in a RDF database to provide a high performance access so learning analytics services can process the large amount of data generated in a virtual learning environment. These services provide valuable information to teachers and instructors such as predict the learners performance, discover the real learning paths, extract the learners behavior patterns and so on. The proposed architecture has been validated in the Educational Technology undergraduate course of the Degree in Pedagogy at the Faculty of Education of the University of Santiago de Compostela.

Semantic Modeling of the IMS LD Level B Specification

This paper presents an ontology describing the semantics of the level B of the IMS Learning Design specification. The motivation for this work comes from the need (1) to improve the semantic description of Units of Learning (UoL) based on IMS LD, and (2) to overcome the limitations of UoLs merely described by the IMS LD level A. The ontology includes a taxonomy of concepts and a set of axioms formalized in first order logic. It was represented in F-Logic and OWL.

Modelling and Implementation of the Astronomy Case Study with an IMS-LD Ontology

This paper describes how the Astronomy case study is modelled and implemented using a IMS-LD ontology.

Effectiveness of practices with sensors in engaging in meaningful learning in higher education: Extending a framework of ubiquitous learning

This paper aims to specify strategies for learning scenarios that incorporate ubiquitous features to support pedagogical practice. Thus, the development aims to verify if the resources of technology with context awareness promote significant changes in teaching practice, and can impact positively or not the effectiveness of learning and engagement of learners. In this regard, a reference ubiquitous environment called Youubi was used to support learning activities based on context. It consists of a framework of services that are easily integrated from applications in API format. In order to achieve the objectives of this research, the proposed method consists of three (03) phases. The first phase was a systematic review of the ubiquitous learning environments in order to identify which architectural features and their learning processes are used in learning scenarios based on the context. In the second phase an installation designed with the Youubi ubiquitous environment proposed a learning scenarios and new pedagogical practice for teachers in higher education. The third stage will be the design of high fidelity of ubiquitous learning scenarios prototype. After that, the actions will consist in validating the ubiquitous learning scenarios. In this paper we present the results of the systematic literature review. From these outcomes, we will generate pedagogical strategies for ubiquitous learning scenarios. These may also be used as recommendations to improve of current ubiquitous learning environments as well as the design of the Youubi environments.

Using Ontologies to Model and Execute IMS Learning Design Documents

This paper briefly describes how ontologies can be used to model, validate and execute IMS Learning Design. The main contribution relies on incorporate the implicit knowledge found on the IMS LD specification in terms of formal axioms.

The problem of LD execution and the need for an IMS LD level b ontology

This paper presents an ontology describing the semantics of the level B of the IMS Learning Design specification. The ontology is aimed at supporting intelligent agents to automate the tasks involved during the execution of IMS LD documents. The work includes a taxonomy of concepts, a set of axioms formalized in first order logic, and a case study. The ontology was built with Protege, represented in OWL, and finally translated in XML Schema for validation with the Reload tool.