E-Learning Ireland TEchnology (ELITE) Project
ELITE was a 3 year, $5 million research project funded by
Irish Learning Alliance (ILA) members and
Enterprise Ireland. It harnessed core NUIG research along with emerging
semantic technologies being developed by DERI to advance the technical and market
needs of Irish e-learning companies. The project included Electric Paper, ThirdForce,
WBT Systems, InnerWorkings, PulseLearning, Interactive Services, Servecast and Intuition.
The project was led by Bill McDaniel from the eLearning cluster at DERI, with research
being led by Stefan Decker and Sebastian Kruk of DERI, Peter Corcoran of the Department
of Electronic Engineering, and Willie Golden of the Department of Management.
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Role:
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PhD Researcher, Sofware Engineer
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Time on project:
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February 2007 - August 2008
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Harnessing the Next Generation Internet for Learning
The latest Internet technologies, which many describe using the 'catch-all' banner
of Web 2.0, have introduced a whole new way of communicating and collaborating online.
The research teams working with the ILA are also specialists in the emerging Internet
technology known as the Semantic Web – this significant body of research is aiming
to add an additional layer of ‘meaning’ to data stored on the Internet thereby making
it easier for people to find the information they want and in the most appropriate
format. A semantically powered ELITE platform would also have a greater understanding
of the learner, their preferences and their particular context at any given time
- thereby providing more accurate personalization options.
Evolving from leading research into both Web 2.0 and the emerging Semantic Web,
key features of ELITE research are:
- Web-service solutions - aids integration and maintenance of learning content within
existing systems
- Desktop Learning Widget - embedding learning in the digital workflow
- Personalized learning - based on improved knowledge of user and content
- Digital Rights Management - allowing more flexible delivery and pricing of learning
content
- Peer-to-Peer - cost effective delivery of rich-media
- Multi-platform delivery
- automated synchronization of content and tracking on mobile devices etc
- Communities of practice - connecting people with the right resources to solve their
problem
- Incorporating ‘social’ learning - blend informal and social learning tools into
'traditional' e-Learning platforms
- Real-time monitoring for online 'coach' -
dashboard view of social learning activity alongside formal records
- Transferable Profiles - online profile with learning and education records that
can move with the learner
The combination of these Web 2.0 technologies with the emerging Semantic Web forms
a key part of the ELITE vision - which aims to achieve the universal goal within
the Learning industry of being able to deliver the right content, in the right place
and at the right time.
Didaskon - Semantic e-Learning Framework
In the ELITE project I was responsible for the Didaskon subproject.
Didaskon is a framework for automated composition of a learning path for a student.
The selection and workflow scheduling of learning objects is based on their description,
semantically annotated specification of user profiles, anticipated knowledge after
course completion, and technical details of the client's platform. Our framework
was designed for composing an on-demand curriculum from existing learning objects
provided by e-Learning services (formal learning). It also derives from Social Semantic
Information Sources like blogs, wikis, etc.
In this report I describe the Didaskon algorithm. The document delivers detailed
specification of HTN Planning and its use in course generation. It is based mostly
on work done by Carsten Ullrich in his Dissertation: "Course Generation as a Hierarchical
Task Network Planning Problem".
The following projects are beeing developed within Didaskon initiative:
- IKHarvester (Informal Knowledge Harvester)
- provides Didaskon with Learning Objects (LOs) described with LOM standard. These
LOs are created from Social Semantic Information Sources. IKHarvester is also a
part of notitio.us project.
- LOstRepository (Learning Object Repository) - system designed to store Learning Objects. The application
offers functionality to upload well organized (according to the SCORM standard) Learning
Objects, browse through them, and what is most important: acquire them – thanks
to Web Services technology.
- SemPerKit - Semantic Personal Web Site Starter Kit; extended MS Starter Kit - it
provides additional functionality for blogging; user profile is stored in FOAF/DOAC ontology
(see SemPerKit on SourceForge).
Acknowledgments
The work on Didaskon has been supported by Enterprise Ireland under Grant No. ILP/05/203
and Science Foundation Ireland Grant No. SFI/02/CE1/I131.