Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

Evaluation of personalized information retrieval (IR) systems is challenged by the user effect, which is manifested in terms of users’ inconsistency in relevance judgment, ranking and relevance criteria usage. Two empirical studies on evaluating a personalized search engine were performed. Two types of relative measures computed with different mathematical formulae were compared. The ranking similarity and the randomness of relevance criteria usage were estimated. Results show some undesirable personalization effects. Implications for the future development and research of adaptive IR systems are discussed.

This paper describes a service-oriented approach for the integration of third-party external applications and resources into an existing open source e-Learning environment. We detail the architecture for creating customized learning environments composed of existing open source applications and systems. As a result, a Web services-oriented framework for e-Learning systems is proposed, providing a flexible integration model in which all the learning components and applications are loosely connected. Web services provide a suitable deployment environment to realize dynamic and interoperable e-Learning systems by facilitating application-to-application interaction.

Educational business games can be of a great help for initial and continuous learning, in the engineering field among others. These games have as major asset the possibility for learners to intervene or act as they wish. Nevertheless, there are numerous possible paths in such games. Designing the appropriate game structure and defining the optimum parameters so as to achieve the pedagogical objectives of business games are not straightforward. Presently, only users feedback allows the adjustments required and the appropriate structure modification needs to be identified. Waiting for feedback may take months and leave users a negative appreciation of the product. In this project, our aim is to conceive a “Simulator of Learners’ Behaviour” to ensure the pedagogical quality of educational games. In order to provide realistic players’ behaviours, mathematical and economical methods are used.

In this paper we present a mechanism that supports the generation and management of adaptive mobile learning systems. Such systems are accessed by students and teachers for the accomplishment of diverse individual or collaborative learning activities. The main aim is for the systems to suggest the most suitable activities to be tackled by a given user in a specific context (location, idle time, devices). The basis of this mechanism, as well as an example of the context-based adaptation carried out for three different users in a specific scenario, are presented.

The generalization of game-based Learning Objects as serious learning material requires their integration into pre-existing e-learning infrastructure (systems and courses) and the inclusion of gameplay-aware assessment procedures. In this paper, we propose an approach to the production and development of educational graphic adventure videogames that can be deployed as normal Learning Objects in a Learning Management System. The deployment is carried out using a game engine that includes a built-in assessment mechanism that can trace and report the activities of the learner while playing the game.

Recent strategies in the European Union encourage educational styles which promote the development of attitudes and skills as a basis for knowledge construction. The question is whether technology-enhanced settings have the potential to support such educational styles. The Person-Centered Approach, developed by the American psychologist Carl Rogers and adapted in several innovative educational settings holds great promise in promoting experiential, whole person learning. In this paper we illustrate technology-enhanced, person-centered education by describing two course settings and scenarios in which we emphasize, respectively, constructive, interpersonal attitudes and soft skills in the context of project management. As a result of each of the two courses students stated that they had learned significantly on the level of attitudes and soft skills. They considered exchange and discussion with colleagues and active participation during the course as the top factors from which they benefited. Furthermore, the majority of students felt that it was easier for them to work in teams and to establish social relationships in the two courses presented in this article than in traditional courses.

Community Health Post workers are mainly registered nurses. They provide first-level primary health care to the numerous underserved rural communities in Korea. The primary goal of our project is to provide technological foundation for the community health practitioners to form a virtual community that collaboratively solves problems and learns to improve their patient caring and treatment skills. The main enabling technology is a collaboratively maintained knowledge management system, which assists the community health practitioners to make appropriate diagnoses and also to determine the corresponding expected outcomes and interventions to perform given the patient’s symptoms. The knowledge management system includes a knowledge base, which is converted from the standardized nursing process guidelines. In addition, the knowledge management system is also used as a case retrieval system so that the community health practitioners can compare the current case in progress with the similar prior cases. We have developed a prototype system and finished a preliminary evaluation of the system.

The aim of this paper is to provide insight in the important role simulation technologies can play in the context of effective business process-oriented learning. The gap between business processes and HR carrying out concrete tasks could be bridged by integrating knowledge management and learning needs with respect to business processes. First, the importance between business processes, learning and simulations is illustrated. Second, simulations and their impact for company efficiency is outlined. Third, the benefits of the PROLIX e-simulation are described according to specific requirements out of a business process perspective. A company case study is also presented. The conclusion is that decision support for management under specific performance conditions and the learning environment itself are key elements that contemporary e-simulations bring together for the benefit of work performance and effectiveness as well as efficiency of companies.

The creation of didactic materials is a complex task that needs an effective support for all practitioners involved in such process. This is the goal of the MD2 method presented in this paper. We propose the MD2 model to describe didactic materials requirements like its contents, pedagogical, technical and quality features. The rationale is to use some of those descriptors to provide mapping from high level technical descriptions of learning technology standards to simpler and closer descriptions to practitioners about material requirements. Those model mappings are used as foundation of MD2 creation method, and we show how they can guide the selection and composition phases of creation. By other side, another set of MD2 descriptors are used in the evaluation phase to control the usability and quality of the obtained material. A log of the whole process including the values of all model elements and the material’s design rationales will be stored as extended semantic annotation. Thus, important properties of the created material like its interoperability, accessibility and reusability will be ensured.

Computer supported learning systems such as Intelligent Tutoring Systems, web-based learning systems, etc. gather data from students’ interaction. Teachers and students may find useful a medium to inspect information of students and student groups in an intuitive way. This paper presents DynMap+, an approach to generate and visualize Group Student Models generated from data gathered by a computer supported learning system. DynMap+ represents student models graphically by means of Concept Maps. Some graphical resources are used to highlight important data. The use of those resources allows DynMap+ to provide users (e.g. teachers) with a viewpoint that helps him/her to make decisions in order to improve the students learning process. The generated group student models record not only the last state of knowledge of the students but also their evolution during the learning sessions. As the knowledge of the students change over time, the updating of those models is also considered.