Apologies for cross posting
Please forward it to whoever may be interested
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New formal discussion is starting on 26 October in IFETS forum
on the topic:
"The role of student knowledge in the design of computer-based
learning environments"
Moderator and Summariser: John Eklund
Lecturer, The University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
(Pre-discussion summary below)
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* Pre-discussion summary
"The role of student knowledge in the design of computer-based
learning environments"
This discussion centres on a number of points made in a recent
conference paper by John Eklund (The University of Technology,
Sydney) and Peter Brusilovsky (Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburg).
Firstly, teaching and learning are knowledge-based endeavours. As
teachers we deliver knowledge, we encourage its active construction
by offering information and resources in structured ways. The knowledge
that is embodied in the teaching process consists of a knowledge of the
domain, of strategies and of students. Student knowledge is critical for
individualising the instructional process, and it often makes the
difference between an experienced teacher and a novice. Experienced
teachers have well-developed 'student-models', both for individuals and
classes. They keep these as mental models, records of achievement, or
student profiles. They are constantly updated as the teacher interacts
with the students, and are used to select appropriate domain knowledge and
teaching strategies. Experienced teachers balance student, domain and
strategic knowledge.
This simple model of teaching knowledge has been the basis for the design
of intelligent tutoring systems since the late 1970s. Current applications
of multimedia to education provide highly interactive and engaging
environments, using techniques such as strong metaphor, simulation, and
game playing to hold the interest of the learner. However, they generally
remain as ignorant of the individual learner as the most simplistic tutorial
software of the 1980s. Multimedia and web-based instruction are increasingly
being used to augment and in some cases replace face to face instruction in
the context of the flexible delivery of courses. Because of the lack of a
student model, of any student knowledge in the system, these tools are
defined as learning environments, not teaching environments. Yet they are
increasingly being used to replace teaching.
Adaptive systems are hypermedia-based learning environments which are
capable of altering some part of the instructional process on an individual
basis by the use of individual student models. The paper introduces the
notion of adaptivity in learning environments, and in particular examines
the InterBook tool for authroing and delivering adaptive electronic
textbooks. These offer adaptive navigation support through the annotation
of links. The argument is that, in a climate of increasing use of
technology to replace tradition forms of instruction, adaptive systems may
be able to individualise the instructional process to some extent to account
for individual learner knowledge, preferences and cognitive abilities.
More details and link to background conference paper to the discussion
are available at forum website:
http://zeus.gmd.de/ifets/
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Rossen Rashev E-mail:
Rossen.Rashev@gmd.de http://zeus.gmd.de/hci/pages/rossen.rashev.html Phone: +49 2241 14 28 70, FAX +49 2241 14 20 65
GMD FIT Forschungszentrum Informationstechnik GmbH
German National Research Center for Information Technology
D-53754 Sankt Augustin, GERMANY (near Bonn)