Social Insect-inspired e-Learning: Open Research Questions

This chapter presents an innovative description of the Jigsaw collaboration method, in the form of an online, adaptive collaborative design-pattern that has been constructed taking into account adaptation techniques, within the context of open-source learning design-based environments such as LAMS. This method is described with special reference to the learning of essential issues in Computer Science and especially in the area of programming languages. These issues in-clude an understanding of: (a) basic elements of structured programming lan-guages, (b) the rapid evolution of the area of programming languages, (c) the learning of programming languages’ levels and techniques. The innovative de-scription of the Jigsaw collaborative method within LAMS is based on the fact that: (a) the tasks assigned to the expert groups consist of investigation of real world scenarios and not merely the study of learning material as is usually pro-posed, (b) adaptive techniques are integrated with the method and (c) for the de-sign of the collaborative learning activity, an intuitive learning design tool like LAMS is used.

2011

This work is focused on retrieving information from Web, which represents the biggest source of information that could be used by human. In the process of retrieving useful information, new approaches have been established by using different principles and theories. Methods of solving problems inspired by nature or biologically are used in Informatics quite frequently. Their potential is confirmed in proposing new and making the well-known methods of solving various kinds of problems more effective. Inspired by social insect’s behaviour and building upon an analysis of related works, we proposed in our work an upgrading of a chosen bee hive model used for retrieving information. The implemented model represents a multiagent system, which uses a bee as a thematic agent for retrieving information from Web. In our work we used an adapted model in order to follow (trace) a story that is developing on the Web that represents a new approach in retrieving information. In this case the time...

Diseña, Chile, 2018

Diseña, 2018 [EN] I discuss the Architecture Design Studio Course held in 2014/15 and in 2016/17 around the topic of lifestyle migration in the changing coastal landscapes of the Mediterranean. Starting with my own experience as a student, influenced by STS concepts and the debates in the School of Architecture in Alicante, Spain, I show the limits of ANT’s (actor-network theory) extensive descriptions as a tools for teaching and learning design and, at the same time, the role they can have in stretching what architecture can be once it is connected to contemporary issues. These courses have allowed us to re-imagine, together, the many types of architects students can become. We have done it by enriching ANT with two other anthropological and philosophical concepts: anthropologist Tim Ingold’s SPIDER, whose ’Skilled Practice Involves Developmentally Embodied Responsiveness’, and places the architecture student, as a practitioner, in the center of a concrete material web that, as Spuyborek’s sympathetic WASP, is able to abstract the environment beyond the felt encounters between things and people as they shape each other. [ES] Este artículo analiza el curso de Proyectos Arquitectónicos imparti­do en los períodos 2014/15 y 2016/17, que giró en torno al tema de la migración de estilo de vida en los paisajes costeros del Mediterrá­neo. A partir de mi propia experiencia como estudiante influida por conceptos provenientes de los estudios de ciencia y tecnología (STS) y por los debates de la Escuela de Arquitectura de Alicante, España, expongo los límites de las descripciones propuestas por la teoría del actor-red (ANT) en cuanto a la enseñanza y el aprendizaje del diseño y, al mismo tiempo, el rol que pueden tener en expandir los horizontes de la arquitectura una vez que ésta se conecta con proble­mas contemporáneos. Estos cursos nos han permitido re-imaginar, juntos, los distintos arquitectos en los que nuestros alumnos pueden transformarse. Para hacerlo, enriquecimos la ANT con dos conceptos filosóficos adicionales: SPIDER —acrónimo de Skilled Practice Involves Developmentally Embodied Responsiveness (la práctica habilidosa supone el desarrollo de una sensibilidad encarnada)—, propuesto por el antropólogo Tim Ingold y que ubica al alumno de arquitectura, como practicante, en el centro de una red material concreta que, tal como la simpática avispa (WASP) de Spuybroek, puede abstraer el entorno más allá de los encuentros puntuales en los que cosas y personas se dan forma unas a otras.

World Conference on …, 2003

This paper presents a description of multimedia-enhanced educational projects developed using the Webscape design model. This model has evolved from an instructor-led experience to a more student-centered, collaborative approach. Currently, the Webscape model provides a structure for small teams of students to work with clients and content experts throughout the entire process of instructional design from brainstorming through evaluation. Critical components of the model are detailed in terms of rhizomatic theory, a means of understanding chaotic and dynamic social processes. The insights provided by this theoretical framework shed light on the equally important, yet under-emphasized, process involved in constructing Webscapes. An authentic project involving community organizations that are interested in creating multimedia resources to advance their educational mission is used as a case study for the exploration. Additionally, several of the representative projects based on the Webscape model are showcased.

2021

Understanding, engineering and controlling self-organising systems, i.e. of large numbers of interwoven autonomous agents, pose numerous scientific and practical challenges. A considerable body of works aims at theoretical approaches as well as empirically identified solutions to address them— with a focus on interaction among the agents and resulting emergent, global effects. However, only few works systematically consider the means of interaction of these systems with the expert user. In this paper, we address this perspective by introducing the notion of interactive self-organisation. To this end, we step through the development life cycle of a self-organising system, we emphasise the need for accessible software solutions for modelling and simulation, we present a concrete application scenario, and highlight the great challenges on this path. Swarms and Interactive Self-Organisation Herds of social animals, schools of fish or insect colonies host large populations of individuals...

BT Technology Journal, 2000

Agents need resources and protection from hostile influences, in both natural and artificial environments. This paper specifically considers social insects and software mobile agent systems, in order to understand how the need for mobility, resource acquisition and security can influence the design and operation of agent systems. Evolution has honed the movement, resource-gathering and defensive skills of the social insects in a multitude of ways. The paper reviews some of these strategies and assesses whether they may provide useful insights into the design and implementation of mobile software agents. This process is necessary as current mobile agent systems have been handicapped by a lack of convincing security measures which has prevented their adoption in mainstream computing services. This paper therefore examines the strategies for movement, resource acquisition and defence adopted by the social insects and considers how they may be applied to enhance the design of mobile agents.

2012

The objectives of using new computing techniques in e-learning systems are defined by the necessity of teaching according to the individual needs of the students, to whom education should provide different e-contents, pedagogical paths and interaction manners. As nowadays e-learning systems are too rigid, there have been numerous attempts to develop really adaptable e-learning systems (Paramythis & Loidl-Reisinger, 2004) (Brusilovsky & Nijhavan, 2002). This implies hard work and teams formed of specialists from diverse fields: instructional, computer science, teaching area experts and important financial and time resources. The main factor that affects the functionality of e-learning systems is the human being, an instable factor, and, therefore the instructional objectives depend on an instable and unpredictable factor. As a result, an e-learning system has to be prepared to deal with any learning situation. Building an e-learning system efficient for any learning context is possib...

Technology-Enhanced Systems and Tools for Collaborative Learning Scaffolding, 2011

This chapter presents an innovative description of the Jigsaw collaboration method, in the form of an online, adaptive collaborative design-pattern that has been constructed taking into account adaptation techniques, within the context of open-source learning design-based environments such as LAMS. This method is described with special reference to the learning of essential issues in Computer Science and especially in the area of programming languages. These issues include an understanding of: (a) basic elements of structured programming languages, (b) the rapid evolution of the area of programming languages, (c) the learning of programming languages' levels and techniques. The innovative description of the Jigsaw collaborative method within LAMS is based on the fact that: (a) the tasks assigned to the expert groups consist of investigation of real world scenarios and not merely the study of learning material as is usually proposed, (b) adaptive techniques are integrated with the method and (c) for the design of the collaborative learning activity, an intuitive learning design tool like LAMS is used.

International Journal of Modern Education and Computer Science, 2015

This paper presents a new approach to a recommendation of learning activities adapted to the spatial and temporal context of each mobile learner. Indeed, the path traveled by the user during a field trip can be guided using the technique of passive collaborative filtering. This recommendation is based on the ACO (Ant Colony Optimization) algorithm, which represents a good model for swarm intelligence. For this reason, the structure of our mobile scenario is described as a graph where POIs (Point Of Interest) are represented by nodes and the arcs indicate the probability of moving between them. This recommendation system allows the orchestration of mobile learning according to the geographical location of learners and the historical of their activities. Our contribution is devised in three parts:

2011

In the recent decade a plethora of interactive software tools, be they open source or proprietary, have emerged and perished in the realm of technology‐enhanced learning (TEL). Concomitantly, there have also been surge and demise of contents, social networks, and activities associated with the use of these TEL tools. It is intriguing to understand what factors contribute to their rises and falls, and how.

This paper presents the ADAPT project, a distance adaptative learning platform whose domain application is, in an initial phase, for digital systems. This LMS (Learning Management System) makes use of some Artificial Intelligence (AI) models and techniques has the ability to adapt course contents to the learning preferences of each student. The followed approaches include Case-Based Reasoning, Educational Adaptive Systems, Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Link-Mining and Evolutionary Computation. Through theses techniques this platform enables: The Capture of students performance and learning style, cases of success and failure and the correspondent appropriateness of the learning content of each profile; The automatic learning, based on the paths of better performance also on success and failure cases, is generated. This paper focuses on the description of the use of alternative representations of the content, in order to accommodate the different learning styles of students. However, an e-learning system to be successful should motivate the student through pedagogic and interactive techniques. So, in this work we gave special attention to the use of interactive animations through appropriate metaphors leading to a better understanding of the students, especially those who have a kinesthetic profile.

2012

This paper describes an approach of modeling and adaptation of the e-learning. This modeling is based of the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO). In our modeling, e-learning is schematized by a graph where nodes represent the educational elements (lessons or exercises), and arcs link navigation between them. Each of the arcs is also a value that describes its importance in relation to teaching neighboring arcs. Students are represented by virtual agents (ants) who use these links.

2010