Learning analytics research has used both knowledge engineering and machine learning methods to model student behaviors within the context of digital learning environments. In this paper, we compare these two approaches, as well as a hybrid approach combining the two types of methods. We illustrate the strengths of each approach in the context of…

This paper summarizes key stages in development of the Structural Learning Theory (SLT) and explains how and why it is now possible to model human tutors in a highly efficient manner. The paper focuses on evolution of the SLT, a deterministic theory of teaching and learning, on which AuthorIT authoring and TutorIT delivery systems have been built.…

The goal of this article is to contribute fragments of concrete understanding to the on-going search for meaning in ideas associated with the learning sciences (Sawyer, 2006b) by adding to the repertoire of domain specific studies pertaining to this relatively new field. The learning sciences are first characterized as a system of learning…

University education often suffers from a lack of an explicit and adaptable didactic design. Students complain about the insufficient adaptability to the learners' needs. Learning content and services need to reach their audience according to their different prerequisites, needs, and different learning styles and conditions. A way to overcome such…

Computers may not be able to master poetics like Aristotle, but they have become smart enough to know a metaphor when they see one. An online database called The Mind Is a Metaphor, created by Brad Pasanek, an assistant professor of English at the University of Virginia, is a searchable bank of phrases, verses, and lines from literature that…

Narrative and story telling has a long history of use in structuring, organising and communicating human experience. This paper describes a narrative based interactive intelligent learning environment which aims to elucidate practical reasoning using interactive emergent narratives that can be used in training novices in decision making. Its…

Traditional hypermedia applications present the same content and provide identical navigational support to all users. Adaptive Hypermedia Systems (AHS) make it possible to construct personalized presentations to each user, according to preferences and needs identified. We present in this paper an alternative approach to educational AHS where a…

Provides a detailed, technical introduction to the state of cognitive science research, in particular the rise of the "new cognitive science," especially artificial neural net (ANN) models. Explains one influential ANN model and describes diverse applications and their implications for education. (EV)

Discusses two models of the mind: the influential model of "mind as container," in which the mind is akin to a computer storing data; and a connectionist model, in which the brain does not actually store or contain knowledge in the sense traditionally believed. Discusses the second model's implications for education. (EV)

Discusses the Internet Knowledge Manager (IKM) which provides an understandable way of representing knowledge, as readable software agents. Gives an example of writing and running an IKM agent for transfer pricing in corporations. Describes how the technology works. Concludes that the IKM could trigger new ways of performing knowledge management,…

Online learning is now a reality, with distributed learning and blended learning becoming more widely used in Higher Education. Novel ways in which undergraduate and postgraduate learning material can be presented are being developed, and methods for helping students to learn online are needed, especially if we require them to collaborate with…

Discusses the need for semantic research in digital libraries to help overcome interoperability problems. Highlights include federal initiatives; semantic analysis; knowledge representations; human-computer interactions and information visualization; and the University of Illinois DLI (Digital Libraries Initiative) project through partnership with…

Discusses knowledge, organization, and the organization and representation of knowledge. Addresses the relevance of international auxiliary languages as problems of development and use of special sign systems. Argues that--for computer realization of intellectual processes by modeling, not imitation--the psychological mechanisms of human memory…

Suggests that a solution to the inadequacy and passivity problems with push and pull technologies could be in a combination of both, with an active component, adding more intelligence to the whole process of information and knowledge dissemination and supply. Describes basic principles of activity components in intelligent systems, and some…

The ultimate aim of this research is to specify and implement a general authoring framework for content and knowledge engineering for Intelligent Educational Systems (IES). In this context we attempt to develop an authoring tool supporting this framework that is powerful in its functionality, generic in its support of instructional strategies and…