Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Heiko Spallek, DMD, PhD Center for Dental Informatics University of Pittsburgh, School of Dental Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA June 2003, Natcher Conference Center, NIH, Bethesda, MD Dental Informatics and Dental Research: Making the Connection

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Online Education off the shelf vs. custom tailored

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software

Formative evaluation of a new intelligent tutoring system Survey among participants of online CDE courses Evaluation of an intranet Collaborative effort to increase the quality of online instructional material Evaluation of available dental resources on the Web

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software The technologically well-equipped dental office. (JADA) Dental informatics: A cornerstone for dental practice. (JADA) Information Retrieval on the Internet: A Guide for Dental Practitioners. (DCNA) An Evaluation of Five Dental Internet Portals. (JADA) Educational implications for copyright in a digital world. (JDE) Internet basics. (JACD)

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Other Research Dental / Medical Informatics Usability / Human Computer Interaction Educational Research Consulting Assignments Web design & custom content management Publishing and eCommerce Community building Website Teaching Experience courses for predoctoral students seminars graduate students CDE for dental professionals

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Intelligent tutoring system (2003) IDR, a self-maintaining database-driven repository (2001) 3D Interactive Anterior PFM Crown Preparation (2000) IT course for predoctoral students, Web- enhanced (1999) Online Continuing Dental Education courses at Temple University, (1997) Computer-based Training in Periodontology (1995)

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Hype About E-learning General  number of online courses 50,000  100,000 between 1998 and 1999 *  online learning market: $2.2 billion in 2001, estimated: $4.5 billion in 2003 **  95% of higher education institutions employ e-learning systems (Gartner, 2002)*** Dentistry  1998: 158 online continuing dental education (CDE) courses from 32 providers  2003: DentalxChange only: 489 courses in 23 different categories * International Data Corp. **ThinkEquity Partners *** Gartner, Inc.

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Reality check “E-learning is the revenge of the nerds.”  evaluation of 158 online continuing dental education  uncovered major deficiencies in existing Web-based CDE courses *  no author indicated  relation between course length and credit hours varies  market for course shells immature  no standards → risk of losing content  no peer-review process for online learning resources → no academic credit  usually no formative or summative evaluation  in dentistry: no one has reported profits yet (break even for online course: participants) * Schleyer T, Pham T. Online continuing dental education. Journal of the American Dental Association 1999;130(June): ,

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software

Current state-of-the-art dental online course  collection of static Web pages  translations of existing lecture notes  existing course manuals  existing papers = first generation online course model: Course material is still implicitly oriented for a traditional on-campus audience!

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Generations of online courses  1. Generation  static pages  2. Generation  adapted by the instructor to different audiences (static versions of the same course saved at different locations)  3. Generation  adaptive to the individual learner

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software

Adaptive Hypermedia (AH) - new direction of research - crossroads of hypermedia and user modeling - model of the goals, preferences, knowledge of each individual user - use of model throughout interaction with user - adapt to the needs of user Brusilovsky 1996, Brusilovsky 2001

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Definition User Model - “mental state” of the user * - AH system keeps a model of the user - to adapt teaching sequence, presentation - for each Knowledge Item (KI) - individual user model - estimation of the user’s knowledge level of this concept ** * De Bra and Calvi 1998 ** Brusilovsky 1996

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Adaptive hypermedia technologies Adaptive presentation Adaptive navigation support Adaptive Multimedia presentation Adaptive text presentation Adaptation of modality Canned text adaptation Natural language adaptation Inserting/ Removing fragments Altering fragments Sorting fragments Dimming fragments Strechtext Direct guidance Adaptive link sorting Adaptive link hiding Adaptive link generation Map annotation hiding disabling removal The updated taxonomy of adaptive hypermedia technologies; Brusilovsky, P. (2001) Adaptive hypermedia. User Modeling and User Adapted Interaction, Ten Year Anniversary Issue (Alfred Kobsa, ed.) 11 (1/2), Taxonomy of AH Technologies

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Adaptive navigation support technology - changing the appearance of visible links = generalization of curriculum sequencing technology in a hypermedia context - direct guidance, adaptive link annotation, adaptive link hiding Adaptive presentation technology - adapt the content of a Web page to the user's goals, knowledge and other information stored in the user model - pages are adaptively generated or assembled from pieces for each user

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Curriculum Sequencing active - implies a learning goal - best individual path to achieve the goal passive - reactive technology - offers the user a subset of available learning material  fill the gap in student's knowledge

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Conceptual architecture 1.What features of the learner can be used as a source of the adaptation? 2.What can be adapted in a technical feasible manner?

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software 1. What features of the learner can be used as a source of the adaptation? user’s knowledge - pre-test results - completion of quizzes throughout the course user’s interests/goals - selection of a specific learning goal user’s traits - learning style

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software AH system stores information User Model User InfoCourse Info Learning Goal  Knowledge Items AGBDEHOJLT User provides enrollment information Demographic Information Demographic Access Privacy Access Rights Privacy Information Learning Goal performes pre-test A Estimation of user’s knowledge Knowledge Assessment G B D E H O J L T Learning style Final test Test history provides traits Learning Style AH system compiles KIs AH system compiles pre-test Estimation of user’s knowledge AH system adjusts KIs used for adaptation effect AH system compiles curriculum AH system adjusts user model Test results are used for revising the user model. O Eligibility for Final Test AGBE H J T Final test AH system compiles final AH system evaluates final Test results

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Technical Implementation Learner Environment Authoring Tool

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Technology PurposeTechnology Web server for hostingIIS on MS-Windows 2000 Server Programming languageScripting language: PHP version 4 and Perl-compatible regular expression Database (highly granular storage)MySQL version on Linux Validation of user inputJavaScript AuthenticationCookies

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Authoring Tool  views of KIs -abbreviated version of the core explanation (short) -for novice users (basic) -very detailed high-level textual explanation (main) -for graduate level knowledge (advanced)  multiple-choice questions  fill-in-the-blank questions  descriptive examples  online examples  prerequisites KI  metadata: keywords, semantic

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Learner Environment General design approach follows Mark Weiser’s idea: “The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.” Scientific American, 265(3): , September 1991

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Evaluation 1.initial review (cognitive walkthroughs ) 2.alpha-test (task-oriented) 3.formative evaluation (heuristic evaluation & end-user testing) 4.summative evaluation (end-user testing) [planned]

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Cognitive Walkthroughs  Goal: solve anticipated problems before bringing the course to users for testing - performed independent and under observation of the developer Results (encountered problems were fixed immediately ) - confusing labels of fields - confusing options during enrollment - missing guidance on start page - repetition of test questions - inadequate feedback for wrong answers

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Alpha Test task-oriented alpha test -complete the course -determine deficiencies (educational, instructional design, technical, design and layout) -send an unstructured informal feedback Results (encountered problems were fixed immediately ) - general feedback was positive - personal tutor concept was beneficial - 12 specific usability, functionality issues were discovered (regarding: change of setting, annotations, quiz, flow, sequencing)

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Formative Evaluation I Usability Inspection: Heuristic Evaluation -general heuristic for UI design (Jakob Nielsen) -heuristic extracted from ANSI standard “Guidelines for the Design of Education Software”

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Formative Evaluation II End-user testing −separation between delivery (media) and instructional method −use of a validated instrument  Evaluation of –participants’ reactions –achievement of program objectives changes in student learning values motivations ability to transfer knowledge acquired outside the instructional setting

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Conclusions applying of established principles of AH research state-of-the-art programming environment separation of content and design Web-based delivery system  For the first time, a dental educational delivery system adapts itself dynamically using active and passive curriculum sequencing and adaptive presentation. authoring process = challenge * * Brusilovsky, Eklund, and Schwartz 2002 * De Bra and Calvi 1998

Adaptive hypermedia: A new paradigm for educational software Adaptive Hypermedia— A New Paradigm for Educational Software old broadcast model one-size-fits-all approach new adaptive hypermedia for individual teaching approach every learner is “special”