1. Context Aware Reuse of Learning Resources Franz Weitl, Burkhard Freitag, Rudolf Kammerl, Monica Göstl University of Passau

2. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 2 Outline of the Talk Reuse of learning content is not a straight forward process. Problem: Context Dependency –What is the context of a learning resource? –In which aspects is learning content context dependent? –Can context dependency be avoided? –How does context dependency affect reuse? –Can we support the reuse of contexualized learning content? In the sequel: –analysis of the problem –not: answers to the questions

3. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 3 Background: WWR- Project National joint project (12 Universities) founded by the bmbf Goal: Pool of 144 online teaching/learning modules in computer engineering Duration: April 2001 – April 2004 Example http://www.wwr-project.de http://lrs2.fmi.uni-passau.de/online

4. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 4 Focus Scalable Documents (intensity, target group, medium) 18 variants per module module.xml var1.xml var18.xml filter.xsl...... output.xsl var1.html var18.html intensity=basic target =teacher medium=online

5. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 5 Challenges Implementation of variable learning content is easy (conditional fragments). But: Design of variable learning content? –What about referential consistency? content cohesion –What about didactic consistency? learning dependencies Maintenance: if I change fragment X –which configurations will be affected and does the change make sense in all of them? –which other fragments do I need to change to maintain consistency? Context dependencies cause problems in dynamically assembled content.

6. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 6 Reusable learning content – learning object approach Goal: small independently usable chunks of learning content, which can be flexibly combined to larger courses.

7. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 7 Reuse Process of Learning Objects LO Repository Retrieval LO Selection LO Aggregation LO Course

8. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 8 Design of Learning Objects Design for reusability Decontextualization –Modularity: avoidance of interdependencies across different LOs –Generality: LOs not too specifically designed for a certain pedagogic context.

9. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 9 Design of Learning Objects Course LO Repository global objectives decontextu- alization metadata tagging

10. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 10 Design of Learning Objects Course LO Repository decontextu- alization metadata tagging local objectives

11. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 11 The Reuse Paradox Reusabilty vs. Contextualization There has been much debate about whether instruction can be designed with multiple contexts or environments in mind......the SCORM introduces a reusability paradox: the most reusable objects are context-independent, while the best instruction is highly contextualized [The SCORM Implementation Guide: A Step-by-Step Approach]

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13. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 13 The Problem Design for reusability ( context independency) can affect the instructional quality of the learning content. Can we support reuse of highly contextualized learning content? –What does highly contextualized mean exactly? –How do context dependencies affect reuse? –What can we do about it?

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15. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 15 x + yior a + bj ? C or ? 180° or ?

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17. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 17 Problem Analysis: Definition of Context The context of something consists of the ideas, situations, events, or information that relate to it and make it possible to understand it fully. [Collins Cobuild Dictionary] Context of a fragment of a learning document consists of the objects which influence its pedagogic effect. –The internal context of a fragment consists of the content of the document the fragment is placed in. –The external context of a fragment consists of the properties of the environment the fragment is accessed in. A Doc A Env E access external contextinternal context

18. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 18 Aspects of Contextualization Interconnection (cognitivism [Ausubel68]) –topics of the content: logical relationships of subject matter entities –learning steps: activation of previously learnt knowledge, motivation of future learning steps, embedding of detail into the context (problem, objective). Specialization (situated learning [Brown et. al 1989]) –target groups: preknowledge, motivation, goals, current tasks, experience, learning styles,... –learning/teaching setting: course type, teaching styles, available staff, rooms, technical environment (learning platform, browser features), examination regulations,... –authoring environment: preferences, styles and skills of authors, conventions for notation and terminology, authoring tools, resources (personnel, time, budget) Problem: many dimensions of contextualization!

19. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 19 External Contexts of Learning Content fragment authoring context application context learning context fragment course content Acourse content B instantiation instance Ainstance B individual instance A course Acourse B curriculum X individual instance B curriculum Y execution reuse Author Teacher Learner

20. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 20 Authoring Context: Abstract Model context authoring context application context contentauthors authoring environment internal context intends conventions & criteria leads to external context fragment meets refers to

21. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 21 Problem: Context Dependency What is context? In which aspects is learning content context dependent? Can context dependency be avoided? How does context dependency affect reuse? Can we support the reuse of contexualized learning content?

22. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 22 Reuse Process of Contextualized Learning Content F Repository FFF 1. select2. de-contextualize 3a specialize3b integrate Source ContextTarget Context 3. re-contextualize 4. retain transformation phase

23. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 23 Reuse Process of Contextualized Learning Content

24. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 24 Implications on Reuse Support Systems 1. Retrieval in context: –Current authoring context should be taken into account when querying a repository compatibility of contexts –Retrieval results should be presented in tandem with their previous use contexts 2. Decontextualization on demand: –Identification and Classification of context dependent content –Evaluation of dependencies between fragments of learning content F Repository FFF 1. select2. de-contextualize 3a specialize3b integrate Source ContextTarget Context 3. re-contextualize 4. retain

25. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 25 Implications on Reuse Support Systems 3. Recontextualization: Adaptation and Integration –Recognition of unsatisfied external context dependencies –Automatic adaptation and interconnection 4. Repository: Change management –Management of variants –Propagation and integration of changes –Copyright management F Repository FFF 1. select2. de-contextualize 3a specialize3b integrate Source ContextTarget Context 3. re-contextualize 4. retain

26. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 26 Our Research Focus: Recognition of Unsatisfied Context Dependencies Are there dangling semantic references within the document? Specification and verification of semantic references within a learning document Does the document as a whole (still) meet the conventions and criteria of the authoring context? Specification and verification of structural didactic properties of a learning document After integration of a fragment into a new document: A Doc B A Doc A Source Context conventions & criteria A Target Context conventions & criteria B ? ?

27. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 27 Methods and Conceptual Framework Representation of knowledge about the content –topics and their relationships –didactic structure of the content Metadata-Indexing and Ontologies (RDF + OWL) Specification and verification of semantic references Description Logics and DL-based Reasoning Specification and verification of properties of the didactic structure: ???

28. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 28 Context Aware Resource of Learning Resources - Summary What is context? –internal / external In which aspects is learning content context dependent? –interconnection / specilization Can context dependency be avoided? –pedagogic requirement How does context dependency affect reuse? –de- and recontextualization processes Can we support reuse of contexualized learning content? –??? Required: –Theory of context in e-Learning –Empirical research of reuse processes Technical challenges: –Models of context and contextualized content –Formalisms to represent and reason about (certain) context dependencies –Handling of incompleteness and fuzziness –Handling of changes and variants –Practicability: overhead vs. benefit

29. 22.04.04, © 2004 Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement, Universität Passau 29 Further Information Franz Weitl, Rudolf Kammerl, Monica Göstl: Context aware Reuse of Learning Resources. In: Proceedings of ED-MEDIA 2004, World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications, Lugano, Switzerland, 2004 http://im.uni-passau.de http://lrs2.fmi.uni-passau.de/online/ weitl@fmi.uni-passau.de