ARGUNAUT - An Intelligent Guide to Support Productive Online Dialogue
ARGUNAUT investigates awareness and feedback mechanisms for facilitating the interaction in e-discussion environments, and the use of graphical argumentation maps and artificial intelligence components.
- Strategic objective: Technology-enhanced Learning
- Project type: Specific targeted research project (STREP)
- Start date: 1 December 2005
- Duration: 33 months
- EU funding: 1 630 000
- Number of partners: 7
- Project coordinator: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, School of Education, Israel
- Contact: Mrs. Reuma De-Groot
The aim of ARGUNAUT is to develop tools that assist tutors in visualising e-discussions as an aid for their moderating tasks ('awareness tools'). Human facilitators will still be needed in the discussion, but the support of an advanced artificial intelligence based system will enable them to concentrate on tasks that require their unique human capabilities.
The tools developed in ARGUNAUT will have the potential of significantly increasing the educational productivity of e-learning discussions. They will be tested in four educational settings: higher, secondary, vocational and professional education.
Using previously developed tools, the ARGUNAUT partners will establish a unique moderation methodology through: studying tutor interventions using visualisations in graphically represented ('mapped') e-discussions and other computer-supported collaborative activities; defining criteria according to which these discussions can be improved; and developing an ICT system supporting the work of online course moderators, and helping them improve their practice.
The novel tools will be tailor-made for working on two existing discussion-supporting platforms - the results of past EU-sponsored projects: DUNES/Digalo and Cool Modes. A careful architecture design, however, will allow for openness and adaptability of ARGUNAUT components to a wider range of platforms and environments.
The DUNES project developed an e-learning tool that enables teachers to visualise students' arguments in discussion maps. ARGUNAUT wants to take another step towards the future and include artificial intelligence components in the tool. The vision of the project team is to provide a discussion platform with the ability to assist the moderator in the moderating process by analysing the discussion map on-line, by high-lighting trends, dynamics, and potential threats to the discussion direction.
The ARGUNAUT consortium consists of two main bodies - a technological team, and a pedagogical team. The pedagogical team will analyse discussion maps generated in classrooms in different countries during the DUNES project and will continue to enrich the discussion database with new discussions during the project period. The technological team will develop the artificial intelligence components and other tools needed.