Project description
Digital libraries and technology-enhanced learning
LTfLL created next-generation educational services for learners and tutors, making extensive use of Language Technologies
The project created next-generation support and advice services to enhance individual and collaborative construction of knowledge in educational and organisational settings. The project made extensive use of language technologies and cognitive models in the services.
The technical infrastructure allows deployment of these services in Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) as well as in institutional Learning Management Systems (LMSs). The validity of the research assumptions and their practical implementation has been tested and evaluated in realistic settings.
The research in the project was organised in three themes, each leading to particular types of services and prototypical tools:
- In theme 1 (modelling and relating the learner and the domain), services are developed to establish the position of a learner in a curriculum of a particular domain. Services offer semi-automatic analysis and comparison of learner texts to the domain knowledge and advise on their coverage of conceptual knowledge.
- In theme 2 (contemporary pedagogic models, tutoring and tutor support), support and feedback services are developed based on the analysis of text-based interactions of students (e.g. chats or forums), or on textual artefacts created by students (e.g. summary writing). The services use Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Social Network Analysis (SNA).
- In theme 3 (collaborative and social dimensions in learning and knowledge structuring), a semantic framework and infrastructure for knowledge sharing is developed that allows comparison and sharing of personal knowledge resources to give rise to new common knowledge structuring and social learning. Ontologies for formal domain representation are combined with social tagging.
RESULTS ACHIEVED
The following services – prototypes have been developed, each of them functioning separately but also with a possibility of combining them:
- LEAPOS: learner positioning service
- CONSPECT: monitoring conceptual development
- POLYCAFE: chat and forum analysis and feedback
- PENSUM: analysis of written texts
- Common Semantic Framework: formal learning support system - formulation of a curriculum
- Annotation Tool: semi-automatic annotation tool for teachers/tutors
The screen-casts, demos, guides and downloads of these services can be found on the project's website.
The objective of the LTfLL project is to create next-generation support services to enhance competence building and knowledge creation in educational and organizational settings. The services run (semi)automatically to avoid aggravating the workload of tutors.
Involving expertise in language technology (LT), cognition, and technology- enhanced learning (TEL) LTfLL will design, develop and validate services that:
1. establish a starting position and recommendations for the learner on what to learn
2. give support and feedback during learning
3. support social and informal learning
The services operate in a common knowledge infrastructure to support knowledge co-construction and extraction and to create the foundation for purposeful and meaningful advice.
The services will result in improved
1. appreciation of learner requirements leading to better advice on study plans and selection of study resources
2. progress monitoring based on learning activities rather than on formal assessments to advice appropriate activities for further competence building
3. co-construction of knowledge in social and informal learning
Research activities are enveloped by activities that ensure common ground in:
1 use cases and pedagogically sound scenarios that steer the design and development of the services and guide the validation
2. a technical infrastructure for the creation and integration of the services
3. a validation structure that ensures rigorous evaluation in realistic settings, with several languages supported.
The consortium is balanced in geographical and institutional background, leading in LT, TEL and Medical Education, and brings a language distribution that ensures services supporting several EU languages. The partners have excellent track records in European programs and projects (e.g. LT4EL, TenCompetence, Cooper, iCamp, Prolearn). Extensive use can be made of the experience and results of LT4EL (IST-027391) and TenCompetence (IST-027087).
Call for proposal
FP7-ICT-2007-1
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Funding Scheme
CP - Collaborative project (generic)Coordinator Contact
Coordinator
6419 AT Heerlen
Netherlands