Aude Dufresne and Mohamed RouatbiAude Dufresne and Mohamed RouatbiUniversity of Montreal University of Montreal

LICEF – CIRTA – MATILICEF – CIRTA – MATI

CANADACANADA

Learning Object Repositories Network (CRSNG)Learning Object Repositories Network (CRSNG)

Ontologies, Applications Integration and Ontologies, Applications Integration and Support to Users in Learning Objects Support to Users in Learning Objects

RepositoriesRepositories

Plan

ContextObjectivesSome cases

First solutionIntegrate Computer Assisted laboratory and pedagogical structuresUsing XML descriptionsExplor@Graph – Generic Advisor - Generic Rules Editor

Second solutionUse ontologies to define structures and alignment and enrichment strategiesUse it to export components used by applications to communicate with a SESAME database.Define an eLearning generic interface to display structures, follow the users and display support using those structures

Prospective and Conclusion

July 9th 2007 SWEL’2007 – Los Angeles

CONTEXT

• LORNET Project - Network of research on the integration of Learning Object Repositories

• Integrate applications – Scenarios Editor, Competency models, LORs, data-mining

tools,etc.• Integrate a support system for actors

• Develop a generic and open solution

• A Computer Human Interface perspective– Build better interfaces– Integrate support in adaptive interfaces– Accessible to Teachers and Students

July 9th 2007 SWEL’2007 – Los Angeles

OBJECTIVES

• Integration of support must be based on formal and generic means to describe and communicate structures of information

• Use Ontologies – to integrate applications and to align models– to define rule based support– to incorporate semantic and logical inference

• Use RDF data integration and exchange using Protege and Sesame

• Define a generic adaptive interface linked to a Sesame database to display navigation structures with adaptive support.

July 9th 2007 SWEL’2007 – Los Angeles

Some Cases

• I want to link a learning scenarios editor with a Computer Assisted Lab, and make it possible to define support between them.

• I want to display the conceptual structures associated or extracted from a set of resources as a browsing interface. I want to use it to record overlay user’s models, to display feedback and to give support.

• I want to import a learning scenarios created in one LMS, into a graphical visualization interface and define alignment and enrichment strategies.

• I want to define adaptive control of an existing application.

Integration Support

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ExploraGraph - Easy to define contextual support

Intentions

Contextual explanations

Control graphs

MsAgent avatars

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Graphs and subgraphs

A General Graph for the activity,

A separate graph for each team, with a specific discussion forum

A graph where each planet is described as a concept which is part of the solar system

Students can use the Planets graph to find messages in the discussion forum or to annotate their findings

A graph accessible only to the professor where he can access group manager for the teams,launch the individual testor take notes

Represent concepts and link to Forum

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Discussion in teams

• Each team now have access to a specific graph and a specific forum

• In Explor@Graph– They read the resources of their group– They access the Forum of their group and search in it– Names of planets, or elements of a conceptual map presented in Explor@Graph can be

used to find elements in the forum

– They see the amount of unread messages linked to a concept

• In the Agora Forum– They use the forum to elaborate their findings and organize their work.– If they find other resources they may attached them to a message and

use the discussion to present them– They may use keywords, evaluation of messages, sorting, and views to

organize information– Evaluations are both personal and shared so one participant may use

secret keywords..for annotation but still a mean evaluation of contributions inside a forum can be used to sort the most important elements.

Explor@Graph

Manipulate sensorsData Transformations

ProblemHypothesisInterpretation

Conceptual graphslinked to resourceswith easily defined supportvisible user’s models

MicroLab

XSDXML

Generic Rule EditorGeneric Advisor

Support uses XSD representations of Tasks, Competencies, Applications, User Models

MicroLab Application

XSD ontology modelinstances generated from code

Explor@Graph

Generic Rule EditorCreate conditions & ActionsUsing XSD and XML instances

Generic Advisor

REceives rules, event and Execute actions

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Solution 1Giving support in a Computer Assisted Lab

Users and Navigation Ontologies Support Resources

Management

LOR MetadatasRightsCollections

Users and groupsmanagement

Explor@Graph BrowsingAdaptive feedbackControl and support

External applicationscomponents and instances

XSD –XMLexportedor entered manually

Generic Rule EditorLink elementsof models conditions - actions

Generic advisorExecute rulesControlling interfaceand user models

LimitsIn many cases Instances have to be defined manuallyWe had to define support for many different applications having different ontologiesExplor@Graph ontology was not generic enough

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Solution 2Support in generic navigation structures using Ontologies

Protege Ontologies are defined

and generate with ODIS Java and DotNet

Explor@GraphNetDisplay Generic Structures

Read in SESAME

DTE Define contentExport it using DCM componentsto Sesame databaseStructures are aligned andenriched

Export

Solution 1 - Solution 2 Support in generic navigation structures

using Ontologies

Ontologies are used to define the Integrationand enrichment(adding user models properties)

They help generatecomponents usedby applications to communicate and persist informationbetween applications

Used between Explor@GraphDTEExplor@GraphNetGeneric Advisor

Solution 1 - Solution 2 Support in generic navigation structures

using Ontologies

Users and Navigation Ontologies Support Resources

Management

LOR MetadatasRightsCollections

Users and groupsmanagement

Explor@Graph BrowsingAdaptive feedbackControl and support

External applicationscomponents and instances

XSD –XMLexportedor entered manually

Generic Rule EditorLink elementsof models conditions - actions

Generic advisorExecute rulesControlling interfaceand user models

Exported orExtracted structures

External applicationsuse generated componentsto communicate RDFInstances to Sesame

Explor@Graph Net Read RDF Generic structures

OWL structuresexport componentsJCM-DCM

AlignmentEnrichment

Deduction logic

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Why ontologies ?

Define queries which use classes, inheritance properties and other semantic deduction

Structured and collaborative description of applications and models using Protege

Development is accelerated by the generation by Protege of components needed directly from the ontology.

To be developedUse Ontologies at run time for searching, updating user models,

etc.Integrate Ontology deduction with rules

July 9th 2007 SWEL’2007 – Los Angeles

Conclusions

Different Applications can share information using ontologies aligned and enriched and stored in a SESAME database

Explor@Graph easily defined support can be match to the user navigation in imported conceptual structures

In developmentThe Generic Advisor can use Sesame to read and write

information linked to support. The Generic Rule Editor should read RDF structures in SESAME

To doLink to other structures

Resources, extracted conceptual structures,...