Personalized web-document filtering using reinforcement learning

Document filtering is increasingly deployed in Web environments to reduce information overload of users. We formulate online information filtering as a reinforcement learning problem, i.e., TD(0). The goal is to learn user profiles that best represent information needs and thus maximize the expected value of user relevance feedback. A method is then presented that acquires reinforcement signals automatically by estimating user's implicit feedback from direct observations of browsing behaviors. This "learning by observation" approach is contrasted with conventional relevance feedback methods which require explicit user feedbacks. Field tests have been performed that involved 10 users reading a total of 18,750 HTML documents during 45 days. Compared to the existing document filtering techniques, the proposed learning method showed superior performance in information quality and adaptation speed to user preferences in online filtering.     

Education on the Web: a rejoinder

It is an error to over generalize from early Web based education to current standards of practice. The state of the art for distance learning projects is based on the use of Web-centric integrated distributed learning environments (IDLEs). Incorporating the application of sound principles of learning/education and appropriate instructional design, IDLEs support extremely high quality, student centered educational programs for remote learners, making extensive use of the synchronous and asynchronous tools available for Web based communications. Most of them reside on the server, requiring no proprietary applications on the client side. Distant learners may use any Web browser to engage in collaborative online activities     

Uses of animated imagery within the software learning environment

The increase in the hardware and software capabilities of interactive media has allowed an increase in the use of animated imagery within software learning environments. New animation software programs, targeted specifically for use on the World Wide Web (WWW) and CD-ROMs, have been introduced into the market place for programmers, designers and others who may have little training or experience with incorporating animated imagery into interactive content. This paper provides an overview of theories which relate to motion in the areas of education, science and culture. This paper is not meant to be an exhaustive source, but more of a reflective piece on work done in other fields that relates to animation within software. The final portion of this paper lists six common uses of animation in learning software, as well as ten recommended guidelines for evaluation of animations within a software learning environment.     

Workflow and end-user quality of service issues in Web-basededucation

The option of obtaining education over networks is quickly becoming a reality for all those who have access to the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW). However, at present, network-based education (NBE) over the WWW and the Internet in general faces a number of pitfalls. The problems range from inadequate end-user quality of service (QoS), to inadequate materials, to shortcomings in learning paradigms, and to missing or inappropriate student assessment and feedback mechanisms. In this paper, we discuss some major issues that, although mostly solved for NBE, still face Web-based education (WEE). These include the required workflow-oriented technological and quality of service support. In discussing the issues, we use examples from a wide-area NBE/WBE system called NovaNET and a WEE system called Web Lecture System (WLS). We recommend that WEE system developers construct operational user (workflow) profiles before building their content and interfaces. Our experience is that, especially for synchronous WEE systems, user-level round-trip keystroke delays should not exceed about 250 ms and the overall availability of the system (including network-related service failures) should be at least 0.95. We also suggest that a successful WEE system will have a sound auto-adaptive knowledge assessment component, a “virtual” laboratory capability, and a set of strong collaborative functions     

Effects of Stereoscopic Display on Learning and User Experience in an Educational Virtual Environment

Over the past decade, many studies have examined the potential benefits of educational virtual environments (EVEs), either by comparing them with other media or by assessing the effects of their features on learning. Paradoxically, very few of them have explored the effects of stereoscopic versus nonstereoscopic displays on learning and/or the subjective experience provided in an EVE. Our study was designed to fill this gap, by comparing the effects of these two virtual reality modes in an interactive mechanics learning task. We collected measures of task effectiveness (success/failure and completion time), learning outcomes and subjective experience (user experience, flow, and immersion). Results showed that (1) users were more successful in the learning tasks in the stereoscopic condition, and (2) perceived affective quality, flow, and immersion were better in this condition.     

Assessing the determinants of flow experience in the adoption of learning management systems: the moderating role of perceived institutional support

Information technology has moved the focus of students and instructors from blackboards to online learning platforms. In the emerging e-learning revolution, the success of quality education depends on the right use of information and communication technology, including the creation of participants’ flow experience while using learning systems, which are rightly considered a backbone of contemporary education. There is a gap in the e-learning literature, reflecting a lack of understanding of students’ flow experience while using online interactive systems. This paper presents a study investigating the key factors (interpersonal factors and atmospheric cues) affecting flow experience and highlights its massive role in the use of any learning management system (LMS). Moreover, the study examines the moderating role of perceived institutional support (PIS) on student adoption of LMS. Using a survey, data were collected from university students in Pakistan and the data were analysed through structural equation modelling. We found that interpersonal factors and LMS atmospherics have significant effects on the flow experience. It was also found that PIS moderates the relationship between flow experience and the use of LMS. This study contributes to the literature by helping institutions and policy-makers know key factors of effective learning systems that students value and enjoy.     

Three problems with the connectivist conception of learning

Connectivism, which has been argued to be a new learning theory, has emerged in the field of online learning during the last decade. On the World Wide Web at least, connectivism promises to establish learning spaces similar to those that Ivan Illich imagined in ‘Deschooling Society’, through so‐called massive online open courses (MOOCs). In this paper, we critically examine the theoretical postulates of connectivism and identify three important psychological and epistemological problems, namely the lack of a solution to the learning paradox, the underconceptualization of interaction and the inability to explain concept development. Some of the theoretical deficiencies in question may explain certain learning problems experienced by participants in MOOCs. The paper concludes that, although MOOCs are a worthwhile experience and ought to be continued, connectivism as a learning theory has significant theoretical problems and should be profoundly revised if it is to explain and foster learning in such environments.     

Engaging online learners: The impact of Web-based learning technology on college student engagement

Widespread use of the Web and other Internet technologies in postsecondary education has exploded in the last 15 years. Using a set of items developed by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), the researchers utilized the hierarchical linear model (HLM) and multiple regressions to investigate the impact of Web-based learning technology on student engagement and self-reported learning outcomes in face-to-face and online learning environments. The results show a general positive relationship between the use the learning technology and student engagement and learning outcomes. We also discuss the possible impact on minority and part-time students as they are more likely to enroll in online courses.     

Academic Articles on the Web: Reading Patterns and Formats

This article explores user reading activities and user preferences in the formats of Web-based academic articles by using the data from 2 online surveys. Researchers use the Web as a resource for academic articles. Despite this popular use, no generally agreed format exists on the Web. The Web environments of distributed users encourage the use of online remote evaluation. We applied an e-mail-based survey and a Web-based survey to the evaluation of some concepts for Web-based academic articles. The participants of the surveys were researchers in information technology and related areas. Our survey results show that readers take an overview of a Web-based academic article from the screen, print it out, and then read the printed article. The results also show that the formats employed by most of the Web sites for academic articles are against readers' preferences. The simple 2-frame format among the 5 given formats was most preferred by 47% of our respondents, but the cascaded page-windows format was regarded as the worst by 65% because of its high visual complexity on the screen. An interesting result is that 26% of the respondents regarded the paperlike format as the worst, but this format is widely used for Web-based articles. In addition, the importance of interactive examples embedded in a Web-based questionnaire was revealed from the 2 consecutive surveys. Details are discussed in this article. In the online remote surveys, the issues of Web-based academic articles were successfully addressed. The methods used in the surveys would be useful for usability tests of various concepts of other Web genres at an early design or redesign stage.     

Performing a course material enhancement process with asynchronous interactive online system

Online systems have come to be heavily used in education, particularly for online learning and collecting information not otherwise readily available. Most e-learning systems, including interactive learning systems, have been designed to “push” course materials to students but rarely to “collect” or “pull” ideas from them. The interactive mechanisms in proposed instructional design models, however, prevent many potential designers from improving course quality, even though some believe that the learning experience and the comments of students are important for enhancing course materials. As well, students could actually contribute to instructional design.This paper presents a course material enhancement process that elicits ideas from students by encouraging students to modify course materials. This process had been tested on different higher education programs, both graduate and undergraduate. It aims to understand which programs’ students have a higher willingness to participate in this work and if they can benefit from this process. To facilitate this research, an asynchronous interaction system, teacher digital assistant (TDA), was designed for teachers to receive responses, recommendations, and modified materials from students at any time. The major advantage of this process is that it could embed students’ thoughts into the course material to improve the curriculum, which can benefit future students.     

MAPBOT: a Web based map information retrieval system

Many types of information are geographically referenced and interactive maps provide a natural user interface to such data. However, map presentation in geographical information systems and on the Web is closed related to traditional cartography and provides a very limited interactive experience. In this paper, we present MAPBOT, an interactive Web based map information retrieval system in which Web users can easily and efficiently search geographical information with the assistance of a user interface agent (UIA). Each kind of map feature such as a building or a motorway works as an agent called a Maplet. Each Maplet has a user interface level to assist the user to find information of interest and a graphic display level that controls the presence and the appearance of the feature on the map. The semantic relationships of Maplets are defined in an Ontology Repository provided by the system which is used by the UIA to assist a user to semantically and efficiently search map information interested. An Ontology Editor with a graphic user interface has been implemented to update the Ontology Repository. Visualization on the client is based on Scalable Vector Graphics which provides a high quality Web map.     

A multimedia-enhanced collaborative learning environment

Abstract The proliferation of the Internet has brought about the notion of online virtual communities. One enabling technology for online communities is multiuser environments such as Multi-User Dimensions (MUDs) and Object-Oriented MUDS (MOOs). These text-based collaborative learning environments have recently have been integrated with the World Wide Web, thus harnessing the graphics and multimedia-rich environments available therein. Learners can directly experience, manipulate, and create objects in their rich multimedia form. MUDs and MOOs are augmented with synchronous collaboration technology that provided simultaneous control and viewing of shared documents and applications. In this paper, we describe a multimedia-enhanced MOO system called SpaceALIVE! and our experiences from a pilot project involving Singapore students who use SpaceALIVE! as a collaborative learning environment are reported.     

Evaluating e‐learning web site quality in a fuzzy environment

The proliferation of the Internet and World Wide Web applications has created new opportunities as well as new challenges for institutions and individuals who are either receiving or delivering education. Electronic (e) learning is one of the most important developments in education. It recognizes the shift from teaching to learning and puts the learner or user before the institution. The objectives and expected outcomes of e‐learning are largely dependent on the quality of the teaching processes and the effectiveness of online access. Hence, assessing methods for the effectiveness of e‐learning Web sites are a critical issue in both practice and research. However, Web site quality is a complex concept and its measurement is expected to be multidimensional in nature. Multicriteria decision‐making (MCDM) techniques are widely used for evaluating and ranking such problems containing multiple, usually conflicting criteria. For this reason, this article presents a quality evaluation model based on the MCDM to measure the e‐learning Web sites' performance. In addition, the subjectivity and vagueness in the assessment process are dealt with using fuzzy logic. The study has investigated 10 worldwide and 11 locally successful Web sites with the proposed method. By suggesting an aggregated measure based on the Web site quality criteria, it is expected that the method could be useful to the e‐learning service providers and system developers, as well as to the researchers related with Web research. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 22: 567–586, 2007.     

Applied virtual environments to support learning of social interaction skills in users with Asperger's Syndrome

Asperger's Syndrome (AS) is an autistic spectrum disorder characterised by normal to high IQ but with marked impairment in social skills. Successful social skills training appears to be best achieved either in situ or in role-play situations where users can explore different outcomes resulting from their social behaviour. Single user virtual environments (SVEs) provide an opportunity for users with AS to learn social interaction skills in a safe environment which they can visit as many times as they like.The use of game-like tasks can provide an incentive and can also be used to guide the user through progressive learning stages. Collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) allow several users to interact simultaneously within the virtual environment, each taking different perspectives or role-play characters. Within the AS interactive project a series of SVEs and CVEs have been developed in collaboration with users and professional groups with an overall aim of supporting social skills learning. Initial evaluation studies have been carried out which have been used to both inform and refine the design of these virtual environments (VEs) as well as giving an insight into the understanding and interpretation of these technologies by users with AS.     

基于Web的网络自主学习平台设计

随着网络技术的飞速发展,网络学习已成为当今教育的发展趋势,针对网络教育的资源共享和自由交流的优势,在分析传统教学存在学习资源不能充分共享、学习评价反馈不够及时等问题的基础上,提出了基于Web的网络自主学习平台,实现资源利用最大化、学习行为自主化、学习形式交互化等目的。     

Concept mapping your Web searches: a design rationale and Web-enabled application

Although it has become very common to use World Wide Web‐based information in many educational settings, there has been little research on how to better search and organize Web‐based information. This paper discusses the shortcomings of Web search engines and Web browsers as learning environments and describes an alternative Web search environment that combines a concept mapping and a data mining technique to address their drawbacks.     

Video-sharing educational tool applied to the teaching in renewable energy subjects

The impact and evaluation of an educational tool “Renewable Energy Video sharing”, based on videocast techniques is presented in this paper. This tool arose from a learning innovation project developed in the Electronics and Automation Engineering Department at the University of Jaén. This experience consists of the elaboration of multimedia materials showing different ways of obtaining thermal energy and electricity from renewable resources as well as the equipment and the technology implicated in these process. Thus a video channel, implemented in YouTube™ platform, and an online space were implemented where these multimedia materials can be found and played, bringing technological reality closer to the final user – to the students in this specific case – in an easy, interactive and free way from any device with an internet connection. This learning tool was applied and used as a support in two ambits, face-to-face and non face-to-face education, in two different educational levels: Undergraduate and Postgraduate Education. Three subjects in the field of photovoltaic solar energy experienced the e-learning tool, obtaining a high degree of general satisfaction among students. After analyzing the impact of the implemented tool through personal final questionnaires among students, an improvement of the understanding of the theoretic concepts previously studied as well as the facility of access to the contents being the most appreciated benefits.     

基于MVC的网上学习系统数据库的开发

针对网上学习系统具有互动性、实时性、并发性等特点,采用MVC分层设计模式,使其能适应未来不断变化的需求和扩展。独立设置Web服务器处理页面HTTP请求,FMS服务器处理视频文件的媒体流转换,既可减轻单台服务器的数据处理压力,也使大数据量的视频传输不影响用户的网页浏览。重点分析数据库开发中数据库设计原则、数据库开发流程,以及数据库建表、数据表关联、数据库连接等实现方法。最后对系统进行功能和压力测试,结果表明,系统能支持大用户量和高并发在线学习和即时交流。系统功能完备、实用性强,推广应用将对包括干部培训在内的网络教育的教学和管理起到积极的示范作用。     

基于情境学习的射孔仿真培训系统应用研究

由于传统的仿真培训中只能通过鼠标的点击与键盘进行交互,存在着现场感缺乏以及用户体验不足等缺点,针对油田射孔岗位仿真培训中的交互问题,提出了应用情境学习理论结合体感交互技术的仿真培训系统。通过将Unity与体感交互技术结合,学习者可以运用手势与姿势来实现与仿真培训系统的交互操作。结合应用这一技术可以使得学习者能够在更逼真的虚拟学习环境中尽情的体会和学习,满足学习者的体验和参与需求,可以有效促进学习者从具体的感知经验上升到抽象的知识概念,为教学培训的顺利开展创设有利的条件。     

A user-study on online adaptation of neural machine translation to human post-edits

The advantages of neural machine translation (NMT) have been extensively validated for offline translation of several language pairs for different domains of spoken and written language. However, research on interactive learning of NMT by adaptation to human post-edits has so far been confined to simulation experiments. We present the first user study on online adaptation of NMT to user post-edits in the domain of patent translation. Our study involves 29 human subjects (translation students) whose post-editing effort and translation quality were measured on about 4500 interactions of a human post-editor and an NMT system integrating an online adaptive learning algorithm. Our experimental results show a significant reduction in human post-editing effort due to online adaptation in NMT according to several evaluation metrics, including hTER, hBLEU, and KSMR. Furthermore, we found significant improvements in BLEU/TER between NMT outputs and professional translations in granted patents, providing further evidence for the advantages of online adaptive NMT in an interactive setup.