ISIS Project

PROJECT: ISIS project (Individualized Support In Sequencing)

Website: ISIS project

Project description:
The ISIS project (Individualized Support In Sequencing) designs and develops new models and methods for effective way finding in learning networks, and test them within a series of advanced navigation services. Distributed learning networks currently need more learner-centred, adaptive navigation services that recommend the most suitable next activity and build-up the learning routes for learners dynamically.

Outcomes:
The outcomes of the project will support learners in composing most suitable learning routes (or competence development programmes), in order to achieve their (formal or informal) learning goals. These outcomes are focused on the integration of three areas of learning technology development (an interoperable learning route language, an interoperable competence description, and advanced navigation services) into personalised recommender systems that will support the definition and exchange of learning routes within a learning network. The products the project aims for are navigation services for learners (or personalised recommender systems), which support them in finding most suitable next activities, by feeding them back quantitative and qualitative information about available activities and routes in the learning network. A combination of social- (e.g., collaborative filtering) and information-based (e.g., metadata, folksonomies, ontologies) information matching techniques, and various recommendation strategies will be studied in various learning situations (e.g. both formal and informal learning). Later services will be based on specifications for the effective exchange of goals and routes.

Project leader and researchers involved:
Project leader: Hans Hummel
Team members: Bert van den Berg, Adriana Berlanga, Hendrik Drachsler, Rob Nadolski, Jannes Eshuis, Wim Waterink, Nanda Boers.

Project partners:
a) Faculties Open University of the Netherlands
Psychology faculty
b) Other partners
TENCompetence project (Work Package 7: Competence Development Programmes led by L3S, Hannover; Work Package 4: Health Care pilot led by UPF, Barcelona)

Planning (including current status):
Begin date: Jan 1st, 2006
End date: December 31st, 2007

Current status (until 18/12/06):
• we defined use cases and initial requirements for navigation services
• we defined an initial set of qualitative attributes of learners, competences and learning paths
• we analysed current LT specs for modelling learners and goals, and drew up drafts for conceptual articles on modelling goals and learning paths
• we analyzed our BA/MA psychology programme at OUNL, and investigated IMS LD to model curricula
• we drew up an initial model for way finding in LN (based on the TC domain model), and proposed a combined approach with both social-based and information-based information matching (see recent conceptual article by Hummel et al., available from: handle/1820/830)
• we prepared and implemented an experiment in Moodle, in the domain of Introduction to Psychology (IP pilot), in collaboration with the faculty of Psychology at OUNL
• we developed a first ‘proof of concept’ version of a PRS (personalised recommender system), using a combination of CF and learner profile information, that is currently being studied in the IP pilot domain
• we studied Unified Process & suitable data mining techniques

Relations with other projects within the Development Programme:
- Currently, with the positioning project, led by Jan van Bruggen where expertise has been acquired on using LSA (Latent Semantic Analysis) to enable bottom-up matchmaking. Positioning project also strives for combining LSA and ontology-driven techniques (see recent Sofia paper by Kalz, available from: handle/1820/854).

-Previous project ROMA (Road Mapping) developed a technological artefact capable of collecting information on learner progress (i.e., completion of activity nodes), attempting to support navigation and improve educational yield (see the empirical study available from: handle/1820/478). However, ROMA did not take learner characteristics such as age, sex, preferences, special needs, and various circumstantial conditions into account. ISIS intends to provide navigational support by providing (personal recommender agents) tools that facilitate making optimal connections between (individual) people and learning resources.