BRINGING TEACHERS, STUDENTS AND LEARNING RESOURCES CONTEXTUALLY CLOSER
Fouad Zablith
Olayan School of Business
American University of Beirut
“Today we are not interested in people who know the capital of the states, but need expert learners who know how to learn” Chris Dede
“It is a very interesting read for business classes.”
“It is a very interesting read for business classes.”
Oh, market clustering. Business intelligence example for
INFO200 Chapter 9?
“It is a very interesting read for business classes.”
Oh, market clustering. Business intelligence example for
INFO200 Chapter 9?
A perfect branding example...
How can we explicitly link resources to our learning objectives?
Internet
Tech.
Mobile Platforms
Social Media
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Classroom
Option 1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/coreydahl/
Option 2
http://www.flickr.com/photos/coreydahl/
Option 2
http://www.flickr.com/photos/coreydahl/
ProblemBusiness School Curriculum
Marketing Courses
Finance Courses
English Courses
Textbooks
PresentationsExams
Syllabi…
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Problem• It is getting harder for teachers to direct their students to
resources relevant to their learning and course objectives due to:
• Shift from offline, to blended or purely online environments• Continuous increase in online material making it hard for teachers
to keep up• Lack of explicit context alignment between resources, learning
objectives, students and teachers
Online Tool Example• Mainly used as a
sharing platform
• Connections to the learning concepts are hard
• Flat design approach
• Courses are created in isolation
Proposed Solution• Eliciting the context of courses and learning resources to
better align them with teachers and students
• Instead of handling a course as a block and replicating this in online environments, we propose using conceptually connected graphs to support our learning objectives
• Engage teachers and students in transparently building the conceptual graphs throughout their learning involvement
In other words
VS
Introduction to Semantic Technologies
• The Semantic Web and Linked Data aim to create meaningful connections and links at the data level
• Publishing information follows well defined rules such as reusing existing resources, fixed references (URIs), choosing the right vocabulary, etc.
• Existing vocabularies are available (e.g. in the academic domain) to be commonly reused by information publishers, to enable seamless information exchange
“Linking Open Data cloud diagram, by Richard Cyganiak and Anja Jentzsch. http://lod-cloud.net/”
Governments
Universities
References
Bibliography
And many more!
Are we there yet?
In our Context
INFO_MKTG_250
CourseLearning Concept
isa
Viral Marketing
isa
coveredIn mentionedIn
Video Material
isa
In our Context
INFO_MKTG_250
Course
http://linked.aub.edu.lb/resource/course/info_mktg_250
Learning Concept
isa
Viral Marketing
isa
coveredIn mentionedIn
Video Material
isa
Structured Conceptual Layer
Semantic Relations
Unique Identifiers
Semantic Graph Mockup of OSB Courses
Automatic Linking Workflow
LibraryCatalogue
YouTube
Publications Podcasts
PeopleCourses
Information
Linked DataPlatform
Linked Data Lucero Statistics
Entity Type Number of InstancesCourses 580Research Publications 16,000Video Podcasts 2,200Audio Podcasts 1,500Open Educational Resources 640YouTube Videos 900University Buildings 100Library Catalogue Books 12,000
Some Outputs
ConnectingLearning Material
Research Output Analytics
New Delivery Channels Geo Connections
Crafting Personal Semantic Graphs• While automation is good for existing structured
information, it has limitations when concepts are embedded in the content, and at the level of personalizing learning experiences and resources
• In addition to automation, we need to engage teachers to semantically graph the delivery of their courses in their personal classrooms, enriched with learning resources that can be seamlessly added to the graph
Building Personalized Semantic Graphs
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Additional Requirements• Study the deployment of semantic sharing techniques that
can be integrated in existing applications
• Support users in picking and linking to relevant areas of the semantic graphs
• Devise mechanisms to channel and adapt content based on specific learning contexts
• Secure the appropriate centralized platform to serve linked content
Advantages
Breaking Courses Isolation
INFO 200 INFO/MKTG 250 FINA 210
Viral Marketing
Social ROI
ROIViral Marketing
SemanticEngine
Sharing• Enhancing connections between educators and improving
social engagement
INFO 200 INFO/MKTG 250 FINA 210
Viral Marketing
Social ROI
ROIViral Marketing
This is a nice VM video
Sharing• Enhancing connections between educators and improving
social engagement
INFO 200 INFO/MKTG 250 FINA 210
Viral Marketing
Social ROI
ROIViral Marketing
This is a nice VM video
Adaptive Content Discovery
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What are the slides related
to group project 1?
Adaptive Content Discovery
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I want to know more about
viral marketing
What are the slides related
to group project 1?
Adaptive Content Discovery
T
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I want to know more about
viral marketing
What are the slides related
to group project 1?
Where did I learn about
game theory?
Adaptive Content Discovery
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I want to know more about
viral marketing
What are the slides related
to group project 1?
Where did I learn about
game theory?This webinar,
how is it relevant to my
BBA?
ENG203CMPS209
INFO200
MKTG210
Retaining Knowledge
Further Potential Use Cases
Books
Student Assistant
MNGT215
Student
enrolledIn
FINA 210
Student ContextLinked University Content
Running
interestedIn
Chess
Hagop
Person Events
Run AUBRun
AUB
Office hours:OSB 456MWF: 3-4pm
completed
OSB
MNGT 210
Program
Beirut Marathon11 Nov 2012
You have to take MNGT 210 next spring.
New chess bookat AUB library
Towards Interactive Cases
WhoIssues
Implementation Plan
Assumptions
Missing Data
People
Organizations
LearningConcepts
Case
Summary
Title
Who is involved in this case?
- Starbucks- Angry customer A
Starbucks with the rise ofsocial media.
This case explores…
A customer posted a badfeedback on facebook about the company
Related material Courses
LearningResources
…..
Conclusions and Research Directions• Semantic technologies can potentially contribute to:
• Better support educators in directing learning content• Deliver more personalized and adaptive learning experiences• Move from isolated courses and degree delivery, to a richer and
linked educational program
• Our future research directions include:• Analyzing the impact of semantic technologies on courses delivery
in classrooms• Evaluating the enhancements in content discovery within learning
environments• Investigate the assessment of students on learning concepts,
rather than on course-based evaluations
http://linked.aub.edu.lb
Watch this space
Thank youhttp://fouad.zablith.org
@fzablith
Image Sources• http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/magazine/how-zara-g
rew-into-the-worlds-largest-fashion-retailer.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
• http://openclipart.org/detail/172849/mobile• http://www.isle-aux-allumettes.com/town-hall/minutes.php• http://
www.englishkey.com.mx/English%20for%20companies.html
• http://business.time.com/2012/06/21/finding-a-job-in-2012-real-life-success-stories/