Measures of Dispersion and Variability: Range, QD, AD and SD
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Formalization of Social Knowledge through a Personal Learning Environment approach
1. Formalization of Social Knowledge
through a
Personal Learning Environment
approach
PhD Dissertation
January 24, 2011
Ancona - Italy
Flavio MANGANELLO, UniversitĂ Politecnica delle Marche, Italy
TUTOR: Prof. Tommaso LEO, UniversitĂ Politecnica delle Marche, Italy
CO-TUTOR: Prof. KINSHUK, Athabasca University, Canada
2. :: Summary ::
1. Context
2. Design
3. Materials
and Methods
4. Conclusions
and Future Work
4. ï§ Social knowledge and Learning
â« an important aspect of the learnerâs experience
â« fundamental for the collaborative creation of social artifacts
â« usually dynamic, tacit/non declarative, and constructed
:: Research topic ::
5. ï§ Social knowledge and Learning
â« an important aspect of the learnerâs experience
â« fundamental for the collaborative creation of social artifacts
â« usually dynamic, tacit/non declarative, and constructed
:: Research topic ::
Identifying and sharing social knowledge with regard to a
particular context may become problematic for learners who
are participating as novices in a community or a network
where communication and interaction with experts should
lead to shared understandings
Research problem
6. :: Literature review ::
ï§ Origin of the research problem and findings already known about it
â« Knowledge embedded in social networks, Semantic Social Networks
[Downes, 2004]
â« Flink, an application of Semantic Web technology for the extraction
and analysis of social networks [Mika, 2005]
â« Social knowledge as âConnective knowledgeâ [Downes, 2007]
ï§ Other methods already investigated in research, with particular
regard to those approaches that propose the use of semantics
â« Social knowledge sharing tools [Siemens, 2007] ï blog, wikis, social
bookmarkings
â« KiWi â âKnowledge in a Wikiâ - project
â« Harvesting Social Knowledge from Folksonomies [Wu et al., 2009]
7. :: Literature review ::
PLE - Mainstream Research Approach
ï§ Educational mainstream
â« PLEs as systems that help learners in taking control of and
managing their own learning
â« Focused on investigating what pedagogies are more suitable for
PLEs[van Harmelen, 2006]
ï§ Technological mainstream
â« PLE as a type of mush-up application (MUPPLE)
â« Focused on integrating widgets into various platforms [Wilson,
2009; Chiatti, 2009; Drachsler, 2009]
8. :: Proposed solution ::
ï§ A methodology to formalize social knowledge within an
e-learning system
â« Social Semantic Web
â« Social Network Modeling
ï§ Formalization by analyzing the âconnectionsâ a learner
manages within a Personal Learning Environment (PLE)
â« Contents ï resources to be used for learning purpose
â« Personal relationships ï other learners
9. :: Proposed solution ::
ï§ Why a PLE approach?
ï§ A PLE is a more structured environment than a typical social
networking site and more controllable in an experimental
phase by an external observer
ï§ In addition, the PLE has learning and creation and sharing of
knowledge as the main purpose
10. :: Proposed solution ::
ï§ Process of social knowledge formalization by
â« a semantic representation of the knowledge context and
â« a semantic description of the social relationships by analyzing
the social networks
ï§ Dynamic characterization of the PLE ï Adaptivity and
Personalization
â« Explicit tools ï controlled by the learner (tagging, social
bookmarking)
â« Implicit tools ï mainly controlled by the system, but some
parameters may be set by the learner (collaborative filtering,
intelligent agents)
11. :: Research outcomes ::
1. Pedagogical level
Theoretical investigation
on a PLE approach to be
adopted within a
knowledge context
2. Technological level
Model architecture of an
environment integrating
â« learning
â« social knowledge
management
Person
al
Knowl
edge
Space
Technol
ogical
framew
ork
Metap
hor
of the
novice
Pedagog
ical
format
Knowledge context
12. :: Originality and value ::
ï§ Conducting research on PLEs from a dual perspective
â« pedagogical format and technological framework as two faces of
the same coin
ï§ Investigating e-learning systems as a long-life valid support
to search, explore, and test new learning strategies
â« empowerment of learners obtained by helping them in the
creation and dissemination of social knowledge
ï§ Focusing on particular technologies that may help in drawing
new scenarios for representing and managing social
knowledge in a given knowledge context
â« (Social) Semantic Web and Semantic Web Services
13. :: Benefits and practical implications ::
ï§ Developing new models in providing learning support to
communities
â« the PLE approach may be utilized within different learning
settings along the formal-informal learning axis
â« formalization is the key issue to foster dissemination of social
knowledge when learners move among several communities in
different knowledge contexts
ï§ Developing a personal learning and knowledge environment
â« organizations and communities that need lifelong learning for
their professionals
â« educational institutions that aims to promote a lifelong learning
approach among their students
15. :: The 4 design dimensions ::
1. Learner-centered pedagogical format
â« Defining the proper learning strategies with regard to the learner, the
knowledge context, and the âlearning variablesâ
1. Semantic system describing the knowledge context
â« A semantic model approach is proposed to represent a shared, formal
understanding of a given knowledge context
1. Semantic system representing and describing the social networks
â« The social networks a learner creates by means of her/his PLE
1. Personal Knowledge Space
â« Profiles intelligently the learner, retrieves and manages the
information, and presents it meaningfully and contextually by means of
semantic tools
16. :: 1. The metaphor of the novice ::
ï§ A novice needs to acquire knowledge in a given context
â« Communities and networks with experts
â« Construction of shared meanings
ï§ Research (epistemological and phenomenological level) vs.
learning (ontological level)
â« The novice acquires the social knowledge related to the knowledge
domain
ï§ Learning theories and strategies behind the format
â« Constructivism and social-constructivist, andragogy, meaningful
learning
â« Networked learning, connectivism, and situationism
â« Apprenticeship, learning by doing, simulations
17. :: 2-3. Semantics ::
ï§ Knowledge context
â« An ontology-based approach is used to represent a shared,
formal understanding of a knowledge context in which a learner
acts [Leo, Pagliarecci, Spalazzi, 2009]
ï§ Social networks
â« Theoretical construct of âSemantic Social Networkâ [Downes,
2004]
â« Ontology-based approach to harvest social knowledge from the
social networks that the learner participates (RDF, FOAF and
social network metrics)
â« Social Network Analysis to extract information in term of
reliability, effectiveness and collaboration
18. :: 4. Personal Knowledge Space ::
ï§ The PKS is the environment where the learner can manage
her knowledge, with the guidance of an expert or a teacher if
needed
ï§ The architecture is adaptive and personalized regard to the
learner profile and her/his device
â« Learner Profile Module
â« Knowledge Identification Module
ï§ Set of (authoring) tools
â« Social networking, visualization, negotiation, planning & design
ï§ Switching spaces tool
â« formal/informal; knowledge contexts
19. :: PKS - Set of tools ::
Social Networking
Tags
Ratings and comments
Friends and group
Visualization
Maps views
Timeline views
Faceted views
Negotiation
(discussion, reification)
Mapping
Interactive writing
Planning & Design
Scheduling
Discussing
Organizing
20. :: PKS - Conceptual Framework ::
Learner
Managed Cloud
A flow of connections (people
and information) aggregated
from a number of sources
selected by the learner:
âąWWW: blogs, news, Youtube,
Twitter, Slideshare, Flickr,
communities, social
bookimarking, âŠ
âąMLE, VLE: public information,
syllabus, coursesâ updates, âŠ
ï§ The possibilities of the Web 2.0 tools
and Mush-up applications increase
the amount of information available
on the Internet and enables people to
access almost anything they need
ï§ COMPLICATED, COMPLEX ï CHAOS
â« Information overload and cognitive
surplus [Shirky, 2008]
â« Lost in social space [Dron, 2009]
21. :: PKS - Conceptual Framework ::
Learner
Managed Cloud
A flow of connections (people
and information) aggregated
from a number of sources
selected by the learner:
âąWWW: blogs, news, Youtube,
Twitter, Slideshare, Flickr,
communities, social
bookimarking, âŠ
âąMLE, VLE: public information,
syllabus, coursesâ updates, âŠ
PKS
API/WS/RSS
Processing
and
Filtering
Learner Profile
Learning Contexts
Learner Profile
Learning Contexts
Meaningful
selection of
recommended and
personalized
connections
Meaningful
selection of
recommended and
personalized
connections
Social Networking
Tags
Ratings and comments
Friends and group
Presentation
Contexts wievs
Maps views
Timeline views
Faceted views (widget)
Negotiation &
Reification
Mapping
Interactive writing
Planning & Design
Scheduling
Discussing
Organizing
Tools
23. :: An institutioanl case study ::
ï§ A first course of Automatic Control at the UNIVPM, Italy
â« Students as novice designers who need to learn Material Knowledge,
the knowledge relative to the real operation conditions of engineering
complex systems
â« Focus on acquiring the competencies and abilities of an expert
designer
â« Students should learn confronting each other and with experts
(teachers, tutors)
ï§ Blended course, integration of explicit instructional approach
(direct instruction) and constructivist strategies
â« lectures and exercises, laboratory experiments, team-work, less formal
learning activities (i.e. âresource huntâ)
24. :: Integrating PKS and ITLab ::
LMS PKS
WSs
SOAP
Learning Materials
Student Guide
Experiment Analysis
Experiment Interface
Experiment Data
Client
[Web Browser
+ JRE]
Learning Networks
Learning Communities
API/WSs/RSS
API
WSs
RSS
DatabaseDatabase
Learner Profile
Learning Contexts
Learner
Managed Cloud
A flow of connections
(people and information)
aggregated from a number of
sources selected by the
learner:
âąWWW: blogs, news,
Youtube, Twitter, Slideshare,
Flickr, communities, social
bookimarking, âŠ
âąMLE, VLE: public
information, syllabus,
coursesâ updates, âŠ
Process: HelicopterProcess: Eolo
IT
25. :: Exploitation scenario ::
Higher Engineering Education
ï§ A student carrying out collaborative laboratory activities in
Automatic Control
ï§ A collaborative session of the ITLab managed through the PKS
ï§ Workflow
â« Kicking off the IT activities
â« Setting up the PKS (Space and Tools)
â« Creating the Group (People)
â« Connecting contextual resources
â« Auto-profiling
27. :: Conclusions ::
ï§ Pedagogical dimension
â« the PLE approach helps in promoting team-work and knowledge
management among novices
ï§ Technological dimension
â« in order to be really effective, the PLE needs to be dynamically
characterized by implicit and explicit tools for adaptivity and
personalization
ï§ Organizational dimension
â« the PLE approach should be planned, guided, and promoted by
the management of the organization /institution, considering the
related governance and policy issues
28. :: Conclusions::
Restrictions of the present work
ï§ At the current stage, the methodology proposed is expected
to work better in technical and scientific knowledge domain
Future work
ï§ Develop a concrete implementation of the PLE approach
â« Help in validating the methodology presented here by
conducting a more systematic experience with students
â« Basis for collecting more structured results allowing to define
possible scenarios of iterable educational experiences
29. Thank you for your attention
Flavio Manganello
f.manganello@univpm.it
Special thanks for supporting my research to
Prof. Leo and Prof. Kinshuk
Chicco Calleri
Scogliere â Watercolor cm 18x24
30. Flavio Manganello
UniversitĂ Politecnica delle Marche, Italy
f.manganello@univpm.it
Flavio Manganello is an expert in multimedia communication and
researcher in the field of distance learning.
His main research interests are online learning design, learning
and collaborative technologies, personalized and adaptive
learning systems, and ubiquitous learning.
He collaborates with several universities in Italy and abroad,
including the UniversitĂ degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, the
UniversitĂ Politecnica delle Marche, and the Athabasca
University in Canada.