A Management Model of Learning Objects in a Ubiquitous
Learning Environment
Marcos Lewis, Cassia Nino, João Rosa, Jorge Barbosa, André Wagner
University of Sinos Valley (Unisinos), São Leopoldo, Brazil
ABSTRACT
Mobility of users carrying mobile devices with access to wireless networks creates
the need to provide uniform and immediate access to information. In this scenario, a
new educational model, called Ubiquitous Learning, has been studied. In this model,
the educational processes are related to the learner's situation, i.e. they are contextaware. This allows the access to educational resources be adapted to the learner's
profile and context. GlobalEdu is a computing environment which aims at supporting
Ubiquitous Learning. This paperi presents the GlobalEdu model for content
management and an experiment performed to validate it.
Keywords: Ubiquitous Learning; Learning Objects; Context Awareness; Content
Management; Learning.
INTRODUCTION
Users carrying mobile devices can use the benefits of wireless networks
technologies to access data anywhere and anytime. Nonetheless, the access to
information must to made in a uniform and immediate way (Satyanarayanan, 2001).
Ubiquitous Computing (Weiser, 1991) is a computational model that aims at satisfying
the users' needs pro-actively, acting in an invisible way (in background). In addition,
this computational model aims at providing continuous integration between technology
and environment, assisting users in the daily tasks. In Ubiquitous Computing concept,
applications are available anywhere and anytime and the access to networks is
continuous and independent of devices.
The area of Ubiquitous Computing dedicated to the exploration of educational
aspects is called Ubiquitous Learning (Ogata & Yano, 2003; Rogers, et al., 2005;
Barbosa, et al., 2005). In Ubiquitous Learning concept, the mobility of learners and the
perception of elements around them (i.e. their contexts) are part of the learning process.
Therefore, Ubiquitous Learning supports learning processes related to the learners'
current situations (Context Awareness (Abowd & Dey, 1999)).
GlobalEdu (Barbosa, et al., 2005) is a Ubiquitous Learning architecture that is
aware of the learner's context and mobility. In GlobalEdu, Context Awareness has a key
role, because it allows exposing to learners aspects of their interest according to the
contexts. Mobility, which also is important, allows GlobalEdu to act pro-actively in the
places where the learners are. A characteristic of GlobalEdu is to explore content
(Learning Objects) according to learners' contexts and profiles. GlobalEdu is being
integrated with an environment that supports Ubiquitous Computing and is called ISAM
(Yamin, et al., 2002).
This paper is composed of six sections. Section two presents definitions and
standards associated with Ubiquitous Learning and Learning Objects. Section three
details the GlobalEdu proposal. The fourth section presents the Content Management
Educational Module, which is the focus of this paper. In addition, this section describes
the scenario in which the module of content management was evaluated. Section five
discusses related works and compares the proposed architecture with other proposals.
Finally, section six presents some conclusions and plans for future works.
UBIQUITOUS LEARNING AND LEARNING OBJECTS
Environments and experiments toward Ubiquitous Learning integrate various
technological aspects. For this reason, educational models emerged. Examples of these
models are Mobile Learning (Roschelle & Pea, 2002), Learning Based on Location
(Price & Rogers, 2004), Context-Aware Learning (Toivonen, et al., 2003; Barbosa, et
al., 2008), Pervasive Learning (Coatta & Kaufmann, 2003), and, finally, the model that
incorporates all these others, Ubiquitous Learning (Ogata & Yano, 2003; Rogers, et al.,
2005; Barbosa, et al., 2005).
Barbosa (2005) defines Ubiquitous Learning as a process that can occur anytime
and anywhere and that is adjustable, continuous, and integrated with the learners' daily
activities. The essence of Ubiquitous Learning is to realize which information is
presented throughout the learners' daily tasks, in different forms and places, and to link
this data with the learners' educational process. Technologies that support Ubiquitous
Learning should provide these aspects through mechanisms that allow knowing
learners, contexts involving them, and how learners relate to contexts.
We investigated which subset of functionalities is needed to achieve the benefits of
large-scale ubiquity. As conclusion, we assumed that it is possible to develop
Ubiquitous Learning applications using Ubiquitous Computing support. Therefore, it is
also possible to implement distributed, mobile, context-aware, adapted, and follow-me
applications (Weiser, 1991; Yamin, et al., 2002). We considered that the use of ContextAwareness with Ubiquitous Computing support enables the exploration of large-scale
Ubiquitous Learning.
Context Awareness (Abowd & Dey, 1999) is, therefore, an important feature for
the exploration of large-scale Ubiquitous Learning. The new class of context-aware
systems opens prospects for development of applications that explore the dynamic
nature and the mobility of users. The contextual information comes from many sources,
such as location sensors, temperature sensors, users' profiles, and network monitors. In
addition, while supporting learning, Context Awareness allows relating explicit
information of the learners (for example, preferences and goals) with implicit
information of their physical location (for example, temperature and people in the same
location).
Using Ubiquitous Learning support, applications can pro-actively notify learners
about events or resources of their interests available in the context. In this scenario, it is
possible to look for Learning Objects according to the learners' contexts and profiles.
According to Tarouco (2003), Learning Objects are defined as any digital or non-digital
resources that can be used to support learning processes. These objects are building
blocks for constructing the context of learning. An important aspect is the use of
standards to catalogue the objects, such as ADL/SCORM (2010) and IEEE/LOM
(PAPI, 2008). This standards aim at facilitating exploration of issues related to
accessibility, interoperability, durability, and flexibility. These aspects are important in
ubiquitous computing environments, because learners can access resources anywhere
and with any device.
GLOBALEDU
GlobalEdu (Barbosa, et al., 2005) investigated how to expand the ISAM
architecture to electronic learning domain. ISAM (Yamin, et al., 2002) considers that
"the computer" is the whole network. The computing environment (data, device, code,
service, resource) is spread in composed cells. Users can move around, having both
their applications and the virtual environment following them.
The GlobalEdu architecture proposes a layered organization, as Figure 1 shows.
The Application Layer is represented by a Pedagogical Agent (or PA for short), which
follows the learners throughout the environment and assists in their interactions with the
system. The Pedagogical Agent module runs on the mobile devices of the learners,
assisting the educational process in the ubiquitous environment. PA contains an
interface to the System Layer and provides a ubiquitous vision through the ISAM
environment. The PA characteristics are the following: migration to the devices in use
by learners; communication with the Educational Modules to obtain information of the
environment; access control of the Learning Objects; and context information related to
the location of the learner with learning goals.
The System Layer is composed of the Educational Modules (or EMs for short) and
the Support Modules (or SMs for short). They provide support for execution of the
Pedagogical Agent in the ubiquitous environment. Furthermore, they enable the
identification and the adaptation of resources according to the learners' profiles and
contexts. The EMs and the SMs are heavyweight execution units, thus they are executed
on the network servers. Otherwise, the Pedagogical Agent component is a lightweight
execution unit, thus it can be executed on the learners' mobile devices.
The Educational Modules are responsible for performing functions related to the
contexts and the content management. They also are responsible for manipulating the
learners' model. GlobalEdu has the following Educational Modules: Profile, Content,
and Context Management.
Figure 1 - The GlobalEdu architecture
When learners move around contexts, their learning models can change. The
Profile Management EM generates the learners' model, which is represented by a
metadata. This metadata uses some categories of the PAPI standard (PAPI, 2008), the
LIP (2010), and the Learning Styles (Felder & Silverman, 1988). The metadata also
supports Trails (Silva, et al., 2009).
The PAPI categories used are the following: Personal Information, Preferences,
Relations, and Security. The LIP categories used are the Goal category and the
Competency. The Learning Styles are based on the proposal of Felder & Silverman
(1988). A trail contains the history of the learners' actions in the ubiquitous
environment, storing information related to locations, devices, applications, and
contexts accessed. Therefore, it is possible to know any change in the learners' models.
The learners' metadata also has information of Relations, which is generated as a
learner meets other learners in the ubiquitous environment. This presupposes the
existence of other learners with the same goals, competencies, and preferences.
The Context Management EM manages the learners' contexts, monitoring any
change in the contexts where the learners are. The learners' contexts are composed of
Social Context} and Physical Context. The Social Context has information about the
learners in the context and about Events and Resources related to a location (context of
the location). The Physical Context represents the resources used by the learners, such
as networks and devices.
The Content Management EM is responsible for managing the Learning Objects
according to the learners' models. The next section describes, in details, this component.
The Support Modules (SMs) assist in the execution of the Educational Modules
and the Pedagogical Agent. These modules manage aspects of communication,
adaptation of interfaces to devices, users' access, and persistence. The SMs act as
interfaces between the EMs and the ISAM environment. The SMs use the migration and
the physical mobility support of the ISAM environment to manage the mobility of the
Pedagogical Agents among devices. In addition, the SMs manage the messages
interchange among the Educational Modules, the Pedagogical Agents, and the ISAM
environment.
The Runtime Layer monitors elements of the physical context. Each location is
modeled as a Geographic Region and has information of context. The context data is
stored in a repository and is represented by a metadata in the XML format. The
ubiquitous environment is composed of cells, each cell have different contexts (see
Figure 2). For example, a University can be considered a cell and its buildings different
contexts.
Figure 2. A ubiquitous environment of GlobalEdu
The Runtime Layer is represented by a middleware that supports the execution of
educational applications, providing the elements necessary for the system. These
elements are: perception of elements of the contexts, migration of code, and
mechanisms for communication.
CONTENT MANAGEMENT IN GLOBALEDU
The Content Management EM is responsible for the Learning Objects
management, identifying and providing these objects according to the learners' profiles
and the limitations of their physical context (for example, devices and networks
bandwidth). The objects are categorized by the IEEE/LOM standard (LTSC, 2010).
They are managed according to a network of distributed repositories of Learning
Objects. These repositories are integrated through a middleware to provide a unified
view of the objects. Therefore, learners have access, anywhere, to all objects that are
within the GlobalEdu network, in a transparent and personalized way. The interaction of
the learners with the Content Management EM is made through the Pedagogical Agent.
The Content Management Educational Module
Among the tasks of the Content Management EM, this work specifically focuses on
the following:



Metadata Management - all content in GlobalEdu is stored in repositories called
Content Repositories. The content is represented in XML, according to the LOM
standard. The metadata management controls the insertion, deletion, and
modification of the Learning Objects. Each location in GlobalEdu can provide
its own content repository;
Content Selection - the selection of a specific content to present to a learner
considers three requirements. The first is the content related to the pedagogical
strategy, which must be in accordance with the learners' preferred style of
learning, as specified in their profile. The second analyses whether the target
content is related to any of the learners' goals. The third considers the learners'
physical context, so that they receive content adapted to the device and the
network bandwidth;
Content Discovery - the learners, using the Pedagogical Agent, can request
information of the Learning Objects available in the environment. This query
can be made according to learners' profiles (mediated by the system) or via
keywords (free search).
Figure 3 shows the use case diagram of the basic functions of the Content
Management EM.
Manages Learning
Objects
Administrator
Searches for
Learning Objects
Context
Manager
Queries Guided by
Keywords
Pedagogical
Agent
Queries Guided by
Profiles
Manages the
Repository Registry
<<include>>
Registers Repository
<<include>>
<<include>>
Content
Repository
Exchanges List of
Repositories
Shutdowns
Repository
Figure 3. The Content Management EM functions
The actors involved are the following:




Administrator - represents the user who can add, edit, and delete Learning
Objects;
Context Manager - characterizes the Context Management EM;
Pedagogical Agent - represents the Pedagogical Agent;
Content Repository - illustrates the content repositories. Every repository is
aware of all registered repositories in the GlobalEdu network. The repositories
are responsible for forwarding queries made by learners, thus enabling the
learners to have a single vision of all objects.
The operations are the following:



Manages Learning Objects - represents the operations of content management
in each repository. The operations supported are the following: add, delete, and
update Learning Objects;
Searches for Learning Objects - represents the searches for Learning Objects
in the GlobalEdu repositories. In the filtering process of the searches, objects
whose format matches the physical context (device and network) receive higher
priority. The available searches are the following: 1) Queries Guided by
Profiles, which consider the description of the Learning Objects matched with
the learners' style of learning and goals; 2) Queries Guided by Keywords, which
enable learners to search for objects based on keywords, allowing them to look
for objects that are not strictly related with their declared goals;
Manages the Repository Registry - contains three basic operations: 1)
Registers Repository advertises the existence of a new content repository in the
GlobalEdu network; 2) Shutdowns Repository advertises that a repository is
leaving the network for maintenance or repairs; 3) Exchanges List of
Repositories enables the repositories to update their local views of the network,
requesting the list of the remote repositories. The list contains identifier, address
of access, and current state of the repositories. Periodically, each repository
updates its list, consulting other repositories. The frequency of the list exchange
is a configuration parameter of the system.
The Content Management EM architecture
The architecture of the Content Management EM is service-oriented. Figure 4
shows the components of each Content Management EM server in the GlobalEdu
network (see Figure 2).
ContentManagerServer
ContentManagerServer
Listeners
Services
Man.
Rep.
LL
DescriptorsList
ServiceExecutor
Listeners
Content
ii
Listeners
Services
Service
Descr
Listeners
Listeners
Manager
Execut
iptors
ContentManagerServer
ss
or
List
Repository
Listeners
Services
Man.
tt
Rep.
DescriptorsList
ServiceExecutor
e
e
DescriptorsList
ServiceExecutor
n
ContentManagerServer
n
Listeners
ee Services Man.
Rep.
DescriptorsList
ServiceExecutor
rr
Clients
Figure 4. The Content Management EM architecture ss
The architecture of the Content Management EM is based on a network of
interconnected servers. The components of the architecture are the following:






Content Manager Server - represents each repository server in the GlobalEdu
network. Each server is independent of the others, and they can run even
disconnected from the GlobalEdu network. While is offline, the queries of
objects are processed in the local repository;
Content Manager Repository - represents the persistence of the Learning
Objects. Different implementations can be provided, whereas the
implementation to be used is defined in the repository configuration file. The
default implementation of the Content Management Repository is based on the
JCR API (Java Content Repository), which is provided by the Jackrabbit Project
(Apache, 2010);
Descriptors List - maintains the network of repositories interconnected, keeping
a list of the repositories known by each server;
Listeners - enables operations to be connected to the server life-cycle;
Service Executor - maintains compatibility among different devices. The
service executor packs and transports parameters between the client node and
the node hosting the service implementation, as well as any result in the opposite
direction. Currently, it is possible to invoke remote services either through
sockets or Web services;
Services - represents the services provided by the Content Management EM.
These services are divided into two groups. The former is responsible for
providing the integration and interoperability among repositories in the network.
The component responsible for the implementation of these services is the list of
repositories. The latter group is responsible for exporting functions related to the
handling of the Learning Objects. These services can include, remove, update,
and find an object in the repository.
Prototype and Evaluation of the System
The prototype of the Content Management EM was integrated with the remaining
modules of the GlobalEdu architecture. Currently, the system has the Pedagogical
Agent module and the Context Management EM. The Pedagogical Agent was
implemented with the U-inContext application (Nino et al, 2007). Aspects related to the
learner's profile are emulated, because the Profile Management EM is not fully
implemented.
The U-inContext application performs a subset of the functionalities originally
conceived by the GlobalEdu model. The U-inContext has a graphical user interface
which is adapted to the device in use (for instance, PDA or desktop). Using this
interface, learners can access a list of the Learning Objects available in the GlobalEdu
network. In addition, the learners can search for specific objects. The list is presented on
the "My Information" menu and is filtered according to the learners' current contexts.
Aiming at demonstrating a practical application of the GlobalEdu content model,
we present a scenario that involves some aspects of the system. The objective is to
evaluate the selection of Learning Objects according to learners' profiles or to explicit
keywords. In addition, the experiment aims at evaluating the context-aware filtering of
Learning Objects, the access to objects hosted in remote repositories, and the GlobalEdu
use as an assistance tool in classrooms.
The study case was conducted at the La Salle University College. This University
was considered as a cell, which is composed of different contexts. The devices of the
learners received an instance of the U-inContext application. The learners, carrying
different types of devices, had access to the services available in the GlobalEdu
network. When the learners entered the University, the system detected them and,
considering their profiles, sent Learning Objects to their devices. The learners moved
around the contexts of the University. Each visited context had different content
information available.
The implementing platform consisted of mobile nodes comprising notebooks and
PDAs Sharp Zaurus SL-5600. The test was conducted in a specific building of the
University (Geographic Region). In this building we mapped the Hall context and the
Informatics Laboratory. The test was conducted with a sample consisting of six
professionals of the computing field and other areas. We presented the purpose of the
work and the basic operation of the prototype. Subsequently, the individuals, using the
Pedagogical Agent, registered their data and were invited to use the prototype for one
day. At the end of the experiment, the learners were asked to answer an evaluation
survey.
Even knowing that the number of individuals involved in the experiment was
small, analyzing the results, we can note that GlobalEdu is a good tool for interacting
with Learning Objects in a context-aware manner. Figure 5 summarizes the individuals'
perceptions regarding the system adequacy for learning any kind of content and the
system use as an assisting tool in classrooms. The results indicate a good acceptance of
the individuals about the evaluated items. The persons classified, in general, the system
as good or excellent for aiding in the learning process.
Figure 5. Aspects of analysis in the system evaluation
The users noted that the system would be helpful to the daily use. An interesting
comment made by a user, regarding the capacity of the system in assisting the learning
process, was the following: "I think that in the future this system will replace the
distance-learning systems used in institutions". The perception of this individual is that
the system could be used to access all information currently available in the distancelearning system of the University.
RELATED WORKS
Some projects are investigating the use of Ubiquitous Computing to provide new
learning perspectives. Nonetheless, few proposals use Learning Objects to represent
pedagogical content. Ogata & Yano (2003) present Japelas, which is a context aware
system to support learning of the Japanese language. Learners carrying PDAs are
assisted by the system, which helps to identify adequate polite expressions, considering
the contexts of the learners. Japelas was designed for this specific propose and does not
use Learning Objects.
The Ambient Wood Project (Rogers, et al., 2005) proposes the use of digital
augmentation for enhancing both indoors and outdoors learning processes. This project
does not support Learning Objects. Its focus is specifically on pervasive environments
based on digital augmentation. Yang (2006) proposes a peer-to-peer access of content in
a Ubiquitous Learning environment. The proposal also does not specify the use of a
specific type of content representation. Different from these works, GlobalEdu uses
Learning Objects to enable a generic approach of content management.
Schmidt (2005) summarizes characteristics of context-aware learning systems and
presents a case study that uses Learning Objects based on the SCORM standard. The
case study does not consider aspects of large-scale management of content. Differently,
GlobalEdu uses the LOM standard (LTSC, 2010) and proposes a network of distributed
repositories to support management of content in ubiquitous environments.
The SELENE learning network (SELENE, 2008) and the ELENA (Simon, et al.,
2003) use the LOM standard. Nonetheless, they do not consider the adaptation of
content according to the learners' contexts, as GlobalEdu does. LOCAL (Barbosa, et al.,
2008) uses the LOM standard and also adapts the content to the learners' context.
Nonetheless, LOCAL was designed as a small-scale Ubiquitous Learning system.
Previous publications of GlobalEdu describe the first proposal of the GlobalEdu
architecture (Barbosa, et al., 2005), the context management (Nino, et al., 2007), and the
implementation of the Pedagogical Agent (Nino et al, 2007). Considering the related
works and the previous publications, we can emphasize, as main contribution of this
paper, the proposal of large-scale management of learning content. This proposal is
mainly based on interoperability among distributed repositories of Learning Objects.
FINAL REMARKS AND FUTURE WORKS
To perceive elements that involve learners in a virtual world is a task approached in
environments of virtual learning, particularly in Distance Education environments.
Considering Ubiquitous Learning, this perception transcends virtual environments and
reaches the learner's real world. One of the main problems in Ubiquitous Learning is the
perception of the learners' contexts. Advances in this area will allow new approaches to
manage content in educational ubiquitous environments.
This paper presented the content management in GlobalEdu, mainly describing a
model of interoperability among repositories of Learning Objects. The development of
the system provided a single view of all objects available in the GlobalEdu network,
providing to the users Learning Objects according to their profiles and contexts. The
results of the experiment showed that the GlobalEdu architecture can be used in a
specific learning situation and in the generic manipulation of Learning Objects.
As future work, we intend to extend the Content Management EM, providing
extensions to work with other standards of Learning Objects, such as the SCORM. The
work presented is not too distant, whereas it is possible to create converters to import
and to export Learning Objects in various formats, without changing the operation of
the system core. New applications (for example, Distance Education applications) could
be created to access the GlobalEdu network of Learning Objects. This would maximize
the use of the Content Management EM. Finally, we intent to analyze the GlobalEdu
performance and acceptance with a larger number of individuals.
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i
The authors wish to thank CNPq (The Brazilian National Counsel for Scientific and Technological
Development) for funding the research project "UbiCampus: um Modelo para Suporte à Educação
Ubíqua" (UbiCampus: an Ubiquitous Learning Support Model), of which this study is a part.