[計(jì)算機(jī)]改進(jìn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)學(xué)習(xí)實(shí)踐活動(dòng)的合作框架外文翻譯

1、.改進(jìn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)學(xué)習(xí)實(shí)踐活動(dòng)的合作框架程少武( 軟件064班 20068001145 )摘要：ICTS已經(jīng)在UNED改變了教育模型和教學(xué)組織的技術(shù)。一方面，教室已經(jīng)成為真正的公共教育，家庭作業(yè)發(fā)展為個(gè)人和小組合作的形式，并且教育已成為基于WEB的內(nèi)容和交互式資源。另一方面，新的教學(xué)宗旨可以實(shí)行。特別是，被隔絕的教與學(xué)會(huì)因?yàn)楹献骺蚣芴峁┑目赡苄远淖?。然而，有時(shí)候網(wǎng)絡(luò)學(xué)習(xí)的經(jīng)驗(yàn)可能會(huì)讓人失望或者受挫。許多在線課程存在以下的問(wèn)題：它們基于問(wèn)題與答復(fù)模型，其內(nèi)容和交互作用不互相涉及，并且內(nèi)容依賴(lài)于框架結(jié)構(gòu)和版式。再者，相似的內(nèi)容經(jīng)常被盲目開(kāi)發(fā)。為了解決這些和其它相關(guān)的問(wèn)題，UNED中的“改革小組”開(kāi)發(fā)了一

2、個(gè)稱(chēng)為ALF的動(dòng)態(tài)WEB框架（動(dòng)態(tài)學(xué)習(xí)框架教育術(shù)語(yǔ)）。ALF提供了一套新的支持網(wǎng)絡(luò)學(xué)習(xí)的工具，幾個(gè)計(jì)算機(jī)支持合作學(xué)習(xí)框架被集成在這個(gè)平臺(tái)上，代替了中間件協(xié)作。非援助指導(dǎo)成為學(xué)習(xí)行為的預(yù)定方案。眾所周知，靜態(tài)學(xué)習(xí)性能評(píng)估指示器（例如被訪問(wèn)頁(yè)面和鏈接到存取資源）通過(guò)用戶(hù)交互作用可以很容易地在訪問(wèn)的路徑上成為跟蹤設(shè)備。最后，為了改進(jìn)可用性和可維護(hù)性，課程內(nèi)容都建立在XML規(guī)范上。關(guān)鍵字：虛擬團(tuán)體，計(jì)算機(jī)支持協(xié)作學(xué)習(xí)，基于WEB的教育適應(yīng)系統(tǒng) 緒論ICTS 已經(jīng)改變了基于UNED 1 的教育模型和教育組織技術(shù)。 一方面, 教育已經(jīng)成為的真正的公共教育，代替面對(duì)面的會(huì)議式教育, 我們有視頻會(huì)議甚至個(gè)人視

3、頻媒介。傳統(tǒng)媒介(像廣播和電視教育) 和各種的材料和文件可以很容易地在線獲取。家庭作業(yè)已經(jīng)發(fā)展成為個(gè)人和小組合作形式并且課程教學(xué)已成為基于因特網(wǎng)的的內(nèi)容和交互式資源。另一方面, 新的教學(xué)目標(biāo)是可實(shí)行的。這種自我評(píng)估的形式可以隨時(shí)完成。個(gè)人學(xué)習(xí)可以通過(guò)家庭教師在線指導(dǎo)。由于合作架構(gòu)提出的可能性，這種單獨(dú)的學(xué)習(xí)方式已經(jīng)被改變。然而, 有時(shí)在網(wǎng)上的學(xué)習(xí)體驗(yàn)會(huì)讓你失望和受挫(Bonk, 2002) 。 就像我們過(guò)去兩年看見(jiàn)的一樣， 許多在線的課程具有以下所說(shuō)的特點(diǎn)：首先, 他們根據(jù)問(wèn)題和答復(fù)模型, 在問(wèn)題和答復(fù)模型里學(xué)生問(wèn)問(wèn)題然后家庭教師感到有責(zé)任去提供答復(fù)。其次, 課程有兩個(gè)不同的資源：一個(gè)是協(xié)作的

4、管理，一個(gè)是內(nèi)容。他們兩個(gè)通常是無(wú)關(guān)聯(lián)的。第三,框架和結(jié)構(gòu)依賴(lài)于內(nèi)容的不同。同樣內(nèi)容可以用不同的方式來(lái)修訂(打印, 網(wǎng)上交付, 等等) 。再者, 相似的內(nèi)容從一開(kāi)始便已出現(xiàn)。最后,管理和監(jiān)測(cè)的任務(wù)在得到很少支持的情況下完成的。例如, 當(dāng)前的對(duì)用戶(hù)按自己的推理方法所做的行為進(jìn)行評(píng)估的這個(gè)環(huán)境缺乏支持。為了解決這些問(wèn)題，在UNED 的“Innova 組織”已經(jīng)提出了一種動(dòng)態(tài)的網(wǎng)頁(yè)框架叫做ALF 2積極的學(xué)習(xí)框架教育學(xué)的譯法，基于兩年中對(duì)超過(guò)14000名網(wǎng)上學(xué)習(xí)者的閱歷 Boticario et al. , 2001 ALF為網(wǎng)上學(xué)習(xí)階段提供了一種新的工具。取代以前的非支持協(xié)作，一些電腦支持協(xié)作型學(xué)

5、習(xí)（CSCL）框架已被完整地應(yīng)用在平臺(tái)上。ALF的用戶(hù)在虛幻的學(xué)習(xí)里感到棘手，因?yàn)樘摶玫膶W(xué)習(xí)超越了傳統(tǒng)的網(wǎng)絡(luò)課程的組織約束，非援助的向?qū)б呀?jīng)為行動(dòng)的學(xué)習(xí)設(shè)定了不同階段。眾所周知，動(dòng)態(tài)指示器為學(xué)習(xí)者的行為進(jìn)行評(píng)估（像訪問(wèn)過(guò)的頁(yè)面和最近鏈接的資源）已成為快速的跟蹤，這樣推理的路徑很容易從用戶(hù)的交互作用中獲取。最后, 為了提高可用性和可維護(hù)性，課程內(nèi)容根據(jù)XML規(guī)格進(jìn)行設(shè)定。此外，我們涉及了一項(xiàng)更有野心的研究階段。在這個(gè)階段中學(xué)習(xí)者被給予以其經(jīng)驗(yàn)為基礎(chǔ)的有力的指導(dǎo)；在這個(gè)階段里總體上說(shuō)其他用戶(hù)的相關(guān)經(jīng)驗(yàn)將對(duì)整體學(xué)習(xí)經(jīng)驗(yàn)有積極的影響。因此，WebDL3（遠(yuǎn)程學(xué)習(xí)調(diào)查組）已經(jīng)在研究開(kāi)發(fā)一個(gè)合適的框架，在

6、這個(gè)框架中，用戶(hù)基于網(wǎng)絡(luò)挖掘技術(shù)和全部機(jī)械學(xué)習(xí)任務(wù)分類(lèi)網(wǎng)站的集合，來(lái)建立模型系統(tǒng)。這個(gè)研究被做為歐洲基金工程重要的一部分。（適應(yīng)因特網(wǎng)的動(dòng)態(tài)研究IST-2001-33288）在這節(jié)里，首先，簡(jiǎn)要的回顧在線訓(xùn)練中發(fā)現(xiàn)的的問(wèn)題。然后，為了解決這些和其它相關(guān)問(wèn)題，2年以后在ALF的運(yùn)行中將會(huì)提出我們的方法, 目標(biāo), 教育模型, 合作階段, 課程發(fā)展和經(jīng)驗(yàn)。這一節(jié)將在一系列的結(jié)論和未來(lái)的工作中結(jié)束在線培訓(xùn)中發(fā)現(xiàn)的問(wèn)題很多的研究已被實(shí)施，以揭示在第一波有效的學(xué)習(xí)階段中所發(fā)現(xiàn)的困難。事實(shí)上, 一般的看法是只有很少的所謂的最佳的實(shí)踐 (Bonk, 2002)，特別讓人震驚的是在線教學(xué)中有很高的退學(xué)率, 主要

7、由于目標(biāo)不夠明確和沒(méi)有動(dòng)力。在不同的方面發(fā)現(xiàn)了在線訓(xùn)練深層次的學(xué)習(xí)興趣流失的問(wèn)題：認(rèn)知，教學(xué)方法和實(shí)用性(陳, 1997)。因而它從根本上促進(jìn)和保證了自然學(xué)習(xí)模型的階段(Schank &Cleary,1995)，在這個(gè)階段里學(xué)生通過(guò)實(shí)踐來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)。教育框架也被建立在有效的學(xué)習(xí)中, 為每一個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)的問(wèn)題設(shè)計(jì)協(xié)作和通信服務(wù)是很重要的方面(Boticario & Gaudioso, 2000)。而且，在關(guān)鍵因素之間建立了一種直接的交互作用，就是實(shí)用性領(lǐng)域和他們的對(duì)學(xué)習(xí)的作用領(lǐng)域(Mehlenbacher, 2000)。我們也應(yīng)該提及有關(guān)管理問(wèn)題的研究，包括思想上的改變，在改變的過(guò)程中不同的

8、人像講師、學(xué)生和公共機(jī)構(gòu)都應(yīng)被涉及。在網(wǎng)絡(luò)函授學(xué)習(xí)中，新的可能性和被調(diào)整的工作部署沒(méi)有被假定的話，它就不能被成功地保證(Dobson, 1998)。關(guān)于這一點(diǎn)，在物質(zhì)發(fā)展管理和以相信標(biāo)準(zhǔn)能解決困難的共同作用下，這個(gè)問(wèn)題也已經(jīng)很突出(Bonk, 2002) 。另一方面，一個(gè)教育站點(diǎn)提供的內(nèi)容經(jīng)常是完全靜態(tài)的。它為每名學(xué)生提供的課程是一樣的，比如一個(gè)導(dǎo)航序列, 一系列參考書(shū)目,一個(gè)通信服務(wù)組織以及各種資源。這種同樣的反應(yīng)服務(wù)于不斷變化的學(xué)生的需求和他們的學(xué)科水平。再者, 適應(yīng)是函授教育的本質(zhì)，因?yàn)閷W(xué)生被隔絕，并且有多種背景和興趣(Gaudioso & Boticario, 2002)。最近

9、（馬德里，2003年2月），在一個(gè)被稱(chēng)為“技術(shù)發(fā)展水平研究室”的研究所里，因?yàn)椤熬W(wǎng)絡(luò)教學(xué)論題”項(xiàng)目(IST-2001-37440)的促進(jìn)，一些由國(guó)際多重學(xué)科團(tuán)隊(duì)和技術(shù)專(zhuān)家（大學(xué)教授、教育專(zhuān)家、開(kāi)發(fā)商、項(xiàng)目負(fù)責(zé)人和用戶(hù)）識(shí)別出的主要技術(shù)問(wèn)題如下：致力于學(xué)習(xí)者的需求（開(kāi)發(fā)適當(dāng)?shù)募夹g(shù)、信息過(guò)濾和適用的接口）、保證可用性和互用性（標(biāo)準(zhǔn)）、滿(mǎn)足教育需求（評(píng)估、教師支持和訓(xùn)練、綜合化學(xué)習(xí)和工作）和建立合作和協(xié)作系統(tǒng)。以后我們會(huì)看到，迄今為止的ALF學(xué)習(xí)平臺(tái)和它的教育方法與經(jīng)驗(yàn)可以成功地處理很多上述在線訓(xùn)練的問(wèn)題。ALF：動(dòng)態(tài)知識(shí)結(jié)構(gòu)1概要 我們的研究的基礎(chǔ)是一個(gè)有著超過(guò)180000名學(xué)生的很大的歐洲函授學(xué)

10、院，它有傳統(tǒng)的函授模式，一貫支持ICTS，UNED尤其想給那些希望擁有第二次學(xué)習(xí)機(jī)會(huì)的人一次機(jī)會(huì)，這些人的時(shí)間非常有限，并且距離也是個(gè)大問(wèn)題，甚至身體殘疾。當(dāng)然也可以為那些想更新他們知識(shí)的公司職員服務(wù)。最后的這個(gè)群體同樣可以考取研究生。在這篇文章中我們會(huì)看到不同年齡的學(xué)生有不同的學(xué)習(xí)背景和動(dòng)機(jī)。因此需要為這些不同的學(xué)生提供不同的教育需求。函授教育在這方面曾經(jīng)非常有用，特別是，基于WEB的適應(yīng)教育系統(tǒng)是最佳解決方案?，F(xiàn)在已經(jīng)開(kāi)發(fā)出的要求能夠成功支持合作工作的虛擬平臺(tái)被稱(chēng)為ALF（動(dòng)態(tài)知識(shí)框架），這個(gè)新的平臺(tái)模式（ALF2，也稱(chēng)為ALF平臺(tái)模式）建立在ACES上，也就是開(kāi)放公共系統(tǒng)，一個(gè)平臺(tái)模式和

11、為建立基于WEB的開(kāi)放資源的工具和一套允許數(shù)據(jù)模式管理的交互作用腳本TCL（工具命令語(yǔ)言）。ALF的第一個(gè)重要特點(diǎn)是使用關(guān)系數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)來(lái)管理網(wǎng)絡(luò)服務(wù)器上的信息數(shù)據(jù)。在一個(gè)這樣的合作環(huán)境中，有巨大的信息流在用戶(hù)和這個(gè)站點(diǎn)之間流動(dòng)。因?yàn)橛脩?hù)通常用不同的方法互動(dòng)，所以這些站點(diǎn)也都是動(dòng)態(tài)的，比如在BBS上發(fā)信息，組織交互式會(huì)議或者出版材料。因此，組成ALF的關(guān)系數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)必須支持這些需求。這個(gè)數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)不僅存放用戶(hù)的個(gè)人信息和他們發(fā)送的信息內(nèi)容，還用于構(gòu)造處理每個(gè)可能發(fā)生的潛在事物的解決方案。（如圖1）圖1、ALF工作流程ALF的另一個(gè)重要的特征是通過(guò)網(wǎng)站提供基于用戶(hù)的多種不同的界面。所有關(guān)于用戶(hù)的信息可以用TC

12、L腳本語(yǔ)言來(lái)匯集。腳本可以連接到數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)，所以這些信息可以很容易地存儲(chǔ)和根據(jù)需求來(lái)檢索。TCL腳本也可以維護(hù)動(dòng)態(tài)環(huán)境，因?yàn)樗梢允咕W(wǎng)頁(yè)動(dòng)態(tài)地構(gòu)造，并且如果需要這個(gè)過(guò)程可以利用數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)信息來(lái)完成。從用戶(hù)的觀點(diǎn)來(lái)看，ALF提供一個(gè)很大的被明確劃分為三個(gè)工作區(qū)域的工具集合：個(gè)人區(qū)域、公共區(qū)域和課程區(qū)域。這些工具是：調(diào)查窗體、模式控制和正確的個(gè)人訪問(wèn)和管理區(qū)域的文件組，需求事件通告服務(wù)、任務(wù)計(jì)劃、個(gè)人和團(tuán)體議程、個(gè)人和團(tuán)體興趣鏈接、票務(wù)管理、個(gè)人和WEB組發(fā)布、信息介紹、新聞組、常見(jiàn)問(wèn)題解答、團(tuán)體和小組管理、類(lèi)別管理、個(gè)人活動(dòng)跟蹤等等，并且可以得到任何專(zhuān)用的工作區(qū)域。在ALF上注冊(cè)的用戶(hù)被按分類(lèi)列入不同的

13、工作組中（參見(jiàn)圖1）。工作組可以由不是網(wǎng)站管理者的人來(lái)負(fù)責(zé)管理。這些工作小組的設(shè)置對(duì)函授教學(xué)特別有用，因?yàn)樗灿胁煌拇髮W(xué)系部、課程、學(xué)習(xí)和研究小組。從ALF的不同特點(diǎn)我們可以描述我們采用的教育模式，我們選擇那些可以反映出它們不同特征的特點(diǎn)。2目標(biāo)ALF平臺(tái)的開(kāi)發(fā)明確地包括能保證有效地用于UNED中ICTS的教育方法和教育組織。我們對(duì)這些事件的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，在2年以后被超過(guò)14000名的ALF初級(jí)模式（ALF1，（Boticario et al. 2001等）用戶(hù)廣泛使用，也反映出上文中提到的同樣的問(wèn)題。因此，第一個(gè)平臺(tái)版本的目標(biāo)很普通，而這第二個(gè)平臺(tái)版本的目標(biāo)則在解決這些問(wèn)題方面更為明確。這些目標(biāo)如

14、下：促進(jìn)基于虛擬學(xué)習(xí)社區(qū)管理的教育前景，個(gè)人組織和工作組可以根據(jù)不同的目標(biāo)和各種戰(zhàn)略可能性，這是靈活、開(kāi)放和個(gè)性化的。集中一個(gè)被明確組織的框架上的用戶(hù)互動(dòng)空間，這個(gè)框架保證基于個(gè)性化工作區(qū)和根據(jù)需求事件自動(dòng)通告的動(dòng)態(tài)服務(wù)。提供基于避免迷惑感和聚焦于學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)程的任務(wù)計(jì)劃的框架。確保使用與預(yù)先定義的角色（講師、合作者、輔導(dǎo)教師、管理員等）相配套的相關(guān)服務(wù)和資源，也有可能指定新的角色（協(xié)調(diào)員、卡通設(shè)計(jì)者、監(jiān)督員、助手等）。為用戶(hù)提供學(xué)習(xí)進(jìn)程跟蹤，不僅是計(jì)數(shù)用戶(hù)活動(dòng)（頁(yè)面訪問(wèn)、文件下載、發(fā)送信息等）而且還可以推論學(xué)生訪問(wèn)路線和其他一些由用戶(hù)提供的有價(jià)值的東西，比如來(lái)自于不同形式和調(diào)查的統(tǒng)計(jì)。明確地設(shè)置基

15、礎(chǔ)原理課程書(shū)目，基于UNED的教學(xué)模式（例如，學(xué)習(xí)指南）有助于了解各個(gè)學(xué)科的教育架構(gòu)和理論。提供角色（管理員、顧問(wèn)、協(xié)調(diào)員等）和功能（活動(dòng)計(jì)劃、小組論壇管理、個(gè)人或小組活動(dòng)評(píng)估等）被明確定義的各個(gè)不同的CSCL（計(jì)算機(jī)協(xié)作支持學(xué)習(xí)）階段。改進(jìn)基于XML規(guī)范的內(nèi)容管理和可用性。最后，我們的經(jīng)驗(yàn)表明在課程設(shè)計(jì)和發(fā)展方面的努力投資和網(wǎng)絡(luò)上的合作工作區(qū)的適當(dāng)組織，直接與它的實(shí)用性有關(guān)。因此我們開(kāi)發(fā)了一個(gè)平臺(tái)，ALF2，其工具的可用性和實(shí)用性都是為了完成預(yù)先確定的目標(biāo)。因此，這個(gè)協(xié)作框架的開(kāi)發(fā)是為支持不同的活動(dòng)和資源質(zhì)量跟蹤和評(píng)估。From:Jesus G Boticario. An active co

16、llaborative framework for improving e-learning practices21"i C DEW orldc onferenceon O penL earning& D istanceE ducation，香港，2004 An active collaborative framework for improving e-learning practicesAbstract:ICTS have already changed educational models and teaching organization techniques at

17、UNED. On the one hand, classrooms have become Virtual Educational Communities. Homework has developed into personal and collaborative workgroups and teaching classes have become web-based contents and interactive materials. On the other hand, new pedagogical objectives are feasible. In particular, i

18、solated learning has changed because of the possibilities that collaborative frameworks offer. Nevertheless, sometimes disappointment and frustration characterize e-learning experiences. Many on-line courses just feature the following issues: they are based on the question and answer model, contents

19、 and interactions are not related to each other and contents are framework and format dependent. Furthermore, similar contents are sometimes developed from scratch. In order to tackle these and other related issues the “Innova Group” at UNED has developed a dynamic web framework called ALF (Active L

20、earning Framework educational version). ALF provides a new set of tools for supporting e-learning scenarios. Instead of noon-supported collaboration, several Computer Support Collaborative Learning (CSCL) frameworks have been integrated on the platform. Non-assisted guidance has become scheduled sce

21、narios of learning activities. Well-known static indicators for learners performance assessment (like visited pages and links to accessed materials) have become tracking facilities where reasoning paths can be easily accessed from users interactions. Finally, in order to improve reusability and main

22、tenance, course contents are based on XML specifications.Keywords: Virtual Communities, Computer Support Collaborative Learning, Web-based adaptive educational systems.From:Jesus G Boticario. An active collaborative framework for improving e-learning practices21"i C DEW orldc onferenceo nO penL

23、 earning& D istanceE ducation，香港，2004 1.INTERODUCTIONICTs have already changed educational models and teaching organization techniques at UNED 1. On the one hand, classrooms have become Virtual Educational Communities. Instead of face-to-face conferences, we have videoconferences or even persona

24、l videoconferences. Traditional media (like radio and educational TV) and diverse materials and documentation can be easily accessed on line. Homework has developed into personal and collaborative workgroups and teaching classes have become web-based contents and interactive materials. On the other

25、hand, new pedagogical objectives are feasible. Evaluation can be don at any moment for self-assessment purposes. Personal learning can be guided on line by the tutor. Isolated learning has changed because of the possibilities that collaborative frameworks offer.Nevertheless, sometimes disappointment

26、 and frustration characterize e-learning experiences (Bonk, 2002). As we have seen during the past two years, many on-line courses just feature the following issues: first, they are based on the question and answer model, where students ask questions and a tutor feels responsible for providing answe

27、rs. Second, courses have two different dings of resources: there are those for managing the collaboration and there are contents. Both of them are usually unconnected. Third, contents are framework and format dependent. The same content must be reedited for different means (printed, web-delivered, a

28、nd so forth). Furthermore, similar contents are sometimes developed from scratch. Finally, administrative and monitoring tasks are done with very, little support. For instance, current environments lack support for assessing users behaviors based on their reasoning paths.In order to tackle these pro

29、blems the “Innova Group” at UNED has developed a dynamic web framework called ALF 2 (Active Learning Framework educational version). Based on our two years experience with more than fourteen thousand e-learning users (Boticario et al. , 2001), ALF provides a new set of tools for supporting e-learnin

30、g scenarios. Instead of non-supported collaboration, several Computer Support Collaborative Learning (CSCL) frameworks have been integrated on the platform. ALF users are involved in a working space of Virtual Educational Communities, which surpass the organizational constraints of classical web cou

31、rses. Non-assisted guidance has become scheduled scenarios of learning activities. Well-known static indicators for learners performance assessment (like visited pages and links to accessed materials) have become tracking facilities where reasoning paths can be easily accessed from users interaction

32、s. Finally, in order to improve reusability and maintenance, course contents are based on XML specifications.Moreover, we are involved in a more ambitious research scenario where the learner is dynamically guided based on his/her experience and where other users related experiences could affect lear

33、ning experiences as a whole. Thus the WebDL 3 (Web Distance Learning) research group has being working on an adaptive framework where the user modeling system is based on a combination of web mining techniques and ensembles of classifiers for machine learning tasks. This research is included as an e

34、ssential component of a European funded project, ALFANET 4 (Active Learning for Adaptive Internet, IST-2001-33288).In this paper, first a brief review will be done of the problems that have been detected in online training. Then in order to tackle these and other related issues, our approach, the ob

35、jectives, educational model, a collaborative scenario, course development and experiences after two years in operation with ALF will be presented. The paper will end with a series of conclusions and some future works.2.PROBLEMS DETECTED IN ONLINE TRAININGNumerous studies have been done that reveal t

36、he difficulties detected in the first wave of virtual learning environments. In fact, the general view is that there are few so-called best practices (Bonk, 2002). What is particularly surprising is the high dropout rate on online courses, mainly due to not very explicit instructions and no incentiv

37、e.In depth-study of online training has detected issues of interest in different areas: cognitive, pedagogical and usability (Chen, 1997). It is thus essential to promote scenarios that guarantee the natural learning model (Schank & Cleary, 1995), where the student learns by doing. Educational f

38、rameworks have also been established where active learning, collaboration an the design of communication services for each of the difficulties detected are vital aspects (Boticario & Gaudioso, 2000). Moreover, a direct correlation has been established between the key aspects in the usability fie

39、ld and their effect on learning (Mehlenbacher, 2000).We should also mention the studies that consider the issues related to the management, including the changes in mentality that the different protagonists in the process should experience: lecturers, students and the institution. Without assumed ne

40、w possibilities and restructured work deployment of e-learning cannot be successfully ensured (Dobson, 1998). Related to this issue, problems associated with material development management and faith in standards for solving these difficulties have also been highlighted (Bonk, 2002).On the other han

41、d, often the contents provided by an educational web site are fully static. The navigation sequences, the set of references, the organization of communication services and resources are the same for every student on the course. This homogeneous response is to students with changing needs and whose l

42、evel of experience on the subject being taught and on the use of resources available on the website are different. Furthermore, adaptation is essential in distance education because students are isolated and have a wide variety of backgrounds and interests (Gaudioso & Boticario, 2002).Recently (

43、Madrid, February 2003), in a workshop titled “State of the Art Workshop”, promoted by the project “e-Learning Thematic Network” (IST-2001-37440), some of the main technological issues identified by an international multidisciplinary team of learning technology experts (university professors, educati

44、onal technologists, developers, project managers and users) were the following: to attend to learners needs (developing the appropriate technology, information and filtering and adaptive interfaces), to guarantee reusability and interoperability (standards), to satisfy educational requirements (asse

45、ssment, training and support for teachers, integration of learning and working), and to create collaborative and cooperative systems.As we shall see later on, the ALF learning platform and its educational approach with experiences to date show how many of the aforementioned problems of online traini

46、ng can be successfully tackled.3.ALF: ACTIVE LEARNING FRAMEWORK3.1.OverviewOur research is developed in one of the largest European distance-learning universities (UNED) with over 180,000 students and a traditional distance-education model, which is strongly supported with ICTs, UNED is especially f

47、or those people who want to be given a second chance to study, whose time is very limited, for whom distance is a problem, and who may even be physically handicapped. It is also for corporate workers who want to update their knowledge. This last group can also take advantage of the postgraduate cour

48、se offered. In this context we can find students of different ages and with very different backgrounds and motivations. There is therefore a set of educational requirements and needs to be fulfilled that are different for each student. Distance-education tools have been shown to be useful in such si

49、tuations and, particularly, web-based adaptive educational systems seem to be one of the best solutions.A platform called ALF (Active Learning Framework) has been developed to support the requirements for the successful collaborative work of virtual communities. The new version of this platform (ALF

50、2, also called ALF educational version) builds upon ACES, the ArsDigita Community Educational System, a multiplatform and open source set of tools for constructing web-based and a set of TCL (Tool Command Language) scripts allowing management of the interaction with the data model.This first importa

51、nt feature of ALF is using a relational database to manage the information provided by the web server. In a collaborative environment like this, there is a huge stream of information flowing between users and through the site. These sites are very dynamic since users are regularly interacting in a v

52、ariety of ways, such as sending messages to the bulletin boards, organizing interactive meetings or publishing materials. Accordingly, the relational database component of ALF provides support for these requirements. This database does not only store the user personal information and the contents th

53、ey send, but also serves to structure potentially everything that is happening in the site. Fig.1. ALF course workgroupAnother key feature of ALF is that it offers different views based on user navigation and actions through the site. All kinds of information on users can thus be gathered with TCL s

54、cripting language. The scripts can interface with the database so that this information can be easily stored and retrieved on demand. TCL scripts can also contribute to maintaining a dynamic environment, since they enable web pages to be dynamically constructed and this process can make use of the d

55、atabase information if required.From the users point of view, ALF provides a large variety of tools organized around three clearly differentiated workspaces: personal area, communities and courses. Some of these tools are: surveys and forms, version control and right access personal and group docume

56、nts in the management spaces, services for notification of events on demand, task planning, personal and group agenda, personal and group links of interest, ticket management, personal and group web spaces for publishing, presentations, news, FAQs, group and subgroup management, categories, tracking

57、 of personal activities, etc., and customization of any of the work areas available.Users registered on ALF are classified into workgroups (see Figure 1). The administration of each workgroup is done by the person in charge who may not be the website manager. The setting up of these king of workgrou

58、ps is particularly useful for distance learning since it allows different university departments, courses, study groups and research groups to be managed.From the different ALF features we could describe and the educational approach we have adopted, we have selected those features that reflect its d

59、ifferentiating characteristics.3.2.ObjectivesThe ALF platform has been developed to specifically cover the pedagogical approach and the educational organization required to guarantee the effective use of ICTs at UNED. Our own experience in these matters, after 2 years intensive use by more than 14,000 users of an earlier version of ALF (ALF1, (Boticario et al. 2001), reflects the s