Title: Keywords linking method for selecting educational web resources a la ZigZag

Authors: Mirjana Andric, Vladan Devedzic, Wendy Hall, Leslie Carr

Addresses: Intelligence, Agents, Multimedia Group, School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK. ' FON – School of Business Administration, University of Belgrade, Jove Ilica 154, P.O. Box 52, Belgrade 11000, Serbia. ' Intelligence, Agents, Multimedia Group, School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK. ' Intelligence, Agents, Multimedia Group, School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK

Abstract: The authors of the web-based courseware typically face problems such as how to locate, select and semantically relate suitable learning resources. This paper proposes a tool that supports the authors in their tasks of selection and grouping the learning material. The |a la| (Associative Linking of Attributes) in Education, enhances the search engine results by extracting the attributes (keywords and document formats) from the text. The relationships between the attributes are established and visualised in a novel hypertext paradigm using the ZigZag principles. Browsing the related metadata provides a quick summary of the document and can hence help in faster determining its relevancy. Also, the proposed solution enables better understanding of why some resources are grouped together as well as providing suggestions for the further searches. The results of a user trial indicate high levels of user satisfaction and effectiveness.

Keywords: authoring support tools; metadata extraction; hypertext structures; web based teaching; online teaching; ZigZag; zzstructures; keyword linking; educational resources; learning material; information retrieval.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKL.2007.012599

International Journal of Knowledge and Learning, 2007 Vol.3 No.1, pp.30 - 45

Published online: 26 Feb 2007 *

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