Title: Using links to describe imprecise relationships in educational contents

Authors: Miguel-Angel Sicilia, Elena Garcia, Paloma Diaz, Ignacio Aedo

Addresses: Computer Science Department, University of Alcala, Ctra. Barcelona km. 33.6, 28871 Madrid, Spain. ' Computer Science Department, University of Alcala, Ctra. Barcelona km. 33.6, 28871 Madrid, Spain. ' DEI Laboratory, Computer Science Department, Carlos III University, Avd. Universidad, 30, 28911 Madrid, Spain. ' DEI Laboratory, Computer Science Department, Carlos III University, Avd. Universidad, 30, 28911 Madrid, Spain

Abstract: Hypermedia links describe purposeful relationships between contents, and in consequence, their semantic intention can be modelled by the notion of link type. Ontologies can be used to extend that notion of link type, eventually resulting in shared conceptualisations useful in achieving consistent linking practices. In addition, the relationship embodied by the link is in many cases inherently imprecise, which has been overlooked in existing systems. In this work, we describe how ontologies of link types with support for expressing imprecision can be used to enhance educational web contents. The computational semantics of the ontology, combined with fuzziness to specify graded relations between pairs of link sources and targets for specific users or groups, enable the implementation of extended adaptive behaviours that may entail inferences and approximate reasoning. An implementation, based on an SCORM-compliant runtime environment, of such kind of extended links is also described, demonstrating their capabilities in the definition of learning-oriented adaptations.

Keywords: link types; ontologies; educational resources; imprecision; adaptive hypermedia; fuzzy set theory; educational web; internet; computational semantics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCEELL.2004.004973

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning, 2004 Vol.14 No.3, pp.260 - 275

Published online: 04 Aug 2004 *

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