Individualising Interaction in Web-based Instruction through Adaptive Link Annotation

John Eklund, johne@accesscmc.com

Tuesday 18 May at 11am

Abstract

In this presentation I make the case for the use of adaptive educational systems for the flexible delivery of course materials on the Web. Recognising the importance of individual learner knowledge, adaptive systems are capable of customising courseware, and take part of the role of the human teacher in individualising instruction. I base this work on a practical model of the role of knowledge in teaching and learning, and demonstrate adaptivity in a computer-based educational environment with InterBook, a tool for delivering adaptive textbooks on the World Wide Web. InterBook uses adaptive annotation technology to augment hyperlinks with a comment which informs users about the current state of the nodes behind the annotated links, and does this on an individual basis by adapting links through a user-model, an individual record of a student's progress. Adaptive annotation and adaptive navigation support in general are becoming more popular in the context of the use of Web based instructional tools in Higher education.

Note: this talk will be a modified version of a paper presented at The Apple University Consortium's Academic Conference, Sept 1998.

Short resume

John Eklund is Director of Education Technology at Access Australia Cooperative Multimedia Centre. He is also Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Sydney.

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