The power of feedback.

Handwriting has continued to persist as a means of communication and recording information in day-to-day life even with the introduction of new technologies. Given its ubiquity in human transactions, machine recognition of handwriting has practical significance, as in reading handwritten notes in a PDA, in postal addresses on envelopes, in amounts in bank checks, in handwritten fields in forms, etc. This overview describes the nature of handwritten language, how it is transduced into electronic data, and the basic concepts behind written language recognition algorithms. Both the online case (which pertains to the availability of trajectory data during writing) and the off-line case (which pertains to scanned images) are considered. Algorithms for preprocessing, character and word recognition, and performance with practical systems are indicated. Other fields of application, like signature verification, writer authentification, handwriting learning tools are also considered.

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Online and off-line handwriting recognition: a comprehensive survey

This paper discusses the concept of Cloud Computing to achieve a complete definition of what a Cloud is, using the main characteristics typically associated with this paradigm in the literature. More than 20 definitions have been studied allowing for the extraction of a consensus definition as well as a minimum definition containing the essential characteristics. This paper pays much attention to the Grid paradigm, as it is often confused with Cloud technologies. We also describe the relationships and distinctions between the Grid and Cloud approaches.

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A break in the clouds: towards a cloud definition

On Educational psychology: A cognitive view.

Data-driven Soft Sensors in the process industry

In line with the suggestions deriving from the new problem-solving approaches to ID, this paper points out the need of integrating formalized descriptions of good practices, such as collaborative learning flow patterns (CLFP) with other representations able to support unskilled designers in selecting and instantiating scripts, setting up effective collaborative groups and their ldquosocial structuresrdquo. Based on these premises, the paper analyzes a real course designed with the backing of a CLFP-based authoring tool for the creation of CSCL scripts and describes the support offered by the Social Structures Representations (SSRs) in selecting and reusing scripts.

Social Structures Representations as Aid for Effective Creation and Reuse of CSCL Scripts According to a Problem-Solving Approach to ID

Forward Looking: Predictions for the Future of Hybrid Learning Spaces

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Review of: "Using concepts related to research design while writing thesis and dissertation at universities: questioning the status quo"

The use of Conversational Agents (CAs) in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) has shown promising results regarding students’ productive dialogue and learning. Yet, limited work has explored the connection between the configuration of the CA behavior, the nature of the learning task, and the student behavior in authentic educational settings. In this work, we describe a pedagogical design space of CAs for collaborative learning composed of three dimensions: task design, domain model, and agent intervention strategies. We conduct an initial field study in a university classroom comparing two types of agent intervention strategies based on student participation, dialogue, and satisfaction. 54 university students worked in pairs in the same collaborative brainstorming task with a CA tool and were randomly assigned in two CA conditions with a) knowledge-based prompts to connect two domain concepts, b) social prompts to link their partners’ contributions. The results show that students who received knowledge-based prompts significantly exchanged more messages with evidence of explicit reasoning and were more satisfied with the agent and their discussion during the task. Students from both conditions reported problems like the lack of context-awareness and timely interventions by the agent. We discuss the relation between the agent intervention strategies and the task design towards seeking design recommendations for CAs in CSCL.

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Design of Conversational Agents for CSCL: Comparing Two Types of Agent Intervention Strategies in a University Classroom

The way in which document collections are generated, modified or updated generates problems and mistakes in the information coherency, leading to legal, economic and social problems. To tackle this situation, this paper proposes the development of an intelligent virtual domain expert, based on summarization, matching and neuro-fuzzy systems, able to detect incoherences about concepts, values, or references, in technical documentation. In this scope, an incoherence is seen as the lack of consistency between related documents. Each document is summarized in the form of 4-tuples terms, describing relevant ideas or concepts that must be free of incoherences. These representations are then matched using several well-known algorithms. The final decision about the real existence of an incoherence, and its relevancy, is obtained by training a neuro-fuzzy system with expert knowledge, based on the previous knowledge of the activity area and domain experts. The final system offers a semi-automatic solution for incoherence detection and decision support.

Yannis Dimitriadis

Papers

Social Structures Representations as Aid for Effective Creation and Reuse of CSCL Scripts According to a Problem-Solving Approach to ID

Forward Looking: Predictions for the Future of Hybrid Learning Spaces

Review of: "Using concepts related to research design while writing thesis and dissertation at universities: questioning the status quo"

Design of Conversational Agents for CSCL: Comparing Two Types of Agent Intervention Strategies in a University Classroom

Hybrid approach for incoherence detection based on neuro-fuzzy systems and expert knowledge