Entre-pass: Personalising
u-learning with Intelligent Agents
Gregory M. P. O’Hare, Bríd C. Doherty,
Peter T. O’Hare, Michael J. O’Grady
School of Computer Science and Informatics,
UCD, Dublin, Ireland.
www.entre-pass.com
Ubiquitous Learning
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Anytime, Anywhere,
Any media Learning
User sets their own
learning timetable
Content adapts to
user’s requirements
Same learning quality
no matter which device
is used
Server
Home
Desktop PC
University/Sc hool
Roam ing
PDA
Smart Phones
User Profiling
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On registration, explicit profile created
Profiler Agent extracts this profile, places it in
User Profile Database
Subsequent interactions cause implicit
refinement through Listener Agent-Profiler
Agent interaction
Benefits of User Profiling
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More intuitive interactions
Users feel system adapts to their
requirements
More comfortable user interactions
Content is adapted to display and bandwidth
restrictions
Considerations with User Profiling
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Profiling must not be obvious or intrusive
Users may feel their privacy is being invaded
by aggressive profiling
Profiling must be performed in an intuitive
and non-invasive manner
Agent Factory
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www.agentfactory.com
A cohesive framework for the development
and deployment of agent applications (Collier
et al, 2003)
BDI (Belief-Desire-Intention) agent
development
Inter-agent Communication language, based
on FIPA standards
Agent Factory Features
Interpreted Agent Programming
Language
 Agent Platform to support deployment
of agents
 Lightweight agent implementation that
can be deployed on PDAs
 Methodological support for agent
fabrication
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Moodle
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www.moodle.org
Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning
Environment
Developed by Martin Dougiamas
Open source
‘Social Constructionist Pedagogy’
Developed in PHP under a GPL license
Entre-pass Project
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Pan-European Project
Partners in Spain, Denmark, Hungary, Romania, Britain
and Ireland
Aim of our project is to increase the number of people
undertaking entrepreneurial training by increasing the
visibility, accessibility and transferability of such courses
and qualifications
Entre-Pass Project
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Entrepreneurial qualification development
Development of an on-line training course,
undertaken in an enveloping internet hosted
training environment, adapted to the needs
of those contemplating starting up their own
business.
Successful completion of this course will lead
to the award of the “European Certificate in
Entrepreneurship.”
Entre-pass Project Output
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Online u-learning system
Personalised Content Presentation
Electronic Record of Training Achievements
Multi-language courseware: Danish,
Spanish, Hungarian, Romanian, English
Video Content
Quizzes are used for Assessment
The Entre-Pass System
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Combination of Moodle and Agent Factory
Multi-Agent System constructed in Agent Factory
Entre-Pass Multi-Agent System
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Listener Agent
– Detects user interactions
– Passes results of these actions to Profiler Agent
– e.g. Detects username and password on login
Entre-Pass Multi-Agent System
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Profiler Agent
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Maintains, updates and analyses the user profile in a
database
Extracts Profile from Moodle Database, stores it in User
Profile Database
Assesses the user’s requirements
Communicates these requirements to other Agents
e.g. Detects required language and notifies Content
Management Agent
Entre-Pass Multi-Agent System
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Content Management Agent
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Controls Content
Requirements are passed from Profiler Agent
Content is then selected from Content Database according to this
content
e.g. If a user performs badly in an assignment, the preceding
content is re-displayed for revision
Entre-Pass Multi-Agent System
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Presentation Agent
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Adjusts display for differing screen real-estate of PC and
PDA
Applies different css (cascading style sheet) to content
display
User Interface
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Web-based system (www.entre-pass.com/)
Online Feedback Form used
Feedback Analysis
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Online Form used
Relevance of Materials & Videos:
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51% relevant, 38% neutral, 11% irrelevant
Videos too large for dial-up or PDA viewing
Navigation:
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76% found it Intuitive or Very Intuitive
Conclusion
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Application of intelligent agents allows for
greater profiling capabilities
Courseware tailored to user requirements
Both implicit and explicit profiling used
Positive Feedback for the system
Contact Details and Additional
Information
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[email protected]
www.prism.ucd.ie
www.entre-pass.com
www.entre-pass.com/moodle
Questions??