Andrew LumpeDavid WicksSeattle Pacific UniversityEvaluation of the Use of Semantic Web Technology in a Collaborative Learning Environment

OBJECTIVESDescribe the application of a semantic web application in a collaborative learning environment.Report the results on student learning.Provide recommendations for future research and applications of semantic web technologies in educational environments.

Overall Goal of EducationThe overall goal of education is to develop expertiseExpert learners vs. Novice learnersHave greater access to contentAre more skilled at retrieving content Are better at adapting, changing, and recognizing when to apply knowledge Semantic technologies MAY be one way to help develop expertise(Bransford et al, 1999)

dullhunk

Collaborative Learning Research(Dillonbourg et al, 1996)

Personal Learning NetworksHolotescu&Grosseck, 2009

TWINE

How is [Twine] different than other social bookmarking tools like Delicious?“The difference between {the system} and most bookmarking services is that {the system} attempts to identify the resource the page is describing, rather than just recording the location of the page itself. “ (Clarke & Greig, 2009)

ContextOnline graduate education course with weekly, interactive modules –Blackboard 9N=60Module 1 General overview of course topicsData used as preTestTWINE not usedModules 2-6Specific Topics = Advance Organizers, Collaborative Learning, Inquiry/Induction, Conceptual Understanding, Multiple IntelligencesTWINE used throughoutData used at postTest

MethodsQuasi Experimental DesignExperimental group used TWINE Data sources = All text posts - discussion posts, blog entries, research papers, TWINE commentsWordStat 5.1 – “a text mining tool for fast extraction of themes and trends”Build DictionariesRelated Words and PhrasesWord exclusion listKey Word in Context (KWIC)MANCOVAIV = group assignmentDV = module posts by five categoriesCovariate = pretest posts

ResultsIncoming GPAs not different (F = .22, p = .64)Students posted many resources and comments in their twinesThese resources were regularly used in students’ postsOthers outside the course joined and contributed to the twines356,322 total words used in posts8,612 related words/phrases included in analysesEqual variances on all DVs (Levene's Test)

COLLABORATION

a. R Squared = .331 (Adjusted R Squared = .060)b. R Squared = .461 (Adjusted R Squared = .243)c. R Squared = .461 (Adjusted R Squared = .243)d. R Squared = .390 (Adjusted R Squared = .143)e. R Squared = .718 (Adjusted R Squared = .604)

ConclusionsUse of a Personal Learning Network (TWINE) helped students develop richer, more coherent expertise in 3 out of 5 content categories.TWINE served as a collaborative repository of resources, ideas, and connections.The impact of the semantic nature of TWINE was not apparent.

Next StepsFurther explore the qualitative differences in the students’ postings (latent semantic analysis)Extended use may be needed in order for semantic technologies to learn interests and provide recommendationsContinue to explore the use of collaborative, semantic technologies to enhance learningTwine T2?http://www.opencalais.com/http://www.puffinwarellc.com/ (iMetaSearch)http://www.stumpedia.com/http://imindi.com/

Further explore the qualitative differences in the students’ postings (latent semantic analysis)

Extended use may be needed in order for semantic technologies to learn interests and provide recommendations

Questions?