Supporting Active Learning and
Education by Artificial Intelligence
and Web 2.0
Kerstin Borau
Carsten Ullrich
Photo by Lutz-R. Frank

Kerstin Borau/
Carsten Ullrich
Kerstin Borau
Master degree in Applied English Linguistic
Certified foreign language teacher.
English/German teacher at SJTU Network Education
College
Research interests: Computer Assisted Foreign
Language Learning, new technologies and
approaches in Language Learning
Carsten Ullrich
PhD in Computer Science at Saarland University
2004-2007 researcher at the DFKI (German
Research Center for Artificial Intelligence), one of the
largest AI research institutes worldwide
Now researcher at E-Learning Lab of SJTU
About 50 publications in the area of Artificial
Intelligence and Education
Research interests: Artificial Intelligence, technology-
enhanced learning, Semantic Web, Web 2.0
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Overview
Learning Theories
Learning Theories and Language Learning
Tools for Active Learning
Artificial Intelligence for Learner Support
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Learning Theories
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Timeline of Learning Theories
By Serhat Kurt
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Behaviorism (1910)
How do you react?
Stimulus-Response coupling
Psychology should deal with
objective, observable subject matter
behavior
Skinner (1904-1990)
The Technology of Learning (1968)
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Behaviorism: Programmed
Instruction (1950)
Principles:
Positively reinforced behavior will reoccur
“Praise is good for learning!”
Break down complex skills in small bits
Teach each bit separately
Knowledge is given and absolute
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Programmed Instruction:
Example
The important parts of a flashlight are the battery
and the bulb. When we \"turn on\" a flashlight, we
close a switch which connects the battery with
the _______ .
bulb
When we turn on a flashlight, an electric current
flows through the fine wire in the _______ and
causes it to grow hot.
bulb
When the hot wire glows brightly, we say that it
gives off or sends out heat and ________ .
light
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Test
The scientistyou like to learn this way?the fathers
_______ is one of
Would
of Behaviorism.
For what subject matters is this appropriate?
Skinner
The educational technology ________ is
based on Behaviorism.
Programmed Instruction
It is based on ______ correct answers and
____ incorrect answers.
Rewarding, punishing
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Behaviorism: Summary
No explicit treatment of/ interest in mental
processes
Learner merely responds to the
\"demands\" of the environment
Knowledge is viewed as given and
absolute
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Learning Theory:
Cognitivism
What happens in your head?
Mental processes are primary object of study
Goal: discover and model the mental
processes
Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
Teaching should respect the mental
processes
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Learning Theories:
Constructivism
Behaviorism/Cognitivism
get something in the head of the learners
Constructivists
create opportunities to discover!
knowledge: result of individual learning; cannot be
transmitted, must be (re)constructed
exploration/discovery/group-learning
Learner is in control / Teacher is moderator
Learning in context and collaboration
Solve realistic and meaningful problems
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Learning Theories: Summary
Behaviorism
How do you react?
Cognitivism
What happens in your head?
Constructivism
Create opportunities to learn & discover!
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Behaviorism and
language learning
Audio-lingual method and audiovisual
method
focuses on spoken language for everyday
communication
content: everyday dialogues
level: simple
exercises: pattern drill
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Behaviorism and
language learning
Sample Dialoges:
谢谢你！
不用谢！
Vielen Dank!
Keine Ursache!
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Behaviorism and
language learning
Advantages:
• Enables speaking without learning
complicated grammar
Disadvantages:
• Pattern drills are boring
• Restricted language use
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Constructivism and
language learning
focus: Everything that interests the
•
learners, e.g., own projects
• content: Everything that interests the
learners
• level: broad level, determined by the topics
and the level of the learners
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Constructivism and
language learning
Advantages:
•
Prepares learners for “real” interaction
• Disadvantages:
None
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Constructivism and
language learning
How did he learn to play basketball?
•
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

不闻不若闻之，闻之不若见之，见之不若知
之，知之不若行之。
荀子
\"Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I may
remember. Involve me, and I'll understand“
Xun Zi
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Communicative
competence
Linguistic aspects
• Phonology and orthography
(pronunciation & spelling)
• Grammar (syntax)
• Vocabulary (words)
• Discourse (comprehending texts)
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Communicative competence
Pragmatic aspects
• Functions (communication purposes )
• Variations (different styles/appropriate social
meaning )
• Interactional skills (knowing and using the
mostly-unwritten rules for interaction in various
communication situations )
• Cultural framework (to understand behavior from
the standpoint of the members of a culture)
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Communicative competence
How to acquire communicative competence?
o Lots of exposure to language you can
understand
o A chance to negotiate meaning with speakers of
the language
o A chance to observe and participate in a variety
of real communication situations
o A chance to get to know what people who speak
the language think and believe
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Communicative competence
How to acquire communicative competence?
o Base structured work on events you
participate in such as
a shared meal, or
working with somebody in the field.
o Build basic vocabulary using action-based
approaches and games.
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Communicative competence
How to acquire communicative competence?
o Use your social skills to make
relationships.
o Spend lots of time doing things with
people.
o Find creative ways to practice using the
language.
o Use a lot of communicative activities.
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Tools for Learning: Twitter
Twitter:
a constructivist approach to acquire
communicative competence
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Web 2.0
Twitter: example of Web 2.0 application
Web 2.0 applications
take full advantage of the network nature of
the Web
encourage participation
inherently social and open
Example: Amazon
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Web 1.0 / Web 2.0
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Web 2.0: Some Examples
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22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning
Photo by vincos

Web 2.0 & Learning
Web 1.0 Learning:
Learning Management Systems
Administered learning
Teacher/Institution centered
Web 2.0 Learning:
Student centered
Student contribute/communicate
Teacher moderates/creates learning
opportunities
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Personal Learning
Environment
Use Web 2.0 applications to create your
own learning environment for language
learning
In 10 minutes!
Done
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22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

PLE: Too Much Work?
10 minutes ok
But let’s do it in 10 seconds
Done
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

PLE: Additional Support
PLE may be confusing for new learners
how to master the tools
when to use which tool
what tools are available
That is where the teacher comes in
has knowledge of tools and how to use them
Artificial Intelligence
implement this knowledge in the computer
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Learning Supported by
Artificial Intelligence
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Traditional
Adapt learning
books/courses:
materials (course)
one size fits all
with respect to
non-adaptive
individual variables
(learning goals, ignores your
knowledge, knowledge & goals
emotions, …)
context (location,
device, …)
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Artificial Intelligence
Extract human expert
knowledge
Formalize it
Apply it
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

AI Supported Learning
What does the computer need to know?
Domain/Content Model
Teaching/Pedagogical
User Model
Model
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Course Generation: Motivation
Eva wants to learn about calculus:
“derivative”
Web-search: Google
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Motivation: Results of
Web-Search
too many results
all kinds of
resources
not adapted to
individual
capabilities and
goals
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Motivation: Course
Generation (CG)
“derivation”
Repository
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Motivation: Course
Generation
“derivation”
Course Generator
Repository
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Resources from Several
Repositories
“derivation”
Course Generator
Repositories
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Integration of Learning-
Supporting Tools
“derivation”
Course Generator
Repositories
Tool
Tool
Tools
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

CG as a Service
“derivation”
Course Generator
Repositories
Tool
Tool
Tools
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Modeling of Pedagogical
Knowledge / Adaptivity
“derivation”
Course Generator
Repositories
•Discover “derivation”
•Train Competencies “derivation”
•Exam Simulation “derivation”
•Illustrate “derivation”
•Motivate “derivation”
Tool
Tool
Tools
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Course Generation:
Pedagogical Knowledge
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Course Generation:
Framework
AI: planning, multi agent systems, expert
systems
(HTN) planning:
Goal directed
Hierarchical approach easily understandable
Efficient
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Basics of Hierarchical Task
Network Planning
How it plans:
• methods decompose tasks
• down to primitive tasks performed by operators
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Basic Knowledge
Inserting references to
educational resources
tools
Generating structure
Accessing information about
educational resources
the learner
About 70 rules
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Example / Exercise Selection
About 60 methods
Take into account
competency level
educational level
fields of interest
novelty
motivation & anxiety
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Exercise Selection
Selecting an exercise, high motivation
(learnerProperty hasMotivation ?c ?m)
(>= ?m 4)
(learnerProperty hasField ?field)
(learnerProperty hasEducationalLevel ?el)
(learnerProperty hasCompetencyLevel ?c ?cl)
(equivalent (call + 1 ?cl) ?ex_cl)
Selecting an exercise, adequate competence level
(learnerProperty hasField ?field)
(learnerProperty hasEducationalLevel ?el)
(learnerProperty hasCompetencyLevel ?c ?cl)
(equivalent ?cl ?ex_cl)
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Exercise Selection
(:method (trainWithSingleExercise! ?c)
((learnerProperty hasMotivation ?c ?m)
(>= ?m 4)
(learnerProperty hasField ?field)
(learnerProperty hasEducationalLevel ?el)
(learnerProperty hasCompetencyLevel ?c ?cl)
(equivalent (call + 1 ?cl) ?ex_cl)
(assign ?unsortedExercises
(call GetResources
((class Exercise)
(relation isFor ?c)
(property hasLearningContext ?el)
(property hasCompetencyLevel ?ex_cl)
(property hasField ?field))))
(sortByAlreadySeen ?exercises ?unsortedExercises)
(assignIterator ?exercise ?exercises))
((insertWithVariantsIfReady! ?exercise ?c)))
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Formalized CG
Knowledge: Scenarios
Moderate constructivist scenarios:
Discover
Rehearse
Connect
Train Intensively
Train Competencies
Exam Simulation
Based on guidelines of instructional design
Guided Tour
≈ 300 methods and operators
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Scenario “Discover”
(discover deriv)
Introduce (:method (discover ?f)
()
((!startSection Discover ?f)
(descriptionScenarioSection ?f)
(learnFundamentalsDiscover ?f)
Develop
(reflect ?f)
(!endSection)))
Prove (:method (learnFundamentalDiscover ?c)
()
((!startSection Title (?c))
(introduceWithPrereqSection ?c)
(developFundamental ?c)
Practice
(proveSection ?c)
(practiceSection ?c)
(showConnectionsSection ?c)
(!endSection)))
Connect
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Scenario “Discover”
(introduceWithPrereqSection! deriv)
Motivate
Introduce
(:method (introduceWithPrereqSection! ?c)
()
Develop
((introduceWithSection! ?c)
Problem
(learnPrerequisitesFundamentalsShort ?c)))
Prove
(:method (introduceWithSection! ?c)
Practice
()
Illustrate
((!startSection Introduction (?c))
Connect
(text Introduction (?c))
(motivate! ?c)
(problem ?c)
Prerequisites
(insertIntroductionExample ?c)
(!endSection)))
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Scenario Discover
(:method (motivate! ?c)
Motivate
((learnerProperty hasEducationalLevel ?el)
Introduce
(learnerProperty hasAnxiety ?c ?an)
Problem
Develop
(?an <= 2)
Illustrate
(GetElement
Practice
((class Exercise)
Prerequisites
Connect
(class Introduction)
(relation isFor ?c)
Reflect
(property hasLearningContext ?el)
(property hasDifficulty very_easy))))
((insertAuxOnceIfReady! ?element)))
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Course Generation: Results
Average time for course generation
(filled cache, no LM, complete expansion):
1/37/6 4/105/19 8/262/36 12/254/52 20/365/83
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Course Generation: Results
1/37/6 4/105/19 8/262/36 12/254/52 20/365/83
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

AI-Supported Learning:
Summary
Artificial Intelligence
to select learning objects
to select tools
Does not replace teacher but helps him/her
Current research question:
How to use AI for Web 2.0
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

Summary
Learning Theories
Learning Theories and Language Learning
Tools for Personalized Learning
How AI supports your Learning
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning

How to Continue
Contact us for any question:
ullrich_c@sjtu.edu.cn
kerstin_borau@web.de
Use the personal learning environment we created during the
lecture:
http://www.google.com/ig/sharetab?hl=en&source=stb&stid=112236995
533256220287916fa6930de17d7449a322608f0e32e3
Even better: visit iGoogle and build your personal learning
environment
http://www.google.com/ig?hl=en
Read and comment the slides:
http://www.slideshare.net/ullrich/
Create an account on Twitter
http://twitter.com
our Twitter names: kerstinlaoshi & ullrich
22.11.2007 Kerstin Borau / Carsten Ullrich – Active Learning