Designing Distributed Learning Environments with Intelligent Software Agents

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Fuhua Oscar Lin
Athabasca University, Canada

Acquisition Editor: Mehdi Khosrow-Pour Senior Managing Editor: Jan Travers Managing Editor: Amanda Appicello Development Editor: Michele RossiCopy Editor: Lori Eby Typesetter: Amanda Appicello Cover Design: Lisa TosheffPrinted at: Yurchak Printing Inc.

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Copyright 2005 by Idea Group Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Designing distributed learning environments with intelligent software agents / [edited by] Fuhua Oscar Lin.
p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-59140-500-9 (hardcover) -- ISBN 1-59140-501-7 (pbk.) -- ISBN 1-59140-502-5 (ebook) 1. Intelligent tutoring systems. 2. Artificial intelligence--Educational applications. 3. Intelligent agents (Computer software) I. Lin, Fuhua Oscar, 1962-

LB1028.73.D47 2005 371.33'4--dc22

2004003760

British Cataloguing in Publication Data A Cataloguing in Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.

All work contributed to this book is new, previously-unpublished material. The views expressed in this book are those of the authors, but not necessarily of the publisher.

About the Authors

Fuhua Lin is an associate professor at the Center for Computing and Information Systems of Athabasca University, Canada. He received his Ph.D. in 1998 from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China. He is a frequent speaker, program committee member, and workshop organizer at international conferences and has authored or co-authored over 40 refereed journals, book chapters, and proceeding publications. His current research interests include intelligent software agents and their applications. He is a member of IEEE and ACM. Dr. Lin is also involved in the AI in education (AIED) and Information Resource Management Association (IRMA). (http:/ /io.acad.athabascau.ca/~oscar <http://io.acad.athabascau.ca/%7Eoscar>)

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Mohamed Ally, Ph.D., is director and associate professor, Centre for Computing and Information Systems at Athabasca University, Canada’s Open University. He teaches graduate courses in computing and information systems and distance education and is involved in research in distance education and online learning. His research interests include graphical user interface, best practices in distance education, and designing intelligent tutoring systems for online learning. Dr. Ally has presented papers at national and international conferences and has written papers for journals and edited books.

Ping Chen is an assistant professor in the Computer and Mathematics Science Department, University of Houston - Downtown (USA). His research interests include bioinformatics, data mining, and security. His current projects include research to develop new algorithms for data visualization, clustering, association rules, and Web mining. Ping Chen received a B.S. in Information Science and Technology from Xi’an Jiao Tong University (1994), am M.S. in Computer Science from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (1997), and a doctoral degree in Information Technology at George Mason University (2001).

Weiqin Chen is an associate professor with the Department of Information Science at the University of Bergen, Norway. She has been leading the pedagogical agent group in the DoCTA-NSS project. She received her Ph.D. in 1997 from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Her current research interests include software agents, especially pedagogical agents, distributed collaborative learning, agile software development, mobile computing, and personalization in e-commerce.

Yung-Hui Chen is a Ph.D. student with the Computer Science and Information Engineering at Tamkang University, Taiwan, R.O.C. His research interests include distance learning, multimedia computing and networking, and content- based retrieval. Yung-Hui Chen received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Engineering from Tamkang University in 1997 and 2000, respectively.

Wei Ding is a lecturer for the Computer Science program and Computer Information System program of the School of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Houston - Clear Lake (USA). Her current teaching and research interests include Web application development, visualization, security, bioinformatics, and Web mining. Ms. Ding received her B.S. in Computer Science from Xi’an Jiao Tong University (1993) and an M.S. in Software Engineering from George Mason University (2000). The title of her thesis is “Using Model Checking to Generate Test Cases for Critical Systems.” In the last eight years (1993-2001), Ms. Ding has worked as a software engineer for the Bank of China, a testing engineer for Microsoft (China) Ltd., a system analyst and project manager for PanSky International Holding Co. Ltd., a QA team leader for MultiCity.com, and a technical consultant and software engineer for VeriSign Inc.

Khalil El-Khatib received his B.S. in Computer Science from the American University of Beirut (AUB) (1992). From 1992-1994, he worked as a research assistant in the Computer Science Department at AUB. In 1996, he received his M.Sc. in Computer Science from McGill University. His research topic was “Dynamic Load Balancing for Parallel Discrete Event Simulation”. In 1996, he joined the High Capacity Division at Nortel Networks as a software designer. After two years, he joined the Distributed System Research Group at the University of Ottawa as a Ph.D. candidate under the supervision of Prof. G. V. Bochmann. His research work includes QoS for multimedia applications, personal mobility, IP telephony, feature interaction for VoIP, and ubiquitous computing. He joined the National Research Council of Canada on February 2002, as a member of the Network Computing group, researching security and privacy issues for the Internet and ubiquitous computing environments.

Larbi Esmahi is an associate professor at the Centre for Computing Information Systems at Athabasca University (Canada). He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from University of Montr al (Ecole Polytechnique de Montr al), Canada. He worked for six years as a software engineer in different industrial companies (1988-1995). During his Ph.D., he spent three years in the Computer Research Institute of Montr al (CRIM) working on multiagent cooperation mechanisms in e-commerce and network services management. His research interest is focused on e-learning, e-commerce, and e-services creation and provisioning.

Larry Korba is the group leader of the Network Computing Group of the National Research Council of Canada in the Institute for Information Technology. He is currently involved in several projects related to security and privacy. His research interests include privacy protection, network security, and computer-supported collaborative work.

Hong Lin received a Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Science and Technology of China (1997); was a postdoctoral research associate at Purdue University; was an assistant research officer at the National Research Council of Canada, and was a software engineer at Nokia Inc. Currently, Lin is an assistant professor with the University of Houston - Downtown (USA). Dr. Lin is the author of more than 30 research papers. Dr. Lin’s research interests include: parallel/distributed computing, computer networks, network security, and programming methodologies.

Andrew S. Patrick is a senior scientist at the National Research Council of Canada. He is currently conducting research on the human factors of privacy protection, computer interface issues for trustable software agents, the human factors of security systems, and advanced collaboration environments. Dr. Patrick holds a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Western Ontario. For more information, please visit: www.andrewpatrick.ca.

Lawrence Poon has worked in different capacities, such as a computer teacher, a network engineer, and a Web programmer since graduating from the University of Birmingham, UK, with a B.Phil. (Ed). He joined the Chinese University of Hong Kong to build Hong Kong Education City (http:// www.hkedcity.net), the largest educational Web portal in Hong Kong. He is an advocate of Open Source (http://www.os4schools.net) and has a compelling motivation to enhance the effectiveness of learning through the application of Information Technology. He is now working as a freelance Web developer and a researcher at Athabasca University (Canada). He is living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with his wife Patti, his son Ivan, and his daughter Ivy. He can be reached at [e-mail].

Edson Em lio Scalabrin has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science (1990). He obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Technological University of Compi gne, France (1996), where he studied the use of cognitive agents to develop open systems. He is a professor in the Applied Computer Science Master of Science Program at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paran (PUCPR), Brazil. He heads the Computer Science program at PUCPR.

Timothy K. Shih is a professor of the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering at Tamkang University, Taiwan, R.O.C. He is a senior member of IEEE and a member of ACM. His research interests include: multimedia computing and networking, distance learning, e-commerce, and content-based multimedia information retrieval. He was a faculty member of the Computer Engineering Department at Tamkang University in 1986. In 1993 and 1994, he was a part-time faculty member of the Computer Engineering Department at Santa Clara University. He was also a visiting professor at the University of Aizu, Japan (Summer 1999), a visiting researcher at the Academia Sinica, Taiwan (Summer 2001), and an adjunct faculty member of Xidian University, China. Dr. Shih received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Engineering from Tamkang University and California State University, Chico (1983 and 1985, respectively). He received his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Santa Clara University (1993). Dr. Shih has edited many books and published over 290 papers and book chapters, as well as participated in many international academic activities, including the organization of many international conferences and special issues of international journals. He is the founder and co-editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Distance Education Technologies (Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, PA, USA). Dr. Shih has received many research awards, including Tamkang University research awards, NSC research awards (National Science Council of Taiwan), and the IIAS research award of Germany. He also received many funded research grants from both domestic and international agencies. Dr. Shih has been invited frequently to give keynote speeches, tutorials, panels, and talks at international conferences and overseas research organizations.

Hilton Jos Silva de Azevedo is an electrical engineer (1989). He obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Technological University of Compi gne, France (1997), where he studied the use of multiagent systems to capitalize on the knowledge of research groups. He is a professor in the Technology Master of Science Program at the Paran State Federal Center for Technological Education (CEFET-PR), Brazil. He coordinates, at CEFET-PR, the Distance Learning program and the Paran State Pole of the Brazilian Association for Distance Education.

Ronggong Song received a B.Sc. in Mathematics (1992), an M.Eng. in Computer Science (1996), and a Ph.D. in Network Security from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (1999). He was employed as a network planning engineer at Telecommunication Planning Research Institute of MII, P.R. China. He is currently working as a research officer at the National Research Council of Canada. His research interests include: network security and privacy protection, e-commerce, and multiagent applications.

Ying-Hong Wang received a B.S. in Information Engineering from Chung- Yuan University, Taiwan (1986), and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Information Engineering from the TamKang University (1992 and 1996, respectively). From 1988-1990, he worked in the Product Development Division of Institute of Information Industry (III). From 1992-1996, he was a lecturer in the department of information engineering of TamKang University, R.O.C. Since Fall 1996, he has been an associate professor in the Department of Information Engineering of TamKang University. He has nearly 100 technological papers published in international journals and international conference proceedings. He also joined many international activities, acting on the program committee, as workshop chair, as session chair, and so on. He had been invited as a visiting researcher at The University of Aizu, Japan, from January to March 2002. His current research interests include: software engineering, multimedia database system, wireless multimedia, and mobile agent.

Barbara Wasson is a scientific leader of InterMedia and a professor in Information Science at the University of Bergen, Norway. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada (1990). Her current research interests focus on: collaborative telelearning, sociocultural learning theories, research methodologies for studying virtual environments, and pedagogical agents.

Yuefei Xu is a research officer in the Network Computing Group, Institute for Information Technology, National Research Council of Canada. Prior to this, he was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Calgary (Canada), focused on agent-based reconfigurable distributed control systems. He received hisB.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. from the Northwestern Polytechnical University, China. His research interests include distributed information systems, e- business, and information security and privacy. His current activities are based on research of privacy protection and trust management for e-learning applications.

Chunsheng Yang interests include data mining, applied intelligence, network privacy and security, and distributed networking computing. After receiving his Doctorate degree (September 1995) from National Hiroshima University, he worked in the Network Management Engineering Department of Fujitsu Inc. as a senior engineer and engaged in the development of an ATM Network Management System. He was an assistant professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (1986-1990), working on Hypercube Distributed Computer Systems. Since joining the Institute for Information Technology of the National Research Council of Canada in January 1998 as a research officer in the Integrated Reasoning Group, his research efforts have been focused on intelligent network management systems, case-based reasoning/knowledge management, and data mining to real-world problems.

George Yee is a senior researcher in the Network Computing Group, Institute for Information Technology, National Research Council Canada (NRC). Prior to joining the NRC in late 2001, he spent more than 20 years at Bell-Northern Research and Nortel Networks. George received his Ph.D. (Electrical Engineering), M.Sc. (Systems and Information Science), and B.Sc. (Mathematics) from Carleton University, where he is now an adjunct professor. He is a senior member of IEEE, and member of ACM and Professional Engineers Ontario. He has also been the chair of the Ottawa IEEE Computer Society for many years and is an active volunteer for conferences. His research interests include security and privacy for e-services, system performance and reliability, and the design of secure software. For more information, please visit www.georgeyee.ca.

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