Andreas Schmidt Weblog » context http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog Tue, 06 Jul 2010 10:17:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 PhD thesis finally published http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2009/09/phd-thesis-finally-published.html http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2009/09/phd-thesis-finally-published.html#comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:55:55 +0000 Andreas Schmidt http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2009/09/phd-thesis-finally-published.html diss_coverFinally, I have managed to complete the last step of my PhD (my defense was already in February): I have published the work. My thesis is titled “Situation-aware information services for work-integrated learning” (supervisors Prof. Peter Lockemann and Prof. Johannes Magenheim) and is available in German. It summarizes my research on context awareness and context management, and on supporting work-integrated learning (e.g., the knowledge maturing model, but also the methodology for context-steered learning) with competence ontologies. Yes, it has taken much too long, even the step from 98% to 100% has taken me one and a half years. But you should be aware that either you complete your PhD quickly, or you take care of a research department and several interesting projects – and do many other interesting things…

I am in the lucky situation that this is just the starting point for my further work. Within the MATURE project, I can continue my research on knowledge maturing and on competency-oriented approaches. Additionally, it has turned out that the context management approach is ideal also for the domain of ambient-assisted living (AAL), which has been shown in SOPRANO, and will continue in UniversAAL. Context-aware system behaviour in context of adaptive user interfaces has been the subject in AGENT-DYSL and will continue to be explored in the upcoming myUI.

]]> http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2009/09/phd-thesis-finally-published.html/feed 0 Context-awareness for users with special needs: Two new upcoming EU project in eInclusion http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2009/09/context-awareness-for-users-with-special-needs-two-new-upcoming-eu-project-in-einclusion.html http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2009/09/context-awareness-for-users-with-special-needs-two-new-upcoming-eu-project-in-einclusion.html#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:48:33 +0000 Andreas Schmidt http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2009/09/context-awareness-for-users-with-special-needs-two-new-upcoming-eu-project-in-einclusion.html Currently I am travelling to Brussels for the negotiations of two successful EU proposals in the area of eInclusion – with a 100% success rate Call 4 of FP7 was a very efficient call :) Both proposals provide the opportunity to explore new paths in my second main stream of research: context-awareness. While I have started in the domain of technology-enhanced learning, the ambient-assisted living project SOPRANO has shown that the results (particularly the blackboard-based approach to context management, which allows for a combination of ontology-based techniques with statistical approaches and provides native support for uncertainty and the temporal dimension) can be easily transferred to ambient technologies. Also adaptive user interfaces are in need of a flexible context management system, as our first attempt in AGENT-DYSL has shown, which was aiming at adaptive reading support for children with dyslexia.

  • In the upcoming AAL project universAAL (an Integrating Project – IP) we aim to develop our SOPRANO Ambient middleware (soon to be release as openAAL – an open source middleware for ambient assisted living) to become part of a reference architecture and open source implementation of a universal AAL infrastructure, together with a promising consortium of 18 partners.
  • Within myUI (a STREP), we aim at “synergistic user modeling”, i.e., device-independent capturing of the user’s context so that we can more easily engineer adaptive user interfaces for various devices, particularly for users with special needs, like the elderly, but also others.

I am already looking forward to those projects, which will probably start in the first quarter 2010, although this will again mean an increased number of travels (which I could successfully reduce in 2009).

]]> http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2009/09/context-awareness-for-users-with-special-needs-two-new-upcoming-eu-project-in-einclusion.html/feed 0 SOPRANO Ambient Middleware http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2009/03/soprano-ambient-middleware.html http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2009/03/soprano-ambient-middleware.html#comments Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:36:17 +0000 Andreas Schmidt http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2009/03/soprano-ambient-middleware.html Last week we had the very successful second annual review of the Integrated Project SOPRANO in the field of Ambient Assisted Living. Our approach to a semantic middleware based on OSGi has been highly appreciated. At the core is on the one side a context management approach, which is largely based on my PhD work and has been developed further by my colleague Peter Wolf, on the other side the semantic service description approach from DIANE, which Michael Klein from CAS has developed. Our lightweight semantics approach on both sides plays very well together, as the following presentation shows:

SOPRANO Ambient Middleware (AAL)

We want plan to make this technology available to everyone. Stay tuned.

]]> http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2009/03/soprano-ambient-middleware.html/feed 0 Architecture Solutions for E-Learning Systems http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2008/01/architecture-solutions-for-e-learning-systems.html http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2008/01/architecture-solutions-for-e-learning-systems.html#comments Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:44:34 +0000 Andreas Schmidt http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2008/01/architecture-solutions-for-e-learning-systems.html Finally, the book edited by Claus Pahl appeared: Architecture Solutions for E-Learning Systems where I contributed a chapter on the Impact of Context-Awareness on the Architecture of E-Learning Solutions (Bibsonomy-Entry).

Recently, the situatedness of learning has come to the center of attention in both research and practice, also a result of the insight that traditional learning methods in the form of large decontextualized courses lead to inert knowledge; i.e., knowledge that can be reproduced, but not applied to real-world problem solving. In order to avoid the inertness, pedagogy tries to set up authentic learning settings, an approach increasingly shared in e-learning domain. If we consider professional training, it is the immediacy of purpose and context that makes it largely different to learning in schools or academic education. This immediacy has the benefit that we actually have an authentic context that we need to preserve. The majority of current e-learning approaches, however, ignores this context and provides decontextualized forms of learning as a multimedia copy of traditional presence seminars. We show how making learning solutions aware of the context actually affects their architecture and present a showcase solution in the form of the Learning in Process service-oriented architecture.

]]> http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2008/01/architecture-solutions-for-e-learning-systems.html/feed 0 Two Book Chapters Summarizing Context-Aware Workplace Learning Support Research http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2007/08/two-book-chapters-summarizing-context-aware-workplace-learning-support-research.html http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2007/08/two-book-chapters-summarizing-context-aware-workplace-learning-support-research.html#comments Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:33:00 +0000 Andreas Schmidt http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog2/2007/08/07/two-book-chapters-summarizing-context-aware-workplace-learning-support-research/ Recently, I have completed two book chapters that fairly comprehensively summarize the results of my research on how to support workplace learning with the notion of context awareness:

  • The first focuses on the ontology-based modeling and overall methodological approach. It is placed within the context of Semantic Work Environments.
    Enabling Leaning on Demand in Semantic Work Environments    , to appear in Rech, Decker, Ras (eds.): Emerging Technologies for Semantic Work Environments: Techniques, Methods, and Applications, IGI Publishing, 2008
  • The second focuses on the architectural issues related to introducing context awareness into e-learning solutions. It describes my service-oriented approach, which is based on a ontology-centered design methodology for deriving services and ensuring their coherence.
    Impact of Context-Awareness on the Architecture of E-Learning Solutions, to appear in Pahl (ed.): Architecture Solutions for E-Learning Systems, IGI Publishing, 2007
]]> http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2007/08/two-book-chapters-summarizing-context-aware-workplace-learning-support-research.html/feed 1 SOPRANO State of the Art document http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2007/05/soprano-state-of-the-art-document.html http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2007/05/soprano-state-of-the-art-document.html#comments Sat, 26 May 2007 19:18:00 +0000 Andreas Schmidt http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog2/2007/05/26/soprano-state-of-the-art-document/ Within the SOPRANO project, we were working on compiling a comprehensive and interdisciplinary compilation and assessment of the state of the art in the domains relevant to creating an ambient assisted living system. It encompasses as diverse topics as Assistive Technologies, Smart Homes, Sensors, RFID, Radar Technologies, Software Architectures, Ontologies, and Context Modeling and Management. I was mainly contributing to the sections on ontologies and context modeling & management. The document is available from here.

]]> http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2007/05/soprano-state-of-the-art-document.html/feed 1 Ontology-based User Context Management: The Challenges of Dynamics and Imperfection http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2006/10/ontology-based-user-context-management-the-challenges-of-dynamics-and-imperfection.html http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2006/10/ontology-based-user-context-management-the-challenges-of-dynamics-and-imperfection.html#comments Sat, 07 Oct 2006 18:08:00 +0000 Andreas Schmidt http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog2/2006/10/07/ontology-based-user-context-management-the-challenges-of-dynamics-and-imperfection/ Andreas Schmidt:
Ontology-based User Context Management: The Challenges of Dynamics and Imperfection
In: Proceedings of International Conference on Ontologies, Databases and Applications of SEmantics (ODBASE 2006), On the Move Federated Conferences (OTM), Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS), vol. 4275, 2006, pp. 995-1011
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Abstract: Robust and scalable user context management is the key enabler for the emerging context- and situation-aware applications, and ontology-based approaches have shown their usefulness for capturing especially context information on a high level of abstraction. But so far the problem has not been approached as a data management problem, which is key to scalability and robustness. The specific challenges lie in the imperfection of high-level context information, its time-dependence and the variability in the dynamics between its different elements. The approach presented in this paper presents a layered data model which structures the problems and is geared towards flexible and efficient query processing in combination of relational database and logic-based techniques. The techniques have been successfully applied for context-aware corporate learning support.

]]> http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2006/10/ontology-based-user-context-management-the-challenges-of-dynamics-and-imperfection.html/feed 0 Socially-Aware Informal Learning Support: Potentials and Challenges of the Social Dimension http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2006/10/socially-aware-informal-learning-support-potentials-and-challenges-of-the-social-dimension.html http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2006/10/socially-aware-informal-learning-support-potentials-and-challenges-of-the-social-dimension.html#comments Mon, 02 Oct 2006 18:06:00 +0000 Andreas Schmidt http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog2/2006/10/02/socially-aware-informal-learning-support-potentials-and-challenges-of-the-social-dimension/ Simone Braun, Andreas Schmidt:
Socially-Aware Informal Learning Support: Potentials and Challenges of the Social Dimension
In: Proceedings of the Joint International Workshop on Professional Learning, Competence Development and Knowledge Management, in conjunction with the First European Conference on Technology-Enhanced Learning (ECTEL 06), Heraklion, 2006
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Abstract: With increasingly conceiving learning as a social activity, technological support must become more aware of the social context of the individual in order to be able to provide adequate support. But many issues related to making systems socially aware are subject to ongoing research, e.g., the description of social relationship, mining social relationships, and especially privacy preservation. This paper wants to give a brief overview which possibilities social awareness can offer, and to present a research agenda for realizing these potentials.

]]> http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2006/10/socially-aware-informal-learning-support-potentials-and-challenges-of-the-social-dimension.html/feed 0 Context-Aware Workplace Learning Support: Concept, Experiences, and Remaining Challenges http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2006/10/context-aware-workplace-learning-support-concept-experiences-and-remaining-challenges.html http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2006/10/context-aware-workplace-learning-support-concept-experiences-and-remaining-challenges.html#comments Mon, 02 Oct 2006 18:05:00 +0000 Andreas Schmidt http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog2/2006/10/02/context-aware-workplace-learning-support-concept-experiences-and-remaining-challenges/ Andreas Schmidt, Simone Braun:
Context-Aware Workplace Learning Support: Concept, Experiences, and Remaining Challenges
In: Innovative Approaches for Learning and Knowledge Sharing. Proceedings of the First European Conference on Technology-Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL 06), Heraklion, Crete, October 2006, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 4227, pp. 518-524
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Abstract: Workplace learning offers the unique possibility of the immediacy of purpose and real-world context. In order to leverage on this, we have developed a context-aware method to support workplace learning. In this paper, we want to describe the concept of context-steered learning, both from a content-driven and communication-driven perspective, and present corresponding system functionality primitives.

]]> http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2006/10/context-aware-workplace-learning-support-concept-experiences-and-remaining-challenges.html/feed 0 AGENT-DYSL Kick-Off Meeting in Athens http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2006/09/agent-dysl-kick-off-meeting-in-athens.html http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog/2006/09/agent-dysl-kick-off-meeting-in-athens.html#comments Thu, 21 Sep 2006 17:02:00 +0000 Andreas Schmidt http://andreas.schmidt.name/blog2/2006/09/21/agent-dysl-kick-off-meeting-in-athens/ Right after the I-KNOW conference, I attended the Kick-Off meeting of the AGENT-DYSL project, which is about Accommodative Intelligent Educational Environments for Dyslexic Learners and is funded by the European Commission within the eInclusion call (where AGENT-DYSL was ranked no. 1). The project is concerned with the development of new technologies and tools for the support of pupils with dyslexia (5-10% of all pupils suffer from dyslexia). Existing reading assistance software solutions lack important adaptive functions. The projects aims to integrate state-of-the-art technologies from the Semantic Web, speech and image processing in order to support user modeling (covering learning progress and emotional state) and adaptive user interfaces.

Our role in the project is the user context modeling and management as well as knowledge representation (especially for adaptation rules).

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