representation, Information visualization With the advent and accessibility of the Internet, artistic and indigenous communities are beginning to realize how digital technologies can be used as a means for documenting and preserving their histories and cultures. However, it is not yet clear what knowledge architectures are most appropriate for creating a digital museum in order to facilitate an effective collection, organization, conservation, and experience of cultural and artistic heritage. In this paper, we discuss the concept of “fluid ontologies,” a novel, dynamic structure for organizing and browsing knowledge in a digital museum. Fluid ontologies are flexible knowledge structures that evolve and adapt to communities ’ interest based on contextual information articulated by human contributors, curators, and viewers, as well as artificial bots that are able to track interaction histories and infer relationships among knowledge pieces and preferences of viewers. Fluid ontologies allow for a tighter coupling between communities ’ interests and the browsing structure of a digital museum. We present the key ideas behind the use of fluid ontologies within the context of digital museum design and seminal work in metadata/dynamic ontologies, particularly as it pertains to objects of cultural heritage, and discuss these characteristics in three concrete examples: (1) Village Voice, an online agora that ties together the narratives created by a group of Somali refugees using an iteration of community-designed ontologies, (2) Eventspace, a nodebased collaborative archive for design activities, and (3) Tribal Peace, an online digital museum still under construction and evaluation that uses proactive agents to tie distributed Kumeyaay, Luiseno, and Cupeno reservations together in their quest to achieve greater political sovereignty. 1

In this paper we investigate two different ways in which learners construct personal semantic maps, expressed by navigational behaviours. The first of them concerns the usage of hypermedia structures nonsequentially, i.e. without following a strict order within two nodes; the second one concerns the usage of glossaries and concepts maps. A data driven approach, described in the paper, is used. The dataset is made by 254 sessions realized by learners interacting with the WINDS Advanced Learning Environment. The results show that the differences in two behaviours are statistically significant;that the usage of maps and glossaries is less frequent than the usage of hypertextual structure; that the usage of maps and glossaries is clustered above all around a single course; that when different from zero, the two behaviours have statistically significant opposite trends. We can conclude that the presence of two different behaviours of non sequential navigation in Electronic Learning Environments is likely, and that the corresponding strategies are likely to be learned. The results and the implications are analysed and discussed.

Abstract. In this article we combine the use of a thematic approach and concept maps to propose a methodological approach for technology courses, in our case, computer networks. The thematic approach offers a good way to increase students ’ motivation and presents a new way of elaborating a curriculum. The concept maps, which are the principal tool of the assimilation theory, help in the organization of contents, facilitating the process of concept acquisition by learners. These ideas are synthesized in a Web application which can be used as an aid or guide for teachers and learners of computer networks to organize and to improve their educational activities. 1

Abstract: This study proposes a visual methodology to validate complex solution processes in the context of ill-structured problem solving. This experiment is anchored in the context of medical case-based teaching. The case validation activity proposed is modeled on the authentic case presentation practice performed by physicians. We are using a computer-based learning environment (BioWorld) to present a standardized set of cases to expert teachers who are asked to solve the case and do a think-aloud protocol while solving the cases. We are developing a methodology that addresses both knowledge elicitation as well as knowledge validation for solving and reflecting on ill-structured medical problems. More precisely, this study examines the effectiveness of visual support tools to help physicians verify their diagnostic thinking. In so doing our goal is to build and validate case specific cognitive models.

For their usage in the semantic web, valid ontologies are required for a given domain. Here we focus on ontologies represented as concept maps (semantic nets). For one and the same domain several alternative concept maps may exist, originating from different world views or purposes. Some of these concept maps may be valid, however not all of them. Thus, efforts for validating empirically and objectively concept maps in the respective context are necessary. We outline two methodological approaches for empirically validating concept maps, one for giving evidence of content validity of a concept map and one for application validity. One procedure is to validate a given concept map with concept maps generated systematically by others. For this, persons of different knowledge level, are prompted to externalise their understanding of the domain through a concept mapping task. For giving evidence of the content validity of a given concept map, the similarity between the given concept map and the collected criterion maps has to be examined. As a second method of validating a given concept map, we suggest to observe the performance or behaviour in a relevant situational context as a validation criterion. In this scope, a method for predicting persons ’ problem solving behaviour by using a given concept map is outlined. In this case, evidence of the application validity of a given concept map can be found by comparing the predicted answer patterns with empirically obtained answer patterns. In general, the purpose and ultimate use of a given concept map has to be taken into consideration for choosing a validation procedure and interpreting its results. 1

Abstract. Online documents provide a rich information resource for aiding the generation of concept-map-based knowledge models, but analyzing resources to select concepts and links is a time consuming task. This paper describes ongoing research on harnessing the information in unstructured textual documents, using information extraction algorithms, to generate a preliminary version of a concept map from a text document, for human refinement. The paper presents strategies for this task, implemented in an initial algorithm. The concept extraction phase of the algorithm has been evaluated with encouraging results. 1

Students ’ learning experience can be affected by difficulties in understanding the interrelationships between concepts and also between topics. Concept maps have been used in many disciplines (Kremer & Gains, 1996) to structure information and express relationships between them. Their holistic approach with multiple pathways through the learning resource can make relationships and linkages between topics and subtopics obvious, and contribute to a meaningful and positive learning experience. This paper outlines the development and formative evaluation of two hypermedia concept maps which led to the development of a series of eleven concept maps to enhance the learning experience of students in a first year undergraduate business law unit. As part of the Stage 1 formative evaluation, two concept maps were developed together with supporting multimedia resources and trialled on the learners. Feedback was also obtained from technical staff. This phase was designed to assess and control the quality of the learning resource as well as the impact it had on the

The motivation for this discussion is to look at the cognitive and logical rationales of e-Learning objects, which reside in computer-based e-Learning artefacts. e-Learning objects, the system to which they belong, and the sequence of messages that form a discourse between the system and its environment are inseparable. Altogether, they formulate the “Universe of Discourse” (Wieringa, 2003, p. 14). When we talk about systems, we equally refer the discourse to e-Learning objects because they are the “workers” of the system. e-Learning is “a combination of content and instructional methods delivered by media elements such as words and graphics on a computer intended to build job-transferable knowledge and skills linked to individual learning goals or organizational performance ” (Clark & Mayer, 2002, p. 311). The sciences of instruction, learning, and knowledge are intricate and the “e-” before “Learning” adds another dimension of complexity while paving new learning paths for e-Learning.

Abstract. In this paper we present the results of an exploratory qualitative study with experts. The aim of the study was the identification of potential rating variables which could be used to calculate a premium for Cyberinsurance coverages. For this purpose we have conducted semistructured qualitative interviews with a sample of 36 experts from the DACH 1 region. The gathered statements have been consolidated and further reduced to a subset of indicators which are available and difficult to manipulate. The reduced set of indicators has been presented again to the 36 experts in order to rank them according to their relative importance. In this paper we describe the results of this exploratory qualitative study and conclude by discussing implications of our findings for both research and practice. 1

Abstract. Diagrams and tools help to support task modelling in engineering and process management. Unfortunately they are unfit to help in a business context at a strategic level, because of the flexibility needed for creative thinking and user friendly interactions. We propose a tool which bridges the gap between freedom of actions, encouraging creativity, and constraints, allowing validation and advanced features. 1