Brusilovsky et al. successfully integrate several interactive learning tools in a single experimental platform with personalized student access. The platform, called “Exploratorium,” integrates e-learning resources for database courses that teach structured query language (SQL). Additionally, it models a solution to the broader technical need for learning management systems that can easily integrate a rich variety of e-learning tools, many with interactive or personalized content, within a single group or course.
Advanced Distributed Architecture for Personalized Teaching and Training (ADAPT), the authors’ integration architecture, recognizes two main goals: technical integration and conceptual integration. Technical integration makes diverse interactive content accessible from one Web portal with a single sign-on. Conceptual integration, according to the authors, involves keeping “a history of students’ interactions with each component accumulated in a standard format in an accessible centralized repository.”
In the SQL educational implementation, conceptual integration is supported by CUMULATE, a user-modeling server that accepts reports about students’ activity from all the educational tools: “navigational clicks from WebEx interactive examples,” problem-solving attempts in a knowledge-testing environment (SQL-KnoT), and the exploration of SQL problem scenarios (SQL-Lab).
The Exploratorium uses this data to build a user model for each student, “which is used to adapt some of the components based on individual progress.” It also allows the teacher to “structure access to this content according to the needs of [the] course.” The paper presents evaluations from six database courses. These results show the importance of both integration and personalization features.