LEARNING OBJECTS, THE SEMANTIC WEB, AND THE FUTURE OF DISTRIBUTED INSTRUCTION

摘要

A future, based on evidence from current trends in technology and learning is predicted. In this future, learning (education, training, problem solving, decision making, performance aiding) will be based on natural language conversations between learners and software capabilities that might be called personal leaning associates. These conversations will be assembled in real time from sharable objects drawn from the Global Information Infrastructure. They will be closely tailored to learners' background, abilities, interests, and objectives. They will be available on-demand, anytime, and anywhere. The personal learning associates will be hosted on a variety of devices including desktop systems and laptops, but they will most probably be found on hand-held devices (such as palm computers and telephones) or worn as clothing. They will combine specifications and standards emerging from software engineering with techniques and capabilities both old and new adapted from individualized intelligent tutoring systems.