Project Overview

Aims and Objectives

The three foci of SemTech are on the existing work on semantic technologies in education, on a roadmap for further developments in this area and on the institutional perspective by engaging in discussion with other HE and FE institutions in the UK. The project objectives are:

1. Survey of the relevance and use of semantic tools and services in HE/FE, informal and exploratory learning. The impact of current work on semantic enhancement of successful Web 2.0 services will be reported.
2. A roadmap for further developments in semantic technology adoption in HE/FE, informal learning and exploratory learning.
3. The HE/FE institutional perspective of tools, services, relevance and quantifiable benefits.

Liaison with UK HE/FE institutions, HEFCE subject centres, JISC CETIS, and the Semantic Technologies for Learning and Teaching WG will help outline the transition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 in this perspective.

Overall Approach

The project is organised in four activities:

1. Semantic technologies in learning and teaching today. Surveying existing technologies, practices and case studies relevant to formal, informal and exploratory learning. Interviews with HE/FE institutions will establish relevance and use of semantic technologies.
2. A roadmap for semantic technology adoption in education. Outlining the anticipated stages of adoption of semantic Web, knowledge and Web 2.0 technologies in education.
3. The institutional perspective on semantic technology adoption. Establishing the relevance and quantifying the benefits of semantic technologies.
4. Liaison with the community and Dissemination. Liaison with JISC-CETIS, HEFCE subject centres and UK Universities.

Semantic Technologies in Learning and Teaching Today

SemTech will investigate the relevance of semantic technologies in a wider scope that includes semantic Web, knowledge and Web 2.0 aspects.

• In terms of formal education a survey of existing semantics-based applications and of the influence of Web 2.0 technologies will be performed; this will involve liaison with the UK HE and FE community. Existing application of semantic technologies will be discussed and existing case studies will be considered.
• The use of semantic services to support informal learning will also be investigated. This will involve a survey of existing tools and requirements for semantic services to enable more efficient formation of communities of practise, management of e-portfolios and reliable e-assessment. The potential enhancement of existing Web 2.0 services with semantic features will be examined.
• The availability of semantic services to support exploratory learning and requirements for additional semantic tools for intelligent discovery and adaptation of relevant learning resources for a personalised learning experience will be explored in the new environment of Web 2.0.

Roadmap on Semantic Technology Adoption for Learning and Teaching

Based on the findings of the survey on existing semantic applications for education and requirements for additional ones, this proposal will draw a roadmap on the adoption of semantic technologies in the sense of semantic Web, knowledge and Web 2.0 technologies. The roadmap will provide stages of semantic technologies adoption for learning in three different contexts: formal education (with emphasis on UK HE and FE), informal learning and exploratory learning. For each stage of semantic technologies adoption the roadmap will detail open challenges, anticipated developments in semantic tools and services, anticipated benefits and open challenges.

The Institutional Perspective

One of the most important foci of this proposal is on a quantification of the impact of semantic technology adoption for HE and FE institutions. Based on (i) the findings of the survey concerning existing services and the challenges that education institutions face today, (ii) existing case studies and (iii) liaison with education institutions in the UK, the HEFCE subject centres, JISC CETIS and in particular with the Semantic Technologies for Learning and Teaching Working Group, the report will detail:

• the relevance of semantic technologies to actors and processes of typical UK HE and FE institutions,
• tools and services currently used to implement these educational processes, and
• a concise illustration of the quantitative benefits in the sector.

Liaison with the Community and Dissemination

SemTech will liaise with a number of UK HE/FE institutions as part of the survey on Semantic Technology use, the quantification of their benefits and on identifying open challenges that can be addressed with semantic technologies and related to the roadmap. In addition, SemTech will work closely with JISC, JISC CETIS and the HEFCE subject centres. A workshop will be organised in the second half of the project to foster further discussion on the institutional perspective and the roadmap for semantic technology adoption.