- Date:
- 2006-2009
- Themes:
- e-Defence, Web Science, Semantic Web, Knowledge Technologies
- Funding:
- Ministry of Defence
SEMIOTIKS is a 3 year research programme sponsored by General Dynamics and QinetiQ as part of the MoD-funded Data and Information Fusion Defence Technology Centre (DIF DTC) initiative. SEMIOTIKS aims to address the challenges faced by military and civilian agencies in leveraging the potential of large scale information repositories to support enhanced situation awareness and information superiority. The project combines state-of-the-art approaches to text analysis and resource classification with semantic technologies that support information retrieval, knowledge extraction, knowledge discovery, text summarization, knowledge dissemination and decision-making. A key aim of the project is to facilitate the identification, classification and processing of unstructured textual resources by capitalizing on the availability of natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) techniques. NLP technologies are used to extract relational information from information resources in a form that is suitable for knowledge processing, while ML techniques support the classification of resources with respect to the elements of a domain ontology. Both capabilities are supported by a ML-based approach to semantic annotation in which a system progressively learns to annotate text fragments based on user-supplied exemplars.
In addition to the attempt to improve the acquisition of domain-relevant information, SEMIOTIKS also aims to support the user with respect to the manipulation, processing and dissemination of knowledge. One of the research objectives of the project is to investigate techniques for efficient and scalable rule-based processing on the Semantic Web, and the results of this work are informing the development of a generic decision support system that provides both a situation assessment and planning capability. Other research focus areas include the development of knowledge monitors that extend the situation monitoring capabilities of the AKTiveSA Technical Demonstrator System (TDS). These components alert users about any changes or events in the situation picture that might impact on a userââ¬â¢s problem-solving goals. SEMIOTIKS also aims to extend the user interaction capabilities of the AKTiveSA TDS. In this case, a rich suite of user interface components are being developed which support the human end user with respect to the manipulation of task-relevant information. Specific focus areas for visualization and interaction research include the development of visual query languages, graphical query designers, multi-touch displays, and novel approaches to ontology navigation and visualization.
Primary investigator
Secondary investigators
- ps02v
- ar5
- sfl
Partner
- QinetiQ
Associated research group
- Intelligence, Agents, Multimedia Group
- Date:
- 2001-2007
- Themes:
- Semantic Web, Content Based Retrieval, Knowledge Technologies
- Funding:
- EPSRC, Department
The overall aim of the ArtEquAKT project is to use knowledge acquisition and analysis techniques to extract information from web pages on a given subject domain and construct an knowledge base overlaid with an ontology. The ontology can then be used to construct stories on the fly, by using story templates to walk the ontology and extract appropriate knowledge from the knowledge base underneath. Eventually it is hoped that the ontologies might be built automatically, although initially they will be manually constructed.
Primary investigators
Secondary investigators
- pass
- Nigel Richard Shadbolt
- David De Roure
- Sanghee Kim
Associated research group
- Intelligence, Agents, Multimedia Group
- Date:
- 2007-
- Themes:
- ELearning, Platforms and Tools, Web Science
The Learning Societies Toolkit is an initiative within the Learning Societies Lab to create a new generation of e-learning tools for the Web Literate generation.
The new generation of students entering our institutions are more than computer literate, they are used to taking ownership of the information systems that they use, to create an individual mix of applications and systems that both forms their digital identity and shapes their virtual experience. To these web literate students the old-style monolithic Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) are to restrictive and rather than help the student/teacher relationship they can get in the way, creating a false distance that hinders learning and undermines the educational experience.
Learners and teachers are already rebelling, by moving away from institutional provision and using online tools such as public discussion forums, social sites, wikis and blogs. Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) are one potential solution, existing PLEs accept an open set of data sources (such as public repositories and commercial news sources), but they still try to gather the students experience into one institutionally owned place.
The Learning Societies Toolkit is an attempt to maintain a sense of institutional provision, but to allow the student to take ownership of the overall experience. The toolkit is a collection of e-learning tools that:
- Are loosely coupled
- Are functionally focused
- Have open applicability
- Can be appropriated as needed
- Are available as a public service
- Are Open Source (so can be a private service)
Currently there are number of projects what will contribute to the toolkit, including PeerPigeon, ASDEL and Faroes.
Primary investigator
Associated research group
- Learning Societies Lab
- Date:
- 2006-2007
- Themes:
- Semantic Web, Pervasive Computing and Networks, Educational Enhancement, Human Computer Interaction, Web Science
- Funding:
- NCeSS
This project will demonstrate how Semantic Grid technologies can be used to provide enhanced techniques for data collection and use within a grid-enabled environment, thus enhancing the capacity to address substantive social science research. It will achieve this by conducting a case study in which semantic annotation (i.e. machine-processable annotation using Semantic Web technologies) is used both in capturing and working with the digital record, in support of subsequent qualitative and quantitative analysis. As a demonstrator this will extend and inform existing NCeSS activities in video annotation and new forms of digital record being developed at the MixedMediaGrid and Digtal Record nodes, as well as producing a training output in the application of grid technologies for the wider social science community. This case study will set the agenda for future work in this area.
The case study focuses on the research and practice of skills-based learning in the context of health care education. The project utilises a significant facility in the School of Nursing and Midwifery in Southampton that provides a powerful testbed for the study, with very extensive data collection and replay capabilities. This enables new forms of data capture and analysis involving multiple simultaneous video and audio sources and video focus groups. Of particular relevance to the Digital Record and MixedMediaGrid nodes is the rich form of record including audiovisual data but also data streams from pervasive devices (e.g. the instrumented simulated patients), control event streams, scenario storyboards and multiple layers of annotation. The case study provides a social science research context in which to investigate the new techniques.
Primary investigators
- David De Roure
- Mary Gobbi
- J. W. McDonald
Secondary investigators
Associated research groups
- Intelligence, Agents, Multimedia Group
- Learning Societies Lab
- Date:
- 2007-2008
- Themes:
- ELearning, Platforms and Tools, Digital Libraries, Semantic Web
- Funding:
- JISC
The main theme of EdScene is to develop scenarios using semantic web to support all roles (teachers, students, quality assurance people, management, perspective employers, etc) in an academic system.
The University of Southampton has taken the strategic decision to develop a repository for educational materials using its well established EPrints research repository software as the framework. EdScene aims to describe EdSpace scenarios in ECS, University of Southampton, in particular functional activities of various roles such as students, teachers, employers and external professional bodies. This is to illustrate the expected added-value of a community repository holding educational materials together with metadata and semantics.
Semantic Web technologies are being exploited to extend and improve the existing metadata tagging mechanism. An educational ontology explicitly defined contextual conceptualization of the educational domain, which can be then used to annotate educational artefacts such as lecture resources, programme specifications, modules and assessments. This, together with semantics tools, gives the users a choice to make their resources more machine-processable (aggregation, reasoning, etc) by adding an enriched layer of the semantic web linking these educational artefacts with metadata and formal semantics to support key functional requirements.
Overall the main objective of this project is to support all stakeholders of an academic system for solving their intelligent queries. The following are some of the examples that the project aims to perform:
Students choosing options wish to access ratings and comments from previous students
Although VLE allows students to access the e-portfolio of the programme and modules in order to select, rate and comments throughout their participation of the educational learning activities, the results often do not have a permanent URL for access outside the VLE. The EdSpace vision of using a repository in stead is to overcome this shortcomings, aiming to allow permanent data cruration and convenient access of resources from other system.
Teachers needs to understand what they need to teach
Teachers, in particular those new to the school, can access to existing programme and modules annotations while designing their modules to identify popular subjects, fulfill required learning outcomes (at module and programme level) and avoid repetition of learning materials.
Employer wishes to understand students transcript
Employers at recruitment often find it difficult to match-make their job skill demands with graduates transcripts. The repository (and the semantic mark-up) should be able to help them scrutinize job candidates transcripts in terms of the programme, learning outcome and module specification.
Professional bodies such as QAA and BCS wish to understand CS in ECS
With the aim to safeguard and help to improve the academic standards and quality, Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education needs to work closely with the education institute to define academic standard and quality. The repository framework, in particular the educational ontology as the conceptualization backbone, will reflect QAA's standard. They will wish to assure themselves that learning outcomes are actually being met. This will require them to access assessment materials such as assignments (the instructions supplied to students, the student work submitted, and the marks/feedback obtained) and exams (both the papers supplied to students and the marked student scripts). In addition, they also need to understand the learning infrastructure (timetables, library provision, lab provision -- hardware and software, CVs of academic and technical staff, staff and student numbers, minutes of academic committees, etc.)
Primary investigators
- hcd
- Andrew Gravell
- sk07v
- ft
Associated research group
- Learning Societies Lab
- Date:
- 2007-2012
- Themes:
- e-Science, Grid and Distributed Computing, Human Computer Interaction
- Funding:
- JISC, Microsoft Research
myExperiment is a collaborative environment where scientists can safely publish their workflows and experiment plans, share them with groups and find those of others. Workflows, other digital objects and bundles (called Packs) can now be swapped, sorted and searched like photos and videos on the Web. Unlike Facebook or MySpace, myExperiment fully understands the needs of the researcher and makes it really easy for the next generation of scientists to contribute to a pool of scientific methods, build communities and form relationships - reducing time-to-experiment, sharing expertise and avoiding reinvention.
Primary investigators
Secondary investigators
- mib104
- drn05r
- Danius Michaelides
- Jeremy Frey
- Simon Coles
Partners
- University of Manchester
- University of Oxford
Associated research groups
- Intelligence, Agents, Multimedia Group
- Grid and Pervasive Computing Group
- Date:
- 2008-2010
- Themes:
- Embedded Systems, Formal Methods, Design, Automation, Simulation and Optimisation
- Funding:
- European Commission
Primary investigator
- jpms
Partners
- Certess, CEA-LETI, AerieLogic, Fondazione Bruno Kessler
- University of Verona, Graz University of Technology, University of Paderborn
Associated research group
- Dependable Systems & Software Engineering
- Date:
- 2007-2009
- Themes:
- ELearning, Platforms and Tools, Mobile Learning
- Funding:
- JISC
In common with many other professions, the training of social workers requires students to be placed in social work settings and to undergo assessment in the workplace. Trainee social workers, in England (those on an accredited social work degree (ug or pg)) must successfully complete 200 days in a practice setting. Currently the social work professional bodies indicate there is a lack of e-learning support for all stakeholders involved in the placement assessment process.
This project aims to provide mobile software toolkits to support work-based learning and assessment for social workers. A user centred design approach will be used to work closely with stakeholders to ensure that the applications we develop are based on actual needs. The mobile application architecture will be adapted from lessons learnt from the MPLAT project. It is envisaged that two applications will be developed. These applications will be subject to an extensive evaluation of their use by our partner social work delivery institution. Development and evaluation of the mobile applications will be done during the funding period. The outcomes will continue to be supported and further enhanced for a further 12 months. The dissemination of the outcomes will be accomplished in partnership with our supporting social work professional bodies.
Primary investigators
- David Millard
- Balbir Barn
- Lester Gilbert
- Gary Wills
Secondary investigators
- Yvonne Howard
- hcd
- pz2g12
Partner
- Thames Valley University
Associated research groups
- Web and Internet Science
- Electronic and Software Systems
- Date:
- 2007-2009
- Theme:
- ELearning, Platforms and Tools
- Funding:
- JISC
The Faroes project will establish a lightweight repository for learners and teachers to share their resources, based on the CLARE repository (a version of ePrints), the experiences of the L2O, MURLLO and CLAReT projects, and the active community of language teachers and learning technologists that these projects have been engaged with. Through a number of workshops with the language teachers community of practice we have noted two important lessons:
- That the community is eager to share their resources and wants a lightweight repository that they can incorporate into their everyday practice. They are keen that the repository should have a user interface that follows the best-practice principles of Web 2.0 sites (social, interlinked, evolving and flexible).
- Practitioners are enthusiastic about sharing learning assets: simple resources such as videos, audio files and presentations. This is because of the simplicity of producing and reusing them (for example, there is no overhead of content packaging, or complex metadata authoring).
- It is clear that in our engagement with the community we have reached a tipping point; we need to deliver a real usable repository that fulfils these requirements in order to begin to explore the difficult issues concerning authorship, provenance, authority and copyright in the context of a real system with real users.
The project will therefore engage with the established community of language teachers in order to deploy a lightweight repository that will support the sharing of multimedia resources between individual practitioners. We will work closely with the community, taking an agile software engineering approach focused around the notion of the perpetual beta. In this way we hope to both foster cultural changes in resource sharing in the community, and also to create innovations in repository design based on Web 2.0 best practice.
The project outputs will include a number of Web 2.0 plug-ins to the ePrints system (the basis of the CLARE learning repository), but the project will also explore the way in which multiple repository installations can become part of the same social space ââ¬â this is necessary for searching, recommendations and common tags to be available across several connected repositories (as might be expected in different educational institutions). The approach to distributed social spaces, and the interfaces that will enable this, will be important innovations in repository design.
Primary investigator
Secondary investigators
- Miguel Arrebola
- Les Carr
- Gary Wills
Partner
- University of Portsmouth
Associated research groups
- Learning Societies Lab
- Web and Internet Science
- Electronic and Software Systems
- Date:
- 2005-2010
- Themes:
- Semantic Web, e-Science, Multimedia
- Funding:
- _other
Maestro provide an open platform for the music information retrieval research community by bringing together Semantic Web technologies for annotation, Web 2.0 technologies for sharing and Grid technologies for distributed computation.
Primary investigator
Secondary investigators
- jbi02r
- drn05r
- krp
Partner
- Stephen Downie, UIUC
Associated research group
- Intelligence, Agents, Multimedia Group