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Towards a Linked and Reusable Conceptual Layer Around Higher Education Programs

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Open Data for Education

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 9500))

Abstract

From a knowledge representation perspective, higher education programs can be exhibited as a set of concepts exchanged in learning environments to achieve specific learning objectives. Such concepts are often grouped in different blocks such as courses, modules or topics that count towards a degree. Currently, most of program representations are performed at a high level in the form of course descriptions that are part of course catalogs, or at more specific levels using for example course syllabi. While this is great for informative purposes, systematically capturing, processing and analyzing the concepts covered in a program is not possible with this text-based representation. We present in this chapter a data model based on the linked data principles to create a conceptual layer around higher education programs. We follow a collaborative approach using a semantic Mediawiki to build the knowledge graph around a business school curriculum. The impact of this linked open layer is highlighted at the level of (1) enriching online learning environments by extending the graph through learning material and selectively pushing it to existing course pages; and (2) enabling a more in-depth analysis of the program during review activities.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This chapter is an extended version of the paper published in the WWW2015 companion proceedings [11].

  2. 2.

    http://newsroom.fb.com/News/562/Introducing-Graph-Search-Beta.

  3. 3.

    http://www.google.com/insidesearch/features/search/knowledge.html.

  4. 4.

    http://hackeducation.com/2011/11/10/is-there-an-education-graph.

  5. 5.

    http://courseware.rkbexplorer.com.

  6. 6.

    http://vocab.org/aiiso/schema.

  7. 7.

    http://purl.org/dc/terms.

  8. 8.

    http://linked.aub.edu.lb/collab/index.php/Special:FormEdit/Course/New_Course.

  9. 9.

    For a filled form example, check the “Foundations of Information Systems” course at the following link: http://linked.aub.edu.lb/collab/index.php?title=INFO200_-_Foundations_of_Information_Systems&action=formedit

  10. 10.

    www.wikipedia.org.

  11. 11.

    The full list of concepts can be accessed at: http://linked.aub.edu.lb/collab/index.php/Category:Learning_concepts.

  12. 12.

    A video tutorial on how to use the bookmarklet can he accessed at: http://linked.aub.edu.lb/docs/tutorial_material_bookmark.

  13. 13.

    http://www.capgemini.com/resources/the-deciding-factor-big-data-decision- making.

  14. 14.

    http://linked.aub.edu.lb/docs/tutorial_extract_material.

  15. 15.

    http://semanticgraph.sourceforge.net.

  16. 16.

    http://hypergraph.sourceforge.net.

  17. 17.

    http://linked.aub.edu.lb/apps/tablebrowser/table.php.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the University Research Board grant at the American University of Beirut. I would like to thank my colleagues and students who contributed to the extension of the graph through the wiki, and supported me in the implementation of the tools. I would also like to thank the students who have used the bookmarklet to bookmark the interesting materials that triggered invaluable insights and observations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Olayan School of Business, Riad El Solh, American University of Beirut, PO Box 11-0236, Beirut, 1107 2020, Lebanon

    Fouad Zablith

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  1. Fouad Zablith
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Correspondence to Fouad Zablith .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. ITMO University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Dmitry Mouromtsev

  2. Knowledge Media Institute, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

    Mathieu d’Aquin

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Zablith, F. (2016). Towards a Linked and Reusable Conceptual Layer Around Higher Education Programs. In: Mouromtsev, D., d’Aquin, M. (eds) Open Data for Education. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9500. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30493-9_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30493-9_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-30492-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-30493-9

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