This edited book gives a comprehensive picture of the state of the art in authoring systems and authoring tools for advanced technology instructional systems. It includes descriptions of fifteen systems and research projects from almost every significant effort in the field. The book will appeal to researchers, teachers and advanced students working in education, instructional technology and computer-based education, psychology, cognitive science and computer science.

The research reported in this special issue addresses some of the obstacles associated with the creation of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS). The attention being lavished on ITS applications is attributable in part to the advantages they enjoy over traditional Computer-Based Training which, despite providing ready access to learning materials and one-on-one interaction, lack the flexibility and learner-centered orientation of ITS that add a dynamic and adaptive dimension to self-paced instruction. The complexities of authoring ITS, though, are numerous and challenging. Coupled with this is the urgent need -- real or perceived -- for a wide array of well-conceived and useful instructional applications. Thus, there is a flurry of activity aimed at improving the economies of ITS authoring tools. The difficulties in creating powerful and usable tools reflect the complexities of the target application: ITS require domain knowledge, pedagogical reasoning skills, understanding of the user and of the user's tasks and goals, interactivity, and an engaging interface. These factors make it unlikely that a single tool can be developed that effectively addresses these disparate areas across a broad range of applications. Tool designers, therefore, face difficult decisions regarding which tasks are in most urgent need of tools, how much and what kinds of knowledge such tools might require, and how broad a range of applications a tool ought to support. This special issue presents three perspectives that are helping to frame current discussions of these questions. Each perspective entails a particular interpretation of the authoring task and the central challenges that tools should be designed to support. The articles provide a representative range of perspectives that provide a glimpse of current progress and call attention to the challenges for ITS authoring tools that loom large on the horizon.

Intelligent tutoring technology is on the verge of a breakthrough into the mainstream of training and education. Over the past 25 years, researchers have learned not only what it takes to develop an effective intelligent tutoring system (ITS), but also what it takes to deploy and use one--the true barometer of a technology's success. This volume brings together a cross-section of ITS researchers from academia, industry, and the government to talk about their experiences in ITS development and technology transfer, both successful and unsuccessful. Section 1 is devoted to detailed descriptions of tools and methods ITS developers can employ during development to facilitate technology adoption. It includes discussions of the paradigmatic change in learning and instructional design that ITS fosters, techniques for gathering design information for ITS domains where empirical or knowledge-based methods are inappropriate, and the conduct of cost-benefits analyses to facilitate ITS funding decisions. Sections 2 and 3 offer numerous case studies of ITS deployment from both industry and the government. All of these case studies--regardless of outcome--provide valuable insights into the dos and don'ts of ITS technology transfer. This volume will be an invaluable resource for all researchers and developers of ITS, as well as for managers and personnel in education and training organizations who must adopt and use ITS technology, and information systems and computing support organization professionals who must support it if it is to succeed.

Over the past century, educational psychologists and researchers have posited many theories to explain how individuals learn, i.e. how they acquire, organize and deploy knowledge and skills. The 20th century can be considered the century of psychology on learning and related fields of interest (such as motivation, cognition, metacognition etc.) and it is fascinating to see the various mainstreams of learning, remembered and forgotten over the 20th century and note that basic assumptions of early theories survived several paradigm shifts of psychology and epistemology. Beyond folk psychology and its naïve theories of learning, psychological learning theories can be grouped into some basic categories, such as behaviorist learning theories, connectionist learning theories, cognitive learning theories, constructivist learning theories, and social learning theories. Learning theories are not limited to psychology and related fields of interest but rather we can find the topic of learning in various disciplines, such as philosophy and epistemology, education, information science, biology, and – as a result of the emergence of computer technologies – especially also in the field of computer sciences and artificial intelligence. As a consequence, machine learning struck a chord in the 1980s and became an important field of the learning sciences in general. As the learning sciences became more specialized and complex, the various fields of interest were widely spread and separated from each other; as a consequence, even presently, there is no comprehensive overview of the sciences of learning or the central theoretical concepts and vocabulary on which researchers rely. The Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning provides an up-to-date, broad and authoritative coverage of the specific terms mostly used in the sciences of learning and its related fields, including relevant areas of instruction, pedagogy, cognitive sciences, and especially machine learning and knowledge engineering. This modern compendium will be an indispensable source of information for scientists, educators, engineers, and technical staff active in all fields of learning. More specifically, the Encyclopedia provides fast access to the most relevant theoretical terms provides up-to-date, broad and authoritative coverage of the most important theories within the various fields of the learning sciences and adjacent sciences and communication technologies; supplies clear and precise explanations of the theoretical terms, cross-references to related entries and up-to-date references to important research and publications. The Encyclopedia also contains biographical entries of individuals who have substantially contributed to the sciences of learning; the entries are written by a distinguished panel of researchers in the various fields of the learning sciences.

Multimedia environments suggest to us a new perception of the state of changes in and the integration of new technologies that can increase our ability to process information. Moreover, they are obliging us to change our idea of knowledge. These changes are reflected in the obvious synergetic convergence of different types of access, communication and information exchange. The multimedia learning environment should not represent a passive object that only contains or assembles information but should become, on one side, the communication medium of the pedagogical intentions of the professor/designer and, on the other side, the place where the learner reflects and where he or she can play with, test and access information and try to interpret it, manipulate it and build new knowledge. The situation created by such a new learning environments that give new powers to individuals, particularly with regard to accessing and handling diversified dimensions of information, is becoming increasingly prevalent in the field of education. The old static equilibrium, in which fixed roles are played by the teacher (including the teaching environment) and the learner, is shifting to dynamic eqUilibrium where the nature of information and its processing change, depending on the situation, the learning context and the individual's needs.

Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) is a very broad and increasingly mature research field. It encompasses a wide variety of research topics, ranging from the study of different pedagogical approaches and teaching/learning strategies and techniques, to the application of advanced technologies in educational settings such as the use of different kinds of mobile devices, sensors and sensor networks to provide the technical foundation for context-aware, ubiquitous learning. The TEL community has also been exploring the use of artificial intelligence tools and techniques for the development of intelligent learning environments capable of adapting to learners’ needs and preferences and providing learners with personalized learning experience. Recognizing the potential of online social networks, social media, and web-based social software tools as learning platforms for online education, the TEL community has devoted significant time and effort into researching how these popular technologies could be combined with appropriate pedagogical approaches to make learning experience more engaging, satisfying, and successful. Among the most important results of these research endeavors are personal learning environments that allow learners to create mash-ups of diverse social software tools based on their own needs and preferences as well as to create and maintain their online learning networks. Undeniably, technological advancement is making education more accessible to an increasing number of people worldwide. To fully exploit the huge benefit the technology is offering, the TEL community is exploring effective approaches for adapting learning resources to address language, generation, and cultural specificities. Aiming to make learning accessible to all, the community has also focused on the development of solutions for learners with special needs. Finally, it should be noted that all the above mentioned research efforts of the TEL community are finding their applications in different learning contexts and domains, including formal education and informal learning, as well as workplace learning in small, medium, and large organizations. Since the scope of TEL research is constantly evolving, the above given overview of the current research efforts does not aim to be exhaustive by any means. Instead, its purpose is to give some insights into the breadth of research topics and challenges that this edited book aims to cover. The book comprises 14 chapters, which are topically organized into several sections. However, this division of chapters into sections is not strictly definitive as each of the chapters itself presents a comprehensive research work that often spans across diverse TEL areas and thus could be categorized into more than one section of the book.

Packed with advice, vignettes and case studies, as well as useful tips and checklists for improving teaching, the second edition of Developing Your Teaching is the ideal toolkit to support the development of teaching practice. Providing a blend of ideas, interactive review points and case study examples from university teachers, this accessible handbook for professional practice provides ideas on a range of topics including: learning from student feedback and peer review students as consumers and their expectations building effective partnerships with students and colleagues developing a teaching portfolio choosing effective teaching practices the challenges and benefits of securing an initial teacher qualification A must-read for all those new to teaching in higher education, as well as more experienced lecturers looking to refresh and advance the quality of their teaching, this fully updated new edition is the ideal toolkit to support the development of teaching practice.

With the influence and pressures of the globalized economy, education systems are at a crossroads and need to find a place and/or identity that reflect new or transformed realities for learning environments. Questions such as to what extent, in what way, and how are we doing will need to be raised and answered before learning environments can begin