Abstracts

Semantic Technologies in Education – exploring the practitioners’ perspective

Su White¹, Sheila MacNeill², Thanassis Tiropanis¹, Hugh Davis¹
¹University of Southampton, United Kingdom,²University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom

This workshop will collect and share insights into current understandings and future applications of semantic technologies in education.This workshop will :• augment the findings of a recent JISC survey on semantic technologies in education;• calibrate the findings against the experience and understandings of members of the ALT community;• use feedback to further develop the survey’s technology roadmap.JISC commissioned an investigation into semantic technologies in learning and teaching (SemTech) due for completion early in 2009 . The SemTech Project Website summarises information about semantic technologies in education and contains an analysis of the technologies and applications thus far identified.Following a brief overview of our investigation of semantic technologies in education the workshop will consist of structured group discussions from a selected perspective (educational, technical and organisational).The workshop structure will be fine-tuned to match the participants, who will work in groups of eight using flip charts to produce a poster for a two-minute poster pitch. A second peer review group activity will comment on each poster. A plenary session will identify next stepsEach participant in the workshop will receive a copy of the SemTech report, plus detailed activity guidance notes which they can also take away and use in their own institution. Participants will use the workshop to:1. establish a base level of awareness of current developments in semantic technologies and the way in which they can be used in education2. establish a basic understanding of current range and use of semantic technologies in education, as identified by the SemTech study3. Identify and share knowledge of semantic technologies in UK education.4. comment on and add to findings in the JISC report on Semantic Technologies in Education5. Identify colleagues at other institutions who share their interest in semantic technologies in education6. Discuss and agree future collaborations to further their interest in semantic technologies in educationA summary record of the discussion will be available to participants after the event, and will be subsequently published electronically, via the SemTech wiki and a workshop blog-post

http://jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/projects/semantictechnologies.aspx http://www.semtech.ecs.soton.ac.uk/overview/index.php