Title :
A Self-Adaptive Multi-Agent System Approach for Collaborative Mobile Learning
Author :
Gil de la Iglesia, Didac ; Calderon, Juan Felipe ; Weyns, Danny ; Milrad, Marcelo ; Nussbaum, Miguel
Author_Institution :
Media Technol., Linnaeus Univ., Vaxjo, Sweden
fDate :
April-June 1 2015
Abstract :
Mobile technologies have emerged as facilitators in the learning process, extending traditional classroom activities. However, engineering mobile learning applications for outdoor usage poses severe challenges. The requirements of these applications are challenging, as many different aspects need to be catered, such as resource access and sharing, communication between peers, group management, activity flow, etc. Robustness is particularly important for learning scenarios to guarantee undisturbed and smooth user experiences, pushing the technological aspects in the background. Despite significant research in the field of mobile learning, very few efforts have focused on collaborative mobile learning requirements from a software engineering perspective. This paper focuses on aspects of the software architecture, aiming to address the challenges related to resource sharing in collaborative mobile learning activities. This includes elements such as autonomy for personal interactive learning, richness for large group collaborative learning (indoor and outdoor), as well as robustness of the learning system. Additionally, we present self-adaptation as a solution to mitigate risks of resource unavailability and organization failures that arise from environment and system dynamism. Our evaluation provides indications regarding the system correctness with respect to resource sharing and collaboration concerns, and offers qualitative evidence of self-adaptation benefits for collaborative mobile learning applications.
Keywords :
engineering education; mobile learning; multi-agent systems; resource allocation; software architecture; collaborative mobile learning activities; collaborative mobile learning requirements; engineering mobile learning applications; learning system; organization failures; outdoor usage; personal interactive learning; resource sharing; resource unavailability risks; self-adaptation benefits; self-adaptive multiagent system approach; software architecture; software engineering perspective; system dynamism; Collaboration; Computer architecture; Mobile communication; Mobile handsets; Performance evaluation; Robustness; Software; Mobile Learning; Mobile learning; Multi-Agent Systems; Self-Adaptation; Software Architecture; multi-agent systems; self-adaptation; software architecture;
Journal_Title :
Learning Technologies, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TLT.2014.2367493