A Hybrid Architecture for Adaptive, Intelligent, and Ubiquitous Educational Systems

Ubiquitous learning environments (ULEs) allow real and virtual study materials to be combined to enrich learning experiences. Classrooms equipped with electronic devices produce artifacts that can reconstruct the captured experiences for later use and review. Those environments have the potential to turn themselves into a factory of learning objects (LOs), which may become useless if appropriate means for reaching them are not provided to students. On the other hand, adaptive educational hypermedia (AEH) have appeared as a way of personalizing educational content in web environments and modern intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) provide personalized resources for automating pedagogical tasks. In this way, this chapter explores the concept of ULEs together with AEH and ITS for generating and providing personalized LOs to students. The proposed approach is grounded in artificial intelligence, pedagogical concepts, and computational systems technologies such as ontologies, Bayesian networks, learning styles, and ULEs for creating better individual learning experiences.