LARFLAST  LeARning Foreign LAnguage Scientific Terminology (1998-2001)

The overall aim of the project is to develop intelligent tools to assist users from some CCE/NIS countries in foreign language learning specifically aimed at the learning of scientific, technical language. The approach of the project will be to apply NLP techniques in developing a generic intelligent foreign language terminology learning system which can easily be adapted to different source languages, target languages and scientific/technical areas.

This will involve the development of language independent knowledge representation (domain knowledge - linguistic, semantic; pedagogical knowledge, etc.) as well as the implementation of a number of multilingual tools to accommodate different source and target languages and technical areas. Within the framework of this project we will consider Bulgarian, Romanian and Russian as possible source languages, English as a target language, and (computer science , business, and communication technologies as technical domains. Some of the developed tools will be fully reusable which will allow adapting the developed system to other source languages, target languages, and technical areas.

The project addresses directly the task of developing multilingual tools for intelligent foreign language learning. The proposed research is intended to make contributions in the following areas:

(a) In developing techniques for improved semantic analysis of learner inputs, with emphasis on work with translation tasks (in either direction) and on work on free-standing text in the language being learnt.

(b) In extending knowledge-based representation techniques to describe technical content in ICALL.

(c) In developing open learner models to allow reflective learning.

(d) In improving methods of foreign language teaching

(e) In applying the techniques in a set of realistic domains, namely:

- to technical university students, professionals, SMEs staff in CCE/NIS.

- to translators in CCE/NIS countries who translate technical texts in unfamiliar domains.

The proposed project will be grounded on a number of models, techniques and tools developed in the partner organisations in their previous research in the following directions: NLP (UMIST); terminology learning (University of Sofia, Simferopol State University); learner modeling (University of Leeds); communicative models in ICALL (Simferopol State University, University of Leeds); agent-based models (University of Milan). <<<since 1.9.1999: LIRMM, Un. montpellier 2 >>>

The project will contribute to the involvement of CCE/NIS in the Global Information Society relating directly to the following activities of the Action Plan:

-Multi-lingual support for the Information Society - The project is aimed at developing multilingual tools for teaching scientific foreign language in some CCE/NIS. Thus the project will contribute to breaking down linguistic communication barriers between partners in CCE and in EU.

- Cross-cultural education and training - The result of the project will support innovative language learning which will help preparing professionals, students, SMEs to work effectively in the global market place and lead to a greater understanding of other cultures.

LEGE-WG  Learning Grid of Excellence Working Group (2002-2004)

The Learning Grid of Excellence Working Group (LeGE-WG) aims to facilitate the establishment of a European Learning Grid Infrastructure by supporting the systematic exchange of information and by creating opportunities for close collaboration between the different actors in the formative process.

The Working Group has been funded by the European Commission for an initial 2 years and brings together actors with complementary interests in Grid computing and e-Learning from technology-oriented disciplines, pedagogy, government or regulating bodies and of course students. It therefore provides an interdisciplinary consortium of experts and promotes close interaction between the communities associated with them, so as:

• to achieve an in-depth understanding of the fundamental issues underpinning the application of GRID computing for e-Learning
• to cultivate the necessary common background for addressing the challenges associated with the establishment of a European Learning Grid Infrastructure
• to establish a solid baseline for full exploitation of the EU-US Cooperation initiative on Science and Technology for e-Learning

Furthermore, the Working Group aims to accelerate the emergence of a Learning Grid Infrastructure by supporting knowledge and technology transfer in multiple directions:

• technological innovation which will instigate the evolution of pedagogical models
• feedback from students and educators which will serve to focus this technological innovation
• the necessary regulatory frameworks to support this joint evolution will be brought about

We expect the Working Group to lead to the definition of a number of closely interacting research and development projects, at national and international level, together with test-bed demonstrations, focusing on

• the different aspects of Grid technology that are of relevance to e-Learning
• the new learning strategies that will emerge through the utilisation of Grid technology and
• the legislative and regulatory frameworks that are necessary for enabling the development and fast take-up of a European Learning Grid infrastructure

ELeGI  European Learning Grid Infrastructure (2004-2007)

The European Learning Grid Infrastructure (ELeGI) project has the ambitious goal to develop software technologies for effective human learning. With the ELeGI project we will promote and support a learning paradigm shift. A new paradigm focused on knowledge construction using experiential based and collaborative learning approaches in a contextualised, personalised and ubiquitous way will replace the current information transfer paradigm focused on content and on the key authoritative figure of the teacher who provides information.

We have chosen a synergic approach, sometimes called “human centred design”, to replace the classical, applicative approach to learning. With consideration of humans at the centre, learning is clearly a social, constructive phenomenon. It occurs as a side effect of interactions, conversations and enhanced presence in dynamic Virtual Communities: experimental research concepts integrating new powerful developments of services in the Semantic GRID, the leading edge of currently available and future ICT technologies, with highly innovative and powerfully significant scenarios of human learning.

Following on the second year review of the project, ELeGI continues in two project lines: ELeGI-formal (ELeGI-f) and ELeGI-informa (ELeGI-i), coordinated respectively by CRMPA and LIRMM/Un.MPL2/CNRS.

The ELeGI project has three main goals:

Goal 1. To define new models of human learning enabling ubiquitous and collaborative learning, merging experiential, personalised and contextualised approaches.

Goal 2. To define and implement an advanced service-oriented Grid based software architecture for learning. This will allow us to access and integrate different technologies, resources and contents that are needed in order to realise the new paradigm. This objective will be driven by the pedagogical needs and by the collaboration needs provided by the test-beds (SEES) and informed by the experience gained through implementing the demonstrators.

Goal 3. To validate and evaluate the software architecture and the learning approaches through the use of SEES and demonstrators. The project will build extensively on advanced work already done, creating new learning environments rather than creating new learning resources per se.

4M  Multilingual, Multimedia, Multicultural and Multidisciplinary (2006-2008)

4M is a European project supported under the SOCRATES Programme - LINGUA action line.

Supporting language learning in primary schools using the educational CLIL approach is the foundation for 4M project. 

It aims to create an extensive collection of multimedia learning objects, classified in terms of content, language used and prerequisite language skills, targeted to pupils in the primary school and in 6 languages included LWULT (EN, ES, FR, IT, EL RO). 

The ms stand for Multilingual, Multimedia, Multicultural and Multidisciplinary. The multidisciplinary dimension and the cultural awareness are taken into account by a careful choice of the subjects interconnected in a common learning path in order to develop a global approach to knowledge. 

Didactic products will be supported by guidelines explaining the 4M methodology and a multilingual documentation kit (book, brochure, newsletter, institutional slides, learning material demonstration) in order to run in every partner’s country the dissemination and exploitation processes. 

The multimedia learning objects will have a high degree of interactivity to enhance children involvement through a ludic approach and they can support the traditional classroom activities linking specific contents to the foreign language learning. The learning materials developed in the context of the 4M project will be tested, during a pilot phase, in their content, the level of competence and the real usability for the target group.