Transcript
Page 1: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

International Conference on Qualification and Training in

Information and Communication Technologies

Under the auspices of EUQuaSIT - European Qualification Strategies in Information and Communication Technologies, transnational project funded by European Comission

Organized in the frame of the jubilee symposium

Human rights crucial problem in international relations consent

„Danubius” University from Galati

Page 2: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

2

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

Benone PUSCA (RO), Chairman

Nicolae ALEXANDRU (RO)

Viorel ARITON (RO)

Libor BERNY (CZ)

Luis BRITO (PT)

Martin BROCKER (NL)

Severin BUMBARU (RO)

Jenny COLLYER (UK)

Horia GEORGESCU (RO)

Viorel LUPU (RO)

Valeriu MUNTEANU (RO)

Cornelia NOVAC (RO)

Victor Valeriu PATRICIU (RO)

Eugen PETAC (RO)

A. Willi PETERSEN (DE)

Adrian PETRESCU (RO)

Dirk PLATIER (NL)

Octavian RUSU (RO)

Nicolai SANDU (RO)

David SKARKA (CZ)

Ion SMEUREANU (RO)

Mirela STEFANESCU (RO)

Horia Nicolai TEODORESCU (RO)

Carsten WEHMEYER (DE)

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Dorina PETAC

Andreea BUHAIEV

Viorel ARITON

Andy PUSCA

Gabriela DANILA

Page 3: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

3

SCOPE

Dynamic changes in nowadays world are strongly related to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Sometimes, changes in real life require ICT (as it happened in automation, Internet, e-business), sometimes ICT itself change the real life (as it happened in design, training, new economy).

To actively shape future developments in computer related work, companies need more qualified ICT professionals. It is widely stated that, especially in the field of ICT, European, national and regional decision-makers and practitioners need a new basis for vocational education, training policies and perspectives. Therefore we need to promote new concepts and models to assist European policy makers to go beyond current thinking. EUQuaSIT - European Qualification Strategies in Information and Communication Technologies (www.euquasit.net) follows this direction as a transnational project funded by European Commission, Leonardo da Vinci II.

For various reasons, according to relevant labour market analysis, ICT specialists are not easy to find on the labour market. One major cause is a deficit of transparency and interaction of ICT working and qualification structures and related training profiles.

The goal of QTICT’02 is to bring together ICT professionals, Computer Science and Engineering, educators and teachers, Companies, policymakers, students, and ICT users aiming to establish a dialogue on ICT occupations and the demand of ICT professionals in the European perspective. Topics include:

• Qualifications policies and strategies in ICT field (Higher Education -HE, Continuing and Further Vocational Training - CVT, Vocational Education and Training - VET;

• Training profiles in ICT (title, degree, duration of studies, certification) now and in future;

• Structural development of ICT training (profiles, content, statistical data (1990-2002);

• Practical implementation and acceptance of ICT qualifications and training in Companies/Organizations/Institutions;

• ICT view at company & country level;

• Social Implications of ICT spread.

Page 4: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

4

Contents

Papers

1. A supported virtual learning environment for multimedia students: an example from British university Jenny Collyer, London Guildhall University, UK. .............................................................................5

2. Supply and Demand of ICT Professionals and Qualification Strategies in Europe. Comparison and Evaluation of the ICT Profiles on different Qualification levels Prof.univ.dr. Willi Petersen, Flensburg University, Germany ..........................................................13

3. Distance learning for electronic commerce Juan Carlos Martinez Coll, Malaga University, Spain.......................................................................25

4. ICT Education in Romania – facts and trends Viorel Ariton, “Danubius” University from Galati, Romania ...........................................................29

5. A VRML-based Environment Used to Learn Virtual Reality Concepts Sabin Buraga, Stefan Tanasa, Mihaela Brut, Faculty of Computer Science, “A.I.Cuza” University of Iasi, Romania ............................................................................................45

6. A High-Level Model for Management of the Information Resources of an Academic Organization Mihaela Brut, Sabin Buraga, Stefan Tanasa, Faculty of Computer Science, “A.I.Cuza” University of Iasi, Romania. ..........................................................................................52

7. Educational Structures for Training in Information Technology and Communication Dan Grosu, Laboratory for Information Technology in Education, Black Sea University, Romania. .......................................................................................................61

8. Student modeling methods in WWW-based tutoring systems Emilia Pecheanu, Diana Stefanescu, Istrate Adrian and Florin Popescu, Computer Science Department, "Dunarea de Jos" University from Galati, Romania.......................70

9. Competencies and contents for ICT subject matters in Romanian high schools Dorina Petac, Eugen Petac, ICT Foundation, Constanta, Romania. .................................................79

10. Training strategies in ICT in the open European environment Eugen Petac, Dorina Petac, ICT Foundation, Constanta, Romania...................................................90

11. Integrating a Virtual Library in an Educational System Diana Stefanescu, Emilia Pecheanu and Sabin Corneliu Buraga Computer Science & Engineering Department, University "Dunarea de Jos" of Galati, Romania, Faculty of Computer Science, "Al.I.Cuza" University of Iasi, Romania .......................................101

Abstracts 1. Distance-learning for adult training Gelu Kahu, Development department of Galati municipality, Romania.........................................109

2. ICT implications in the Netherlands and overview of the situation Dirk Platier, Martin Broker, VEV International, Netherlands ........................................................110

Page 5: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

5

A supported virtual learning environment for multimedia students: an example from a British university

Jenny Collyer

London Metropolitan University (formerly London Guildhall University), UK

Email: [email protected]

Abstract. The British government is aiming for a 50 per cent participation rate in universities by 18-30 year-olds by 2010. Because of the consequent changing nature of students, British universities are constantly looking for more flexible ways to deliver their courses. One such way is to adopt distance learning for course delivery. Distance learning, however, brings with it a high resource requirement if it is to be successful. Using the World Wide Web as the communication tool for delivering distance learning courses overcomes some of the inherent obstacles and also recognizes the government's desire to incorporate IT into the learning process. Members of the Multimedia degree course team at London Guildhall University set out to design, develop and evaluate a virtual learning environment to deliver a module for teaching HTML coding which is supported by contact with students, both online and off line.

Introduction

Providing flexible learning environments that can be used in a variety of ways to suit individual students is becoming increasingly important. The Dearing Report on Higher Education in the Learning Society in the UK [1] put pressure on academics to improve the 'quality, flexibility and effectiveness of higher education'. One way of providing flexibility is to facilitate learning through the use of mixed modes, and the provision of flexibility to opt in and out of different modes and also to combine different modes. These modes might include full-time, part-time, distance learning, open learning (no prior formal qualifications required), and sandwich (part of the course spent working 'on the job'). Another way of providing flexibility is to provide delivery methods such as, lecture, seminar, tutorial, workshop, a range of independent study and web-based learning. To date UK and EU funding organizations have supported many projects for the development of online or CD-ROM based learning programmes, many of which lead to recognized qualifications. Examples include projects in virtual learning under the 5th Framework programme, JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee), TLTP (Teaching and Learning Technology Programme, NetLinks, and NetSkills.

The UK has, moreover, seen an enormous expansion of its higher education system over recent years. The proportion of undergraduates in the 18-year-old age group has doubled over the decade 1990-2000 from 19 per cent to 38 per cent, with actual numbers increasing from 158,791 to 281,809. In 2001/02 the total number of higher education enrolments at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) was 1,859,600, an increase of 3 per cent over the previous year [2]. Furthermore, it is the government's expressed intention to continue expanding the proportion of the 18-year-old age group attending higher education, possibly up to 50 per cent. There are a number of factors influencing the drive for this scale of student numbers, including the aspiration to increase the level of knowledge and skills of the UK labour force.

Page 6: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

6

The expansion of the student population in higher education has been accompanied by various other changes, including the replacement of student grants by loans and the introduction of tuition fees (in order to contribute to the financing of the expansion) and the recruitment of students from a wider 'pool' (for example, mature and non-traditional students). This shift from an élite to mass education system has resulted in a change in the composition of the body of students and in the nature of the student experience. For many students, university is no longer the focal point of their lives and they now balance study with employment, income generation and other responsibilities. These changes are particularly evident in the so-called new universities, although the traditional universities have also been affected.

The expansion of student numbers has, however, not been matched by a proportionate increase in resources for the HEIs nor by a proportionate increase in academic staff. Staff student ratios have consequently risen from an average of 18.9 in 1997 to around 25:1 in 2001 [3]. It is not unusual, particularly in the new univerisities, to find a staff student ratio of at least 30:1.

Dearing also stated in his report that "IT should be an integral part of the learning strategy of all students." Many students need to earn money in order to finance themselves through their university course. Many have caring responsibilities, particularly for children. As a result they find attendance at university, especially at specific times, impossible and so miss crucial aspects of their course delivery. Staff find this poor attendance frustrating which results in either the member of staff repeating parts of the programme or finding high failure rates because important aspects were missed by absent students. Furthermore, existing resources have to be used to deliver courses to increasing and large numbers of students. As the UK government is seeking a 50 per cent participation rate in higher education from the 18-30 age group by the year 2010, this inevitably means modules followed by large numbers of students. There is moreover an increasing need for transferable skills and hence for skills that can be taught across all the modules delivered by the university. One possible approach, already often attempted by many universities, is to provide course materials via the World Wide Web (WWW). Frequently, however, web-based course material has consisted largely of replacing the paper-based materials with the same content being installed in a website, with very little attention being placed on, for example, the differences of learning style, the target users' requirements or the interface design. Results of evaluations have demonstrated that such sites are a useful supplement to the traditional delivery methods but not useful as total replacements [4]. One such site is the World Lecture Hall, University of Texas, which is mainly a repository for lecture materials and a communications network provider.

Another approach, reported in a recent educational strategy document from the UK government [5], aims to develop e-learning, building on the UK e-universities project. It is intended to expand e-learning by opening up the learning opportunities and enjoyment offered by digital TV and the Internet. It seeks a more effective integration of ICT into the learning processes and aims to help teachers to realise the full potential of ICT and provide support for the acquisition of ICT skills by pupils and students.

The world of work is today dominated by the Internet and the World Wide Web and many of the people working in that world were not educated in the skills required to work with these tools. It is incumbent not only on the employees but also on the employers to provide an opportunity to acquire such skills throughout the working life of the employees. The acquisition of new learning and new skills requires managing and delivering education and training and the World Wide Web is an appropriate tool through which to deliver this. In a recent Green Paper (policy document) from the Department for Education and Skills [6], entitled 'Extending opportunities, raising standards', it stated that "Young people should be able to 'develop at a pace consistent with their abilities, whether faster or slower.'" Use of the World Wide Web for teaching and learning purposes is an excellent tool for allowing people to learn at varying rates.

Page 7: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

7

• •

• • • • •

The use of the World Wide Web for teaching and learning The novelty of web-based materials can be quite motivating for some [7]. The benefits of using the WWW for teaching and learning are well known and documented [8]. It can be easily and quickly updated; it is freely and widely accessible for students; it is relatively cheap; it provides the capability for interaction; and it provides a facility for communication. However, when designing materials for presentation on the WWW, care needs to be taken to prevent mere page printing rather than page usage. Simply providing a page which students can print, even if they do work on any exercises from the printed version, renders the use of the technology superfluous.

Introduction to Multimedia Coding (HTML) - the project Reasons for adopting a virtual learning environment There are a number of advantages offered by courses delivered over the WWW: they may be accessed at the student's workplace, in a local library, an internet café, a different university, college or school campus or at home. Moreover, the method of delivery should reduce the need for investment in additional buildings and computer resources which may be required because of the increased higher education participation rate [9]. A virtual learning environment presented the multimedia course team at London Guildhall University with an opportunity for change at a time when the multimedia degree course was to be re-designed and updated. In addition, designing and developing a virtual learning environment would provide the opportunity for some useful staff development. Indeed, as part of a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (PGCTLHE)1, offered at London Guildhall University, five members of staff were able to work as a team on this project and obtain the project unit towards certification. The certificate is a requirement for most new lecturers at the university and this was the first time a team-based approach had been adopted to complete this qualification. As a result time for the development of the project involved staff development time which had already been allocated to the five new members of staff.

The main advantage for students of this type of delivery mechanism is that they can work at their own pace without being left to cope on their own. Staff are always available and can monitor online what the students are doing. Additional resources are readily available on the website; students do not need to leave their computer to go to look things up. There are dynamic exercises which are performed online; active learning is an invaluable part of the learning process. It is paperless.

According to Jolliffe et al. [10] advantages of web-based learning include:

It can be used to deliver learning at any time to virtually any place. It uses many of the elements of CD-ROM-based learning, but adds an enhanced communication element. The learning materials are relatively easy to update. It can increase the number of interactions between the learners and the facilitator. It allows learners to form both informal and formal web-based learning communities. It allows the use of problem- and/or assignment-based learning. It can make use of resources already on the Internet.

1 http://www.lgu.ac.uk/ed/courses-pgctlhe.php

Page 8: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

8

• •

It can present real-time content using video conferences, video streaming or discussion rooms. It has the ability to include multiple media such as text, graphics, audio, video and animation into the learning materials. Information can be made available on the use of the materials by the learner, and facilitators can check learning progress. Learners for the most part are comfortable with a web-based learning environment. It allows for a learner-centred delivery strategy that can take into account the many differences between learners.

So far very few disadvantages seem to have emerged. Some of the disadvantages include technical limitations, the need for specialist staff to develop and facilitate the learning environment and limited bandwidth for graphics/moving images [10]. The main disadvantage, and an obvious one, is the up-front resource cost. The lead time before delivery needs to be well managed and sufficient resources need to be found. Whilst this particular project had no monetary outlays, typical costs for developing online distance learning material run into thousands of pounds for each hour of delivery. These costs are very often prohibitive for the development of many university modules. Where such modules are desirable, creative ways of facilitating the development must also be encouraged.

Because of the ease of access and ease of copying there is an increased opportunity for plagiarism despite each student's work being submitted online for others doing the course to see. Aims of the project

The aims of this project to develop a virtual learning environment were: • to design and develop a module which could be taken by any student but was a core

module for multimedia students; • to design and develop a module which would facilitate the learning of HTML coding

without the need to attend formal classes; • to provide for the online assessment of the student's learning; • to evaluate the student's learning experience and development. Design and development of the module The Multimedia degree at London Guildhall University requires the successful completion of 24 modules, 8 at each of levels 1, 2 and 3. Because of the nature of the degree some of the modules entail the acquisition of skills. The module in this project consists of one such modules. The ability to write HTML coding is one of the skills required for completion of level 1 of the Multimedia degree. Modules usually run for one semester with approximately 11 weeks' tuition. Typically one would expect a student to work for 6 hours a week in total on a module. Introduction to Multimedia Coding (HTML) requires little prior knowledge and certainly no knowledge of HTML coding. The approach taken by the course team was the computer-assisted learning model as detailed by Hall and Dalgleish [11], which is very much a self-study computer-based training approach, although there is overlap with the directed learning model in which the WWW contains the learning materials and the means of assessment. The entire module is self-contained; it revolves totally around the website.

In addition to designing and developing the module for delivery at the beginning of the course, the desire to assess the student's learning online was considered an added challenge, compared with many online learning applications. Similarly, the use of embedded exercises and the provision of all the content in one website makes the use of this particular learning application more user-

Page 9: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

9

friendly. Other aspects which differentiate this module from other online training applications for HTML coding include supporting aspects such as a paper-based study guide which contains much of the materials that can be found online. Rather than being pure duplication, this guide acts as a backup for those students who are fresh to the concepts involved in learning from online applications and are new to designing, developing and authoring web pages.

Aims and objectives of the module

The aim of the module is to provide a fundamental understanding of some of the technologies important to website design and development, and to develop skills in authoring web pages using HTML. The objectives include:

• an understanding of website structure and design of web pages; • skills in using a web authoring tool to create web pages; • an understanding of basic HTML; • skills in using the appropriate tools for the creation and editing of web page content. Content

Given the duration of the module, it was decided to present only the introductory concepts required in website authoring. These included:

• basic website design and structure; • authoring with HTML; • cascading style sheets (CSS); • introductory scripting for the web; • understanding markup; • website management; • content development; • navigation and hyperlinks. Assessment is carried out formatively, every two weeks, with feedback being given both from tutors and from others studying the module. Summative assessment is carried out at the end of the unit. Although only the summative assessment is essential for successful completion of the unit, students may submit interim assignments, which contribute towards the summative assessment at the end. In so doing, they gain useful feedback in order to complete the work required for the summative assessment.

In summary, the module was designed as a self-contained learning experience rather just a supplement, as with many websites, as each page was designed for delivery through the world wide web.

Delivery of the module Although the module is designed for complete online delivery there is an introductory lecture which is optional. The purpose of this is to start the students working on the module, to allow the students to identify with a particular peer group and with specific tutors, and to alleviate any initial anxieties that students may have. In addition to the website2 and study guide, there are drop-in surgeries provided on most days throughout the working week. There is also online support from tutors and from peers using a Bulletin Board System (BBS) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) as well as email access to lecturers with a common team email address. The emails are taken on a rota basis by all the lecturers involved in the delivery of the module.

2 www.lgu.ac.uk/multimedia/qd104

Page 10: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

10

• • • • • • • • •

Evaluation of the module The module will be evaluated on an ongoing basis and it is planned to conclude a formal evaluation by February 2003 so that the module can be refined for subsequent delivery. The evaluation will involve academic staff who have developed and delivered the module and students who have used the module as learners. As the evaluation is being conducted continuously, it is possible to revise aspects of the module as the need arises. Implications The most obvious implication was the cost of development of such a module. Person hours taken to design and develop the module have not been calculated as much of this work was done outside of the normal contracted hours for academic staff. Five of the staff involved in the project had already been allocated staff development time. Moreover, the main building of the site was funded by sponsorship in a development project and this amounted to almost three months' full-time work by one person. The formal evaluation of the entire study is estimated to take a further three months to be conducted by the same person together with inputs from other academic staff. Generally speaking, however, the main costs involved with such a project are those associated with:

content production design of the pages and design of the site, including user interface and navigation building, eg programming, authoring copyright clearance testing editing project management evaluation technical support

These are just the design and development costs; they do not include delivery costs, support, connectivity or maintenance costs.

One significant difficulty encountered related to finding or coercing non specialists to test the site, both during the prototype stage and on its completion. Whilst there was an online test, estimated to take approximately half an hour, very few people were willing to participate on a voluntary basis. Testers are, however, crucial to any application development. In view of the difficulty experienced with finding testers, the customers (students) will be used as testers during the first and possibly subsequent deliveries.

A further requirement is the variety of expertise required to develop such a module: an understanding of the domain as a learning tool and the ability to apply such understanding; design and creativity skills to make the site user-friendly; world wide web development skills; and not least project management skills. Fortunately, all of these can be found in the multimedia staff at London Guildhall University.

Implications for the students include the cost of buying a computer and access to an Internet Service Provider, should they be unable to use the facilities provided by the university or should they wish to carry out their work at times other than when the university is open. Time management by the student is crucial in carrying out the requirements of the module, as is self-discipline. A traditionally timetabled module is a discipline in itself and the student does not need to make decisions regarding when and where to participate, as needed when following a distance learning based course. As with all self-paced learning applications delivered in distance learning mode,

Page 11: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

11

students can experience a feeling of isolation unless they are proactive in participating in activities such as the BBS and the peer assessment.

For the tutors there are implications regarding the planning requirements. There is a long lead time to delivery but the entire module must be ready at the beginning of the delivery, not on a week by week basis as is possible with traditionally delivered courses. It would be unlikely that one person could carry out such a major project alone. The ability to work well in teams is therefore important. This is not usually difficult for multimedia specialists since much of the work they are involved in is usually carried out in teams. It is unlikely that any one person can be sufficiently expert in all elements involved in multimedia applications and therefore, traditionally, multimedia workers have worked in teams. The advantage of working in teams is that the various ideas and expertise can be employed in the design of the website.

In addition to the students and the tutors there are implications for the resource providers. For example, the computer facilities must be available and sufficient for all students to use, including, preferably, a dedicated server, particularly for the BBS. The networks must also be sufficiently robust to cater for the traffic. Managers must recognize the needs of the development of the module and be able to provide the expertise and the training necessary to carry out the various aspects involved in the design and development of distance learning materials.

Preliminary Conclusions The development and delivery of the module have met the objective of providing students with a virtual learning environment and facilitating flexible student learning, which is both independent and supported. This flexibility extends both to the delivery and the assessment of the module.

Distance learning presents significant challenges for teachers. For example, the learner is frequently insecure in the absence of the teacher and apprehensive regarding his/her progress in the absence of close feedback and perhaps absence of peer learners. The student also becomes insecure if the direction of the course is not well structured, and if it is not very clear where he or she is in relation to its completion. High attrition rates are much more common in distance learning than in conventional education, ie, it is easier for a student to exercise the option of withdrawing from the relatively impersonal relationship of a distance course than it is from a conventional one. In response to such concerns, the distance teacher has to take various measures to ensure the course is well structured, with clear objectives and well considered allocation of students' time. The communications media must be used in attractive, rewarding, and therefore motivating ways.

In every system, no matter how large, while some part of the instruction may be most appropriately mass-produced on audio or video tapes, or in texts, or transmitted by broadcasting, somewhere in the system must be individual instructors who are known to the students and who are skilled in ensuring that materials produced in mass are used by each individual in creating his or her own knowledge [12]. The use of drop-in surgeries and online communications with lecturers fulfil this requirement. Coomey and Stephenson [13] identified four common features as essential to good practice in online teaching: dialogue, involvement, support and control. Introduction to Multimedia Coding (HTML) contains all four elements. There is a constant dialogue between staff and students through the use of the BBS and email and also at the drop-in surgeries, all of which provide rapid support. Students are involved in the embedded exercises and academic staff are able, primarily through the formative assessment, to control the pace and amount of material presented to the students. Furthermore, lecturers and students are involved in the evaluation of the module.

Page 12: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

12

Future developments Within the Multimedia degree there are two more modules which are due to be developed for delivery in a distance learning mode within the text two years. One of these, a level 2 module, consists of 50 per cent skill development and 50 per cent theory. The second, a level 3 module, is purely a theoretical module. The completion of all three distance learning modules will provide the course team with the experience of covering all types of module in distance learning mode. This will determine whether the remaining 21 modules will eventually be offered in distance learning mode, provided, that is, that the resource requirements involved do not prohibit such a development.

References [1] Dearing R. Higher education in the learning society: report of the national committee into higher

education. The National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education. Norwich: HMSO, 1997. [2] HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) SFR56 April 2002. [3] Scott P in Warner D and Palfreyman (eds) The State of UK Higher Education: Managing Change and

Diversity, OUP, 2001. [4] Gillam M, Buckner K and Butt R. The Cautious Student – A User-centered Evaluation of Web-supported

Learning. Innovations in Education and Training International 36, 4 pp 327-333, 1999. [5] Department for Education and Skills. Education and Skills: Delivering Results A Strategy to 2006, 2002.

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/delivering-results [accessed 17.9.02] [6] Department for Education and Skills. 14-19: Extending opportunities, raising standards, 2002.

http://dfes.gov.uk/14-19greenpaper [accessed 17.9.02] [7] Wiley J and Schooler J W. The Mental Web: Pedagogical and Cognitive Implications of the Net. In:

Wolfe C R (ed) Learning and Teaching on the World Wide Web. California and London: Academic Press, pp. 243-257, 2001.

[8] Joinson A N and Buchanan T. Doing Educational Research on the Internet. In: Wolfe C R (ed) Learning

and Teaching on the World Wide Web. California and London: Academic Press, pp. 221-242, 2001. [9] Forsyth I. Teaching and Learning Materials and the Internet (3rd edition). London: Kogan Page, 2001. [10] Jolliffe A, Ritter J, and Stevens D. The Online Learning Handbook: Developing and Using Web-based

Larning. London: Kogan Page, 2001. [11] Hall R and Dalgleish A. Undergraduates' Experiences of Using the World Wide Web as an Information

Resource. Innovations in Education and Training International 36, 4 pp 334-345. 1999. [12] World Bank Global Distance Education Net. http://www.worldbank.org/disted/ [accessed 24.9.02] [13] Coomey M and Stephenson J. Online learning: it is all about dialogue, involvement, support and control -

according to the research in Teaching and Learning Online: Pegadogies for New Technologies. ed John Stephenson. London: Kogan Page, 2001.

Page 13: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

13

EUQuaSIT European Qualification Strategies in Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

Supply and Demand of ICT Professionals and Qualification Strategies

in Europe -

Comparison and Evaluation of the ICT Profiles and ICT Work Fields on different Qualification levels

Willi Petersen

University of Flensburg, Germany

Abstract. Based on a general introduction of the development and situation of the ICT industry, ICT work and employment and ICT training and qualification in Europe the article reports on the industry‘s needs in terms of ICT skills, VET programmes, main contents etc. taking into account certain occupational/professional profiles and skill levels. The empirical basis are quantitative and qualitative surveys in the EUQuaSIT partner countries, namely Czech Republic, Netherlands, Germany, Portugal and Romania. Here it turned out that both, skills levels as well as specific ICT training profiles are important for the vast majority of companies, e.g. when they look for new staff or in career planning. Companies’ concrete employment and qualification needs in many countries almost equally comprehend ICT training profiles at degree and sub-degree (vocational) level, even though the proportion of ICT practitioners with a higher education degree in some countries is still rather dominant, e.g. in Romania. Based on the results in further case study investigations in companies and ICT training institutions the needs of ICT skills and competences of ICT practitioners are currently analysed in more detail in the EUQuaSIT project. The concept of the case studies and expert interviews in companies of the ICT sector and non ICT sector is based on a common model structure of describing and analysing ICT business and work processes. The object of each case study in a company is the detailed investigation of one real and concrete ICT business process and the analysis of work processes, phases of activity and especially the ICT work tasks and skills of ICT practitioners. These results are being transferred into recommendations for a common European ICT skills and qualification structure with corresponding curriculum development guidelines.

Page 14: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

14

Background, Objectives and Methodology

Dynamic changes in information and communications technology (ICT) have major impact on the development of societies and the economical structure in Europe. ICT on the one hand promotes prospects for economic growth, on the other hand we see the creation of jobs for highly skilled personnel. According to various relevant labour market analyses3 there is a considerable demand of ICT practitioners which is currently not being met in many European countries: “To address this challenge, the European Commission has launched an “ICT Skills Monitoring Group” in 2001, to analyse the demand for ICT and E-business skills in the EU and to monitor the policies and the actions designed to match the current demand with supply” (Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society, 2002). There is a need for systematic and comparative research activities in regard to European vocational qualification strategies in the field of ICT considering various working areas, places of learning, qualification levels, training profiles and contents, duration of training, special initiatives etc.

342371

399432

481540

610 635 641 662

3,21,1

4,1

12,512,211,4

8,37,58,57,1

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Market value (billion Euro) Market growth (%)

Figure 1: Development of the Western European ICT-Market, 1994-2003

(Source: EITO Update 2002 in cooperation with IDC)

The use of all different types of ICT is one of the most significant features of today’s business and work processes. ICT tools and devices are computers and data processing equipment, means for building computer systems, digital telecommunications products and services, software products and (global) services connected with the delivery of software, selected forms of technology for the manufacture of electronic parts, multimedia products and related services etc. Furthermore the Internet has already fundamentally changed the way today's businesses operate and will continue to do so in the future. The ICT market all together has permanently grown throughout the last ten years, even though the growth was not that massive any longer at the beginning of this decade (see Figure 1).

Based on the actual developments and changes of ICT work and technologies the investigations of EUQuaSIT aim at the evaluation and comparison of ICT supply, demand and acceptance of ICT skills and training profiles and training. The approach is characterized by the interaction of ICT work and employment on the one hand and ICT training and qualification on the other.

3 cf. EITO: European Information Technology Observatory 2002 ; cf. CEPIS: Information Technology Practitioner Skills in Europe - Study of the Labour Market position, in particular for Germany, Ireland, Sweden, and United Kingdom. May 2002.

Page 15: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

15

Figure 2: Interaction and investigation of the employment, demand and supply of ICT practitioners

Therefore, the first step of the project was to analyse existing ICT training profiles (VET, CVT, HE) in each partner country. Based on the results of this written examination of more 500 European companies and ICT training institutions the current work of the project is characterised by case studies and expert interviews in companies of the ICT and non ICT sector in Europe. In accordance with the projects tasks the objectives of the case studies are as follows:

• Identifying the current and future ICT work and qualification demand and the significance of related ICT professions, occupations and qualification profiles in a mutual European perspective;

• Analysing companies' ICT business and work processes and the participation of ICT practitioners, focusing on the connection and delimitation of academic and non-academic ICT work tasks and fields of activity;

• Investigating main qualification and training strategies of companies and ICT training institutions considering the relationship to enterprises' ICT business and work processes;

• Analysing special aspects and programmes with regard to gender diversity and mainstreaming.

The case studies and expert interviews will eventually lead to conclusions and recommendations with regard to further ICT skills and training needs and supply as well as suitable future strategies to ensure tailored and practical qualification approaches for ICT practitioners in a European and perhaps global perspective.

Need and Supply of ICT Practitioners at different Skills and Training Levels

Based upon recent developments of the ICT business and labour market different forecasts and scenarios about the future demand of ICT practitioners are possible. However, such appraisements strongly depend on the future economic development. Actual questioning results of EUQuaSIT show in short and mid-term perspective no changes of the ICT employment in approximately 60% of all industry’s and companies of the ICT and user sectors in Europe. In detail, however, especially in ICT sector and small enterprises there are more than 30% expecting higher ICT employment in the near future (see Figure 3).

Both, the definition of different skills and qualification levels as well as the common understanding of what is understood by an ICT practitioner has been crucial for the project work as far as the comparison of ICT skills and training profiles and their significance in the work and qualification process is concerned. The level aspect ask for the distribution of the ICT employment in regard to the work and skill levels which in the same time are relevant for questions of the qualification and training levels.

Page 16: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

16

Expected short and mid-term change of ICT employment(European companies / enterprises)

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

higher same less

EUQuaSIT 2002ICT sector ICT user sectors large medium small

Figure 3: Change of ICT employment in European companies / enterprises in the near future

In the EUQuaSIT project ICT practitioners were classified following a European structure for the comparability of vocational training qualifications (cf. European Communities 1985, see Figure 4). The slightly adapted qualification structure consists of four qualification levels whereas level 1, that refers to competences in simple operational work, was not recognised within the formative part of the project. In a new understanding, level 5 for higher education profiles was divided into level 5M for a Master or university degree (MA) and level 5B for Bachelor or related degrees (BA).

ICT Practitioners

ICTApplication

ICTApplication

ICTUsers

ICTUsers

approx. 20-30%

approx. 30-40%

approx. 20-30%

approx. 10-20%

Level 5MHigher Education

(HE; MA)

Level 5BHigher Education

(HE; BA)

Level 2 / 3Vocational Education

and Training(VET)

Level 4Higher Vocational

Education and Training (VET / CVT)

ICT Practitioners

ICTApplication

ICTApplication

ICTUsers

ICTUsers

Level 5MHigher Education

(HE; MA)

Level 5BHigher Education

(HE; BA)

Level 2 / 3Vocational Education

and Training(VET)

Level 4Higher Vocational

Education and Training (VET / CVT)

approx. 20-30%

approx. 30-40%

approx. 20-30%

approx. 10-20%

Figure 4: ICT employment in regard to the work and skill levels and their ICT qualification levels (cf. EUQuaSIT 2002)

In what concerns the question of distinguishing between primary qualified ICT practitioners and other skills related to ICT in an applied or user orientated way a major part of EUQuaSIT was to systematically analyse and compare the actual ICT practitioner profiles in European countries. The following overview exemplarily for Romania indicates these “core” ICT practitioner profiles at different levels. In practice there may be unclear delimitations for instance to practitioners considered in the ICT applications group.

Page 17: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

17

Level 5M (long term higher education, master degree)

Computer Science Automation and Industrial Informatics Applied Informatics Mechatronics Industrial Robots Applied Electronics and Communications Economic Informatics Accounting and management IT Mathematics-Informatics Audio-Visual Communications

Level 5B (short term higher education studies) Information Technology Computer Assisted Technologies Office IT Computer processing of economical data Audio-video multimedia Technical Informatics

Level 4 (Continuous training / foremen schools – with / without former HE) ICT Adviser Systems Engineer Data Base Administrator Network Administrator Foreman-Operator industrial robots Operating-shift chief in computer centre

Level 3 (post high school course, continuous training course) Computer and networking technician Technician-operator to industrial robots Computer Maintenance Technician IT assisted accounting Assistant analyst-programmer Computer and networking operator

Level 2 (tehnological / informatics high school or vocational school) Office IT operator Computer systems electronic troubleshooting technician Electro-mechanic networks and lines Telecommunication electronics technician Metrology and troubleshooting technician for fine mechanics digital and analogous techniques

fig. -5: Summary of existing ICT training profiles at different levels in Romania

The allocation of the employed ICT practitioners within the degree work and qualification levels shows a proportion of 20-30% at level 5M (HE/MA) and 30-40% at level 5B (HE/BA). And for the sub-degree levels the findings are 10-20% at level 4 (VET/CVT) and 20-30% at level 3 and 2 (VET). Based on this allocation and on the basis of the total 3,700,000 employed ICT practitioners in Europe the table below shows the approximate numbers of ICT practitioners at each work and qualification level. Regarding the total quantitative needs of approx. 230,000 ICT practitioners per year in Europe the table below shows in the same way and linked to the split of the ICT employment the approximate demand of ICT practitioners at each level.

Figure 6: ICT employment and demand at different levels in relation to the needed ICT Students / Trainees in Europe

(cf. CEPIS 2002; EUQuaSIT 2002)

Page 18: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

18

Comparison and Significance of ICT Training Profiles and Skills Levels

As mentioned above the project partners initially gathered and structured information on ICT training profiles on different qualification levels. These data include the title, degree, duration and provider of training as well as didactical information like goals and content of training. All available information on ICT profiles have been put into a database that is accessible under http://www.euquasit.net. The comparison and evaluation of ICT training profiles in the vocational education and training (VET) and higher education (HE) systems of the partner countries indicated the actual needs of ICT qualification in various work and content areas.

Importance of ICT qualification profile (e.g. if looking for new staff)(European Companies)

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

high little unimportant

EUQuaSIT 2002Czech Republic Germany Netherlands Portugal Romania

Figure 7: Importance of a the ICT qualification (training) profile for European companies

In the context of the ICT qualification demand for instance when the companies look for new staff the training profile is of essential importance for most of the companies. In the Czech Republic, Germany and Portugal the proportion of companies who stress the significance of “the exact” profile of new ICT practitioners is about 80%. In the Netherlands and Romania the percentage is lower. Moreover in these two countries there are almost 10% of the companies who say the exact ICT training profile is more or less unimportant. Focussing on the interaction of ICT work and qualification it is of interest whether the existing ICT training profiles meet the demand of the companies both from the level and the exact profiles point of view. As the majority of the companies state that for instance the ICT training profile is important e.g. when they look for new staff, the identified training profiles on the different levels were evaluated in more detail as exemplarily described in the following paragraphs.

Based on the outcomes of the systematic evaluation of ICT training programmes in the partner countries the companies were asked about their concrete demand of these profiles. Exemplarily for the ICT training profiles at qualification level 3 in Romania the results indicate that a relatively strong demand (40%-50%) exists for Computer and Network Operator (Operator calculator electronic si retele), Assistant Analyst-Programmer (Analist programator ajutor), Computer Maintenance Technician (Tehnician intretinere sisteme de calcul) and Computer Networks Technician (Tehnician echipamente de calcul si retele). Some 20 % of the companies interviewed identified a need for the specializations of Technician-Operator of Industrial Robots and IT Assisted Accounting. This result of a lower demand must be interpreted in relation to the fact that over 50 % of companies indicate that they do not know these ICT training profile. Most companies in Romania prefer that the tasks corresponding to the level 3 IT assisted accounting profile, be performed by specialists from similar profiles situated on levels 4 or 5 of training.

Page 19: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

19

Demand of the ICT profiles and occupations on level 3(Companies Romania)

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Computer and networking technician

Technician-operator to industrial robots

Computer Maintenance Technician

IT assisted accounting

Assistant analyst-programmer

Computer and networking operator

EUQuaSIT 2002yes no

Figure 8: Demand of existing ICT training profiles at VET level 3 in Romania

The second example are the results on ICT training profiles at qualification level 3 in Germany4 divided by ICT sector and “non ICT sectors”. The evaluation outcomes indicate that there are up to five profiles where companies see a major demand. Chiefly the companies ask for ICT practitioners qualified in these profiles: IT System Support Specialist (IT-System-Kaufmann/-frau), Information Technology Specialist in Application Development (Fachinformatiker/-in Fachrichtung Anwendungsentwicklung) and Information Technology Specialist System Integration (Fachinformatiker/-in in der Fachrichtung Systemintegration). The profile IT System Support Specialist as an economic technical oriented one is mainly needed in companies of the ICT sector whereas the other two profiles are almost equally ask in companies of the ICT and “non ICT sector”.

Demand of ICT profiles on qualification level 3(Companies Germany)

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

IT System Support Specialist

Information Technology Specialist in ApplicationDevelopment

Mathematical Technical Assistant

Designer of Digital and Print Media

Information Technology Off icer

IT System Electronics

Information Technology Specialist in SystemIntegration

Information Electronics

Telecommunications Facility ElectronicTechnician

Communication Electronic Technician

Micro Technologist

EUQuaSIT 2002ICT sector non ICT sector

Figure 9: Demand of ICT training profiles at VET level 3 in Germany

Regarding the supply of qualified ICT practitioners available on the labour market in order to meet companies' demand in a short and mid term view the situation does not seem ideal in any of the investigated countries. In the Czech Republic, Germany and Portugal only between 20 and 25% of the companies say the supply of ICT practitioners is “very good”. The situation looks slightly better

4 The results are available for all EUQuaSIT partner countries and skill levels and will be evaluated in more detail in the case studies in companies and training institutions.

Page 20: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

20

in the Netherlands and Romania where almost 50% of the companies do not see any problems to find suitable qualified ICT specialists. While the majority of Czech companies would assess the situation as being “fair”, it is more than one third of the companies in Germany and Portugal that say the supply of ICT practitioners is rather “bad”. Looking in further detail regarding the qualification levels it occurs to be the worst situation on the higher education levels 5M and 5B where almost 40% of the German and Portuguese companies assess the supply as being “bad”.

European Standardisation versus Saving National Standards

In the examination it was of further interest in regard to the development of vocational education and training what the companies think about a European standardization of ICT training profiles and degrees. The trend is the same in all the investigated countries and indicate that the majority of companies state that further steps in this context are “urgently necessary” (see Figure 10). Divided by the qualification levels it becomes clear that the higher the level, the higher is the proportion of companies saying there are such initiatives needed. For the higher education degrees between 70 and 80% of the companies stress the importance of a European standardization of ICT profiles. For the VET profiles between level 4 and 2 the proportion is lower and there is correspondingly another 50% of the companies who rather would “save national standards” on qualification 3 and 2.

In the context of the necessity of a European standardization of ICT profiles and curricula on the different qualification levels and the CVT area it is of interest if the ICT training providers cooperate with other ICT education and training institutions, e.g. in projects or programmes of the EU. The outcomes point out that about half of the training institutions in the Czech Republic, Netherlands and Portugal cooperate with other providers in Europe. Particularly in Germany and Romania the percentage is significantly lower and thus about 60% of the training institutions say that nothing in this direction is actually planned.

European standardization of ICT profiles is urgently necessary(European Companies)

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Level 5M

Level 5B

Level 4

Level 3

Level 2

EUQuaSIT 2002Czech Republic Germany Netherlands Portugal Romania Figure 10: Companies’ opinion about a European standardization of ICT profiles and degrees

In addition to the comprehensive outcomes illustrated and described above the questionnaire is characterised by some questions about the actual proportion of females in the field of ICT as well the assessment of special initiatives to improve the situation of females in the context of diversity. This also included a question about disabled people. The results are presented in the following paragraph.

Page 21: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

21

Needs and Supply of Continuing Vocational Training (CVT)

The future demand in continuing vocational education and training (CVT) of the companies differs by ICT practitioner groups (levels) as indicated in Figure 11. Following the results, most of the companies in the Czech Republic have a demand of further training for their ICT practitioners on all qualification levels apart from level 2. This level was also the one where the companies in the Czech Republic prognosis the lowest future demand of ICT practitioners at all. As in the Czech Republic in Germany the companies see the biggest demand of CVT for the ICT practitioners on level 3 (in Germany dual VET). In addition German companies see a major demand on the higher education level 5B (bachelor degrees from the universities of applied science) whereas the demand for ICT practitioners on level 5M (master degree) is lower with “only” 70% of the companies saying they have a major CVT demand on this level. However, in the Netherlands the demand of CVT on level 5M is even clearly lower on this level as it is on all the qualification levels compared to the other partner countries apart from level 4. Companies in Romania see a CVT demand for the ICT practitioners equally an all qualification levels, also on qualification level 2.

CVT demand for ICT professionals in the companies(Companies Czech Republic)

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Level 5M

Level 5B

Level 4

Level 3

Level 2

EUQuaSIT 2002Czech Republic Germany Netherlands Portugal Romania Figure 11: CVT demand for ICT practitioners in the companies for the different levels

The detailed need and demand of the companies regarding continuing ICT qualification and training (CVT) specifies that CVT courses focusing on ICT management are ought to take place on qualification level 5 (5M/5B) and will therefore be visited by ICT practitioners having qualifications on these higher education levels. Especially in Germany and the Netherlands companies state that their biggest demand in this working field is on qualification level 5B. Even though not that clear also in ICT Marketing and ICT Systems and Application Development many companies see a major CVT demand on higher qualification levels 4 and 5M/B. Especially in ICT Systems Installation and ICT Service and Administration with 1/3 most of the companies see a major CVT demand on VET qualification level 3 and 4. ICT practitioners on VET qualification level 2 are all together not considerably on the CVT agenda of the companies.

Comparing companies’ CVT demand for ICT practitioners with the current supply of training providers a little mismatch in some working areas is evident, e.g. ICT Management and Marketing as well as in the more technical areas ICT Systems Installation and Service and Administration. However, if companies look for CVT courses in the field of ICT in their region in all the partner countries the majority of more than 60% says there is a complete and tailored offer all together. On the other hand there is also a proportion of 30-40% of the companies stating that the supply of further ICT courses is inadequate and has to be improved and adapted to companies' needs.

Page 22: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

22

Approach and First Results of Case Studies in Companies

The more qualitative and detailed results of the ICT skills needs mainly base on investigations and analyses in form of case studies of the ICT business processes variety in ICT companies and those of the ICT user industries considering small, medium and large enterprises (SMLEs). As described above, evaluation results of the existing ICT training profiles and the CVT demand of special ICT qualifications are other indicators of the ICT skill needs. To carry out the case studies the following steps can be summarised as the conceptual fundament for the expert interviews.

Figure 12: Concept and flow of the case studies and expert interviews for the analysis of ICT business and work processes

and ICT practitioner work tasks and skills in European companies of the ICT sector and ICT user sectors

The first objective of each case study is to nominate the "core ICT business" of the company. This is possible by identifying some typical and concrete ICT business processes (e.g. actual projects). Furthermore it is important for the understanding of ICT business structures to illustrate the organisational structure of the company in which the ICT business processes take place, e.g. different departments, project teams, product or customer related organisation). Based on the overview of the company (ICT business area and organisational structure) it is possible to choose one typical and exemplary ICT business process to be analysed in detail, always taking into account that ICT practitioners with VET qualification are involved.

The concept of investigating one typical ICT business process of the company is based on the common model structure of ICT business and work processes (see Figure 13). Following the model structure, each ICT business process can be described in its work flow by distinguishable ICT work processes. The contents and structure of the ICT work processes vary depending on criteria like the company organisation. Furthermore it is important which kind and number of ICT practitioners are involved in the ICT business process and therefore in all work processes. The experiences and first results with regard to the structure and contents of ICT business processes (work flow) have been leading to the assumption that ICT business processes can in general consist of distinguishable types of ICT work processes as follows:

• ICT work processes with more economic technical oriented phases of activity and work tasks (in model structure yellow colour) like ICT marketing, sales etc.,

• ICT work processes with more informatics technical oriented phases of activity and work tasks (in model structure blue colour) like ICT system development, soft- and hardware development, administration etc.,

• ICT work processes with more technical informatics oriented phases of activity and work tasks (in model structure red colour) like ICT system integration, installation etc. and

• ICT work processes with more ICT service oriented phases of activity and work tasks (in model structure green colour) like ICT service, troubleshooting, maintenance etc.

Page 23: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

23

In the next step the ICT work processes need to be further investigated and described. For this each work process can be divided in 2, 3, 4 or more distinguishable phases of activity. And normally we can further divide each phase of activity in 2, 3, 4 or more distinguishable ICT work tasks - concretely carried out by e.g. one or two ICT practitioners (see model structure below). For example an ICT work process “Application Development” may have phases of activity like Design, Conception, Programming, Testing etc. and for instance to the phase of activity “Design” 2, 3 or more work tasks can be nominated and described.

Figure 13: Model structure of ICT business area with ICT work areas, fields of activities and ICT work tasks including the

ICT practitioners who carry out the work tasks

In the final transfer, all different ICT work processes focusing on a specific content (e.g. ICT marketing or ICT system development or ICT installation and service) can be generically summarized to a specific ICT work area within the overall ICT business area. Also all phases of activity in regard to a specific content within each ICT work process can be designated as a specific field of activity. In this sense, the abstraction and model structure of ICT work areas and fields of activity is a transfer of the common model structure of ICT business and work processes and act as a fundament for ICT skills and qualification frameworks as well as more work oriented ICT curriculum development guidelines.

Conclusions

The article provides some quantitative and qualitative results of the European ICT employment, the demand and supply of ICT practitioners and the ICT skills needs mismatch of the ICT and user sectors. Detailed case study results will further specify the ICT skill needs at sub-degree levels to a new work oriented structure and contents of ICT skills and training profiles.

Page 24: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

24

Based on the EUQuaSIT project outcomes it is feasible to give some recommendations for future orientated vocational education and training (VET) strategies in Europe. Such recommendations aim at national and regional decision-makers and practitioners in order to establish a transparent and future oriented skills framework which enables them to improve the implementation of a mutual European VET policy. This seems even more important when taking account the coming challenges for Europe, e.g. the ongoing globalisation of the economy as well as the enlargement of the EU.

Bibliography CEPIS - Council of European Professional Informatics Society (Eds.): Information Technology Practitioner Skills in Europe - Study of the Labour Market position, in particular for Germany, Ireland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. May 2002

EITO: European Information Technology Observatory 2002.

European Communities: Council Decision of 16 July 1985 on the comparability of vocational training qualifications between the Member States of the European Community, 85/368/EEC (http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=en&numdoc=31985D0368&model=guichett) EUQuaSIT - European Qualification Strategies in Information and Communications Technology; Petersen, A. W. ; Wehmeyer, C. (Eds.): Supply, Demand and Acceptance of ICT Profiles and Training in five European Countries. Flensburg: August 2002 (Leonardo da Vinci II project EUQuaSIT, Interim Report)

Page 25: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

25

Pregatirea la distanta in domeniul comertului electronic

Autori: Prof. Dr. Juan Carlos Martínez Coll

Director grup EUMEDNET

(e-mail: [email protected])

Luana Lacramioara Chirila

(e-mail: [email protected]) Grupo EUMEDNET Facultad de Derecho Campus de Teatinos

Universidad de Málaga 29071 Malaga - España

[email protected] TF +34-952 13 4124

FAX +34-952 13 4125 Movil +34-687 302 901

Adresa in Internet a grupului EUMEDNET: www.eumed.net

Adresa pe Internet a cursurilor individuale: http://www.eumed.net/cursecon/ecoinet/index.htm

Adresa proiectului CEPA: http://www.eumed.net/cepa/

Adresa cursuri in grup: http://www.eumed.net/cursecon/cursos/index.htm

Abstract. The sense of the title was the reason for which we exist. Our group is called EUMEDNET. We have tried to obtain international and spanish finance in order to accomplish our purpose and not only ours but our students and clients also. This is how appeared some projects, as CEPA, different courses that are given through Internet and by using CD-ROMs. Our colaboration with the people interested is done by e-mail and only small parts by meeting people face to face or by phone. The persons that contact us come from the furthest places of the earth with only one condition, in order to understand each other, and that is to speak spanish.

Rezumat. Continutul titlului a fost si scopul crearii grupului nostru, numit EUMEDNET. In acest sens am incercat sa obtinem finantari de la diferite centre internationale si din Spania pentru a ne putea desfasura activitatea in sensul dorit de noi si de studentii si clientii nostrii. Astfel au luat nastere diferite proiecte, cum este CEPA, diferite cursuri ce s-au dat si se dau prin Internet si prin intermediul CD-ROM-urilor. Colaborarea cu cei interesati se face aproape exclusiv folosind posta electronica si doar in mica parte intalnirile au loc personal sau prin intermediul telefonului. Persoanele care se pun in contact cu noi vin din zonele cele mai indepartate de pe glob si care sunt vorbitoare de limba spaniola.

Page 26: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

26

Grupul EUMEDNET s-a format in anul 1994 printr-o subventie a Consiliului Andaluciei. A luat fiinta in cadrul Universitatii din Málaga, Spania. Este format din persoane specializate in drept, informatica si economie. Ideea de la care s-a plecat in constituirea acestui grup a fost dezvoltarea comertului electronic in Europa si spatiul mediteranean.

Grupul de investigatii intretine relatii de colaborare cu un mare numar de institutii, intreprinderi si centre de investigare din Uniunea Europeana si spatiul mediteranean cu care colaboreaza de obicei in diferite intalniri si proiecte I+DT in comertul electronic. Se luceraza pe baza ajutoarelor primite de la institutii publice cum sunt Uniunea Europeana, guvernul spaniol, consiliul andaluz si de la intreprinderi private.

Obiectivul grupului este “promovarea uzului comercial al Internet-ului drept cale pentru dezvoltarea sociala si economica in Europa, bazinul mediteranean si Latinoamerica”.

Utilizam patru modalitati de lucru in scopul atingerii obiectivului propus: proiecte de I+DT, activitati de divulgare si constientizare, cursuri de formare si lobbying.

• Campurile specifice de I+DT ale echipei noastre ating toate focarele comertului electronic: aspecte tehnice (securitate, sisteme de plati), aspecte legale (contracte, tele-munci, drepturi de proprietate), aspecte fiscale si economice (impozite, gestiune) si aspecte sociale (marketing, comunicare interumana prin intermediul retelelor).

• Divulgarea si concentrarea. Promovam folosirea comerciala a Internetului in permanenta prin serverele noastre, prin campanii in medii traditionale, organizarea de evenimente ocazionale, conventii si expozitii.

• Organizam cursuri de formare practice pentru intreprinzatorii si directorii de firme. Membrii EUMEDNET dau cursuri si participa la seminarii destinate elevilor Universitatii din Málaga. Oferim si cursuri on-line pentru tinerii tehnicieni. Formam formatori in domeniul comertului electronic.

• Trebuie evitat ca noile tehnologii sa dea nastere la diferente sociale. Promovarea utilizarii comerciale a Internetului intre grupuri sociale, regiuni si tari slab dezvoltate este o tema necesara ce corespunde administratiilor publice ale tarilor mai “norocoase”. De aceea membrii nostrii colaboreaza si participa la Internet Society, la initiativa Aldana si alte grupuri cu obiective similare.

Printr-o subventie a consiliului andaluz s-a demarat proiectul CEPA, ce pretindea sa duca la bun sfarsit un experiment controlat cu intreprinderile mici si mijlocii din Andalucia pe diverse sectoare (turistic, servicii, mestesugari, agricultori, exportatori, etc.) pentru a studia barierele ce faceau dificila folosirea in interes comercial a Internetului in Andalucia si modul lor de eliminare sau reducere.

In concret, ceea ce s-a incercat sa se analizeze pentru IMM-urile andaluze a fost:

Page 27: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

27

• Care sunt cerintele specifice de marketing si comercializare in mediile virtuale.

• Care sunt costurile si beneficiile oferirii produselor si serviciilor prin retea.

• Ce probleme de distributie si logistica apar in folosirea Internetului ca mijloc de comunicare comerciala.

• Problemele juridice ale contactului electronic, drepturile de proprietate intelectuala, etc.

• Cerintele de securitate in transferul de bani si informatii prin Internet.

Firmele selectionate pentru colaborare in cadrul proiectului au obtinut urmatoarele beneficii: • Cursuri de formare in tehnicile comertului prin Internet.

• Designul si elaborarea unui magazin virtual in WWW.

• Implementarea in cadrul magazinului virtual a diferite sisteme de plata electronice si control statistic al vizitelor.

• Gazduirea magazinului virtual in Internet pana la finalul proiectului (un an).

• Asigurarea de consultanta legala, tehnica si de marketing.

Cursurile ce s-au dat in cadrul proiectului CEPA s-au repetat de-a lungul anilor, de ele beneficiind aproximativ 300 de firme ce au dorit sa-si faca propriul magazin virtual in Internet. Experienta rezultata s-a concretizat in organizarea de cursuri in sate andaluze, cursuri ce se dau prin Internet la grupuri reduse de indivizi sau individuale, cursuri ce se dau in mod normal studentilor Universitatii din Málaga.

Materialul ce se foloseste pentru cursurile individuale este un ansamblu de texte, fise si prezentari multimedia inregistrate pe un CD-ROM. Include exercitii, intrebari si autoevaluari.

Continutul are o mare valoare pedagogica: sunt usor de inteles fara sa fie insa triviale, sunt stimulative si interactive. Sunt rezultatul experientei acumulate in Universitatea din Málaga cu sute de studenti incepand cu anul 1994.

Programarea este facuta pentru fiecare student individual. Nu exista grupuri. Calendarul si orarul de munca se adapteaza in functie de timpul disponibil al fiecaruia.

Asistenta se face on-line. Studentul trimite intrebarile sale si exercitiile programate profesorului. Comunicarea cu profesorul este asincrona, prin mesaje electronice, astfel incat temele pot fi realizate la orice ora si in orice zi a saptamanii.

In dialogul cu profesorul, elevul elaboreaza propria sa programa de formare, angajandu-se sa indeplineasca un calendar ce concorda cu posibilitatile sale de a avea timp liber. Elevul decide in cate saptamani isi va termina studiul.

In ceea ce priveste programa, ea este alcatuita din sase parti. O prima faza ar fi introducerea in Internet, in care se ofera o “cultura generala bazica” despre Internet si unele concepte generale ale functionarii sale. O scurta istorie ne serveste pentru a ne introduce incet-incet in conceptele si termenii bazici (protocol, RTF...). Se prezinta institutiile si organizatiile ce au influenta in Internet (IANA, ICANN, IRTF...) si ne oprim asupra temei domeniilor, intreprinzatorii manifestand un interes special.

In cadrul instrumentelor, ce constituie cea de-a doua parte, se dau notiuni generale despre software-ul ce se utilizeaza in WWW si, in special, cum se utilizeaza in mod comercial: posibilitatile HTML, formulare, grafice, JAVA, Cookies, Flash... Nu invatam sa cream, ci spunem cum poate si trebuie sa fie desenele: ce trebuie sa ceara un intreprinzator designerilor sai.

Page 28: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

28

In cea de-a treia parte sunt prezentate posibilitatile comertului electronic, sugestiile de interes comercial, ce trebuie sa existe intr-un magazin virtual, cum trebuie conceput un site web, comportamentul consumatorului in Internet, unde si cum sa obtina informatia statistica de interes comercial, cum sa-si controleze vizitele la magazinul virtual.

Marketing pe Internet este a patra parte, unde se explica comunicarea prin Internet, comunitatile virtuale, modul lor de gestionare, cum se genereaza increderea in pietele virtuale, folosirea postei electronice, scrierea de mesaje, dobandirea de adrese, netiqueta, Internet ca suport publicitar.

A cincea parte consta din siguranta semnaturii electronice, notiuni generale de criptare si sisteme de securitate adecvate micilor intrepinzatori, sisteme de plata si incasare, protectia datelor prin firewalls si antivirusi.

Ultima parte trateaza problemele juridice, de fiscalitate, norme de publicitate, protectia datelor personale, proprietatea intelectuala.

O alta utilitate a proiectelor o constituie formarea primita de catre tinerii ce au lucrat si luceraza in cadrul grupului nostru.

Page 29: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

29

ICT education in Romania – facts and trends

Viorel Ariton

“Danubius” University from Galati, Romania

[email protected]

Abstract. In the present time almost every human activity uses, more or less, ICT. In this respect ICT education have a great importance – regarding the number of trainees and the quality of education. Due to such a wide spread of ICT use (industry, economy, education, administration) many problems arise: curricula and forms of training (VET, HE, CVT), depth of education (professionals, application developers or users) also legislation matters (security, human rights on information, positions and labour legislation). The article try to sketch the frame of ICT education in Romania, for all levels and forms of education, along with difficulties and shortcomings encountered – most of all in higher education, where most of all ICT specialists come from. The analysis is performed following ICT education in co-relation with companies, social needs - labour and society, also looking to world wide trends in the area.

Introduction

The interest for Information Technology grew up in Romania starting nearly year 1970. It was not only a pragmatic interest initiated by the economic development and the penetration of IT in modern Romanian industry, but it was also an interest coming from scientists (as academician Grigore Moisil was) and from higher education institutions to initiate research and instruction in the area. New born Romanian IT industry was started in early 70’, and pushed forward both research and education for applications in various domains. Romania was somehow isolated by the socialist countries: after opposition shown by the former leader on Czech-Slovakian invasion, our country was not considered as part in the convention made by the other socialist countries in the IT domain. So, it was necessary for Romania to develop its own factories, IT schools and research directions, most of all by strengthening relations with USA and France for IT to survive. It was a good opportunity to build a modern education in IT, which fruits appeared in the nineties - looking to the number and the skill level of Romanian IT specialists and educators. However, in the transition economy, many actions in the IT area were not correlated: between IT specializations and legislation (most of all concerning labour and position matters), IT education and profiles meant (specializations with same or very closed curricula had different titles / profiles in different education institutions), IT education and IT job market (most of all at lower SEDOC levels).

The article presents some facts on ICT education regarding the development and growing interest in the area, shortcomings of Romanian education system and trends perceived or meant for that education in the country.

Page 30: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

30

ICT education development

ICT training in Romania is spread from kindergarten to adults’ continuous learning. Actually, most of the training (regarding to the number of trainees and to the diversity of ages) focuses on general, basic knowledge on computer use. IT education concerning specialized fields takes place in higher education: technological high schools and group of schools, then Universities (long term or short-term studies). However, a lot of IT qualifications awarded come from CVT form of training, usually hosted by universities or IT institutes. The list of all qualifications (standardised by COR – Romanian Occupational Classification) is not presented here (see [5]), but only some statistical notes on IT qualifications:

• from the total number of 35 qualifications 7 are actually positions (e.g. Computer Centre director or IT laboratory chief);

• 15 qualifications are working skills (for workers), comparing to 7 qualifications obtained in higher education – when the situation in IT educations is opposite (in the number of specialisations);

• 13 qualifications refer to SEDOC level 2, and 3 for SEDOC level 3 and 4 for SEDOC Level 4.

IT education in schools, from gymnasium to master levels, are presented below.

Vocational education and training (VET) profiles awarded

The numbers of pupils from gymnasium and high school IT education are presented as a whole in figure below, because for both the IT classes are mainly hosted by the same school (comprising gymnasium and high school in the same institution) [3].

Pupils in gymnasium and high schools

6.19 6.85 7.17 7.46 7.63 7.71 7.77

3.19 3.53 3.71 3.82 3.83 3.85 3.95

02468

10

1994

/95

1995

/96

1996

/97

1997

/98

1998

/99

1999

/2000

2000

/2001

in IT education (x10000) % from total

Figure 1 Number of pupils from gymnasium high school in IT education.

Only pupils in high schools obtain IT qualification certificates attested by MEC (see yearly evolution in the figure below).

Page 31: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

31

Pupils in high school

4.94 5.59 5.90 6.05 6.19 6.27 6.306.52 7.10 7.44 7.90 8.63 9.02 9.15

0.002.00

4.006.008.00

10.00

1994

/95

1995

/96

1996

/97

1997

/98

1998

/99

1999

/2000

2000

/2001

attested in IT (x10000) % from total

Figure 2 Pupils in high school obtaining certificates for IT education.

VET in electronics and telecommunications is presented in the figure below, and the evolution of ICT related fields and separately IT fields in post high schools and foremen schools are presented further.

9530

9855

9305

9541

9000

9100

9200

9300

9400

9500

9600

9700

9800

9900

1996/1997 1997/1998 1998/1999 1999/2000

Figure 3 VET in electronics, telecommunication and IT education.

Special vocational schools in IT and related fields

5192 54006415

7214

1476 16782705

3688

010002000300040005000600070008000

1996/1997 1997/1998 1998/1999 1999/2000

Post high school and Foremen from which IT

Figure 4 Special VET in IT education.

A total number of 638 Romanian high schools provide IT special classes, in the frame of theoretical or technological high schools [6]. In order to improve education quality immediately after 1989, emphasis was placed on human resources in education, one of the goals being to increase the

Page 32: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

32

number of teaching staff that grew by approximately 55%. Same time, the number of IT classes grew about 12 times, while pupils’ and their parents’ interest in this field grew up (from 216 to 2644). Actually, the percentage of pupils attending vocational and apprenticeship schools fell by nearly 5%, while the number of those attending general education high schools increased by 2%. This is due may be to high unemployment rate amongst young graduates, especially from secondary education. The academic channel is seen as being more attractive because it allows access to higher education, a level where the unemployment rate is lower [3].

Vocational education was one of the main focuses of educational reform. A Phare project provided significant financial and logistics support to reform, resulting in major developments with respect to high school education – especially its vocational aspect – as well as vocational delivered through vocational and apprenticeship schools [2]. The focus on such training was implemented in the form of curriculum, assessment, teacher training, management and other changes. In addition, the network of schools was developed (by over 14% from 1990 to 1998) and the number of teaching staff increased (teachers and foremen instructors grew by 61% over the period). Evolution of teaching staff numbers in the IT stream is presented below [9].

IT teaching staff in technological high schools

8521092

508 618 674

0

500

1000

1500

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Figure 5 IT teaching staff in technological high schools.

The fall in the number of vocational pupils is due partly to negative demographic factors partly to the reduced attractiveness of this form of training in the face of growing unemployment figures. This is due not simply to the ongoing economic crisis but also to the fact that educational provision has not been sufficiently adjusted to labour market demand. At the same time, the declining tendency may also in part be due to the fact that certain social groups no longer view such education as important to professional and social success. Such social groups include the social-economically disadvantaged people more encountered within the rural population. The school dropout rate was high (over 5%) during the entire reference period. It is especially marked in apprenticeship school, where the dropout rate was 7.4% during the past year, compared to 5.5% in vocational schools [3].

Higher education profiles available

There are many IT specialities in the higher education, most of them in so called „long term“ education i.e. University study – for 5, 4.5 or 4 years duration. So called „short term“ education means actually University of Applied Sciences (in Romanian called „University College“) are not administrative independent but they are part from universities, and the duration of the study is 3 years long. Profiles in HE do not observe COR – Romanian Occupational Classification, but they are assumed close to groups 213 and 250 of codes from COR [8].

Page 33: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

33

Romanian name of the occupation English name of the occupation

Long term Higher Education - 5 years

Automatica si Informatica Industriala Automation and Industrial Informatics

Inginerie economica pentru electronica si comunicatii

Economical Engineering for Electronics and Communications

Electronica aplicata si comunicatii Applied Electronics Communications

Roboti industriali Industrial Robots

Inginerie electrica si comunicatii Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Electronica aplicata Applied Electronics

Cumunicatii Communications

Electronica si telecomunicatii Electronics and Telecommunications

Roboti industriali si sisteme flexibile de productie

Industrial Robots and Flexible Systems in manufacturing

Informatica aplicata Applied Informatics

Microelectronica Microelectronics

Mecatronica Mecatronics

Bioinformatica si management in sanatate Bioinformatics and helth-care management

Sisteme si echipamente de conducere in armata

Control Systems and Equipment in the army

Long term Higher Education - 4 years

Contabilitate si informatica de gestiune Informatics in Book-Keeping and Management

Foto-Video-procesare computerizata a imaginii

Photo-Video and Image Computer-Processing

Comunicatii audiovizuale Audio-visual Communication

Audio-video, multimedia Multimedia, Sound, Setting

Mathematica-Informatica Mathematics-Informatics

Informatica (in Maghiara si Germana) Informatics (also in Hungarian and German)

Long term Higher Education - 4.5 years (only Economical Studies)

Ciberentica si previziune economica Cybernetics and Economical prevision

Informatica economica Economical Informatics

Tenologie informatica Information Technology

Informatica Informatics

Page 34: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

34

Short term Higher Education - 3 years

Comunicatii si exploatare postala Communication and Post Exploitation

Tehnica de calcul Computing Technique

Tehnici de laborator si monitorizare asistata de calculator

Computer Assisted Laboratory Techniques and Monitoring

Tehnologii asistate de calculator Technologies Assisted by Computers

Prelucrare electronica a datelor economice Electronic Processing of Economical data

Birotica Office IT

Electronica Electronics

Audio-video, multimedia Audio-video, multimedia

Informatica in contabilitate si administratie Information technology in Book-Keeping and Administration

Informatica Tehnica Technical Information technology

Higher education degrees awarded

As Higher Education is more dynamic than Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, the standardisation of qualifications as from COR does not correspond to real specializations in Universities and University Colleges [6].

Below it is presented the evolution of IT HE in Romania between 1994 – 2000.

Evolution of IT Higher Education (thou)

30.8040.07

45.47 50.0658.45

68.30

3.67 5.38 6.39 6.82 9.02 12.30

01020304050607080

1994/1995 1995/1996 1996/1997 1997/1998 1998/1999 1999/2000

Long term Short term

Figure 6 IT High education (long and short-term studies).

Numbers of students for major profiles in IT higher education are presented in figures below.

Page 35: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

35

7.5

6.25

8.75

2.251

0

2

4

6

8

10

Computer Science Automatics andIndustrial

Informatics

Electronics andCommunication

Industrial Robots CAD in buliding andArchitecture

Figure 7 Number of students in 2001 for long term IT specialities in technical profile.

6

4.45.2 4.8

0.60.81.4

3.2

0.8 0.401234567

MatematicsInformatics

AppliedInformatics

Informatics inBook-Keeping

andManagement

EconomicalInformatics

Multimedia,Audio, video

State Private

Figure 8 Number of students in 2001 for long term IT specialities in humanistic profile.

6.3

1.95 2.1

0.6 0.90.3

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Information Technology Office IT Computing technology

State Private

Figure 9 Number of students in 2001 for short term IT specialities.

Continuing vocational education and training profiles available

Qualifications required by labour market are rapidly offered in various education frameworks by means of CVT. Such frameworks are created either near education institutions (as universities,

Page 36: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

36

vocational or post high schools) or near big companies or just near National Agency for labour force training (ANOFP).

Qualification profiles available for CVT are:

Romanian name of the occupation English name of the occupation 1 Director centru de calcul Computer Centre director 2 Sef oficiu de calcul Computer Office chief 3 Sef atelier informatica IT workshop chief 4 Sef laborator informatica IT laboratory chief 5 Director divizie informatica IT division director 6 Director departament informatica IT department director 7 Consultant in informatica Information technology consultant 8 Inginer de sistem in informatica IT system engineer 9 Administrator retele de calculatoare Network administrator 10 Administrator baze de date Database administrator 11 Programator ajutor Assistant programmer 12 Analist ajutor Assistant analyst 13 Operator calculator electronic si retele Computer and networking operator 14 Sef tura exploatare in centre sau oficii de

calcul Operating shift chief in computer centre or computer office

15 Maistru-operator la roboti industriali Foreman-operator to industrial robots 16 Inginer de întretinere Maintenance engineer 17 Informatică de gestiune (economică) IT Business specialist 18 Informatică industrială Industry IT specialist 19 Webmaster Webmaster 20 Integrator-Dezvoltator multimedia Multimedia developer 21 Consultant de e-marketing e-marketing Consultant 22 Conducator proiect Internet / multimedia Internet / multimedia project manager

First 15 training fields have standard codes in COR, while the last 7 have not.

For first 6 occupations there existed before 1989 a special central education institution (in Bucharest), providing training for those interested in such leading positions. After 1989 that institution became a training school under Open University – London, mainly concerned in project management training.

Some IT qualifications envisaged by CVT require prerequisites regarding certain level of higher education previous obtained by the candidate. So, for 1 to 10 and 16 above, the candidate must be a university long-term study graduate, and for 17 to 20 at least a university short-term study (University College, i.e. University of Applied Sciences) graduate.

Continuing vocational education and training profiles awarded

Providers of CVT in the field are from categories below: 1. State and private universities, colleges, or institutes;

2. Institutions near Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare - as ANOFP (National Agency for Occupation and Professional Training) or county Labour Chambers;

Page 37: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

37

3. Companies providing training in the service of Labour Chambers or companies that organise courses for their own services or products (operation and/or maintenance) – e.g. big companies as Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, SAP.

Attestation granted for each CVT institutions above differ as follows

(1) Certificates delivered by Ministry of Education and Research (MEC),

(2) Certificates delivered by Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MMPS),

(3) Certificates delivered by Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare or delivered by the company which services are promoted.

In the first category there are examples of training institutions as universities - providing IT higher education for day courses, as national institutes – as ICI Bucharest (Central Institute for Information Technology Research), ITC – Bucharest (Institute for Computer Science Techniques) for the last category the examples are very diverse. The second category comprises governmental institutions above mentioned. The third category is very diverse: from state companies (County computer centres, or companies from industry that expand their activities for own IT needs or others’ IT needs) and private companies (as Multimedia International Institute – IIM - Bucharest, INFOTIM – Timisoara, TCInf – Galati, and so on), that organise IT courses for profit.

Among the courses organised in the frame of MMPS most encountered qualifications are: “Analyst-programmer assistant” and “Data Operator” (see figure below, source - Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare). The average duration of a course is 20 weeks, maximum one year.

No. of persons attending CVT courses

2458

1397 1481

965

1747

12491413

10001323 1424

154715341843

1145

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Analyst programmer assistant Data Operator

Figure 10 Number of persons attending IT CVT courses through ANOFP

As the market requires, most of potential trainees’ interests slide from general IT skills to narrow domains, as there are multimedia and hypermedia technologies, those based on Internet and distributed computing or communication. Such topics are subject of courses organized by Universities or specialized companies offering IT training.

Duration of such courses varies form 1 week (intensive courses in companies) to 1½ year (post-graduate courses in universities). Due to the diversity of training providers and the lack of a central place where information gathered from them to be available, there are only poor data on that type of courses.

Page 38: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

38

Facts on ICT education development

During last decade various profiles appeared in IT education; however, few of them satisfy job market demand, instead they seem to be one’s or other’s point of vies of the education institution in IT or simply expand IT specializations following the demand of people in the area. From the other side, most of ICT profiles refer to higher education specialists, very few to SEDOC levels 2 to 4 (for high-schools, apprenticeship schools or foremen schools) [4].

Many IT application or user oriented IT subject are taught in almost every area of study – technical, economical, art, and so on. It worth to say that a sustained effort is made in IT literacy for people in all education areas. Nevertheless, the peoples interest in IT education grew day by day, hence the offer of various institutions in IT education got diversified.

Companies are actively involved in qualification and specialization of their own ICT personnel, provided that modern automation in industry but also many data processing involves computers. For example in administration offices, management, accounting, finance, registering, booking, from low level to high level positions one needs to be acquainted with computer operation and use.

Many IT companies try to approach courses addressed to un-employees or persons wanting new qualifications. So, it is understandable such an extensive offer of CVT courses is supported by educational institutions and companies [9]. Some companies focus on the education of IT professionals (as there are IBM, Microsoft, Cisco), some companies to application developers or even to simple office packages users.

Growing interest in ICT education

To illustrate the growing interest in ICT education stated above some statistics will be presented further.

Pupils in gymnasium and high schools

6.19 6.85 7.17 7.46 7.63 7.71 7.77

3.19 3.53 3.71 3.82 3.83 3.85 3.95

02468

10

1994

/95

1995

/96

1996

/97

1997

/98

1998

/99

1999

/2000

2000

/2001

in IT education (x10000) % from total

Figure 11 Evolution of pupils in secondary and high schools attending IT courses

Starting from secondary schools (gymnasium) to high schools IT education is made in special classes - for pupils interested in IT specialization. In technological high schools pupils registered expressly to obtain some IT qualification or related.

Page 39: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

39

Pupils in technological high schools

4.94 5.59 5.90 6.05 6.19 6.27 6.306.52 7.10 7.44 7.90 8.63 9.02 9.15

0.00

2.00

4.006.00

8.0010.00

1994

/95

1995

/96

1996

/97

1997

/98

1998

/99

1999

/2000

2000

/2001

attested in IT (x10000) % from total

Figure 12 Evolution of pupils in technological high schools attested in ICT.

For those wanting a practical qualification – aiming to find a job after finishing the school (SEDOC level 2), vocational schools are suited. For foremen and technicians (SEDOC level 4) there are special schools attended in day or evening courses.

Special vocational schools in IT and related fields

5192 54006415

7214

1476 16782705

3688

010002000300040005000600070008000

1996/1997 1997/1998 1998/1999 1999/2000

Post high school and Foremen from which IT

Figure 13 Evolution of pupils in vocational schools related to ICT.

Universities (long term studies) and universities of applied sciences (short term studies) diversified ICT specializations and more and more students attend courses in the domain. Also appeared various specializations related to ICT in other technical and non-technical domains (e.g. mechatronics, multimedia in art) [1]; they deal with ICT not only for applications but also for design and development of hardware and software products in the target area.

Page 40: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

40

Number of students in IT Higher Education (thousends)

30.8040.07 45.47 50.06

58.4568.30

3.67 5.38 6.39 6.82 9.02 12.30

01020304050607080

1994/1995 1995/1996 1996/1997 1997/1998 1998/1999 1999/2000

Long term Short term

Figure 14 Evolution of students in higher education, attended courses in ICT.

In Higher Education the structure of ICT specializations is as follows:

• Long term education profiles (5 years) – 28

• Short term education profiles (3 or 4 years) – 23

Qualification categories in Romanian ICT education

Economic9%

Audio Visual10%

Theoretic11%

Medicine1%

Others27% Technic

42%

Figure 15 Evolution of students in higher education, attended courses in ICT.

ICT qualification in companies

Speaking on ICT qualification efforts made by companies for their own personnel, one notices different approaches depending on many factors as: how big and rich is the company, in what extent the company earn money from the ICT, how the company is involved in ICT production or services.

Page 41: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

41

In this repect, many small companies let the ICT education on emploees’ expense. Individuals are responsible on the skill they get – before and during the job, insignificant support coming from the company. This leads to a double deficiency for qualifications required: - from the employee side – difficult to obtain or even to find the place where knowledge may be

acquired;

- from the education institution side – difficult to find out what kind of qualifications the job market demands.

A cause of the situation above may be the fact that many small firms (actually managers) have a vague idea on ICT needs of the firm or on ICT means to develop their business.

Big companies or those much involved in ICT industry give support to employees meant to perform specialized tasks or deal with high technology in doing their jobs.

For both categories – small and big companies, the main interest in qualified personnel is oriented to higher education graduates. For low level qualifications (2 or 3 SEDOC levels) much of qualification effort is made through “learning by doing” and leaning on site from other more experienced workers.

For peoples wanting to learn during they perform their jobs there exists an extended offer of CVT courses - from ICT education institutions and from specialized ICT companies, too.

In the second category, one may find “certified engineers” courses (and diplomas) and internationally recognized courses (and diplomas) for different products - as from Cisco, Oracle, AutoDesk or SAP.

Trends in ICT education and qualification

In the Romanian job market, offer and demand of ICT qualification is somehow affected by a subjective way of thinking on variety and means to reach such qualifications. From the education institutions’ point of view ICT education is meant in an academic way (due to the biased way teachers see the domain), less linked to practical matters and instruments meant to an efficient development (due to high costs and diversity of such instruments).

Companies view on ICT qualification of employees

From companies point o view, qualifications meant for employees refer to skills in handling software and hardware products for a narrow field of interest, most of those skills regarding a family of instruments from a unique producer.

Such a contradiction may be solved by co-operation between education institutions (giving an appropriate background for ICT professionals) and CVT providers for specialized applications and instruments.

Skill demand of companies from prospective HE ICT employees are generally:

• Knowledge on effective methods for system and application design; • Knowledge on distributed and web based applications; • Design, programming and documenting based on software instruments and software

components; • Knowledge on business oriented matters (economical, technical, etc.) for ICT use or

consultancy into real life applications.

Page 42: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

42

Deficiencies of Romanian ICT HE

Some shortcomings of ICT education in Romania come from the education system itself, some from the link those institutions have with companies. It is no doubt that ICT field is growing rapidly and it also causes a delay between industry needs and instruments and education; other problems appear from costs of such instruments and the new technology involved, that education institutions do not afford.

Presenting briefly the shortcomings coming directly from the education system, one may notice that there are two main problems:

a) Conservative curricula:

• More programming than design – most of ICT courses tend to insist on programming languages (at leas three in number), with simple programming examples. Design matters and methods are seldom presented, so HE graduates do not have enough knowledge on how to plan and then implement an application or an information system.

• Traditional but inadequate subject matters – thought in an “academic way” ICT curriculum include some obsolete subjects, some of them presented because they seem more theoretic some because they are the difficult problems of IT; it is the case of compilers or of numerical methods which are now the concern for a very narrow group of ICT professionals and lead not either to theoretical nor to practical skills needed by the student. In the same way some subjects of interest for distributed computing (in intranet or Internet) are seldom discussed. Other important matters (addressing the integration of the graduate in the future job) are project management and team work skills, to which education institutions pay much too little attention.

• Poor relevance of major subjects and too many minor subjects – the basis of the curriculum for a given specialization must include as major subjects those shaping the profile of the future ICT professional. Instead, major subject matters for almost any ICT specialization are the same. It is also an avalanche of minor subject matters not needed by a future ICT specialist; students come to “know all and nothing” when ending courses.

• Insufficient practice in projects close to real life – because of great number of subject matters to be taught and discussed, there is no time for practice. Programming languages own specific problems and basic skills in using them, software instruments used in design and implementation of applications, require some time to be accustomed with and to master concepts and meaning or use of some procedures.

b) HE Profiles do not fit to companies’ needs:

• More theoretic than practical - to fit working needs in a company the graduate has to be acquainted with working steps to perform activities from analysis phase to implementation; it is a lack of such knowledge transfer to students in this respect, no subject matter is dedicated to explain technology.

• Seldom use of efficient instruments (CASE, CAD, CAM) – few software instruments are subject of laboratory experiments in HE - due to costs and to the fact teachers are not familiar to such instruments (usual as commercial products).

• Poor links to application domains (e.g. economic, industrial) – attending courses, students are seldom involved in practical applications (to design or simply use) in companies and real problems. It is a need of concrete problems to solve not only for being aware what will follow after graduating but also as pedagogical means.

Page 43: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

43

• Weak communication between universities and companies. Companies do not agree to co-operate with universities, even they need support for the research in their target domain, paying few credit to school as yielding effective knowledge.

• Team-work is not promoted – during courses almost all of the student work is done by his own, and it is not encouraged knowledge change and working in groups.

Looking to difficulties of the transition economy and present deficiencies of the education system in the country, some trends of ICT education and qualification are noticeable:

VET and HE come to offer only an ICT background for graduates.

Real qualification is performed in companies - learning by working, through CVT or individual training.

For many new qualifications, required by the job market, university graduates non-ICT specialists, get trained through CVT and then get the job.

There is a growing interest on ICT education coming form individuals from unemployed group or from those changing qualification.

As a result education in ICT seems now to be provided – for narrow or specialized areas, by companies and the trainees come in bigger number from non-ICT graduates (VET or HE).

Conclusions

After a period when ICT education and qualification was ruled by the government, now the it each education institution and even company try to solve problems by its own. The good thing is that institutions and companies get responsibility for content and ways they carry out the training in ICT; the bad thing is that the legislation and the means necessary for ICT education development are poor – and this is the responsibility of the government. As a consequence, Ministry of Education and Research, Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Industry should assume measures to solve present problems presented and to trace future directions according to European development of the Information Society.

O the other side, most of new ICT qualifications have no or poor support from education institutions; they remain the only concern of companies or individuals. Through new curricula and closer links to companies will be possible to form such qualifications in a systematic way in the frame of education institutions, and through this approach training, hence specialists, may get better quality.

It is also a need for curricula standardization of ICT education institutions, aiming to conceive the same (or closer) training for similar ICT profiles, and also to enrich them with subject matters required by the job market. Here, problems met by companies relative to ICT qualified staff may lead to new approaches of ICT training and the real correlation between education institutions offer and companies qualification demand.

Romania makes continuous efforts to satisfy European standards in various areas (social, industrial, education). It is hoped that if Romania integrates in the European common policy on ICT, may ICT education problems will get the right answer and means to be solved.

Page 44: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

44

References [1] Ariton V., Edwards V., Collyer J., Lee G., Ariton D., Saulea C., Qualification strategies for the

Romanian multimedia industry, The Fifth International Symposium on Economic Informatics, Bucharest May 10-13, 2001, pp.105-110.

[2] Barzea C. (Ed.), Modernization of Vocational Education and Training in a transition country - National Report, 2000.

[3] *** Report on the vocational education and training system. National observatory country report, European Training Foundation, 1999.

[4] *** EUQuaSIT – EUropean Qualification Strategies in ICT, Interim- Report, A. Willi Petersen (project chief)– University of Flensburg, Germany (promoter), “Danubius” University (partner), 2001.

[5] Petac E., Petac D., Training strategies in ICT in the open European environment, ICT Foundation, 2002.

[6] *** Anuarul statistic al României, 2000-2001. [7] *** Capital, săptămânal economic şi financiar (Nr. 10, 14,16,17), 2001. [8] *** Codul Ocupaţiilor în România, Ministerul Muncii şi Protecţiei Sociale, Consiliul Naţional

pentru Statistică, Ed. Lumina Lex, 2000. [9] *** Education in Romania – statistical data, National Bureau of Statistics, 2001.

Page 45: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

45

A VRML-based Environment Used to Learn Virtual Reality Concepts

Sabin Buraga, Ştefan Tanasă, Mihaela Brut

Faculty of Computer Science, “A.I.Cuza” University of Iaşi, Romania

{busaco, stanasa, mihaela}@infoiasi.ro

Abstract. There are some difficulties to learn subtle aspects of modeling virtual scenes and different programming techniques for creating dynamic virtual worlds. This paper presents a VRML-based environment used for learning virtual reality concepts. The environment uses a complex library of VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) objects and an intranet-style Web site. In section 2 of the paper we describe different types of virtual environments and we present the communication protocols used by VE and the actual standards used to generate virtual worlds. The third section describes the architecture of our environment and the library of over 50 VRML objects. To proper explain the VRML source-code, an annotation Web tool is implemented by using XML mark-ups added to each object. The available objects are used by the students to develop different virtual worlds.

1. Introduction In order to learn different aspects of virtual reality at a Web Technology course, diverse approaches are used. To give students the possibility to proper understand the virtual worlds and the distributed virtual environments we propose a collaborative learning virtual environment based on VRML. This environment was conceived by the members of a young research group on Web Technologies called WebGroup. The group functions inside the Faculty of Computer Science – “A.I.Cuza” University of Iaşi, Romania.

The environment consists of a complex library of VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) objects. The library contains over 50 VRML objects that model primary 2D and 3D objects (e.g. circle, square, cone, pyramid etc.). These objects are augmented by a more complex collection of objects that models common real-world components (i.e. armchair, desk, window, flower, tree etc.).

To properly explain the source-code of each VRML construct, an annotation Web tool is implemented by using XML mark-ups added to each object. The available objects are used by the students to develop different virtual worlds.

2. Faces of Virtual Environments 2.1 Definitions Virtual reality [1, 2] can be viewed as a software paradigm that offers to one or more users to explore and interact with a computer generated environment. Different types of devices allows to users to perceive and manipulate the visual objects as in the real world. The natural manner of interaction makes the participant to feel embedded in the environment. The virtual worlds are given by mathematics models and software programs.

Page 46: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

46

A virtual environment (VE) [1] is the computer generated space, including all objects, static or dynamic ones. An object can have a concrete form or not, can have an attached sound, a texture, or a movie. (An object that generates a sound can not have a physical representation.)

2.2 Devices for Perception of the VEs Virtual reality differs from other computer simulations by the necessary use of the interfaces for special devices for image, sound and sensation transmission from environment towards users.

Usually, for viewing the environment the user wears a head-mounted display (HMD) or a retinal display, with two screens for each eye. HMD contains a locator for user position, direction and orientation. With this information, the computer computes the images from virtual environment and displays them into HMD (It is generated different images for each eye in order to give spatial sensation). The image refresh rate is less than 10 times per second. The scenes from virtual worlds have to be almost simple to allow the computer to bring faster images up to date. For this reason and for the insufficiency of the display devices, the participants at the virtual environment can distinguish the simulation by the real world.

To receive the sounds we have to use head-phones (usually are included in HMD). Depending on the user position and orientation, and objects position that raise sounds, the user percept the audio signals. For example, as we are getting closer to a bird, we hear louder its song; or if we turn around than we percept in a different way the audio signals.

For sensorial perception there is a special glove (sensorial glove) which determines the hand position, records the fingers movement and sends it to the computer. The user can touch objects, but he can not feel them. It's very difficult to generate sensations for a person when he touch a hard surface, lift an object or move a finger along a wavy surface. Another device used for sensorial perceptions is the data suit.

2.3 Classification of VE There are several types of virtual environments.

• First, a VE can be static or dynamic. The static ones contain just fixed objects, that don't have movement elements (e.g. a building). If there is a object that changes its position as the time pass than the environment becomes dynamic (e.g. a pigeon that is flying).

• The dynamic virtual worlds can be interactive or non-interactive. The user can interact with objects from environment and change their state. These objects can be considered as the part of the environment and can have artificial intelligence features or not. A special class of virtual environments is those who permit to modify the virtual scene, by creating or destroying objects.

• The interactive virtual environments can be single user or multi user. In the single user case, each user can explore the environment, but he/she can not interact with other users from same place. In fact, there is an instance of virtual world on the user's computer. It is like viewing a HTML document: each user can view independently a web page.

In multi user environments the participants can take different forms, human like or not, called avatars. So, each user has a body in the virtual world. The communication between users can be written (text), verbal (speech) or non-verbal (e.g. gestures, mimicry). Those environments that supports non-verbal communication are more complex because is very hard to acquire exactly the gestures from real world and there are too many gestures and minor differences implies major distinctions in interpretation.

Page 47: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

47

Each avatar must have a set of default gestures or the capability of making new gestures. Also, there are the more complex virtual environments that permit direct interactions between connected users (e.g. actions of hand-shaking).

The collaborative environments have a special importance. In this case, the characters (avatars) can collaborate to achieve a common scope. For instance, if two participants wants to move a table, then one lift the front side, and the another one the back side, after that they shift on same direction and put down the table. Two or many characters need to cooperate, especially in the context of a learning environment.

2.4 Architecture of Multi-User VE Usually, the architecture of the multi-user environments is given by the classical client/server model used on Internet. There is a central node that manages the whole activity of the virtual environment. This node serves as a common server in a way very similar with a Web or FTP server. There are more complex architectures in which the clients have in charge administrative activities. So, there are no simple clients, they put in use their software and hardware resources and the hole application forms a dynamic cluster. A cluster is a set of computers that cooperate for simultaneous and distributed execution of an application. The resources and execution are distributed and such virtual reality generated worlds are called virtual distributed environments.

When we have a cluster, that depends on the available computational power, the load of the machine, and the quality of the Internet connections, a node gets some objects to manage (e.g. these that are closer). If the number of characters that are connected into the virtual environment increases, then the computational power increases too.

We observe that the cluster-oriented virtual environments can be a good answer to many problems that arise in developing a complex system such as a distributed learning environment. The generated virtual worlds are various, may have many components (objects) in order to increase the grade of realism. The real world can be render better and it will be useful in learning and in different scientific experiments, with less effort and lower costs.

2.5 Communication Protocols On Internet there are several Web sites that offer three-dimensional interaction between users. The actual virtual environments are used for entertainment, educational or military purposes. There are virtual environments for simulations that are not possible or are too expensive in the real world (e.g. plane pilot training, surgeons training).

The protocols used to interchange the information between the connected users and the environment or between different components (nodes) of the virtual distributed environment are HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) and RTP (Real-Time Protocol) [1, 2].

HTTP is the classical transfer protocol of hypertext information and is used mainly for web content transmissions. RTP is designed for real-time transmissions.

Also, there are different distributed environments that use special and non-standard protocols in order to eliminate some inconveniences from the standard protocols. Notable examples are VRTP (Virtual Reality Transfer Protocol) and VSCP (Virtual Society Client Protocol) protocols [1].

2.6 Standards for Generating Virtual Worlds

Page 48: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

48

To create a virtual training and learning space, we can use VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) [2, 3, 4], which is standard of the Web 3D Consortium and in the same time it is the international standard ISO/IEC 14772-1:1997. ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (International Electro-technical Commission) are worked together to elaborate this standard.

The VRML worlds can be viewed by using stand-alone applications, different plug-ins for a Web browser (e.g. Cortona or WorldView), or a special VRML browser. The VRML-based virtual environments usually need different special client software programs (i.e. plug-ins or stand-alone applications) to proper interact with other avatars and objects.

In the present, the Web 3D Consortium is working at a new standard, called X3D [4], based on the current VRML 2.0 standards. To assure platform independence and flexible processing of involved data, the X3D documents will be XML compatible and will offer a very good support for programming languages. The specifications will support complex interactions between users.

3. The VRML-based Environment To facilitate the development of a distributed learning virtual environment, our team is developing a complex library of VRML objects. These objects can be used to build different virtual worlds offered to connected users by the software of the VE.

3.1 Types of Objects The library models primary 2D and 3D objects (e.g. circle, square, cone, pyramid etc.). These objects are enriched by a more complex collection of objects that models common real-world components (i.e. armchair, desk, window, flower, tree etc.).

In the present, the library has 50 defined objects. To increase the transfer time over the Internet, each virtual world – VRML source-code – is compressed. The compression format uses the standard GZIP algorithm and most VRML players are able to process it.

The students are able to study and to experiment the source-code of each VRML object. Additionally, they can combine different object in order to build diverse 3D scenes that simulate reality. Also, they have the possibility to create other primary objects to be added later to VRML library.

3.2 Modeling Object Properties and Relations To attach different comments to each written object of the VRML library, an XML-based annotation tool was developed. These annotations can contain metadata documents to express other important information: author, version, name group of the object, copyright and so on. The annotations are public – they can be accessed by everyone – or private – only the author of an annotation is able to view it.

In fact, these comments are XML documents that are easily processed by open-source XML parsing libraries (e.g. Expat or JAXP) [2]. This annotation tool is available on Web as a standard CGI (Common Gateway Interface) program written in Perl language [5].

The annotation tool is planned to be used to search for different objects. Further version of the application will use an XML-based query language to easily locate a certain object of the VRML library.

Page 49: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

49

The VRML objects are organized into tree hierarchies and the relations between them are modeled by XML mark-ups, too. The object trees can be accessed on Web via another CGI program.

Figure 1 Example of a Complex Object of the Library

3.3 Examples of Virtual Worlds Using the actual VRML objects of the library, a number of ten full available virtual worlds are developed. These worlds model real-world scenes (such as beautiful sceneries or an office place), or simulations (i.e. the Solar system). The conceived virtual worlds are mainly intended to be used in educational VR materials.

Most of them are animated or include audio content and require many computational resources. Each virtual world can be downloaded by the students in order to be studied or modified.

An example of a virtual world that includes several VRML objects is given in figure 2.

3.4 Distributed learning virtual environment The distributed learning virtual environment consists of a Web site that can be used in the intranet of the Faculty of Computer Science. The Web site is built as a dynamic XHTML code that embeds VRML constructs. The students are able to list all available VRML objects of the library, to download the developed virtual worlds and to study the source-code of each of them by using the annotation tool. Also, an easy to use discussion forum – called WebDis –

was made in PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor). This forum has multiple threads of topics and is managed by the course leader. A Web snapshot of the forum is given in figure 3.

Page 50: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

50

Figure 2 A VRML-based Virtual Office

4. Further work

The future plans of our team include:

• Development of other basic VRML objects • Development of other complex VRML objects and worlds • Due of severe requirements of hardware resources for rendering of complex animated

VRML worlds, we want to experiment another model. The library of VRML objects will be distributed among several interconnected nodes, in a cluster of computers. To accomplish this goal, we need to design another XML format to store relations established between objects and conceived virtual worlds. A Web-oriented tool will be implemented, too.

• The annotation tool can function as a Web service, not only as a CGI script. This approach can give more flexibility.

• Development of a formal model to express interactions between objects and VE or between virtual worlds and users (students and professors). A Petri Nets model is in preparation.

5. Conclusion

The paper was presented a VRML-based environment used for learning different virtual reality concepts. The environment consists of a Web site that can be accessed by the students in the intranet of the Faculty of Computer Science. This environment uses a complex library of VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) objects. The developed objects models simple or complex fragments of virtual scenes that can be used later in whole virtual worlds. To proper explain the VRML source-code, an annotation Web tool is implemented by using XML mark-ups added to each object. This annotation tool is written in Perl language and functions as a CGI script.

Page 51: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

51

Using the environment, the students are able to list all available VRML objects of the library, to download the developed virtual worlds and to study the source-code of each of them by using the annotation tool. Also, an easy to use discussion forum can be accessed.

Figure 3. A message from the WebDis – the Web-based discussion forum of the environment

Also, the environment can be used for training and knowledge (self-)evaluation purposes.

Future developments will include additional basic and complex VRML objects, a Web service that can be used to annotate VRML source-code, a cluster-based architecture of distributed VRML worlds and a Petri nets theoretical model used to express interactions between objects and VE or between virtual worlds and users. References

[1] S. Singhal, M. Zyda, Networked Virtual Environments. Addison-Wesley, New York, 1999 [2] S. Buraga. Web Technologies. Matrix Rom. Bucharest, 2001. In Romanian. [3] A. Fernandez, VRML Interactive Tutorial. Universidade do Minho, Portugal, 1998:

http://www-venus.cern.ch/vrmltut/ [4] * * *, Web 3D Consortium: http://www.web3d.com [5] S. Buraga, V. Tarhon-Onu, S. Tanasa, Web Programming in bash and Perl. Polirom. Iasi, 2002. In Romanian.

Page 52: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

52

A High-Level Model for Management of the Information Resources of

an Academic Organization

Mihaela Brut, Sabin Buraga, Ştefan Tanasă

Faculty of Computer Science, “A.I.Cuza” University of Iaşi,Romania

{mihaela, busaco, stanasa}@infoiasi.ro

Abstract. In this paper we present a high-level model for management of the information resources of an academic organization, especially a faculty of computer science that use and develop in the same time different related educational projects. The proposed model imagines that a communication animator group exists in order to facilitate the relationships and the flow of the information between the network administrator(s) group, the project manager, the professors and the different work teams inside the faculty. Also, the paper gives a set of suggestions in order to facilitate and stimulate the collaborative communication between faculty’s members.

1. Introduction The education process is a crucial factor in implementing of Information Society because the abilities acquired in the study years are essential in the outlining of the personality. If the studious young persons are integrated in an informational system, they will be able to adapt and to bring their contribution at the tomorrow information and communication technologies.

Of course, some steps were made in this way: the dispersion of Internet in the majority of education institutions, the accompaniment of some classes with presentations in Power Point or on Web, the use of some application which facilitates the distance learning and testing process.

The general trend in education is not only to put at the student disposal some applications and equipments to be used, but to involve them in the process of conceiving and building new information and communication technologies and applications. The main problem of this process has two important aspects too: the existence of well-trained teachers and the capacity of integrating all available applications in a functional system.

We shall present the current information system from the Faculty of Computer Science from Iaşi, with all applications developed inside of the institution – by the professors and students as well – and with a Web interface which made it very modern and accessible. Also, we propose some organizational extensions which to improve the actual system.

Because all the faculties could have some teams of computer scientists besides the specific specialized teams, our model could be applied in information organization of any faculty. Moreover, this model could be extended at an entire university, covering by this the great desideratum of an effective interdisciplinary training process.

Page 53: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

53

or each application, and

2. Organizational structure

The Faculty of Computer Science has the particularity that the students not only use an information system, but they have an important contribution to its development. At the practical works of each discipline, a student – single or inside a team – has to finalize a project, which for sure could be useful in the educational process of the faculty: there are strictly specialized projects, which could be use – like examples – in the teaching process of the corresponding discipline, but also there are many projects orientated to practical applications or even to the organization of the educational process. The main problem for all this projects is that to be integrated in a well-conceived system which to enable an efficient ulterior use of them. For this purpose, it is imperious necessary a centralized management of this system, which have to take into account two aspects of the organization approach: the outlook of the data formalism for the information system of the faculty and the pursuit of a set of directions for facilitating and stimulating the collaborative communication between all students and teachers involved in project teams.

Inside a faculty, an intranet is necessary to exist, managed by network administrator(s). The role of the network administrator(s) is to manage distributed information about users (accounts, rights etc.) and information resources of the faculty’s computer systems – physical resources (e.g. storage systems, printers etc.) and logical resources (i.e. databases, processes of the operating systems, applications and others). These resources need to be allocated to different users by using diverse permissions policies.

All the projects of interest for the faculty are centralized by the project manager, who has to know very well the requests of each project and to designate the work or research teams (by designating the teachers who’s disciplines are related with the scope of a certain project, and who will choose the students for teams; of course, during the practical works of a certain discipline there will be also developed specific projects). The project manager also functions as an interface between different teams to resolve the communication problems that may arise. This position is usually occupied by a person from the Leadership Council of the faculty.

3. Communication animators Because it is hard to manage both the complex human relationships between different teams of the faculty and the maters related to the synchronizing and the compatibility of their projects, we propose the existence of a third person or group – the communication animator – with a role between those of the network administrator and of the projects manager: to supervise the existence of the compatible formats for the input/output data of all existing projects and to intercede the dialogue between work teams. Because the general trend is to offer a Web implementation f

Project

manager

Commu-nication

animators group

Network adminis-trator(s)

because the XML (Extensible Markup Language) [3, 11] is the recommended standard for all is published on Web, our approach is orientated to encourage the use of the XML documents format.

Page 54: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

54

of computer science, psychology, and others – new conceived or existing -

s f all members of the communication animators group, distributed and managed by the head of the roup. Therefore, we shall often refer the group by the common noun “communication animator”.

rmal approach for I/O data that can be rability.

Ou o

1. the input, respectively of the output data. This document type will be

defined by a Document Type Definition (DTD) or an

An example for such document follows:

c href=”document.xml”>

The members of the communication animators group must have different specializations such as information technology or human relations. We consider that it should be great to have a person with a double specialization – in computer science and psychology – which to be the head of the communication animators group (which could to consist in this case of some students and teachers of the faculty). Otherwise, it is imperative necessary to exist in this group at least a computer scientist and a psychologist except the head of group, which could be very expensive for an ordinary faculty. Therefore, we consider that an eventually curricula for training the qualified Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) professionals may take into account a specialization like those required for the head of the communication animators group. Starting from he’s tasks – which will be presented below –, a such curricula could establish the disciplines and the themes (from the fieldsituated at the frontier between information technology and human relations) which to be followed at this specialization.

In this article, we shall present the actual information system of the Computer Science Faculty and the proposed improvements of it by the viewpoint of the duties of the proposed new employed person - the head of the communication animators group. By his duties we mean in fact the dutieog

3.1 Formal Organization of the Project Teams

First of all, the communication animator needs to design a fotransmitted between the project teams, in order to exist compatibility and interope

r pr posal for the formal organization of data consists of:

The communication animator should conceive an XML main document which contains the general structure ofprocessed regarding formal rulesXML schema [3].

<data type=”input”>

<!-- input / output -->

<item type=”text/plain”>

<name>document</name>

<des

...

</desc>

</item>

</data>

Page 55: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

55

p should build the correspondent XML input document and should specify the structure of the desired XML output document. By this, the components of this group will be the persons which receive and gather all the observations from the work teams head, and will be able to adjust the XML documents formats so that still remintellig

2.

rdinator, member, etc.) and other useful information (position inside the faculty, age, studies, home address/phone etc.). Each application which wants to provide access to some specific data only to the members of the faculty should appeal to this module in the form of a get-request. The module can use SOAP (Simple Object Access

or standard HTTP (HyperText Markup Language) [3] methods. The result will document:

e=”…”>

” group=”…”/>

nator, member -->

</age>

ss>…</address>

Also, for this XML document, a DTD or XML schema is defined. For the easiest accessibility, it it strWebI

We assume that input data for a given project consist of a plain text document (e.g. requirements). For this document a description is available (the long one can be specified as an external XML document).

The XML format of the documents assures the platform independence and consistence of dataflow.

For each particular project, the communication animator grou

ains an unitary format. This activity can involve the use of different AI techniques, such as ent human-computer interaction multi-agent systems [2].

For the faculty security purposes, every resource of the faculty’s information system must be accessed only by the authorized persons, and every user must be authenticated in a homogeneous (uniform) way. With a view to this purpose, the communication animator group should develop a module of unique authentication – using LDAP, PAM or other technologies – based on the user’s name and password (which could be those managed by the network administrator). This module should provide, in the case of a successfully authentication, instead of a simple positive answer, an XML document specifying the type of the user (administrator, coo

Protocol) [5]be an XML-based

<org nam

<account>…</account>

<password>…</password>

<info>

<member type=”…

<!-- administrator, coordi

<position>…</position>

<age>…

<addre

<!-- other useful information -->

</info>

</org>

ongly recommended to exist a Web implementation of this module, which we shall name dent.

Page 56: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

56

3. devrigh culty resources, including various access levels inspired by UNIX operating

• module, the authentication module shall verify

ebating all general problems related to the project).

• access for the intranet’s domain – the authentication procedure shouldn’t ask the user’s

4. dat

• each source code must contains explanatory comments;

• each project must be accompanied by the user’s manual, including the structure of the oft requirements, the general structure of the project table information.

To faci mmunication between faculty’s members, we suggest tha

1.

2.

/her activity from the previous discussion and

r/and virtual meetings [7, 8] (mailing lists, tele-conferencing systems,

3. tside expert in

considered problems.

In order to deeply refine the information security, the communication animator group should elop then use another module (called WebRights) by which are established the access ts to the fa

system [6]:

individual access – the authentication should request certain users’ name and password, validated through the identification module described above (e.g. for make changes in a database);

group access – the authentication module should ask the user’s name and password, but besides the appeal to the identification the affiliation of the user to a certain group, consulting a centralized database. In this way no additional passwords are required for all groups in which a user is member. (e.g., each work team should constitute a group, having a personal mailing-list for d

name or password, but should verify the IP address of the navigator (e.g. for the access from intranet to the bibliographical resources or to internal discussions lists).

From the software engineering point of view, for the best accuracy and clarity of the project aflow, the communication animator group should take in account the following aspects:

used databases, the hard and/or s(module organization) and other no

3.2 The communication coordinating

litate and stimulate the collaborative cot the communication animator to take into account the following scenario:

The communication animator group should have personal regular appointments with the project manager of the faculty and with the head of each particular project team in order to establish the general topics of action.

In order to particularize and supervise the implementation of each project, the communication animator group should organize periodical meetings with all the members of each team, asking every person to expose hishis/her new observations and regards, interceding the exchange of ideas and experience. This goal can be accomplished by using face-to-face meetings – if all members are located in the same setting – ovirtual environments) – for remote members.

In the case of dilemma or mis-understantings, the communication animator group should facilitate a closer collaboration between work teams, eventually inviting an ou

Page 57: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

57

5. ct, it must be sent for test and evaluation to all members of the faculty, asking them to send every kind of observation. Some employers could be asked to describe the functionality of a project without having the user’s manual (in

es of each taught course. By thus, for each discipline the students

teroperability of all this projects also constitutes a concern of our faculty. In their finalized m, these projects will be available to all members of the faculty either to be included in any

ap e personal Web site (like WebSearch) or to be integrated into main Faculty’s Web site.

, extended to expressions based search by using the ordinar rators embraced as well by the search engines (AND, OR, NEAR, etc.). Thanks to this module, a student could look up information related with a particular subject inside only a namely professor’s web site or the secretariat’s page.

our faculty’s site, providing to the students the opportunity of enrolling to the desired courses. The application take into account the number of places for each course, the year of study to which is addressed, the additional conditions imposed by the professor or by the faculty’s rules to interested students.

4. In different stages of the on-going projects, the communication animator group should gather the (representative) members of some teams, not only to discuss common problems, but to obtain an outside view and to test each particular implemented module.

Before considering as finished a proje

order to find out its non-inherent parts).

4. The structure of the Information System The Web site of the faculty is the main interface for all students and professors to access, to share or to provide information related to the educational process. Beside the general information about the faculty (structure, organization, curricula, history etc.), the site includes pages of all the professors, existing in the majority of cases sub-pagcould retrieve on the faculty’s site documentations, Power-Point presentations, examples and exercises, bibliography, information about the (progress of) exams, etc., or could participate at some specific mailing lists or forums.

Because the information provided through the site undergoes many changes, there will be very useful some projects to manage the principal types of data that are rolled up through the site. We enumerate below some such projects that we consider being crucial for the great functionality of the internal Information System. At the Faculty of Computer Science of Iasi, some of these projects are finalized (like WebOpt or WebDoc) and the others are now being implemented. The providing for the infor

plication inside th

4.1 WebSearch

The huge amount of available data on the Web implies hundreds or even thousand pages to be returned by a traditional search engine (e.g. Google, AltaVista, Excite, etc.). Because someone could need to retrieve some information inside a particular site, each site should offer the possibility of internal search. In this scope, the WebSearch module shall be implemented to be used for any private Web site, offering facilities of keywords based search

y ope

4.2 WebOpt

The optional courses constitute a quasi-presence in all university curricula. The WebOpt module is functional since last year on

Page 58: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

58

xam, a period of subscription to a particular exam, etc. Moreover, the application could provide at any moment centralized inf t an exam both to the students, professors or secretariat.

rance, abstract, keywords, and a link to the complete document. The WebDoc application should provide, too, statistics regarding the most accessed documents, and possibilities of int

articular discipline, eventually accompanied by various relevant statistics for the degree of knowledge (the number of erroneous answers, the realized time, the questions with no correct answer, etc

based on RDF (Resource escription Framework) [3, 10] constructs and provides interoperability between applications that

xchange machine-understandable information on the World-Wide Web.

4.3 WebExam

For each discipline there exist two possibilities during the session for each student to pass the exam. Implicitly, one of this dates represent the day allocated especially for his group. The WebExam module should offer to the students the possibility of enrolling to a particular exam at a preferred date, different by the implicit one. Besides the authentication realized by appealing to the WebIdent module, the constraints could refer to a maximum number of students accepted to an e

ormation abou

4.4 WebDoc

The documentation in all disciplines available for students could be centralized inside a specialized sub-site, organized around some specific interest themes and sub-themes. The access to each material shall be controlled by using WebIdent and WebRights. The structure of the site shall take into account that the documentations could be accessible in different languages (e.g. English and/or Romanian), and could be by a specific type (book, reference manual, specification, tutorial, etc.), in a particular stage (draft, proposal for standardization, final, etc.). For each document, there shall be specified at least the following information: author, title, type (book, article, technical report, essay etc.), editor, year and place of appea

ernal search.

4.5 WebTest

The WebTest is conceived like an application for the storage in a distributed manner of the different types of tests which could be used in the examination of students or for auto-evaluation. After the authentication as professors, the courses leaders could manage the tests collection from a particular discipline (access to the questions and answers, build of new tests by selecting the questions from database after different criteria or random, etc.). The students should access some auto-evaluation modules on diverse domains, counter-chronometer or not (demos of the exams tests). There should exists single/multiple choice of tests, with different ways of granting the points, with questions dependents one by another. The professors could obtain reports concerning the stateliness of a student to a p

.).

4.6 XML-based Inter-Communication

The relationships between resources (users, shared data, virtual rooms) of the inter-communication system used by communication animator group can be modeled by XML-based documents, too. In [9] we give a higher-level model to accomplish this goal. This model isDe

Page 59: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

59

lows:

l”>

”Stefan.xml”>

iption

ch=”#UsersOfSuperiorLevel”>

Maximum</level>

All users which administrate the inter-communication system</desc>

>

and software levels. Because whole information is stored into

The heterogeneous applications of the system can be able to interchange information in a reliable and flexible way using XML-based communication protocols such as SOAP or XML-RPC over HTTP.

. Conclusion

cational projects. The proposed model imagines that a communication

An example of such document fol

<rdf:Bag id=”UsersOfSuperiorLevel”>

<rdf:li resource=”Sabin.xml”>

<rdf:li resource=”Victor.xm

<rdf:li resource=

</rdf:Bag>

<rdf:Descr

aboutEa

<system>

<user>

<info>

<level>

<desc>

</info>

</user>

</system

</rdf:Description>

5. Benefits and implementation proposal

The main benefit of our proposed model consists of platform independence of any possible components, at the hardware, network XML-based documents, all modules of the system can be implemented using open-source XML processing libraries (e.g. Expat or JAXP) in a variety of Web-related programming languages such as Perl, PHP, Java, JavaScript or C#.

6

In this paper we presented a high-level model for management of the information resources of an academic organization, especially a faculty of computer science that use and develop in the same time different related eduanimator group exists in order to facilitate the relationships and the flow of the information between the network administrator(s) group, the project manager, the professors and the different work teams inside the faculty.

Page 60: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

60

documents format. The input/output data that can be

nd of system ng new applications which are supposed to be

rated in the faculty’s information system and to be use in the education activities.

er no.98-2, UNO,

ndation. Boston, 1999. [16] T.Bray et al., Extensible Markup Language – version 1.0 (updated). W3C Recommendation.

Boston, 2000.

Because the general tendency is to offer a Web implementation for each application, our approach is orientated to encourage the use of the XMLtransmitted between the project teams will be stored in XML-based documents in order to assure the platform independence and consistence.

Also, the paper gave a set of suggestions in order to facilitate and stimulate the collaborative communication between faculty’s members.

All implementation issues can be addressed by open-source XML processing libraries, in different popular Web-related languages such as Perl, PHP, Java, C# ot even JavaSctipt.

The proposed global model was inspired by the actual information system of the Faculty of Computer Science from the “Al. I. Cuza” University from Iasi, which provide to the students various opportunities of improving their knowledge, of obtaining useful information, and of communicating with the professors through the faculty’s Web site. Moreover, this kico-opt the students in the process of developiinteg

References

[6] N. Shedroff. Information Interaction Design: A Unified Field Theory of Design. Vivid Studios. 1994. [7] J. Bradshow. Software Agents. AAAI Press. 1997 [8] S. Buraga. Web Technologies. Matrix Rom. Bucharest, 2001. In Romanian. [9] D.Todoroi et al. Transition to a Full Information Society: Stage Development, Working Pap

Omaha, 1998. [10] * * *, World-Wide Web Consortium’s Technical Reports. Boston, 2002: http://www.w3.org/TR/ [11] A.Tanenbaum, Modern Operating Systems. Addison-Wesley, Reading MA, 2001. [12] M. Ahuja, K. Carley. Network Structure in Virtual Organizations. In Journal of Computer Mediated

Communication, no 3 (4). 1997. [13] J. Olson et al. Computer-supported cooperative work: Research issues for the 90s. In Behaviour and Information

Technologies vol. 12(2), pp. 115-129. 1993 [14] S. Buraga. An XML-based Representation of Relationships Between Resources of an Internet Teleconferencing

System. In Abstracts of the International Conference "Information Technologies". Chisinau, 2001. [15] O. Lassila, R.Swick (eds.). Resource Description Framework Model and Syntax Specification.

W3C Recomme

Page 61: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

61

Educational Structures for Training in Information Technology and Communication

Dan Grosu

Laboratory for Information Technology in Education

Black Sea University

email: [email protected]

Abstract. In the Knowledge Economy, the traditional educational system cannot solve the problems caused by the very fast renewal of information. Hence, the need for new types of educational structures that are using knowledge management techniques and Information Society instruments. The main asset of those organizations is their knowledge base, formed by all the learning methodologies and procedures such an organization was able to develop. In this paper we will see why the problems of training ITC professionals are very hard to solve in the context of the traditional educational system, the general principles upon which a knowledge based educational organization can be built, and an example of such an organization.

In the Information Society, all the activities related to Information Technology and Communication are linked with training activities. The result is the absolute necessity for lifelong education and interdisciplinarity, which cannot be achieved in the context of the traditional educational system. There must be found more effective methods of training, which will use hardware, software, and communication instruments and will solve problems like:

• Learning and work at the same time;

• Training should deal with subjects directly linked with the productive activity that is taking place;

• Several persons who are interested by the same field of Information Technology and Communication should be able to take part in the same course, even though they work in different places;

• The knowledge base and the information database should be available to all the actors of the educational process.

Those objectives can be reached by using virtual collaborative learning environments, structured as knowledge based educational organizations. The problems that appear in the process of training ITC specialist are by no means singular. They are just more obvious because the rate of information renewal in this field is higher. But the cause is the crisis of the traditional educational system.

1. The main issues In fact, all the countries face a severe crisis in their educational systems and all the countries have launched comprehensive reforms. But the very idea of intermittent reform is wrong and a good school has to undergo continuos reforms, adjusting itself to the needs of society and to the new

Page 62: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

62

promises of technology after having introduced proper mechanism for change into its institutional setup. The curriculum has to be opened at the end, while now it is fatally closed. It is hard to expect that one of the most conservative structures of the civil society should be able for perpetual change all by itself.

The official educational system is considered to be formal because it is regulated by laws and recognized by means of official documents. It is a system with input and an output, and its effectiveness is measured with statistics, costs, infrastructure, and personnel. But more and more people feel they need to resort to 'permanent education', 'continuous education' or 'recurrent education', which all state one and the same thing: education does not conclude with graduation or doctoral paper, but it remains open-ended.

The school functions under this hypothesis: it equips a person with knowledge that is supposed to be relevant for the rest of his life. But everything the school graduate has learnt is no longer valid in a few years time. It is not only the engineer that finds himself disoriented when confronted with new technologies, but also the adult who, when requested to give an opinion, discovers that school hasn't taught him or her how to communicate, co-operate or initiate a new project.

Lifelong education is a new and powerful concept illustrating the changing relationship between state and its citizens. Adults have to resort to non-formal organizations, like special courses, that entitle the graduates to recognition through certificates or other documents, though at a lower level compared to official diplomas. Everything that an individual can pick from his/her family or group, from readings or from watching the TV, falls under the no less important category of informal education. This kind of acquired knowledge is not entitled even to less authoritative recognition provided by a certificate of non-formal education.

The term 'lifetime' applies to education as well to learning. "The word 'learning' was introduced in the past few decades instead of 'education' to emphasize the primacy of the learning process, where the individual is supposed to play the leading part, while the notion of an external education system carries the connotation of an external intervention."[1] In order to become lifelong, education has to provide for an ability to use information in future professions that are defined according to the type of tasks, subjects and problems to be solved.

The importance of lifelong education is obvious. "European Union countries have introduced lifelong education into the Treaty of Amsterdam. The entire program for education and training of the Communication Commission (Towards a Europe of Knowledge) for 2000-2006 is centered on the subject of lifelong learning. Following the great series of reports that introduced the concept, the recent UNESCO Delors report ranks it first among the great principles that are most likely to guide the future of education." [1]

Like in the case of education, what is blocking interdisciplinarity is coming from the same source: the strict separation of disciplines. But almost all problems are now interdisciplinary, and they claim an adequate preparation. The concept has evolved from isolated cases to gain the status of general organizing principle of knowledge.

Interdisciplinarity contains both the simple joint action and exchange of methods among disciplines and their merger:

• The multidisciplinary approach is defined as a partnership of distinct disciplines;

• Pluridisciplinarity describes the joint efforts of two or more related disciplines to solve a common problem;

• Crossdisciplinarity means using in a discipline the methods of another;

• Transdisciplinarity represents the area of principles or general methods.

Page 63: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

63

The two contemporary strong trends, interdisciplinarity and continuous education, are interconnected and they both rely on constituted, quasi-rigid bodies of knowledge, i.e. disciplines.

2. The System of Modular Learning "The liberation of research and education from persistent schemas for the purpose of real development demand a flexible schema of knowledge classification to replace the stiff academic or educational disciplines by smaller, easily combined units. Those should be the building blocks for interdisciplinary edifices that are able to accommodate all the directions indicated by the nature and demands of the problems to be solved."[1] Research and education as factories of knowledge acquire a new, privileged place in an economy that has become the Knowledge Economy.

2.1. Modular learning for training in Information and Communication Technologies In the Information Society, those educational organizations that aim to capitalize on their knowledge base and expand this kind of behavior at to all their components are the most likely to produce highly skilled ITC specialists. Until now, the disciplines have been institutionalized: an area of knowledge has a corresponding faculty, while departments and chairs cover its sub-branches. It is a classical education system, dominated by theory. When we come to reconsider the ways knowledge is organized, we reach to the conclusion that strict compartmentalization of disciplines is the most serious barrier to improving the qualifications and training in Information and Communication Technologies.

The emphasis must be laid on learning through experience and work-based learning, on the acquisition of core skills and key skills. But the basic tactics that the universities have used in their approach to change is to adopt the new techniques while still keeping their disciplinary structure. The keyword in a program for the creation of a new structure of educational systems, as a coherent attempt to break the compact block of the disciplines, is modularity.

According to [1], the following features must characterize a learning module:

• It is a unit of knowledge that has coherence;

• It has reduced dimensions and is easy to handle;

• It has the capacity to be a part of a general system and the possibility to be classified and retrieved from the stock;

• It has the ability to combine with other modules and to form a strictly consecutive string with them;

• It has the capacity to provide a content link with the other modules in the string and to provide support for independent learning;

• It has the quality of clearly indicating what other modules have to be consulted in order to assimilate it and to which other modules it may lead to;

• It has the quality of being selected by the user from several possible options according to an individual strategy aimed at a professional goal or at acquisition of new knowledge (research).

A good example of using the modular learning is the experiment initiated and led by Professor Gheorghe Stefan at the Faculty of Electronics and Computer Science, Bucharest. The guiding areas of expertise are Microelectronic Technologies, Microelectronic Systems, Control Systems, Computer Science, Communication. Three clusters of domains were chosen: M&I (Mathematics

Page 64: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

64

and Information), S&T (Science and Technologies), G (General) and each cluster contains 10 to 20 disciplines covered by 4-5 (minimal offer) and 6-7 (maximal offer) modules. There were 96 modules required for graduation (12 per semester) the three clusters are represented in a proportion of 32/40/24.

Student options are exercised by considering the relative weight of the domains of expertise, by covering cluster titles with 4-20 modules (less for M&I and more for G), by covering the advanced and applied modules (which means revisiting a domain) and by modifying the distribution of the competence areas during the semesters. In order to be coherently developed, selected and covered, modules are organized within a hypertext, having the kernel on the site of the faculty, while keeping open the possibility to develop it.

The quantitative definition of a module is also worth mentioning approximately 50 conventional pages. For a cautious experiment in a technological faculty 160 modules will have to be introduced instead of 40 courses. Since a student has to cover 100 to 200 modules in order to qualify for graduation, the choice of modules is limited by content and sequence constraints. In other faculties the module/course ratio may exceed a factor of 10.

The main goal of such an innovative project should be the mapping of knowledge according to practical criteria of education distribution and use, learning and training for which it attempts to produce a modular sequencing operation. The project tends to cover everything that an individual can and must know in order to perform professions and roles, while also accomplishing the traditional goals of education (personal fulfillment, dignity, productive activity social roles, conscience).

2.2. Knowledge based Educational Organizations As it follows right away, in order to achieve his or her goal, one must approach the 'main modules’ (considered indispensable), the directions of study (with a variable geometry) and personal sequences of modules (that pursue further linkages), considering also the constrains given by the nature of the modules together with the advantages of a series of successes that are easier to obtain by smaller steps.

Figure 1: Modular Educational Structures

This approach of the learning process in the institutions that are training ITC specialists will determine an organizational model which will allow the systematic process of finding, selecting,

Page 65: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

65

organizing, distilling and presenting information in a way that improves the comprehension of a specific area of interest - defined as such by the process of selecting the main modules, the direction and the set of trajectories formed by the sequences of modules. So, one of the main goals of an educational organization knowledge management is given by the capacity to increase the volume of modules, thus multiplying the knowledge base.

Specific knowledge management activities help focus the organization on acquiring, storing and utilizing knowledge for such things as dynamic development of procedures and methodologies, strategic planning of a direction's evolution, problem solving, and decision making; they must also protect intellectual assets from decay, add to the organization's intelligence and provide increased flexibility.

An educational organization which tries to give its members (teachers, students, stuff) the organizational knowledge they need must be aware of the following features:

• The organization's main resource, which determines its future evolution, is the knowledge base that makes possible to develop new modules, determine their roles, group them and build alternative trajectories with them;

• The organization's functioning, the quality of the educational activities and the graduates' skills are determined by its capability to develop new procedures and methodologies, adapted to the demands of the ITC industries;

• The organization will structure for all the actors in the educational process, individual and collective, specific roles in the organization's knowledge management;

• The organizational culture will produce consensual procedures aimed at preserving the quality level of the educational activities;

• The organization's knowledge management is the defining feature for its identity.

Organizational models have evolved in the direction of increasing the level of the intellectual intensive activities based on knowledge, understood as a trend of progressive humanization, and the educational organizations made no exception. Hierarchical structures, characteristic to the industrial capitalism, based on concepts like control and authority, could produce only small level improvements (like introducing a system of credits), but became obsolete in front of the exponential development of the means of production in the Knowledge Economy. The alternative is the educational organization based on knowledge. The place of a structure rigidly divided in departments and with a predictable behavior, result of a pyramid shaped organization, is taken by more then one non-hierarchical, networking structures.

Figure 2: Configuration centered on memory (Model M)

Source: Prof. Univ. dr. Horatiu Dragomirescu (2001) - "Organizatii bazate pe cunoastere", Societatea Informationala - Societatea Cunoasterii, Editura Expert, p. 430

We have reached the conclusion that knowledge based educational organization should have a memory centered configuration and a fifth generation type of management:

Page 66: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

66

• The dominant type of organizational relationship is multilateral collaboration;

• Internal coordination is achieved through communities of professional practice (chairs);

• An external stimulus produces systemic self-organizing based on adapting;

• The autonomy level of educational process actors is high, with a self-development factor;

• The organizational actors behave active;

• The synergy of the organization system is a result of the common goals.

A fifth generation educational organization, which is training ITC specialists, must comply with the following requirements:

• Transparent display of the new methods and procedures added to the knowledge base;

• Continuous expansion of the knowledge base through organizational innovation and capitalizing on its results;

• Permanent interaction with the ITC industries;

• Awareness and management of its own ignorance.

Figure 3: Conceptual model of an educational organization knowledge base

Source: Prof. Univ. dr. Horatiu Dragomirescu (2001) - "Organizatii bazate pe cunoastere", Societatea Informationala - Societatea Cunoasterii, Editura Expert, p. 433

For an educational organization, the knowledge base is composed of both the personal dimension of knowledge, through the human vector (individuals and groups), and artificial dimension, through information technology. In today's fast-paced society, the knowledge base is quickly becoming its only sustainable competitive advantage. As such, this resource must be protected, cultivated and shared among entity members. Until recently, organizations could succeed based upon the individual knowledge of a handful of strategically positioned individuals. But this is not enough anymore.

Organizational knowledge does not replace individual knowledge; it complements individual knowledge, making it stronger and broader. The full utilization of an entity's knowledge base, coupled with the potential of individual skills, competencies, thoughts, innovations and ideas will enable a educational organization to compete more effectively in the future. Thus understood, the knowledge base has all the characteristics of an extended organizational memory, meant to support specific autonomous projects and to valorize their results.

Those strategic stakes are forcing the organization's components into articulated behaviors, like co-development (interactive generating new knowledge), co-learning (the validation of each-others acquired knowledge), co-management in capitalizing the knowledge. Educational organizations based on knowledge consider the organization's knowledge base to be an important resource, but

Page 67: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

67

also the frame that makes the components interact and form an organism; the relations here are horizontal and the result is the co-evolution of the organization's components.

The evolution of an educational organization based on knowledge has an inter-organizational dimension. Having similar structures that favor the interaction with other entities and using the same type of management, those organizations will recognize each other and will create an environment that will allow both imitation and confrontation. This can only be a catalyst for the process of expanding the organization's knowledge base.

The activities linked to producing knowledge (innovation), communicating knowledge or acquiring knowledge cannot be submitted to an authoritarian rule and cannot be strictly controlled hierarchically; due to their character, the border between the formal and the informal side vanishes and the control of the process is taken by self-managing structures. The distinction between management and the educational activity becomes irrelevant. The manager has more than conceptual and administrative responsibilities. He is in the same time the facilitator, mentor, moderator and promoter. This means that all the educational actors have different types of managerial skills, like project management or communication.

3. Virtual Collaborative Learning Environments The Knowledge Society brought the merger of the activities involved in the acquirement and management of knowledge, learning and work. Thus, a strong link was formed between the educational process and the information and communication technology, in the effort to support lifelong learning in the Knowledge Society.

3.1. Web based Educational Systems The process of creating web based educational standards usually has four stages:

• Research and development in order to identify all the options;

• Specification development based on the results of the first stage; example: Ariadne Foundation;

• Developing and testing a prototype that is successively improved using the feedback; example: ADLNet;

• A standard that will work for large areas from different fields of education is created beginning with the improved specifications of the solution.

The development of a model for educational design is aimed at defining and identifying all the actions involved in an efficient educational activity. A model consists of a set of procedures for analyze, design, development, implementation, and testing the educational environments.

The analyze phase will identify the educational necessities that will further determine the objectives of the learning process. The target group and the educational environment are defined now.

The design phase will reveal the educational strategies. This will determine the selection and development of the educational aids.

Then the educational model is implemented. The testing and the feedback will produce important adjustments in the initial specifications.

Page 68: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

68

3.2. The Project SMART The Project SMART is developed by the Laboratory for Information Technology in Education (LITE) from the Black Sea University Foundation, in partnership with RACAI - Romanian Academy Center for Artificial Intelligence and SNSPA - The National School for Political and Administration Studies, as a part of the INFOSOC Program. Its goal is to create modular educational systems assisted with resources that belong to the Information Technology. The project's scientific objectives are:

• To develop a scientific methodology for the innovative process of reforming the educational system in Romania based on the modularization of the curriculum. The first targets of this methodology are the post-graduate courses and the technology faculties;

• To develop a software package that will deal with the management of the educational modules database, will offer guidance to the students in building the personal curriculum and will create a tutor/student interface.

• To develop the same method for continuous education and interdisciplinary research.

The activities that will be carried out by the three partners are completely autonomous, using techniques and methods that are totally different, but, in the same time, convergent. The Laboratory for Information Technology in Education will bring its contribution in the field of educational science research, the Romanian Academy Center for Artificial Intelligence will develop the educational software and the National School for Political and Administration Studies will test the successive versions of the SMART solution and give the very important feedback. The result will be a methodology for introducing the modular education system in all the fields of learning - this forms the knowledge base of the organization. The educational organization formed for this project by the three partners has a horizontal structured and it is using advanced, fifth generation, knowledge management techniques.

The software instruments of the project will be developed using the standardized educational assistance frame ARIADNE (Alliance for Remote Instructional Authoring Distribution Networks for Europe). For each component of the software product SMART there will be developed a prototype, which will be implemented and tested for very distinct types of courses. Using the feedback, there will be produced the initial version of the solution for modular educational systems, SMART.

Although the results of the innovations in the educational system can be usually measured only after 15-20 years, for the SMART project the following results are expected right away:

• To increase the efficiency of training by adapting to the professional target;

• To reduce the quantity of information transmitted to the student that is useless in achieving his/hers educational goal;

• To reduce the costs of education, for both the institution and the individual;

• To raise the quality of training;

• To raise the level of personal motivation.

4. Conclusion Knowledge Society has brought a major challenge for the educational system. The old structures, dating from the ages of the industrial capitalism, cannot be adapted to an economy where the pace

Page 69: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

69

of information renewal is accelerating all the time. And the field of education where new pieces of important and relevant knowledge appear faster than anywhere else is the training of the specialist in Information and Communication Technologies.

The solution is to develop new structures, and new educational organizations based on those structures, that will be supported by a strong information system and will be focused on the effective management of their knowledge base. Those are knowledge based educational organizations - the universities of the XXI-st century.

Bibliography [1] Mircea Malita and Orio Giarini, "The Double Helix of Learning and Work" [2] Horatiu Dragomirescu , "Organizatii bazate pe cunoastere", Societatea Informationala - Societatea Cunoasterii, Editura Expert, Bucuresti 2001 [3] Cristina V. Niculescu, "Noi tipuri de sisteme educationale pentru SI-SC", Societatea Informationala - Societatea Cunoasterii, Editura Expert, Bucuresti 2001 [4] University of Texas, Austin, "Knowledge Management Home Page", http://www.bus.utexas.edu/kman/ [5] The Knowledge and Innovation Management Professional Society, http://www.kmpro.org/ [6] The Knowledge Management Forum, http://www.km-forum.org/ [7] Athens Laboratory of Business Administration, "Management Curriculum on and for the Information Society" http://212.54.192.10/macis/ [8] The Association for Computing Machinery, "Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction" http://www.acm.org/sigchi/ [9] ARIADNE Foundation, http://www.ariadne-eu.org/ [10] ADLNet - Advanced Distributed Learning Network http://www.adlnet.org [11] Learnativity.com, http://www.learnativity.com/

Page 70: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

70

Student modeling methods in

WWW-based tutoring systems

Emilia Pecheanu, Diana Stefanescu, Istrate Adrian and Florin Popescu Computer Science & Engineering Department,

University "Dunarea de Jos" of Galati, Romania

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected],

[email protected], [email protected]

Abstract. The World-Wide Web (WWW) becomes a more important educational medium. In this context, Hypermedia Systems (HMS) are learning systems: excellent learning resources, but not artificial intelligence systems. For designing and developing an intelligent tutoring system (ITS), in addition with HMS, an expert system can function as diagnostic tools, for accessing information in a hypertext knowledge base, in order to describe the most productive learning paths, or as a means for modeling student learning. The key of adaptivity in an hybrid system (HMS+ITS) is the student model. We first discuss why student modeling is necessary in an individualized WWW-based tutoring systems. This paper presents a general overview of student modeling: what means the student modeling task, the goals of student modeling, approaches and techniques.

1. Background

The World-Wide Web (WWW) becomes a more important educational medium. Emerging technologies - hypertext, multimedia and hypermedia - enable to use large-scale networks supporting distributed data-bases with hypertext-kinds of links between chunks of information; they also enable to store and transmit (in compressed form) visual and audio data in digitized form in large quantities, and are enabling a playback of pictures, audio- and movieclips in real time. Thus, hypetext and hypermedia provide an ideal environment for learning. Both techniques enable the constructivistic learning environment to support student knowledge construction and a more active role of a student; it can be an alternative for conventional lectures or textbooks and for several problems, in regard to traditional lecture based teaching (ineffectiveness, promoting passivity and student isolation).

Reasons for use of Internet technology in teaching process:

- The Internet provides a very flexible way to distribute WWW-materials and enables distance learners to access that material from a variety of platforms at any time;

- The dynamic, interactive capabilities can provide for increased interactions (feedback to students regarding their progress, authoring).

More highly interactive content is being produced every day using dynamic HTML and Java. But, hypertext and hypermedia have their own problems: "information overload" and "lost-in hyperspace". They do not typically offer an explicit mecanism to help learners better interpret and assimilate information, the context surrounding its creation and use, or the perspectives on the information of the author or other learners. Whereas hypermedia systems are limited to referential browsing, computer-based instructional systems also require contextual linking enabling the traversal of alternative routes based on the performance level of a student and/or the instructional

Page 71: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

71

mode involved. This requires additional facilities not available in the hypermedia model. The base hypermedia model must be extended to a much wider range of instructional modes.

The remedy for disadvantages of hypermedia systems (HMS) can be a hybrid system (figure 1). This combines a Web-based learning system with an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS).

Intelligent Tutoring Systems are instructional, knowledge-based systems, usually created to meet the needs of specific domains [15]. The goal of ITS's is to develop cognitive models simulating human problem solving within a given domain. In contrast to HMS system, an ITS use an explicit knowledge representation and artficial intelligence techniques. The knowledge base contains four different necessary components:

- The domain knowledge base, namely also the subject matter, or the expert model, offers the topics and themes to communicate about, directed by the instructional objectives.

- The student knowledge base, namely also student model, is essential for understanding the learner’s comprehension of the subject matter and for reasoning about his/her capabilities.

- The didactic knowledge base, namely also teaching, pedagogical or tutorial expertise, is responsible for topic selection and presentation, taking the subject matter knowledge and the learner’s knowledge into consideration.

- The communication knowledge base arrange an adequate and efficient dialogue between the learner and the tutoring system regarding the objectives and the learner capabilities.

HTT

P

HTT

P

Student2Student1

WWW client (browser) WWW client (browser)

Internet

ITS (Knowledge based system)

Didactic KB

Domain KB Student KB

Communication KB

Figure 1. Structure of hybrid instructional system

These components form also the basis for most computer based tutoring systems and may be realized in different ways, following various theories and models and using different representation techniques. Basic features of ITS are dynamic instruction planing, explicit representation of pedagogical strategies and individual student modelling [18].

Page 72: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

72

The hybrid instructional system must maintain the best of the ITS world and the best of the HMS world, even though each emphasizes a distinct tutorial view. This system involves establishing a workable balance between cognitive and affective needs, a balance that is delicate and extremely important in the cognitive domain of learning [17].

2. Student modeling versus user modeling

The central component of such hybrid instructional systems will be the student model, the fundamental mechanism to achieve individualisation in the communication between system and students. The student modeling can generally be related with another emerging area of computer science, called User Modeling (via stereotypes); many ideas and solutions should be exchanged between the two areas of student modeling and user modeling [3].

Errico [2] sees student modeling as a specialization of user modeling: 'User Modelling is usually concerned with such aspects as users' goals, plans, preferences and tastes more than skills and misconceptions about subject matters, as it is instead the case for Student Modelling. [...] in the case of Student Modelling, the consideration that beliefs and knowledge are subject to more frequent changes, due to the learning process, becomes important, as the aim of the system is indeed to affect them'.

In summary, while the student modeling community has emphasized 'what' to include in learner models and 'how to diagnose misconceptions', the user modeling community has concentrated on how to acquire effective models based on uncertain and practical information [14]. Details about user and student modeling can be found in [20], [21], [22], [21], [8].

3. Student modeling process

The student model's task is to describe the knowledge and beliefs of the student. The research questions in student modeling are [1]:

- What should be modelled?

- What detail is necessary?

- How closely tailored to individual learners does the model need to be?

In order to allow instruction to be individually designed, it is first necessary to capture and represente the student's understanding of the subject matter. With this information, the difficulty of material, and any necessary remediation can be controlled within the instructional system. The student model also is used to describe the appropriate actions for feedback tailored to the individual student [13].

Building a student model involves defining [14]:

- the "who", or the degree of specialization in defining who is modelled, and what the learner history is;

- the "what", or the goals, plans, attitudes, capabilites, knowledge, and beliefs of the learner;

- the "how" the model is to be acquired and maintained;

Page 73: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

73

- and the "why" , including to whether to elicit information from the learner, to give assistance to the learner, to provide feedback to the learner, or to interpret learner behavior.

In maintaining the student model, the factors that need to be considered include the fact that students do not perform consistantly, forget information randomly, and then display large leaps in understanding.

O'Shea [11], gives the following definition of the student model: 'A student model is that component of a teaching program which is used to predict the current state of knowledge of the student. It usually is a simple algorithm operating on a database which includes a record of the student's past responses. For a teaching program with an expository teaching style a typical prediction might be that a student will always correctly answer some particular question. This prediction would be based on the student's past responses to some subset of questions previously asked by the program'.

The student modeling process can be seen as having four, possibly concurrent, activities [16]:

- behavior recognition (used as the input in the student model and to identify the student's behavior or its outcome as correct or incorrect);

- behavior characterization (helps to differentiate between an ideal and the actual student behavior);

- student model induction (the generation of the student model);

- student model maintenance (after constructing, the model has to be maintained, which can be a very complex task).

Student models in ITSs have three aspects:

- The information about the learner;

- The representation of this information;

- The diagnostic process.

The goal is to reconstruct the knowledge really acquired by observing and interpreting the learner’s activities.

The consideration of time in student modeling appears to be very useful, science it makes it possible to monitor step by step a learning process: 'Student modelling can be viewed as a dynamic process involving temporal features: changes in student's knowledge represent an important aspect to be considered in the dialogue between a tutoring system and a student in order to manage in a realistic and effective way a cognitive and plausible model of the student's behavior' [5], [6], [7].

Student modeling mainly occurs at runtime, when the student uses the system, since it is mainly through the evidence provided by the student's inputs to the system that the student model is created. This evidence is usually scanty, making student modeling a difficult process [15]: 'A comprehensive student model would include all the learner's prior relevant learning, the learner's progress with the curriculum, the learner's preferred learning style, as well as other types of learner-related information. Implementing such a model would be a formidable if not impossible task; thus a large number of systems attempt to model the learner only in relation to the subject matter representation'.

Modeling knowledge of the learner (what is known, not known or badly known) allow to adapt the learning application to the individual learner, diagnosing the learner’s problem solving process especially when his response is unexpected. To derive this model, a system has to follow the student’s interaction with the task being undertaken and with the information being presented. The

Page 74: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

74

system then derives from this monitoring an interpretation of where the student is situated in relation to the domain knowledge represented in the system.

4. Types of student model

Usually the knowledge of the student is modeled with comparison to the expert model, because it is fair to assume that a reference domain knowledge representation must be used in order to make decisions about what should be included in the learner's model [12]. This is the 'domain centered approach'.

4.1. Overlay model

Overlay modeling is the simplest of the modeling techniques; it was first used by Carbonell in the SCHOLAR system. An overlay student model is a subset of the domain model. The assumption of the overlay modeling technique is that all differences between the student model and the expert model are due to a lack of knowledge of the student.

The overlay model (figure 2a) is applicable:

- when the subject matter to be taught can be represented as a prerequisite hierarchy, where the subject has a number of concepts and for each concept there are a set of prerequisites (a semantic network). The overlay model indicates how far the student has progressed in acquiring the subject knowledge with respect to that of the expert;

- with problem solving mechanism, not only conceptual knowledge.

However, if the view of the tutor (expert) is different from that of the student then the overlay model may not be useful. The most main disadvantage of the overlay techniques lies in its handling of "bugs" ("errors") or "misconceptions": overlay models do not have the power to represent the often-common situation where the learner has a misunderstanding of a taught concept. The term "errors" is used to denote observations of behavior which are not in accordance with a reference domain, and "misconceptions" to denote the causes that originated those errors.

Carr and Goldstein used this technique for the game `Hunt the Wumpus'. which uses an expert-based coach called WUSOR. Another application can be found in GUIDON, which uses the MYCIN knowledge base as the foundation of this tutorial system.

4.2. Differential model The differential model (figure 2b) is a modification of the overlay model, that compare the performance (the behavior) of the student and the expert (or just an ideal student) in the particular situation. Differential modeling divides system knowledge into two classes: knowledge the student should know, which is the knowledge the expert used to produce its behavior and knowledge the student could not be expected to know.

Knowledge that is in the expert model but not in the student model is divided by the differential model into knowledge the student could not be expected to have, and knowledge the system believes the student does not have. It is a quite interesting way to capture the misconceptions: the student

Page 75: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

75

model only stores entities that are different between the domain and the learners acquired knowledge on that domain.

Perturbation knowledge

Expected Student Knowledge

Domain knowledge Overlay Student model

Domain knowledge

Perturbation student

Figure 2b. Differential student model

Figure 2c. Perturbation student model

Overlay Student Model

Domain Knowledge

Figure 2a. Overlay tudent model

Figure 2 Types of student models

The WEST game by Burton and Brown uses the differential modeling technique. It avoids feelings of boredom by changing the play strategy and lowering the winning criteria after a failure has occurred.

4.3. Perturbation model The most sophisticated technique is perturbation model; it combines the overlay model with faulty knowlegde representation (figure 2c). Student beliefs and knowledge are considered a subset of a union of the domain and another set with all the misconceptions the learner might have (a model of incorrect domain). In order to represent misconceptions a system will have to search for the reasons for the errors (which is a task carried out by a diagnostic mechanism) creating hypotheses that justify them.

Variantes of perturbation model:

- Buggy student model attempts to represent the erroneous knowledge of the student. As the learner progresses, the student model can be updated with regard to the presence or absence of bugs known in the bug library. To determine the buggy model of a student, the system requires a library of bugs. Depending on the incorrect answers of a student to a set of questions, it is possible to determine bugs in the student's understanding by mapping the student's behavior to bugs in the library.

- Generative student model covers a wide variety of student behavior. It constructs or generates bugs using the domain and buggy knowledge base that match the student's performance during learning. Perturbation of the knowledge base of the domain and/or the bug library proves quite effective in generating bugs. Another way of generating a bug is to have a bug-parts library and construct the bugs during diagnosis. Generative student modeling is appropriate when the bug library does not have bugs that match the student's erroneous behavior. It could also be applied to verify the student's erroneous behavior represented by an overlay model.

Page 76: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

76

The additional information in perturbation modeling expands the ways to explain learner behavior but at the same time we have to admit that building an individual student model is more complicated using perturbation modeling due to the introduction of more ways to explain the student's behavior.

It should be pointed out that the student model is potentially very open-ended, and its design should therefore be driven by the domain knowledge representation and, more importantly, by the needs of the student diagnosis module.

5. Application of student-model in WWW-tutoring systems Intelligent behavior (and thus tutorial capabilities) requires knowledge structured in such a way as to facilitate the desired types of reasoning and cognitive capabilities. In the most instructional hybrid systems, the domain knowledge base is a concept hierarchy, in which the nodes represent the concepts in the domain and the links represent relationships (semantic network, conceptual graphs, description logics, frames, object hierarchy).

Until very recently, educational applications on the WWW were non-adaptive. Now, there are several examples of more-or-less adaptive Web-based tutoring systems: CALAT, ELM-ART and DCG, PAT-OnLine, Albatros, InterBook and WITS. Another emerging class of adaptive Web-based applications which could be used for education is adaptive information systems such as ILEX or PEBA.

The CALAT system - Computer Aided Learning and Authoring environment for Tele-education - consists of an ITS (called CAIRNEY, CAI Expert System for New Technology, developed as a standalone ITS, capable of individual adaptation) on the WWW server side and a multimedia viewer on the client side [10]. This system adopts a mainly overlay model in which the degree of mastery is quantified, and allows control over the amount of detail in courseware selection [4]. The student model represents the space of which the student is aware as a subset of the space that is the object of learning [7].

ELM-ART and DCG (Dynamic Course Generator) are ITS-authoring systems; they are similar in that they use a concept-based indexing of the educational materials which allows building a secondary navigation map. The significant differences between ELM-ART and DCG are: ELM-ART is one specific adaptive teaching system, working only in one particular domain, while the DCG is an authoring tool for creating adaptive teaching systems. In ELM-ART the presentations (i.e. the TMs) are automatically generated by the system’s knowledge base and LISP is needed for this purpose. The DCG uses directly html-files, which can be collected from the WWW. There is also a difference in the style of teaching. ELM-ART [24] provides a hyper-space for the learner to explore, which is in line with the constructivist tendencies in learning environment design. The DCG produces goal-oriented courses in the traditional CAI sense.

The PAT-Online assists students in solving word problems described by one or two linear equations [25]. Students solve these problems by completing a spreadsheet and graph describing the problem situation and by solving equations related to the problem situation. As students work through a problem, the tutor provides help, identifies errors and updates its assessment of the student's progress. Each of the rules in the underlying production system represents a skill that the student needs to master in order to solve the problem. The tutor assumes a simple two-state model of skill learning: each skill is either mastered or not, and the tutor maintains, for each student, the probability that the student has mastered the skill. At each opportunity to learn (that is, each time the student encounters a situation where that skill is needed), there is some probability, pLearn , that the skill will transition from the unlearned to the learned state. Two other parameters estimate the

Page 77: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

77

probability that the student will make an error even though the skill has been mastered and the probability that the student will give the correct answer even though the skill has not been mastered.

InterBook [26] is an authoring and delivery tool for user-adapted textbooks on the WWW. Thr user model is able to store any arbitrary data about a student that might support the system in teaching. The main part stores the student's current state of knowledge. InterBook uses an extended overlay model, which is dynamically extensible to be suitable to any educational domain. Information about the student is gained by tracking user actions like reading text, looking at examples or solving multiple choice tests. This extends the simple approach of an overlay model to a multidimensional space which describes the user's current state of knowledge about a certain concept by a score on any of these dimensions. These multiple scores are finally projected into a scalar value, that can assume any arbitrary value from negative to positive infinity. Each of these scores are used to estimate the educational state of any concept and teaching operation. InterBook employs the user model for user-adapted interaction such as adaptive link annotation, prerequisite-based help, and adaptive sorting. This strong user-adapted interface enables InterBook to support the student in choosing the next relevant teaching operation at any point of his or her state of learning. The quality of this support is limited by the accuracy of user tracking and the derived knowledge score. InterBook lacks any mechanism to track a student's state of knowledge during problem solving, which is often considered to be the most reliable source of user modeling.

The WITS system [19], for guiding differential calculations at high school. Distinctive features of this system are user's (students') error origin identification based on buggy model, student's state classification based on score and frequency of the bug, teaching paradigms' selection based on classified student's states, individualized guidance message generation and adaptive message generation in the WWW framework.

6. Conclusive remarks Student modeling is a fascinating area of research where many problems remain yet to be tackled. Further research is needed to address how systems with different domain and student models can find a common semantics for the communication. A first step in defining a common vocabulary for different knowledge-based educational systems is the task ontology, which serves as a theory of vocabulary/concepts used as building blocks for knowledge-based systems [9].

References

[1] Cumming G.D. and Self J., 'Learner Models in Collaborative Intelligent Educational Systems', AAI/AI-ED Technical Report 55, In P. Goodyear, editors, Teaching Knowledge and Intelligent Tutoring, 85-104, (1991), http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/128676.html

[2] Errico B., 'Student Modelling in the Situation Calculus', (1996), http://www.cbl.leeds.ac.uk/~euroaied/papers/Errico/errico.ps

[3] Errico B. and Micarelli A., 'From Student Modeling to User Modeling', (1994), ps-file: ftp://ftp.dis.uniroma1.it/pub/errico/stud-user.uue

[4] Fukuhara Y., Kimura F., Kohama C. and Nakamura Y., 'A Knowledge-based Educational Environment Integrating Conceptual Knowledge and Procedural Knowledge in Telecommunication Service Field', Proceedings of the 8th World Conference of the AIED Society, Kobe, Japan, 18-22 August 1997, (1997), http://www.ei.sanken.osaka-u.ac.jp/pub

[5] Giangrandi P. and Tasso C., 'Modelling the Temporal Evolution of Student's Knowledge', (1996), http://www.cbl.leeds.ac.uk/euroaied/papers/Giangrandi

Page 78: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

78

[6] Giangrandi P., and Tasso C., 'Managing Temporal Knowledge in Student Modeling', Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference, UM'97, Vienna, (1997), http://w5.cs.uni-sb.de/~UM97/abstracts/GiangrandiP.html

[7] Kiyama M., Ishiuchi S., Ikeda K., Tsujimoto M. and Fukuhara Y., 'Authoring Methods for the Web-Based Intelligent CAI System CALAT and its Application to Telecommunications Service, Proceedings of the 8th World Conference of the AIED Society, Kobe, Japan, 18-22 August 1997, (1997), http://www.ai.sanken.osaka-u.ac.jp/pub/

[8] Kobsa A. and Pohl W., 'The user modeling shell system bgp-ms', In User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction, 4(2):59-106, (1995), http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/kobsa95user.html

[9] Mizoguchi R., Sinitsa K. and Ikeda M., 'Knowledge Engineering of Educational Systems for Authoring System Design', EURO AIED, pp. 329-335, (1996), http://www.ei.sanken.osaka-u.ac.jp/pub/miz/miz-eaied96.html

[10] Nakabayashi K., Koike Y., Maruyama M., Touhei M., Ishiuchi S. and Fukuhara Y., 'A Distributed Intelligent-CAI System on the World-Wide Web', In David Jonassen and Gordon McCalla (eds), the Proceedings of the ICCE-95 conference, Published by AACE, pp. 214-221, (1995), http://www.ai.sanken.osaka-u.ac.jp/pub

[11] O'Shea T., 'Self-Improving Teaching Systems: An Application of Artificial Intelligence to Computer Assisted Instruction', Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag, (1979).

[12] Paiva A., 'About User and Learner Modeling - An Overview', (1995), http://www.cbl.leeds.ac.uk/~amp/MyPapers/overviewSUMChap.ps

[13] Pecheanu E., Dumitriu L., Stefanescu D. and Bumbaru S., ‘Mentor – a Computer-Based Instructional and Assessing System’. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Computer Aided Engineering Education, Sofia, Bulgaria, (1995), pp.274- 279.

[14] Rickel J.W., 'Intelligent Computer-Aided Instruction: A Survey Organized Around System Component’, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Vol.19, (1989), pp.44-57, http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/rickel89intelligent.html

[15] Self. J., 'Theoretical Foundations for Intelligent Tutoring Systems', AAI/AI-ED Technical Report No. 45, In Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 1(4), (1990), 3-14, http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/self90theoretical.html

[16] Sison R. C. and Shimura M., 'The Application of Machine Learning to Student Modeling (A 1996 Perspective): Toward a Multistrategic Learning Student Modeling System, (1996), http://www.cbl.leeds/ac.uk/euroaied/papers/Sison/paper.ps

[17] Stefanescu D., Bumbaru S. and Ariton V. 'Hybrid Systems for Assisted Learning', The 9-th Symposium on Modelling, Simulation and Identification Systems, SIMSIS ’96, Galati, Roumania, (1996), pp.372-381.

[18] Vassileva J., 'Dynamic Course Generation on the WWW', Proceedings of the 8th World Conference of the AIED Society, Kobe, Japan, 18-22 August 1997, (1997), http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~plb/AIED97_workshop/Vassileva/Vassileva.html

[19] Watanabe K. and Kondo, H. 'An Implementation of the WWW Based ITS for Guiding Differential Calculations', Proceedings of the 8th World Conference of the AIED Society, Japan, (1997), http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~plb/AIED97_workshop/Okazaki/Okazaki.html

[20] WWW, 1, User Modelling, http://umuai.informatik.uni-essen.de/field_of_UMUAI.html

[21] WWW, 2, http://www.cmis.csiro.au/Maria.Milosavljevic/papers/um97/

[22] WWW, 3, http://www.cs.uni-sb.de/UM97/

[23] WWW, 4, http://um.org

[24] WWW, 5, ELM-ART, http://www.psychologie.uni-trier.de:8000/elmart

[25] WWW, 6, PAT, http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~plb/AIED97_workshop/Ritter/Ritter.html

[26] WWW, 7, InterBook, http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~pbl/InterBook.html

Page 79: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

79

Competencies and Contents Specific to ICT Disciplines from Romanian High School Education

HE Prof. Dorina PETAC,

ICT Foundation Constantza, Romania

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eugen PETAC,

ICT Foundation, Constantza, Romania

e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

web: www.fict.ro; www.central-systems.ro

1. High School Education System in Romania

Upper secondary education covers:

High School – Liceu/Colegiu (15-19/20 years of age)

o Academic (Theoretical) – 4 years (Specialization: Mathematics and Computer Science; Natural Sciences; Social Sciences; Philology);

o Technological (Specialized) – 4-5 years (Profiles: Technical, Natural Resources and Environment Protection, Services (Economic/Business). For every profile exists some specializations, e.g. for Technical profile: Telecommunication, Electronics and Automation, Electrotechnics; Mechanics; Civilian Building etc.

o Specialized Vocational (Aptitude based) – 4-5 years (Profiles: Sports, Arts and Music, Military, Theological, Pedagogical).

Vocational (training) Schools – Scoala Profesionala (Vocational Upper Secondary – 15-19 years of age);

Apprenticeship Schools – Scoala de ucenici ( 15-18 years of age).

Admissions criteria: the compulsory education leaving certificate (certificat de capacitate) is required by all establishments, except apprenticeship schools. All the schools organize entrance examinations. Only medical post-secondary schools require the baccalaureate diploma. The other admission criteria for post-secondary level are the same as for upper secondary education.

Page 80: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

80

1.1. Structure High schools are mostly public, but a small number of them are private. Teaching is carried out in the Romanian language, but there are also high schools where the teaching is carried out in the languages of the ethnic minorities.

Upper secondary education is organized as follows: day classes over a four-year period (year 9 to 12) and evening classes or extra-mural classes over a five-year period (year 9 to 13). The latter are designed for those who, are involved in other activities in addition to the school programmer. Public upper secondary education is free. Pupils from economically disadvantaged families do not have to pay for textbooks.

In order to be admitted to these schools, pupils apply to sit an entrance examination, after they have completed general compulsory education and obtained a leaving certificate (certificat de capacitate). Pupils can apply for the examination to again access to upper secondary schools (day classes) immediately after lower secondary school or two years thereafter. If they are more than 17 years of age, they may not attend day classes.

There are three types of high schools: Academic (Theoretical) – 4 years (Specialization: Mathematics and Computer Science; Natural Sciences; Social Sciences; Philology); Technological (Specialized) – 4-5 years (Profiles: Technical, Natural Resources and Environment Protection, Services (Economic/Business). For every profile exists some specializations, e.g. for Technical profile: Telecommunication, Electronics and Automation, Electrotechnics; Mechanics; Civilian Building etc; Specialized Vocational (Aptitude based) – 4-5 years (Profiles: Sports, Arts and Music, Military, Theological, Pedagogical).

All types give access to higher education and most of them also offer a qualification and therefore the opportunity to obtain a job after graduation.

The classes are mixed, and are organized according to age group. Classes on average have 25 pupils, a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 30.

Most high schools function as independent institutions. Some function together with lower secondary and primary schools, and some are integrated in combined groups of schools (technical high schools) together with vocational training schools. All high schools work two shifts: classes in the morning and classes in the afternoon.

The school programmer consists of an average of 6 hours per day and 30 hours per week, with some differences, according to the type of high school and the year of study. Pupils attend classes five days per week. Starting with 1998/1999, the school year is divided in two semesters.

1.2. Curriculum

High Schools can design their own plans on the basis of the Educational Plan for high school approved with O.M. 4634/03.08.1995. The syllabi of all subject matters have been reviewed and updated taking into account the regulations of Ministry of Education and Research.

The education plan covers five groups of subjects:

• Humanities and Social Education (Romanian language and literature, two foreign languages, world literature, history, psychology, logic, economics, philosophy and also Latin Greek, aesthetics, history of music, etc.);

• Basic Scientific Education (mathematics, physics, chemistry, geography, biology);

Page 81: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

81

• Optional Subjects (examples: for a basic scientific education - laboratory techniques applied to Physics, Biology, or Chemistry, Information Science, History of Science. For humanities and social education - elements of conservation, reconstitution and museum organization, shorthand and typing, general linguistic and literary theory, elements of archaeology and paleography);

• Physical Education;

• Open Discussion (civics, health education, ecological education).

The importance of each group varies according to the profile of the secondary school, the greatest variations being at the level of humanities/social and scientific subjects. In high schools such as those for art, sports, technology or economics, for example, the optional subjects are more important and usually take up 30% of the total number of hours; these upper secondary schools also have more teaching hours per week (33 to 35 hours).

In the schools for the humanities (Philology Schools, Languages Schools, History-Social Sciences Schools), the humanities and social subjects prevail, with approximately 50 to 60% of the time, scientific education having a share of 25 to 30%.

In Science High Schools (mathematics-physics, physics-chemistry, chemistry-biology), scientific education prevails, with approximately 50% of the time, whereas education in the humanities has a share of about 30%.

In Teacher-Training High Schools, humanities and science education have a similar share - about 30% of the time. An important role (about 30%) is dedicated to specific training (methods, educational psychology, art).

In High Schools for Technology, Agriculture, Forestry, Economics etc., the humanities, science and specific training are of equal importance. In the last two years of study, attention focuses on the specific training.

For the last types of high school, the educational curriculum includes hours of specific practical activities in businesses, schools and other institutions. These activities are given greater importance in the last two years of study.

1.3. Assessment

Pupils are subject to continuous assessment with a formative character in all subjects. The assessment is mostly oral and individual, based on numerical marks from 1 to 10. For some subjects, pupils are given written assessments during the semester and at the end of the semester (final assessment). Responsibility for the assessments lies with the teachers - they decide (depending upon the knowledge acquired) if a pupil should be required to repeat a class or not. Pupils in the last two years of study are subject to tests set by the County School Inspectorates.

The right school ends with a final examination (examen de bacalaureat), under the aegis of a commission established by County School Inspectorates.

Article 26 of the 1995 Education Law established the subjects covered by the final examination:

• Romanian language and literature - written and oral;

• Language and literature of the national minorities - for pupils doing their studies of the languages of the national minorities;

Page 82: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

82

• Mathematics - written; in humanities, theology, art and sports upper secondary schools, pupils can choose a humanities subject instead - written;

• Romanian history - oral;

• One of the foreign languages studied - oral;

• One optional subject – informatics, physics, chemistry, biology, Romanian geography - written;

• One optional subject, chosen by the pupil, different from the above subjects - oral.

If they obtain their leaving certificate (diploma de bacalaureat), pupils can apply for the entrance examination to gain admission to higher education. Candidates may participate in a final examination (examen de bacalaureat) no more than three times. In technological high schools (licee tehnologice), if they pass an examination, and a practical test and write a paper concerning a specific subject, they also obtain a certificate (atestat profesional) granting access to a job.

1.4. Teaching staff

In High Schools, all subjects are taught by specialist teachers, holding a diploma and having completed a long course of higher education, depending on the subjects they are teaching.

Technological education is provided by engineers, trained in Polytechnics (University of Applied Science/ Technical University) and practical training by instructors (maistri).

Teachers teach the same subject in several classes. Every class has a class teacher (diriginte) who coordinates the education activities of the class and maintains with parents.

The teacher's right to in-service training is granted by the Ministry of Education and Research, which co-ordinates and finances it. In-service training of teaching staff is provided in higher education institutions by courses in a particular field, or in methodological and psycho pedagogical training.

2. The curricular key-stages The curricular key-stages represent schooling stages that cover several years, sometimes belonging to different school level and which share common objectives.

Age 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Grade Prep. year I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII

Key stage

Basic acquisitions Development Observation

and orientation Reinforcement Specialization

Page 83: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

83

3. ICT in Romanian High School Education

A minimal list of qualifications necessary to teachers who use ICT in didactics activities:

a) Use of ICT instruments in order to simplify its own and student activity (text editing, spreadsheets, multimedia applications, e-mail, presentations programs).

b) Knowing the main characteristics of information

c) Use of ICT for simulation and modeling of some situations of the teaching discipline.

The usable methods in computer-assisted lessons are:

a) Methods de informing, documenting, processing and storage of information

b) Learning methods and techniques

c) Research-investigation methods and techniques.

ICT offers to students great opportunities in the direction of cooperation with colleagues, tutors, experts, professionals, parents etc.

The features of the learning through cooperation are: transfer of knowledge; modification of the student’s and professors values; team forming.

The structure of the curriculums:

a) The 9th grade (class) belongs to the curricular observing and orientation cycle. The curriculum for this grade (class) contains: a note of presentation, frame objectives, objectives of reference, examples of learning activities and contents.

b) For the 10 ÷ 12 classes (grades), the structure of the curriculums allows the focus on the qualifications that are to be formed at students and that ensure the correlation of the learning contents to these qualifications.

The following are ensured: the forming of the didactic act on the final acquisitions of the learning; the emphasis of the “action” dimension in forming the personality of students; clear definition of the school’s offering in respect to the interests and vocations of the student as well as to the expects of the society.

The curriculum to school decision mentions the following types of optional:

a) Of thorough going study;

b) Of extension;

c) As a new discipline;

d) Integrated to the level of one or more curricular areas;

e) As a discipline that appears in the common block at other specializations.

Page 84: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

84

COMPUTER SCIENCE ALTERNATIVE 1 the 9th grade The learning unit Contents No.

hoursWeek. Notes.

1.Arhitecture of computing systems

• Structure and functions of a computing system

• Health and safety when working with computers

• Operating Systems (functions, characteristics)

4 1-4 (1 hour/week in parallel with 3)

2.Using computing systems

• Operating Systems (interface elements)

• Computer assisted programs • Text editor; image editor;

applications

12 5-16 (1 hour/week in parallel with 3,4)

3.Algorihtms • The concept of algorithms; characteristics

• The elements and the stages of resolving a problem

• Representation of algorithms • The principles of structured

programming; applications

10 1-10

(1 hour/week in parallel with 1,2)

4.Programs • Programming languages (base concepts)

• The structure of programs; control structures

• Data (simple types, variables, constants, expressions)

• The environment of the studied programming language

• Implementation of algorithms (exercises)

10 11-16

17-18

(1 hour/week in parallel with 2) (2 hours/week.)

5.Data structure • Tables (charts) • Character strings • Recordings • Text files

12 19-24

6.The building of an application

• Stages in the development of an application

• Requirements for developing programs

12 25-30

ALTERNATIVE 2 the 9th grade

The learning unit Contents No hours

Week Notes

1.Algorithms • The notion of algorithms, characteristics

10 1-5

Page 85: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

85

• The elements and stages of resolving a problem

• The objects with which the algorithms work

• The representation of algorithms

• The principles of structured programming; applications (exercises)

2.The architecture of the computing systems

• The structure and functions of a computing system

• Health and safety when working with computers

• The history and evolution of computing systems

4 6-7

3. Using computers

• Operating Systems (functions, characteristics, interfaces)

• Shells (Norton Commander, Explorer)

6 8-10

4.Using computers • Text editors • Image editor • Utilities

8 11-14

5. Programming languages

• Programming notions (basic notions)

• The structure of programs; control structures

• Data (simple types, variables, constants, expressions)

• The environment of the studied programming language

• The implementations of algorithms (applications)

10 15-19

6.Structuri de date • Table, character strings, records • Text files

12 20-25

7.The building of an application

• Stages in the development of an application

• Requirements in the development of programs

• Applications made by groups of students

10 26-30

ALTERNATIVE 1 the 10th grade

The learning unit Contents No hours

Week Notes

1.Subprogrames (routines)

• Recapitulation (types of data, data structures)

• The structure of subprograms

18 1-6

Page 86: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

86

• Declaration and call-up (transfer of parameters, local and global variables, return)

• Applications (user-defined, predefined subprograms, libraries of subprograms)

2. Data structures • Data structures (definition, classifications)

• Dynamical structures: the list, the queue, the stack (pile).

• Specific operations (creation, addition, elimination, browsing, testing)

• Applications

12 7-10

3. Recursion • General presentation • The mechanisms of recursion • Applications

12 11-14

4. The BACKTRACKING method

• Non-recursive Backtracking (presentation)

• Applications • Recursive Backtracking • Applications

24 15-22

5. The DIVIDE ET IMPERA method

• General presentation • Applications

12 23-25

6. Designing applications

• Stages in developing an application

• Technical characteristics of applications

• Project-like applications designed by groups of students

15 26-30

ALTERNATIVE 2 the 10th grade

The learning unit Contents No. hours

Week. Notes

1. Data structures • Recapitulation (the elements of the language, types of data)

• Data structures (concepts, classification)

• Static structures (recapitulation)

• List, queue, stack-type structures; specific operations

12 1-4

2. Modularizing and parameterization

• Subprograms (definition, classifications, call-up)

• Parameters (types, transmission)

• Global/Locale variables

18 5-10

Page 87: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

87

(visibility, life-time) • Applications using data

structures • Predefined subprograms and

libraries of subprograms 3. Recursion • Exemplification through

intuitive methods • General presentation • The mechanism of recursion

(call-up and return) • Applications with recursive

subprograms • The DIVIDE ET IMPERA

method (presentation) • Binary search algorithm • The sorting algorithm (through

collation or quick-sort)

21 11-17

4. BACKTRACKING • Presentation of an illustrative example

• General presentation of the method

• Combinatorial generation applications

• Recursive handling of the method

24 18-25

5. Designing applications

• Stages (analysis, concoţie, implementation, presentation)

• Elaboration of documentation • Characteristics of a program-

product

15 26-30

ALTERNATIVE 1 the 11th grade

The learning unit Contents No. hours

Week. Notes

1. Dynamic allocation

• The reference type, pointers • Dynamical variables • Operations (allocation,

accessing, release) • Dynamically allocated linear

structures (lists; specific ops)

28 1-7

2.Graphs • Un-oriented graphs (definitions, representation)

• Browsing of un-oriented graphs

• Connectivity; connected components

• Oriented graphs (specific

28 8-14

Page 88: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

88

definitions, representation) • Tere conexitate

3. Trees • Definitions, classifications, representation

• Representation in memory (static and dynamic)

• Browsing • Binary search trees • Partial tree of minimum cost

24 15-20

4. Object oriented programming

• Basic concepts • Encapsulation • Inheritance and polymorphism • Applications

20 21-25

5. Designing applications

• Elaboration of a project with graphs / dynamic allocation

• Development of interface elements with self or predefined objects

20 26-30

ALTERNATIVE 2 the 11th grade

The learning unit Contents No. hours

Week Notes

1. Graphs • Un-oriented graphs (definitions, representation)

• Browsing un-oriented graphs • Connectivity; connected

components • Oriented graphs (specific

definitions, representation) • Tere conexitate

20 1-10 (2 hours/week in parallel with 3)

2. Trees • Definitions, classifications, representation

• Browsing (generalities, browsing binary trees)

• Binary search trees • Partial tree of minimum cost

20 11-20 (2 hours/week in parallel with 3)

3. Dynamic allocation

• Reference variables, the pointer type

• Dynamic variables • Operations (allocation,

accessing, release) • Dynamically allocated linear

structures (lists; specific ops.) • Applications, with lists,

graphs, trees

40 1-20 (2 hours/week in parallel with 1,2)

4. Object Oriented Programming

• Basic concepts • Encapsulation, inheritance,

polymorphism

24 21-26

Page 89: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

89

• Applications 5. Designing applications

• Elaboration of a project with graphs / dynamic allocation

• Development of interface elements with self or predefined objects

20 27-31

4. Conclusions In the field of teachers training , the Minister's Order no 3437/18.03.1998 has approved "The In-Service Teacher Training Programme in pre-university education" which contains a series of training sessions in using computers for the teachers teaching in pre-university education. Through the Minister's Order no 3345/25.02.1999 concerning initial teacher training, of training a specialist for the teaching career, there are a few recommendations that encourage the adaptation of the curriculum used in universities and colleges that train future teachers to the new orientations of primary and secondary education: training future teachers to use modern technologies.

The training in the field of the use of Information and Communications Technologies has to be extended to all the categories of citizens and all age groups. This objective is closely linked to the professional re-training and lifelong education. Through MO 3354/25.02.1999, the Ministry of National Education has approved the setting up of "Open and Distance Learning" which can be organised by any universities trough general courses, professional re-training courses, or revising professional knowledge, courses and seminars that have a curriculum that leads to obtaining a Degree, or post-graduate courses.

AEL e-learning platform is an integrated teaching/learning program and content management system, based on modern educational principles and technologies. The AEL e-Learning platform offers support for teaching and learning, for tests and evaluations, for managing the educational content, for monitoring the educational system and creating the curricula. AEL can be used for the learning process assisted by the teacher/trainer or for individual education. AEL is implemented at undergraduate and graduate levels of the educational system, as well as in corporations, for internal employee training.

5. References [1]. The Romanian Education System National Report, Romania, 2001 - http://www.see-educoop.net/ education_in /pdf/edu-system-rom-enl-t05.pdf.

[2]. Ministry of National Education, The New National Curriculum, Bucharest, 2000.

[3]. Olimpius Istrate, Educatia la distanta. Proiectarea materialelor., Botoşani: Editura Agata, 2000.

[4] Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, www.edu.ro.

Page 90: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

90

ICT Training Strategies in European Context

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eugen PETAC,

ICT Foundation, Constantza, Romania

HE Prof. Dorina PETAC,

ICT Foundation Constantza, Romania

e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] web: www.fict.ro; www.central-systems.ro

1. The role of ICT in developing the Information Society

The term Information Society describes an economy and a society in which the access, acquisition, storage, processing, transmission, spreading and using knowledge and information plays a decisive role.

The advance towards the Information Society, based on knowledge, is worldwide considered, as a necessary evolution to ensure the durable development in the context of “new economy”, mainly based on products and intellectual-intensive activities, as well as for achieving an advanced socio-human civilization.

The Informational Society based on knowledge is the progress of technology and of communication and computer applications, but also the integration of the economic, cultural, ambient and social dimensions.

A structure of the Information Society is shown in Figure 15. The Information Society is made of five layers: Users layer, Applications layer, Information infrastructure layer, Institutional layer and the Legislative layer. The Applications layer also accentuate (sets off) groups of distinctive (characteristic) applications: e-Business, e-Learning şi e-Governance, including enterprise services and integrated systems. They have in common platforms based on advanced databases and Internet. The Information infrastructure layer constitutes the support on which the information society is build: Internet, the core of information coherence (lists of general interest, base registers *), specific databases of general interest and the ICT (Information and Communications Technologies industry.

In developing the Information Society the State has a triple role:

- Acting as a catalyst, he must be aware of the business environment and the citizens regarding the importance and opportunities offered by the Information Society;

- As settlement organism, the State must ensure the obedience of the rules and the economic growth;

- As major element on the market, the State must modernize (update) its own operations and improve the interaction between the public and the private sector.

5 source: http://www.academiaromana.ro

Page 91: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

91

Specific application information systems • personal (individual, family) • microeconomics (organizational, of some activities.) • middle-economics (territorial, zonal) • macroeconomics (national, international)

General Applications • • • •

e-Business e-Governance e-Learning Enterprise services and integrated systems

The Informational Infrastructure

Organizational and Individual Users

ICT Industry: • communication and information distribution industry • equipments, program-products and specific services industry • informational content industry • ITC training industry

ICT specific institutions***)

Specific and general legislation for ICT

The core of informational coherence

(lists of general interest base registers *) and

The Applications

Layer

Internet

The Institutional Layer

The Users Layer

The Legislative Layer

On an international level, the benefits of implementing the Information Society forces the governments to pursue with priority the following fields:

• Developing the informatics culture, training all citizens to ensure their access to the new technology;

• Democratizing the use of information, for the purpose of enforcing (ensuring) the right of the citizen to have direct access to information;

• Developing the information systems of the Public Administration with the main goal to improve the services for the citizens;

• Developing the communication infrastructure, by reaching standards of quality, response time, coverage and availability, cost reduction (minimizing);

Page 92: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

92

• Developing the trust in the informatics systems, ensuring their security and protection of personal data;

• Developing the electronic commerce for the purpose of profitable participation in the global economy;

• Creating a transparent economic environment for the development and sustenance of businesses, as well as ensuring the administration of public funds and the transparence of their use;

• Developing of a stable and safe society by using ICT in the management of crises, environment protection, and last but not least, by ensuring the social security of the citizens.

The politic will for promoting the Information Society in Romania is dignified by the specific ICT legislation in force:

• HG 271/2001 – establishing GPTI with the role of integrator and coordinator of trans-zonal solutions from the IT field;

• Law 332/2001 regarding (concerning) the promotion of direct investments with significant impact in economy;

• Law 133/1999 regarding (concerning) the stimulation of private entrepreneurs for establishing and development of Small and Medium Enterprises;

• OUG 65/2001 regarding (concerning) the constitute and functioning of the industrial parks;

• OUG 94/2001, OG 7/2001 and the orders of application – regarding (concerning) the tax exemption of programmers;

• Packet of laws for creating the frame that ensures the functioning and the development on good terms of the IT sector: the Law of the electronic signature (Law 455/ 2001); The Law of personal (private) data protection (Law 677/November 2001); Law of the electronic commerce (in debate in Parliament); Law regarding (concerning) free access to public interest information (Law no. 455/2001); Law 8/1996 regarding (concerning) the copyright; OUG 124/2000 concerning the establishment of the Computer Programs Register (Registrului de Programe pentru Calculator);

• OG 24/2002 concerning the collect through electronic means of local taxes and tolls;

• OG 20/2002 regarding public acquisitions;

• HG 182/28 February 2002.

The above show the gradual removal of the legislative obstacles legislative and, more importantly, the involvement of executive management of the state in the matter of the informational society.

Page 93: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

93

2. CLASIFICATION OF SPECIFIC ICT ACTIVITIES - CAEN CODES

Through HG 656/1987 published in the Romanian Official Monitor (Monitorul Oficial al României), Part I no. 301 of 5 November 1997 the Classification of Activities in the National Economy – CAEN was approved.

The Classification of Activities in the National Economy – CAEN ensures the identification of all activities and their encoding in a unitary system. This allows the organization, rationalizing and information of the social-economical informational fluxes (flows), creating the processing facilities for the integration in the international and national systems of presentation and analysis of information.

The CAEN contents ensures the compatibility with other systems of information circulation (flow); similar classifications developed by ONU and CEE, as well as other classifications of goods(products), services and foreign trade with large transparency.

The activities in the field of ICT are situated in the following categories of CAEN codes6:

300 Production of means for computing and office technique

321 Production of electronic tubes and of other electronic components

322 Production of radio-television transmitters, telephony and telegraphy equipments and apparatus

323 Production of radio and TV receptors; apparatus for recording and reproduction of audio and video

642 Telephony, telegraphy, data transmissions

643 Radio communications

644 Other telecommunication activities unclassified elsewhere

721 Consultancies in the field of computing equipment

722 Development and providing of programs

723 Data processing

724 Data banks related activities

725 Maintenance and repairing office and accounting machines, and of computers

726 Other informatics related activities

6 source: Romanian Government Decision (Hotărârea Guvernului României) no. 656/1997 concerning the approval of the Classification of Activities from National Economy – CAEN

Page 94: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

94

At the end of 2000, a number of 4257 companies (firms) have lay down the balance sheet (audit) according to the above CAEN codes. Their distribution in CAEN codes is shown in the graph from Figure 2.7.

5% 12%

31%7%1%

21%

23%

CAEN 300

CAEN 721

CAEN 722

CAEN 723

CAEN 724

CAEN 725

CAEN 726

Figure 2. – Distribution of companies from the ICT fields in CAEN codes These companies total a number of 14.843 employees. The distribution of these figures in CAEN codes is presented in the following.

12%6%

44%7%

1%

16%

14%

CAEN 300CAEN 721

CAEN 722CAEN 723

CAEN 724CAEN 725

CAEN 726

Figure 3. Distribution of number of employees in CAEN codes

The above highlighted companies are those companies that have as main object of activity one of the previous enumerated CAEN categories. Activities in the field of Information Technology and Communications are also se deploying in companies that don’t have as main area development of activities according to the previous mentioned CAEN codes.

Of the companies with the above mentioned CAEN codes, 38% are situated in Bucharest, 7,4% in Cluj county, 4,5% in Braşov county, 4,1% in Timiş county, 2,9% in Iaşi county, 2,9% in Sibiu county, 2,6% in Constantza county, 2,6% in Bihor county, 2,3% in Dolj county, the rest of the counties having a percentage below 2%.

According to data provided by the National Institute of Statistics 77% of the total companies presented above are companies with mostly private capital (fund), these making 97% of total exports in this field. 57% of the total number of employees of these companies work in the private sector, those having a 23% greater average rate of salary expenses for an employee then the companies in the field that have mostly state capital.

7 source: http://www.mdp.ro/

Page 95: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

95

3. CLASIFICATION OF SPECIFIC ICT OCCUPATIONS IN ROMANIA - COR CODES

In commercialism standard classification systems are used, which constitute the base components of the economic informational system. These constitute themselves in indispensable instruments for ensuring in a unitary manner the gathering, storing, processing and data analysis.

Their ensemble represents the unitary system of classifications and lists, which functions at macroeconomic level.

The elaboration of the new classifications of occupations in Romania (COR) had as a main goal the alignment with the international standards developed by the European Community (ISCO-88-COM) and UN (ISCO-88), thus ensuring the transparence of the social-economic information in the field of resources and using the labor force.

The Classification of occupations is the operation of systematization of occupations (jobs and crafts) of active population, in which an occupation is classified one time only.

Based on HG no. 575 bis/1992, regarding the “Implementing unitary lists of general interest provisioned in the general conception of information in Romania”, the Ministry of Work and Social Solidarity – together with the National Commission for Statistics, the Ministry of Research and Education and the Ministry of Resources and Industries – has the responsibility of developing and “up to date” maintenance of classification of occupations (jobs – crafts) from Romania.

In Romania, the ICT training is done on different grades of preparation, for the formation of personnel in occupations with the following in COR codes:

Long-term university studies, with or without a master’s degree: Computers 213101, 213102, 213103, 213104

Automatics and industrial informatics 214402

Applied Informatics 213101, 213102, 213103, 213104

Mecatronics 214406

Industrial robots 214402

Applied electronics and communications 214406

Economical informatics 213101, 213102, 213103, 213104

Bookkeeping (Accountancy) and business (commercial) data processing 244109

Mathematics + Informatics 232101, 213101, 213102, 213103, 213104

Audio-Visual Communications 214406

Short-term university studies: Information Technology 213101, 213102, 213103, 213104

Computer assisted technologies 213101, 213102, 213103, 213104

Office computing 343101

Page 96: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

96

Electronic processing of economical data 213101, 213102, 213103, 213104

Audio-video, multimedia 214406

Technical Informatics 213101, 213102, 213103, 213104

Continuous forming / schools of masters (foreman) – with/without higher (superior) studies in other domains:

Computer Consultant 213104

System Engineer 213901

Databases Administrator 213903

Network Administrator 213902

Chief-operator in industrial robots 312301

Shift leader in computing centers or offices 312202

Post-high school course, refresher course: Computing equipments and networks technician 312203

Computing systems maintenance technician 312203

Technician-operator in industrial robots 312302

Analyst-programmer assistant 312102

Electronic computer and networks operator 312201

High school – technological or informatics course, vocational school: Programmer assistant 312101

Computing equipments electrician-serviceman 724201

Electro mechanic networks cables 724404

Telecommunications electrician 724407

Telecommunications fitter, adjustor; signaling, centralization and blocking installations724410

4. ICT EDUCATION AND TRAINING

As the real evolution of national economy, on a long, medium and short term evaluation, is clenched in the ties of a „vicious circle” of perpetuation and even deepen the gaps (postponements) of productivity and life standard compared to the European Union, „The medium term National Strategy for economic development of Romania”, proposes itself to ensure the attenuation and the gradual removal of the gaps towards the advanced countries, the modernization of our country keeping pace to the exigencies of transition towards an international-cultural economy where the educational chapter represents the keystone of our social and economic development.

Page 97: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

97

The main purpose in this domain is promoting the educational reform, both at the base level, as well as to the superior level, through modernization of the education system placing the stress on:

• Decentralization of the national education system;

• Promoting the contractual relationship between the education units and local communities;

• Organization of the national system of forming the managers from the education system;

• Developing (Encouraging) the use of information technology and communication in the educational process;

• Expanding of the national system of distance education;

• Applying the national program of adult education and the „second chance in education” program;

• Continuous professional forming, in respect with similar policies from EU, creating equal chances of access to information, research, technological-development, education and continuous forming;

• Restructuring of financing in education.

Starting from the fact that there is no field of activity where no processing and no information transmitting is done both inside and outside that particular field, education must be concerned with the gaining of knowledge and skills in using Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) by scholars and students. Introduction of ICT in education leads to the development of abilities of using ICT resources, to using these resources in learning other disciplines, to the development of skills related to accessing, interpreting and presenting information, to modeling and event control, to understanding the implications of ITC in society.

In Romania, the ICt training is done in state and private institutions.

Institutions accredited by the Ministry of Research and Education to achieve training in ICT field are part of the Pre-University and University Education System.

There are private institutions, accredited by the Ministry of Research and Education, by the Center for Training in Informatics or unaccredited, which have in their object of activity ICT training.

Regardless of the type of institution, state or private, accredited or not, in the perspective of standardization at European level, the ICT training is done according to the following levels:

• Long term university studies, with or without a master degree;

• Short term university studies;

• Continuous forming / schools of foremen (masters) – with/without higher (superior) studies in other fields;

• Post-high school course, refresher course;

• High-school – technological or informatics course, vocational school.

The professional forming programs ensures the gaining of professional qualifications according to the nation-wide acknowledged occupational standards approved by the Council for Occupational Standards and Certification (Consiliul pentru Standarde Ocupaţionale and Atestare), HG 779/1999, act of establishment. COSA, national organism for certification of

Page 98: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

98

professional qualifications ensures the quality of the system by authorizing the evaluation centers, by monitoring their activity, by evaluating and certification of evaluators.

According to the proceedings of the Law 151/1999, qualification certificates come as complement of the graduation degrees, which certify the fact that one person followed a training (forming) course and confirms the qualifications gained (obtained).

Professional qualifications are gained through initiation, qualification, specialization, re-qualifications (art. 5), and after sustaining and promoting the evaluation tests (set of practical and/or theoretical tasks) for professional qualifications, certificates are issued as follows: (art.30, 31)

- Certificates of professional qualification for initiation strategies and courses;

- Certificates of professional qualification for qualification or re-qualification courses;

- Certificates of professional qualification for perfection or specialization strategies and courses;

- Certificates of professional qualification for apprenticeship courses at place of employment;

The Decree provides (art.31, pct.3), that in case of professional forming programs structured on modules, at the completeness of each module, after sustaining the evaluation test, a certificate of professional qualification is issued.

The occupations of the – high school course – technological or informatics, vocational school level and of the – post-high school course, refresher course level are found in the educational offerings of the Pre-academic Education theoretical and technological ways.

The Level – Continuous Forming/ foremen (masters) school – with/without higher studies in other fields is accomplished mainly in private education institutions.

The above-mentioned levels are mainly achieved from institutions from the pre-academic education: high schools, vocational schools and foreman schools. It is observed that the most seek schools are those that have in their educational offer occupations din ITC field and are followed by the best students.

Creation of a policy and of a legislative frame for technical and professional forming and education face great hardness’s in this moment in Romania. MEC is facing with an extremely changeable market from the viewpoint of the skills necessary to graduates in the regard of hiring; în parallel great pressures are made at political and economical level for the resolving of the problems generated by unemployment and the current recession. For example, in this moment, there are no policies or legal provisions that allow the continuous development (in next place) of the professional forming and education in Romania. The offering is spontaneous, coming as a response to the immediate needs and to the available resources in that particular moment, especially financier resources provided by external sponsors (donors). Following the adoption of Law no. 76/2002 - Law regarding (concerning) the insurance system for unemployment and the stimulation of labor force occupation”, published in The Official Monitor, Part I, no. 103, the Ministry of Work and Social Solidarity through County Agencies of Labor Force Occupations took the responsibility for the organization of the training courses for unemployed or other courses solicited on the labor force market. Training courses are organized by:

- Centers of the Ministry of Work and Social Solidarity (MWSS).

- Training centers established with foreign financial aid and now partially in responsibility of MWSS.

- Education institutions (vocational schools, universities etc.).

- State centers, private training institutions, consulting and training companies and NGOs.

Page 99: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

99

MWSS holds a list with institutions “able” to organize training courses and, when are solicited, courses in a field for which its centers do not offer training, a local auction is held. The courses may last up to nine months and are organized by local employment of labor force offices at the express solicitation of companies.

Long or short-term university studies ensure high qualification in the ITC field. These studies are provided by: Universities, Technical Universities, Institutes, University Colleges and Post-University schools. In addition, individual (private) institutions offer permanent education courses (up to a year long and focused on certain qualifications required by the labor force market), advanced studies for university graduates (master’s programs up to two years long), post-university studies (up to two or three years log for offering a higher professional specialization) and doctorate studies (from four to six years, for those institutions authorized by the National Council for Certification of the Academic Tittles, Diplomas and University Certificates (Consiliul Naţional pentru Atestarea Titlurilor Academice, Diplomelor si Certificatelor Universitare).

High qualifies human resources are worldwide acknowledged – 116 universities cu 36 faculties de Computers; in 1999 – 300.000 IT specialists (according to RACTDG).

Referring to the field of Information Technology and Communication, the “Porter’s diamond” model, is presented in Figure 4.

Local Factor: 5000 graduates per year in the IT field (partially emigrates); native intelligence; innovative spirit; current solutions are not yet integrated in a coherent and unitary planning.

Support fields and industries: Education; Research and Development; Production of echipamente.

The Demand: In the field of Information Technology (IT) the offer is bigger than the demand; the society is not fully aware of the advantages offered by the use of IT; Romanian software developing companies exportă “sporadic”, based on direct contracts with countries from UE and USA.

Companies and si competition: - 5 large foreign suppliers of hardware

equipment represented in Romania; - very few Romanian producers of

computing equipments; - few Romanian producers of integrated

solutions (system integrators); - Romanian companies don’t have the

strength to compete at international auctions with the large foreign suppliers, due to imposed conditions;

- few Romanian companies are ISO9000 certified

Figure 4. Porter’s Diamond for the ICT industry

According to the above analysis, we note that a competitive advantage of Romania in this field might be the existence of human resources trained for ICT field.

Page 100: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

100

5. CONCLUSIONS

Romania has yearly about 5000 students graduating in ICT’s specialties, among the over 30000 engineers. The BrainBench Global IT IQ Report for 2001 positions Romania as the first country in Europe, and the sixth worldwide, in the classification of geographical areas with the highest concentration of certified professionals in 30 of the most critical information technology skill areas. The total number of ICT specialists is 63.600 of which 45.444 are working in the private sector,

of which 18.800 are software developers. Estimates indicate that 21,5% of the employees in the public sector use ICT tools in their work.

Starting from July 2001, the Romanian Government approved the income tax exception for the software developers, which, in about an year had as effect an average increase of 40% of the personnel engaged in these activities. The personal migration decreased during this period from 15% to 2% and were registered numerous cases of Romanian specialists who came back after few years spent abroad. The number of ICT specialists working in the private sector has increased during the last two years with 82%.

In 2001 the Romanian Government approved through Governmental decision the introduction of 500.000 computers in all Romanian schools and high schools, accompanied by the provision of Internet connection and educational software. The value of the project is about USD 260 million and is expected to be finalized until the end of 2004.

In Romania there are 2499 companies registered as software development companies, 2365 companies active in the IT services’ sector and 288 companies registered in communications field. The export of software products grew in 2002 with an average of 45% and is comprised by IT products, as well as IT services.

6. References [1] EUQuaSIT, www.euquasit.net.

[2] ESIS II Report: Information Society Indicators in the CEEC countries, www.eu-esis.org/esis2proj/

esis2index.htm

[3] IDC, www.idc.com.

[4] Romanian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Bucharest, Romania, www.mcti.ro.

[5] Romanian Government Decision (Hotărârea Guvernului României) no. 656/1997 concerning the approval of the Classification of Activities from National Economy – CAEN

[6] http://www.academiaromana.ro

[7] http://www.mdp.ro/

Note: The work described in this paper is supported by the European Commission within the Leonardo da Vinci II Project (EUQuaSIT – European Qualifications and Strategies in Information and Communications Technologies– D/00/C/P/RF/91309).

Page 101: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

101

Integrating a Virtual Library in an Educational System

Diana Stefanescu , Emilia Pecheanu1 and Sabin Corneliu Buraga 1 2

1 Computer Science & Engineering Department, University "Dunarea de Jos" of Galati, Romania

2 Faculty of Computer Science, "Al.I.Cuza" University of Iasi – Romania

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract. The paper describes a project currently being developed at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of the University "Dunarea de Jos" Galati-Romania. The main project target is to integrate a Virtual Library in an Educational System for the curricula disciplines.

1. Introduction

For the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, to which the Department of Computer Science and Engineering belongs, one of the major objectives after 1995 was to find new methods of teaching in order to improve the technical expertise of graduating engineers. As a result, there is an urgent need to provide distance learning and to make technical education available on the Intranet/Internet [3].

Since 1995, members of Department of Computer Science and Engineering have been jointly working on developing and implementing a tutorial using both modern communication technologies and teaching methods. The authors of this paperwork have designed and implemented the system named SED-BIBVIR.

2. Project requirements

We intend to build an system that will be able to integrate an assisted instruction (learning guidance and supervision for students involved in courses) and a virtual library, containing the teaching information (courses, papers, books, news).

The system is using Internet-style WWW services to provide access to the teaching and documentation information. The relational database managed system mentaines document’s content descriptions. Instructional content is organized into a virtual library.

2.1. System functionalities On-line user community creation for every educational institution;

Integrated services for different communication formes between users;

Page 102: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

102

Virtual library that will able to provide independent documentation services and to include materials;

Learner instruction;

Testing, training and interactive evaluation;

The system will be able to offre multiuser, distance access (Internet and Intranet) to the instructional content and informations for interest groups;

Portability and friendly access;

Easy access using the well-known WWW interface and download facility;

Hight security using crypting technologies.

3. System architecture

The SED-BIBVIR system is conceived to consist of three components (figure 1):

1. SINBAD sub-system;

2. SINTEST sub-system;

3. BIBVIR sub-system.

Each component accomplish the following tasks:

SINBAD (instructional environment built upon a relational database system) – that allows interactive multi-user remote access to lessons;

SINTEST (interactive testing and self-assessing environment) – that allows multi-user remote access to packages of interactive question sets to be answered by students in order to self-asses their domain knowledge;

BIBVIR (virtual library) - that will be an interactive environment used for different material (instructional content, papers, books, or other publications) registration, storage and retrieval; these is the knowledge base for SINBAD and SINTEST sub-systems.

The first two components will be summary presented, while the third is the subject of this paper.

SINBAD SINTEST

BIBVIR

SED-BIBVIR

Figure 1. SED-BIBVIR components

Page 103: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

103

3.1. The SINBAD environment

The SINBAD instructional environment is a computer aided educational tool that allows users access through a standard hypertext browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape) - connected via Intranet to the Web server - providing the instructional information.

User’s connection to the instructional materials demands authentication.

SINBAD has four main modules, named: NAVIGATOR, FORUM, MONITOR and CONSTRUCTOR.

The NAVIGATOR module provides the user with the following features:

1. – allows authentification based users access to educational contents of the lessons;

2. - displays the educational contents of the lessons; the creation and presentation of the dynamic lessons is made upon user’s request;

3. - provides the student with predefined paths for guided browsing of the lessons’ system offered by the tutorial;

4. – provides “cognitive maps” for each cours, with concepts hierachy;

5. - allows random lesson browsing;

6. - allows unlimited number of instructional sessions;

7. - hosts calls of the testing/assessing environment SINTEST.

8. - stores in the database tables the navigation path followed by each user during every instructional session.

The FORUM module provides the following features:

1. - allows users access to a collaborative work platform, for information and ideas exchange between teacher and students;

2. – provides a chat server and mail-server and users group configuration;

3. – allows work sessions at the particulary and configurable time;

4. – allows information and announce storage, through FAQ (frequentley answers-questions).

NAVIGATOR FORUM

MONITOR

SINBAD

BIBVIR

SINTEST

CONSTRUCTOR

Figure 2. SINBAD components

Page 104: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

104

The MONITOR module provides the following features:

- provides statistics on number’s system users, on instructional sessions properties, on lessons accesses, on different navigation paths followed by the students;

– allows teacher access to the sessions tracks through authentification key;

– builds users profiles.

The CONSTRUCTOR module provides the following features:

1. – allows display specification for documents that compose the lesson or the instructional module (stylesheets);

2. - allows the glossay of terms building;

3. – allows to specify the documents hierachy and links between documents that compose the course;

4. – allows the teacher to build the self-assessment links on the subject presented;

5. - students gestion (access rights, FAQ rights) for the course;

3.2. The SINTEST environment

SINTEX is an interactive testing/assessing tool. Students access to the question sets is interactive through a standard HTML browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape); the question sets are dynamically generated as HTML pages, and are sent on request from WWW server via Internet/Intranet. The contents of question sets, as well as students answer choices, are stored in the BIBVIR module.

SINTEX also allows teachers adding or updating the question sets, through an interactive remote access based on the same WWW technology.

SINTEST has four main modules, named: EVALUATOR, ANTRENOR, CHESTIONAR and ANALIZOR.

The EVALUATOR module provides the following features:

1. - students access to the question sets of the system; the access requires authentification;

2. - students knowledge self-assessment/examination through test sessions; during a test session the student is presented HTML pages with various item types, where he has to select the correct answer(s);

EVALUATOR

ANALIZOR

SINTEST SINBAD

BIBVIR

CHESTIONAR ANTRENOR

Figure 3. SINTESTcomponents

Page 105: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

105

3. - each testing session presents several questions, randomly selected from the entire set of questions.

4. – different assessment types: summative assessment (evaluation at the conclusion of a unit or units of instruction or an activity or plan to determine or judge student skills and knowledge or effectiveness of a plan or activity) or formative assessment (outcomes are the culmination of a teaching/learning process for a unit, subject, or year’s study).

5. - allows a student to perform an unlimited number of assessment sessions, keeping track of each one of them.

The ANTRENOR module accomplishes the following tasks:

1. - users access (the access requires authentication) to the question sets of the system;

2. – feed-back after each answer: congratulation, explication, suggestion or right answer;

3. – calculates and stores results;

4. - allows a student to perform an unlimited number of autoevaluation sessions, keeping track of each one of them.

The CHESTIONAR module provides the following features:

1. - teachers access to the question sets of the system (the access requires authentication) and items types

2. - interactive adding and updating of questions and answers;

3. - teachers can grant students the access to the correct answers of the questions in the set.

The ANALIZOR module accomplishes the following tasks:

1. - provides, on request, statistics of the activity of a certain student or group of students that have performed test sessions;

2. - provides, on teacher’s request, statistics on the manner in which certain questions or groups of questions have been answered;

3. - provides, on request, the correct answers, if students access was granted by the teacher.

3.3. The BIBVIR environment

The main project target is to integrate a Virtual Library in this Educational System. The BIBVIR module is the environment that implements the virtual library characteristics:

1. Documents acquisition: documents inclusion in the knowledge pool (library). The knowledge pool support is a relational database system. Before inclusion, the documents must be “prepared” through validation, formatting and indexation.

2. Documents catalogation: the author or editor inputs the information about the documents.

3. The relational data base will contain document description and her location.

4. The BIBVIR permits to disseminate information widely, via Internet.

For people who want to disseminate information widely, features supported by only the latest releases of Netscape and Internet Explorer are not useful. We use also XML, RDF and topics maps.

RDF stands for Resource Description Framework. RDF is built for the Web, but let's leave the Web behind for now and think about how we find things in an virtual library.

Page 106: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

106

In most libraries these days you'd use the computer lookup system, basically an electronic version of the old card file. This system allows you to list books by author, title, subject, and so on. The list includes the date, author, title, and lots of other useful information, including (most important of all) where each book is.

First of all, each of these systems is based on metadata, that is, information about information. In each case, you need a piece of information (the book’s location) you don't have. In each case, you use metadata (information about information) to get it.

We're all used to this stuff; metadata ordinarily comes in named chunks (subject, director, books category) that associate lookup information with the information you're really after.

We used metadata. In fact, the library define their own system of metadata and their own facilities for storing and managing it. They typically do not offer facilities for sharing or interchanging it. This doesn't cause too much of a problem, assuming they do a decent job with the user interface. We are comfortable enough with the general process we call "looking things up" (really, searching via metadata) that we are able to adapt and use all these different systems.

The most common daily use of metadata is to aid our discovery of things. But there are lots of other uses going on behind the scenes. The library is storing other metadata that you don't see: how often the books are being used, how much it cost to buy them, where to go for a replacement, etc. Running a library would be unthinkable without metadata. The evidence of the power of (even limited) metadata is clearly.

XML is really a meta-language for describing markup languages. In other words, XML provides a facility to define tags and the structural relationships between them. Since there's no predefined tag set, there can't be any preconceived semantics. The XML is constantly working to extend the definition of HTML to allow new tags to keep pace with changing technology and to bring variations in presentation (stylesheets) to the Web. All of the semantics of an XML document will either be defined by the applications that process them or by stylesheets.

XML, SGML and RDF is a way to make information more manageable and findable, but they did not actually solve the problem. When XML is introduced into an organization it is usually used to structure the organization’s documents, but they will not help anyone find the information they are looking for. What changes with the introduction of XML is that the document processes become more controllable and can be automated to a greater degree than before. But the big picture, something that collects the key concepts in the organization's information and ties it all together, is nowhere to be found.

This is where topic maps come in. With topic maps you create an index of information which resides outside that information, as shown in the diagram above. The topic map (the cloud at the top) describes the information in the documents (the little rectangles) and the databases (the little "cans") by linking into them using URIs (the lines).

The topic map takes the key concepts described in the databases and documents and relates them together independently of what is said about them in the information being indexed. So when a document says "The maintenance procedure for part X consists of the following steps..." the topic map may say "Part X is of type Q and is contained in parts Y and Z and its maintenance procedure resides in document W". This means taking a step back from the details and focusing on the forest rather than the trees. Or, to put it another way, it means managing the meaning of the information, rather than just the information.

The result is an information structure that breaks out of the traditional hierarchical straightjacket that we have gotten used to squeezing our information into. A topic map usually contains several overlapping hierarchies which are rich with semantic cross-links like "Part X is critical to procedure V." This makes information much easier to find because you no longer act as the designers expected

Page 107: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

107

you to; there are multiple redundant navigation paths that will lead you to the same answer. You can even use searches to jump to a good starting point for navigation.

The topic map provides the page content. This solution is perfect for all sorts of portals, catalogs, site indexes, and so on. Since a topic map can be said to represent knowledge about the things it describes, topic maps are also ideal as knowledge management tools.

This is by no means all topic maps can be used for, however. They can also be used to organize the content in content management systems (instead of the simple folder hierarchies and property-value metadata often used today), they integrate information from diverse sources (using merging), and much much more.

So what should be used where? Generally, use XML for interchange and document contents, RDF for fine-grained metadata, and topic maps for making information findable and anything that is mostly about relationships.

The library services:

The reader can obtain a liste containing the available documentation sources.

The reader can read, on-line, the content of book, documents or papers;

The reader can obtain the electronic document, via download.

The reader can use the asynchrone communication (e-mail) or synchrone communication (chat, dial-up).

The BIBVIR environment, will be integrated in the SED-BIBVIR system, along with the already existing SINBAD and SINTEST environments. BIBVIR is conceived to assist the interactive design of the educational information used by SINBAD and SINTEX, to assure library functions, as well as its storing in a structured format (database tables).

The BIBVIR environment consists of information materials (books, papers, student’s lessons for study disciplines, and so on) displayed as texts, images, animated images, charts, applets. User’s access to BIBVIR is allowed through a standard hypertext browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape) connected via Intranet to the Web server providing the instructional information. Each access is as an HTML page which is built on the basis of information stored in a relational database system. User’s connection to the lesson systems demands authentication. SINBAD communicates with the interactive testing/assessing environment SINTEST to allow the students to perform the self-assessment of their acquired knowledge on the presented subject.

SINBAD has three main modules, named: INDEXOR, CATALOG and CITITOR.

The INDEXOR module provides the following features:

Books and materials acquisition for the virtual library: storage of records about documents in library’s catalogs;

Building and storage of documents adiacents files, containing meta-information about document content, semantic, properties and stylesheets; meta-information specification uses RDF (Resource Description Framework), XML (eXtended Markup Language) Schema, XSL (eXtended Stylesheet Language) and XSLT (XSL Transformation);

Topics maps and contextual links insertion, XLL (eXtensive Linking Language) tags.

The CATALOG module provides the following features:

Library catalogs management: systematic catalog, authors catalog, thematique catalogue;

Offers an search-engine, meta-information based;

Page 108: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

108

The CITITOR module provides the following features:

Readers management;

Readers and rights access;

Users groups management;

CATALOG

CITITOR

BIBVIR

SINBAD SINTEST

Figure 4. BIBVIR components

INDEXOR

4. Conclusive remarks This project integrates a virtual library (BIBVIR system) in an Educational System (SINBAD and SINTEST systems). The BIBVIR system provides library functionalities (meta-information based) and educational opportunities (students instruction, evaluation and auto-evaluation). This leads to multiple advantages in exploiting, maintaining and updating the computer-aided instructional system, offering a higher degree of generality approach in implementing and using such a system.

References [1] S.C. Bugara, A Proposal for a Web Structural Search Language Based on XML Technologies, Scientific Annals of

the "Al.I.Cuza" University of Iasi - Computer Science Section, Tome X, "Al.I.Cuza", University Press House, Iasi (collaboration with M.Brut), 2001

[2] S.C. Buraga, A RDF Description of Distributed File Systems, Scientific Annals of the "Al.I.Cuza" University of Iasi - Computer Science Section, vol.IX, "Al.I.Cuza" University Press House, Iasi, 2000

[3] S.C. Buraga, T.Rusu, An XML-based Query Language Used in Structural Search Activity on Web, The 4th Conference on Technical Informatics - CONTI 2000 Proceedings, Timisoara, October 2000

[4] S.C. Buraga, O.Dospinescu, Using XML and RDF to Model Electronic Micro-payments" (in Romanian), NET Report, vol.10, 10 (109), October 2001

[5] S.C. Buraga, RDF: An XML Application, PC Report, vol.8, 10 (85), October 1999

[6] D. Stefanescu, S. Bumbaru, V. Ariton, Hybrid Systems for Assisted Learning, , The 9-th International Symposium on Modeling, Simulation and Systems' Identification, SIMSIS ’96, pg. 372-381

Page 109: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

109

Long Distance Education Systems using Internet for medium aged adults being in activity, an efficient tool for a continuous training of

professionals. “Ro-LoDES” and “Ro-SinFlex-MCF”

as samples of this concept.

Dr.Eng. Gelu KAHU

Head of Development Department of Galati Municipality

e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. The continuous training of medium aged professionals being in activity is one of the major tasks of the modern society. This procedure must be considered as a crucial one, and, for this reason, we must prepare and offer to this social category the best and available solutions. Ro-LoDES and Ro-SinFlex-MCF are education systems dedicated to solve this problem. The architecture of these two systems concerned a package of some specific modules, delivered weekly through Internet. So that the Ro-LoDES system, dedicated for people working in Public Administration, the modules are: 1.Management and Modern Legislation, 2. Applied Informatics, 3.Learning English. The second system is named flexible because there are three alternatives to receive the lessons/ courses: 1. using Internet, 2. in the Class room and on the students site (for example in a commune of the county, using a special logistic installed on a training car) The modules of the package are: 1. Environment protection (Mediu), 2. Quality of the activity (Calitate), How to write successfully a Financing Project (Finantare) and also 4. Applied Informatics, 5.Learning English. The duration of the full package is 30 Weeks (one lesson of each module weekly) For Internet access alternative must be used a password; the next lesson/course can be obtained only after completion the test of current lesson/course.

Page 110: International Conference on Qualification and …02_files/QTICT02.pdfQTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and ... in Information and Communication Technologies ... strategies

QTICT '02 International Conference on Qualification and Training in Information and Communication Technologies

110

ICT implications in the Netherlands and overview of the situation

Dirk Platier, Martin Broker,

VEV International, Netherlands

Abstract Recently in both VET and HE modernisation of ICT-qualifications has been worked on very hard. This means that when comparing student numbers of the last couple of years (especially in VET), fundamental conclusions are hard to draw. At all levels more students then a few years ago are studying ICT. At university studies the growth is big, at higher professional education the growth is even bigger and in VET the growth is enormous. It is a pity that although there are more students who follow an ICT-study, the number of students that successfully finish the study doesn't grow and in some studies even diminish. This could have different reasons. Youngsters might see ICT as being the sector for the future but forget to see if an ICT-study is really in their line of interest and knowledge. It could also be that the ICT-studies, of which most are relatively new, are not well designed according to the target-group of students. The number of women studying ICT is low. At university the percentage of women is about 10%, at higher professional education somewhat less and in VET the percentage of women is very little. The demand for ICT-professionals is big in all sectors and for all qualification levels but also declining in all sectors and all qualification levels (only not on management level). This doesn’t means that within a limited period of time the demand has disappeared. No, thoughts are that also at least the next couple of years the need for ICT-professionals on different levels and in different sectors stay so big that employers in co-operation with temporary employment agencies try to simplify and stimulate foreign ICT-professionals to come and work in the Netherlands. In ICT trade and industry sectors the turnover is still growing but less rapidly then a few years ago. Also automation in trade and industry is still growing, when counting the number of computers used. Also on the domestic market growth is still taking place for penetration of mobile phones, pc’s and internet. Also e-commerce usage is growing but not as fast as in other countries in Western Europe.


Top Related