Towards a Specification of Distributed and Intelligent Web Based Training Systems

Abstract

Abstract. Modern e-Learning Systems are expected to be innovative not only concerning comprehensive representation of content enriched by multimedia, but also in the integration of learning situations in contexts suitable for students. Suitable, motivating contexts can be "fun" as found in strategic games or business simulations or of a more "serious" variety in the form of virtual data labs. In the new BMBF Project EMILeAstat 1 (e-stat) 13 partners from different organisations are cooperating to construct such an innovative intelligent web based training (I-WBT) system for applied statistics. This paper describes the formal specification, the architecture, and the implementation of e-stat from a knowledge and content engineering point of view, applying pedagogical and psychological criteria where necessary. Towards the end of the paper we compare our approach with an emerging e-Learning engineering approach which is based on EML a special XML-dialect.