Research of Ubiquitous Learning Application Environment

Song Xu Modern Education Technology Centre

Civil Aviation Flight University of China Guanghan, China

songtao-i@163.com

Zong Hu College of Education

Ningbo University Ningbo, China

nbshiny@gmail.com

Abstract—The method of human learning has changed a lot with the rapid development of information technology, as one can see that appropriate technical support can improve human learning. As a new learning mode, ubiquitous learning has broken through the traditional limitations of e-Learning, and gain much more attention from scholars at home and abroad in recent years. By considering the similarity between JXTA network platform and ubiquitous learning, this paper use JXTA network platform to construct the new ubiquitous learning application environment, and proves the feasibility of ubiquitous learning through an application service composition sample.

Keywords-ubiquitous learning; JXTA; web service; service composition; UDDI

I. INTRODUCTION With the further development of computer

technology, human living space has all kinds of computers, and those computers constitute a ubiquitous living environment based on network. The coming of ubiquitous living environment does not limited only to the field of information and communication technology, but spreads to all aspects of human life, such as commerce, medical and education. And it will make a fundamental change in people's lives. Ubiquitous technology has already brought profound impact in education, among which ubiquitous learning is the most representative one. It breaks through the limitations of traditional e-Learning[1] by new information communication technology, and creates a brand new education environment without the limitation of time and space. This environment is creative, highly autonomous and learner-centered. But how to set up a suitable and universal application platform is still a big problem in the promotion of ubiquitous learning.

JXTA[2][3] is a network application development platform based on P2P[4], it can shield the difference of the underlying communication mechanisms, achieve heterogeneous networks interconnection, thereby ensuring that all users on the platform can easily achieve the shared services, and combine some shared services to form a much larger complex service, and ubiquitous learning is a new learning mode that people can process in anywhere, anytime, and on any device. These two mechanisms are very similar, therefore the

focus of this paper is to use JXTA network platform to construct a new ubiquitous learning application environment.

The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section II describes related theories of ubiquitous learning. In section III, we give the detail of JXTA network platform, and draw that JXTA network platform is suitable for ubiquitous learning application environment through an application service composition sample. Finally, the conclusion is given in section IV.

II. BACKGROUND In early 1988, PARC Computer Science Laboratory

leaded by Mark Weiser began to study the field about ubiquitous computing [5][6], which re-positioned the importance of the environment, more emphasized on the interaction among the people, rather than the interaction of people and machine. In the mode of ubiquitous computing, people can access and treat with information at anytime, anywhere. From the beginning of 2006, the developed countries had set ubiquitous as an important item of national science and technology development strategy, for example, Japanese government launched the "U-Japan[7]" plan, expected to become Ubiquitous Japan in 2010, the United States put forward the "Vision 2020[8]", Europe also provided the "LEONIE[9]" project.

With the development of the computer communication technology, people gradually to concern on the learning activity under ubiquitous computing environment, namely, ubiquitous learning, using the information technology to provide students learning activity, which can be achieved by the using of the hand science and technology tools in anywhere, at anytime. Ubiquitous learning exists everywhere: firstly, learning activity freely occur; secondly, the demand of learning is pervasive; in the third, the resources of learning is diverse. Ubiquitous learning under the ubiquitous computing environment is defined that in the integration space of information space and physical space, the occurrence of learning, the demand of learning, as well as the resources of learning exist everywhere, learners can gain the support of the ubiquitous computing environment at anytime.

2008 Seventh International Conference on Web-based Learning

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DOI 10.1109/ICWL.2008.15

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However, ubiquitous learning does not necessarily gain the support of the learning environment everywhere, similarly, ubiquitous learning does not necessarily produce the corresponding learning effect everywhere. At home and abroad some scholars make some application research on the ubiquitous learning, but these research study under some specific situations, for example, reference [10] developed Computer Supported Ubiquitous Learning System to solve the difficulties encountering in overseas students learning Japanese and Japanese students learning English, learners can be adopted by PDA to store and share information, the systems offer correct expression for different learning environment by PDA. Reference [11] proposed distance teaching-oriented Smart Room based on Smart Space, the system put some devices in a real classroom, such as rich information display device, sensing module and the corresponding computer system, expand the three-dimensional classroom to a real-time interactive distance teaching system interface, teachers can make use of the face-to-face teaching approach to teaching students on the spot, at the same time, transparent interacting with the long-distance students, likely long-distance students also attended in the classroom. Although these application samples can solve some learning questions under certain occasions, there is not exist a common application environment suitable for all ubiquitous learning, so how to build a common ubiquitous learning application environment [12] will become the key issues in pushing broad ubiquitous learning.

III. UBIQUITOUS LEARNING APPLICATION ENVIRONMENT

A. JXTA JXTA network platform is application platform

based on P2P network, its virtual network as shown in Figure 1, any device, such as PCs, mainframes, cell phones, PDAs, these devices can connect to the network through corresponding wired or wireless network protocol, when entering into the network, a device virtual mapped into a peer. JXTA common network platform have the following features:

• Network is extremely self-autonomy, peer can freely join or leave the network, but also can be divided into groups based on individual interests. This feature shows that JXTA support services freely access in anytime, anywhere.

• Network platform shield the difference of the underlying communication mechanisms to achieve heterogeneous network interconnection. From here, We know that we can get services from any kinds of communication devices.

• All peers are equal relationship, it will provide other peers corresponding services, but also get

some needed services from other peers. Namely, every peer serve as server, while they serve as client. This feature reflects equality, human-centered thinking.

• Peer can carry on the information interactive with other peers, and collaborate with other peers to accomplish a particular complex task. This feature can guarantee that we can combine some services to implement peer’s collaboration.

Figure 1. JXTA virtual network

JXTA architecture as shown in Figure 2, JXTA

services layer mainly implement fundamental JXTA network functions, such as service searching, and developer can develop their own application sub-module in JXTA application layer, according to the JXTA standard specification, these sub-module can execute through the underlying JXTA communication mechanisms. The concrete manifestation of JXTA applications is web service, peers in JXTA network can build the corresponding web services in accordance with their respective capacity, such as GPS service, and then release these web services on some peers in JXTA network platform. If other peers in the network need certain web services, only need to call the search module of the JXTA platform to position the corresponding peer that providing the needed services in accordance with their respective needs, then invoke service in accordance with the corresponding standards.

Figure2. JXTA architecture

JXTA peers can add to different groups according to

their interests, then they can get the shared services from these groups, as shown in Figure 3, learners want

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to access distance teaching services, they can add to the distance teaching services group, then they can get all shared related services in the distance teaching services group; if they want to obtain a global GPS satellite positioning information, they only add to the satellite positioning services group. JXTA users in the network platform can build a new group in accordance with their respective interests, and invite other users to join this new group. This mechanism of JXTA model fully reflected learner-centered concept.

Ubiquitous learning have no time, space and device restrictions, supporting autonomy learning, and learner-centered in the process of learning, and from the above analysis, we find that there are very similar between ubiquitous learning application environment and JXTA network platform, so we can take JXTA network as ubiquitous learning application environment, all specific learning activity are embodied in the JXTA network platform through the corresponding web services.

Figure 3. JXTA group structure

B. Application service composition Learner can call corresponding web services to learn

in accordance with their respective needs, but learning is not only confined to the unilateral learning process in the JXTA network platform, it can compose[13] these simple learning process to more complex learning process. Below explain this process through an application service composition sample.

In the previous chapters we have mentioned English voice services, and distance teaching services, for example, we have implemented these two services. Now there is a Japanese user A, he would like to take part into the distance teaching activity through the current ubiquitous learning application environment, but this interactive distance teaching activities is based on English, and this Japanese user A does not speak English, how to solve this problem? Under the

ubiquitous learning application environment based on JXTA, we can combine distance teaching service with English voice service into a complex service, during the process of the composition service, system can translate the English voice that teacher said into Japanese voice, then this Japanese user A can understand the teaching content.

In the process of realization, first is the release of these two services, that is, binding these two services to at least two JXTA peers. Through these services’ release, other JXTA peers in the network can search these two services through JXTA network platform, as shown in Figure 4, there collect a number of function similar services in the service group of distance teaching or English voice, such as English to Japanese service, English to Korean service, and other similar services in English voice services group. Every service provide the corresponding API portal, namely as the peer portal providing the implementation of corresponding service. All users that need to access this service only need to login the corresponding UDDI [14] API portal, then search and invoke this service in accordance with the agreed parameters of this service. In this case, Japanese user A want to achieve distance teaching effectiveness of Japanese version, so he first login into the portal of composition services, then based on his demand to select the appropriate services in the internal service pool to combine, through combination we will get the corresponding group service agent in the working zone. There are two group service agents, one is a distance teaching group service agent, the other is English voice group service agent. Group service agent interact service information with remote certain service group through the underlying network communication mechanism of JXTA platform, and specific service group receive the request from group service agent, it will call local service agent to invoke the corresponding service. There exist some service request’s migration among the service groups under the control of original working zone, thus realize a combination of services. In this case, the distance teaching service based on English language need transfer the teaching voice content to the corresponding English voice service to implement the translation from English teaching to Japanese teaching, then return the teaching voice content after translating back to the Japanese user A through the original working zone, thus ensuring Japan user A can carry out distance teaching activities of Japanese version.

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From this sample, we know that we can not only implement simple learning activity in specific application scope, but also effective support interaction complex learning activity, so JXTA is suitable for ubiquitous learning application environment.

IV. CONCLUSIONS As a new learning mode, ubiquitous learning has

played a great role in the education filed because of its own characteristics, and gradually become a hot spot. This paper consider the similarities between ubiquitous learning and JXTA network platform, proposes that using JXTA network platform to construct the new ubiquitous learning application environment, and illustrate the feasibility of ubiquitous learning through an application service composition sample. The new ubiquitous learning application environment will support simply learning activity within specific application scope, more effective support interaction complex learning activity. The new ubiquitous learning application environment will speed up the application promotion of ubiquitous learning, but in the JXTA platform the learning activity composition mechanism also needs the further research.

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[14] UDDI Technical White Paper, http://www.uddi.org

Figure 4. Application service composition

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