This paper describes a new concept and experiences of a distributed interdisciplinary learning programme for students across continents. The aim is to provide students with a truly Global Intercultural Project Experience (GIPE) by working together with peers from around the world, and solving real-life client’s problems. We have received seed-funding for four annual projects to engage students from Germany (Europe), Namibia (Africa), Indonesia (Asia), and Peru (Latin-America). In 2020, 30 students from four continents engaged in a one-semester distributed software development project for a Namibian client. Despite Covid-19 they successfully completed the project expressing deep appreciation for the learning opportunities overcoming challenges of working across wide-spread time zones, cultures, changing requirements, and various technical challenges. Considering the vast learning benefits, we suggest to incorporate such projects in all tertiary education curricula across the globe.
This chapter describes a new concept and experiences of a distributed interdisciplinary learning program for students across continents. The aim is to provide students with a truly Global Intercultural Project Experience (GIPE) by working together with peers from around the world and solving real-life client’s problems. We have received seed-funding for four annual projects to engage students from Germany (Europe), Namibia (Africa), Indonesia (Asia), and Peru (South America). In 2020 and 2021, 28 and 44 students from four continents engaged in a one-semester distributed interdisciplinary project for a Namibian and Indonesian client, respectively. Despite Covid-19 they successfully completed the project expressing deep appreciation for the learning opportunities overcoming challenges of working across widespread time zones, cultures, changing requirements, and various technical difficulties. Considering the vast learning benefits, we suggest incorporating such projects in all tertiary education curricula across the globe, while streamlining organizational efforts based on lessons learned.
Unleashing Personalized Education Using Large Language Models in Online Collaborative Settings
(2024)
The Artificial Intelligence community has long pursued personalized education. Over the past decades, efforts have ranged from automated advisors to Intelligent Tutoring Systems, all aimed at tailoring learning experiences to students' individual needs and interests. Unfortunately, many of these endeavors remained largely theoretical or proposed solutions challenging to implement in real-world scenarios. However, we are now in the era of Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Mistral, or Claude, which exhibit promising capabilities with significant potential to impact personalized education. For instance, ChatGPT 4 can assist students in using the Socratic method in their learning process. Despite the immense possibilities these technologies offer, limited significant results are showcasing the impact of LLMs in educational settings. Therefore, this paper aims to present tools and strategies based on LLMs to address personalized education within online collaborative learning settings. To do so, we propose RAGs (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) agents that could be added to online collaborative learning platforms: a) the Oracle agent, capable of answering questions related to topics and materials uploaded to the platform.; b) the Summary agent, which can summarize and present content based on students' profiles.; c) the Socratic agent, guiding students in learning topics through close interaction.; d) the Forum agent, analyzing students' forum posts to identify challenging topics and suggest ways to overcome difficulties or foster peer collaboration.; e) the Assessment agent, presenting personalized challenges based on students' needs. f) the Proactive agent, analyzing student activity and suggesting learning paths as needed. Importantly, each RAG agent can leverage historical student data to personalize the learning experience effectively. To assess the effectiveness of this personalized approach, we plan to evaluate the use of RAGs in online collaborative learning platforms compared to previous online learning courses conducted in previous years.