Motivational and social aspects as interactions among teachers and
students are essential for a successful educational process in an open
distance learning (ODL) environment, and the goal of this book is to
develop an interactive model to manage motivation between the
participants of the learning process. The book deals with the important
and topical problem of e-learning, closely connected with the use of
modern information technologies in education. The focus is on developing
an information management system for supporting the distance learning
process in colleges and universities in the context of steadily
expanding information technologies. On the basis of exiting standards
(SCORM, etc.) as well as information systems and platforms (e.g.,
Moodle, etc.), the author proposes a coherent and original concept of
modelling three ODL subprocesses: (1) an ontological model (how to
represent the structure of didactic materials), (2) a motivation and
collaboration model (how to motivate project process participants) and
(3) a simulation model (how to realise the learning/project process).
The proposed models constitute a theoretical formalization of a new
situation in which a teacher and students are obligated to elaborate on
didactic material repository content in accordance with the requirements
of acquired competencies. A mathematical method based on game theory and
simulation is suggested. The kind of educational system represented in
the book can be used as a model of open distance learning aimed at
active behaviour of students and teachers in not only the development of
knowledge but also the acquiring of competencies.
