Overview of Intelligent Tutoring

An Overview of Intelligent Tutoring System Authoring Tools:Updated Analysis of the State of the Art

By Tom Murray

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) Keypoints

Learning system shells are frameworks for building authoring systems. While learning system tools or authoring tools are realizations of learning system shells. Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) are systems that deliver instructional content while incorporating teaching strategies.

When designing an ITS, some of the design goals should include:

1. Interoperability with other systems.
2. Manageability of learner data.
3. Re-usability of learning objects in other applications.
4. Durability and scalability of the system as it evolves.
5. Accessibility to tools and learner content.

Murray points out that the major stumbling block of interoperability of educational components is the lack of shared open standards.

Current authoring tool systems fall into two categories:

1. Pedagogy-oriented - Main focus is on how to sequence and teach canned learning content. These types of tooling embrace teaching strategies and tactics.
2. Performance-oriented - Focus on providing rich interactive learning environments in which students can learn by practicing and receiving feedback.

Murray addresses some of important features of authoring systems:

1. WYSIWIG editing and testing of learning content - Authors should be able to visualize the behavior of the learning content in a static and runtime environment.
2. Flexible skill level design - Authoring systems should flexible to cater to beginners and power users.
3. Reusable content and modularity - When content is created there should be a mechanism for saving and reusing that material. Also mechanisms for module template creation and reuse should be used to reduce repetitive actions.
4. Visual oriented structures - Structures should have multiple user interface views to represent the same information. These views should be visually coherent.
5. Extensible tool architecture - Having the ability to script and to customize elements in the authoring system is very important to creating "generative" ITSs.
6. Administration - Student progress reports and class administration are large factors to widespread adoption of authoring tool systems.
7. Basic editing features - Basic editing features (copy,paste,etc..) allow time consuming tasks to done quickly in an authoring system. However, this type of functionality is difficult to build.
   #Pedagogical Abstraction - Authors should have the ability to view the subject as a series of clicks, buttons to the actual pedagogical methods involved.

Important Authoring System Goals

1. Decrease the amount of time for making learning content.
2. Allow different skill levels to participate in design of the system.
3. Support and enforce design principles.
4. Allow tools to use alterative teaching methods.

When building an authoring system, considerations need to be for who the typical users are going to be, what types of skill sets will be modeled and where is the teaching and domain expertise centered.

A way for authors to comprehend and grasp the complex structures of interconnected knowledge in an authoring system is through powerful visualization tools.

Murray says:
"A significant part of authoring an ITS (or any instructional system) is the systematic decomposition of the subject matter into a set of related elements (usually a hierarchy). Each authoring system provides tools or cues which assist the author in this (usually top-down) process of breaking down and elaborating the content to the necessary level of detail according to a particular model of instructional elements
and their relationships. Such "content analysis" can be distinguished from "task analysis" and "cognitive task analysis." Content analysis tools help authors decompose their declarative knowledge of facts, concepts, procedures, and principles...Task analysis tools help authors articulate procedures and action sequences...Cognitive task analysis tools help experts articulate problem solving and other thinking skills. For performance oriented tutors, the most significant task is in articulating and representing expert performance."