Professor Darina Dicheva

Department of Computer Science
Winston-Salem State University

Tuesday, April 22, 2008
3:30 p.m.,  Manchester Hall, Room 024

Ontologies for Knowledge Management and Learning
on the Semantic Web

     Most of the Web’s content today is designed for humans to read and not for computer programs to manipulate meaningfully. The Semantic Web is envisioned as an extension of the current Web in which information is given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation. Ontologies are a key technology enabling interoperability in the Semantic Web by providing precisely defined vocabularies that can be shared between applications (and humans). Recent research in the Intelligent Information Systems (IIS) Group at the Computer Science Department, WSSU, has been focused on ontology engineering and development of ontology-based learning environments. In this talk I will present an overview of the main results and prototypes developed in our Semantic Web-related projects. I will present TM4L, a topic map-based ontology editor, which enables building, maintaining, and using ontology-aware repositories of (learning) resources. TM4L has already gained popularity in the international Semantic Web and e-Learning community. Users have translated its interface in twelve languages. I will also present three ontology-aware Web portals that we have developed - the Java Portal, the Ontologies for Education Portal, and the Virtual Art Gallery Portal.

About the speaker:  Darina Dicheva is the Paul Fulton/Delta Sigma Theta Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Winston-Salem State University.  Her research interests include AI methods and tools in education, Intelligent tutoring systems, Web information management, Web-based educational systems, Ontology engineering, Semantic Web, Adaptive information retrieval and filtering, and User modeling. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and a number of EU Research Programs. She has authored and co-authored over 100 research papers and textbooks.  She is currently Associate Editor of the International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-long Learning, Member of the Advisory Board of the IEEE Educational Technologies and Society Journal, Member of the Editorial Boards of the International Journal of Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies and of the International Journal on Information Technologies and Knowledge, and Specialist Reviewer for the International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education.

Refreshments at 3:00 p.m. in Manchester Hall, Room 336

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