Studying And Design For Personalized Distance Learning System Based On Agent Technology

The development of network technology provides a new field for distance education. The system of distance instruction is a sort of web-based distance education. It brings some advantages into traditional mode of distance education, with which learners can study anytime, anywhere. Now learners can take part in online learning, online exam, online discussion, online query and online communication as well, even at home. This instructional mode can provides learner with a rich and colorful interactive interface which is made of both images and texts, and with a huge repository of knowledge and information which can stimulate learners to learn; so that learners can construct knowledge depending on their own initiatively and get, renew, even innovate knowledge by themselves, those aims belongs to our dreamboat.But there still are many problems in the online instruction system nowadays, first, the functions of active interaction in existing instruction system are not strong enough, and most of them are given mainly to present the instruction materials. Second, the system's intelligence is lower. Three, the testing and evaluating functions of the system are not good enough. Four, there is not an effective guide to students in existing system. Five, in the main constructions of existing online instructive systems are C/S constructions, causing that the client end is too huge. Furthermore, the resident program may operate the client end at will, causing that the unsafe factors of the system are added.In view of defects above, the author of this thesis designed a new kind of personalized system of distance education, which is based on Agent technology. Firstly, the Agent technology of DAI field is adopted in this new system to build a learner's Agent, which can not only trace the learning course of learners at anytime and record their personality characters such as interests, favorites, etc., but also adjust the instructional strategy used for learners. So it has got rid of the lower intelligence defects of existing system effectively. Secondly, it is adopted the XML technology to organize the instruction contents. By this way, it may separate the forms and contents from their combinations avoiding the defects of which they are bound together. So that it can provide the different instructional contents for learners corresponding to their different cognition lever. And its interactive functions are been increased. Thirdly, it is supported by Java technology. Java language is not only a right programming language to build Agent, but also it has some characters such as architecture neutral and higher safety, running Java Applet, program can increase the functions of the Client, lighten the burden on the Server, as well as can operate the client contents according to the privilege assigned, and in order to increase the safety of system. Finally, in the thesis, by using the knowledge related probability and statistics, author puts forward a kind of method which can make the grade mark quantifying, and with this method, the problem which is how to get an accurate evaluation for the subjective test questions that learners answer in exam, is solved primely. That provides a better basis for achieving the personalized instruction.In short, the new system faces to three kinds of users who are the learners, the teachers and the administrator, and have some functions related to course learning, assignment, answering question, testing and communication as well. And it is adopted XML and related Database to form its system data, and the Java language to build its intelligent Agent, that is a way to solve the personalized learning problems. Personalized system of distance education leads the developing direction of online instructional system in the future.