Recent Projects
Mini Bio
My PhD research was in computer science and complexity science, although I also published in web-technologies (and even paleontology!) I have founded, run and sold a high-tech business based on my research and written two technical text-books published by Elsevier.
Automatic Customized Content
November 2005 - May 2006
This project tasked me with finding ways to take a body of human-created e-learning content, automatically select suitable content for individual learners, and to combine the content into a whole course, including graphic design and navigation, dynamically and instantly.
When a large organisation like the NHS (with almost 1.5 million employees) delivers training for its members, there are a vast range of skills, experience and levels of understanding among participants. Even though everyone may have to learn the same thing (such as the recent push for training on hospital acquired infections), they will not respond to the same course material.
The system started with a database of content atoms: blocks of text, diagrams, movies, flash-implemented games, review questions and so on. A small number of stereotypical learners were identified, and experienced learning engineers selected the content that those learners would most benefit from.
The software then has two major innovations: the first is a case-based reasoning system that can select sets of content for learner types that it has not met before, based both on feedback and on the small number of prototype learners. The second innovation combines the content into course material, automatically choosing layout options, linking content together and producing a complete and entirely personalised e-learning course for one user.