KMi Seminars
Beyond searching and browsing
This event took place on Thursday 17 March 2005 at 12:30

 
Tom Heath KMi, The Open University

The web provides a platform for users to perform many varied tasks; finding information, exploring new ideas, and communicating with others are just a few examples. However, not all tasks that users perform (or wish to perform) on the web are well supported by current tools and technologies. Interaction with web resources tends to be dominated by searching and browsing, and attempts to understand user actions on the web have focused mainly on these modes. Furthermore, the tools that support these modes, such as web browsers and search engines often take little account of the user, and the contexts in which they exist.

In this seminar I will briefly introduce scenarios of tasks performed online using current tools. These scenarios will be considered in the light of existing taxonomies of online actions, and I will introduce a new classification of the tasks people perform on the web. A case will be made that tools should take greater account of a user?s context if they are to aid task performance, and I will outline my proposals for task-focused Semantic Web tools that draw on a user?s social context.

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KMi Seminars
 

New Media Systems is...


Our New Media Systems research theme aims to show how new media devices, standards, architectures and concepts can change the nature of learning.

Our work involves the development of short life-cycle working prototypes of innovative technologies or concepts that we believe will influence the future of open learning within a 3-5 year timescale. Each new media concept is built into a working prototype of how the innovation may change a target community. The working prototypes are all available (in some form) from this website.

Our prototypes themselves are not designed solely for traditional Open Learning, but include a remit to show how that innovation can and will change learning at all levels and in all forms; in education, at work and play.