**2. Interaction and adaptation**

process of learning. The standardization of individual modules and processes bring order to the variety of systems for computer training and make it possible to use them independently because of the software and hardware platform features. All this seemed to solve the problems of didactic theory and practice, but the reality is different. There is a delay in the process of implementation and actual use of these systems despite the rapid development of information and communication technologies. Research groups from different universities and educational communities define the main reason as learning by means of ICT is an innovative process that requires in-depth research by pedagogical science and practice [1]. Psychological attitudes, motivation, and cognitive characteristics of students of different age groups are different in terms of learning processes. The didactic theory and practice for many years examine these processes and provide solutions for the improvement of the traditional forms of training, however, the mechanisms in e-Learning environments of educational portals are still not well investigated and explained. There is a gap between the expectations of developers and real results in the educational practice. The rapid development of computer science and technology for the creation of learning environments requires a high level of qualification and experience of the developers of such systems. These developers are highly qualified and highly specialized IT professionals who create systems in accordance to their abstract vision of the learning process. However, they rarely or never are pedagogical specialists and therefore, do not know the actual in-depth psychological processes of learning. This leads to the fact that institutions have learning environments that have a good software perspective quality but poor quality as a pedagogical tool. To these reasons, we can add the difference in terminology, the desire to maximize profits of software vendors, unclear criteria for evaluation of the learning process, etc. As a result, we see many factors that negatively affect the whole process and can signifi‐

128 E-Learning - Instructional Design, Organizational Strategy and Management

Despite these problems, there are many areas in which the results are very good. Summarizing the results of higher education in the analysis of the Sloan Consortium in [2], successfully use of e-Learning environments in the USA and Canada grew by 20% over the last few years. The indicators are particularly good for students who are trained in a distance form of teaching, as well as with electronic training courses that are similar in nature to the traditional teaching process. Secondary schools also have sectors that experience very good results. Examples are as follows: the using of educational environments in blended learning (classroom training and independent work) and the creation of a portfolio of students who successfully combined with

The problem analysis allows us to conclude that the creation of training systems must comply with specifics of the particular educational institution and be developed in direct communi‐ cation with educational experts as were probed directly in the real learning environment. This publication will present a model for personalizing learning systems for electronic and distance learning in secondary schools by application of didactic methodology, setting of educational goals and objectives, the motivation of the student, and his or her personal goals, plans, and

The structure of the manuscript corresponds to the described methodology. In section 2, "Interaction and Adaptation" discusses various aspects of interactivity and adaptability

cantly hinder it.

project training [3].

ambitions.

According to the definitions in [4], [5], and [6] e-Learning is a computer and an internet-based learning, in which the delivery of electronic learning resources is carried out on the principles of dynamic interaction with the educational system and the other participants in the learning process, according to didactic set goals and objectives and according to the characteristics of the course and the personal characteristics of the student. Based on this definition, the team of University of Plovdiv, together with partners from the Institute of Information Technologies (BG), University of Limerick (Ireland), De Montfort University in Leicester (UK), Humboldt University (Germany), Secondary school in Brezovo (BG), etc., developed a system for electronic and distance training (DeLC1 ). As part of this project, an environment is developed for e-Learning and distance training for secondary schools. In order to minimize the problems mentioned above, we chose a methodology by which, together with pedagogical specialists, creates step by step the different prototypes of the system and tested them directly in the real learning environment (Figure 1).

To create an interactive and adaptive system that meets these requirements, it is necessary to model the different interactive levels and adaptive aspects. We accept the definition in [7] and define it as a dialog between users and the learning system and will view it at the following three levels:


<sup>1</sup> DeLC- Distributed eLearning Centre

**Figure 1.** Iterative model of research methodology

Within these levels, there are six categories of interactivity: Feedback; Control; Productivity; Creativity; Communication and Adaptation. Ensuring interactivity for each level and related categories requires the development of a comprehensive adaptive model to provide person‐ alization of the training through: the basic knowledge of the student; his plans and purposes; his cognitive characteristics; his preferences and habits; emotional profile, and so on (see [8]).

According to various aspects of the application and the use of e-Learning systems, the adaptability can be defined differently. We will define adaptability as a feature of the training system to be adapting itself and changed according to the requirements and the characteristics of the users before and during use of it. The main elements of the adaptive model are "condi‐ tion-action" rules that change the parameters of the environment and realize the adaptation to a user's knowledge, goals, abilities, preferences, etc. The different methods and frameworks for creation of adaptive models are as follows:


are facts on the user that the system takes with a certain level in security and cogency. The degree of cogency in the system is being raised if the user gives a good feedback and falls if he gives a bad one. The suppositions, established on the base of the direct communication with the user, are better defined that the system is adopted on the base of logical deductions. Formally, we can differentiate the system assumptions on three categories: what the student knows; what he doesn't know; and the student's aims, tasks, and plans. The first two can be realized by stereotype and overlay models as the knowledge of students are being adapted to relevant domain ontology. The third group is part of the Goal and Task Model of the e-Learning system. The most simple is the method of linearly parameterization. It is more complex but more reliable as the model uses formulas, predicates, ITL, policies, and grid models.

**•** Based on statistical rules and theoretical conclusions – This model permits the adapting of rules according to the state of the entrance data. The opportunities for setting-up the adaptation are based on the information from past learning sessions.

For the development of the adaptive model, we use separate elements from each of these methods we: use the stereotypes and the overlay model at the initial determination of common behaviours rules; define the concrete dependencies from the described school subject domain, by using of domain ontologies; make a system from assumptions for the learner, based on his stereotype, cognitions, and goals; store the information from the last learning sessions and processed it statistically; and deduced abstract conclusions for the user groups and the separate learners. The implementation of the model requires the consideration of the various adapta‐ bility aspects of horizontal and vertical principles. The first one is connected with the adapta‐ tion to some personal characteristics of the student. This model of realization in this aspect is discussed in [9]. There are two types of adaptation – adaptivity and adaptability. The first allows users to use different facilities for presentation and navigation in predetermined learning content. The second level includes mechanisms for adaptation to knowledge and preferences of students dynamically in the learning process. On this basis, we will distinguish the following three adaptive levels: Elementary Adaptive Level, Static Adaptive Level, and Dynamic Adaptive Level. The first two are connected with adaptivity, and the last one – with adaptability.

In the next section, we will look at these adaptive levels. We will focus our attention on the Static Adaptive Level and will comment on some ideas for the realization of the Dynamic Adaptive Level.
