TRAINING IN PROFILING, NEGOTIATION

AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Using an Immersive and Adaptive Environment

Leonidas Anthopoulos, Vasilis Gerogiannis, Panos Fitsilis

Project Management Department, Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Larissa, TEI of Larissa,Larissa, Greece

Achilleas Kameas

Hellenic Open University (HOU), Patras, Greece

DAISy group, Research Academic Computer Technology Institute (CTI), Patras, Greece

Keywords: Domain Application, Information Systems Support Learning, Diplomats, Profiling, Vocational Training,

Immersive, Adaptive, Virtual Learning Environments.

Abstract: The aim of the proposed position paper is to identify an information system that can support the lifelong

training of various types of demanding learners who have to transact and to do business with “unknown”

people, in unfamiliar environments. Three types of learners are chosen as potential groups that comply with

these characteristics: a) diplomatic staff, b) security staff and c) business experts (who work for multilateral

companies). An environment that will provide engaging and motivating educational experiences to these

learner targets is useful for these target groups, since it (a) utilizes a rich knowledge base of appropriately

coded experience in negotiation methods, crisis management, decision making and legal affairs, (b) employs

immersive interfaces to provide trainees with a first person learning experience, (c) takes into account the

personal profile and background of each trainee in order to achieve deep learning, (d) is based on the

pedagogical principles of socio-constructivist theories to achieve long-time knowledge retention, (e)

incorporates methods of information retrieval for automatic profile extraction and (g) utilizes social

networking analysis for automatic team creation. The presented system can be built by exploiting recent

relevant research on knowledge representation, learner modelling, adaptive hypermedia systems, immersive

applications, text mining and automatic profile extraction, and social networking technology.-

1 INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this position paper is to deal with the

following problem: “Professionals especially from

Foreign Ministries (but also from Security Agencies

and from international organizations) have to

undertake significant procedures concerning

negotiation and crisis management in unfamiliar

environments with unfamiliar people”.

In order to prepare these professionals properly,

we consider that information and communications

technology (ICT) immersive environments can train

them accurately and familiarize them with the

conditions that they will probably face in their

professional missions. Additionally, immersive

applications can strengthen their skills concerning

negotiation in virtual environments and profile

construction of unfamiliar participants.

A training (e-learning) immersive environment

can contribute to fulfil the following major

objectives:

 Strengthen significant target groups of

professionals about their future difficult

missions. Their missions concern crisis

management, negotiation with people they do not

know and they have to approach, and work on

services and skills that they do not hold. These

missions are, in particular, very critical for the

staff of Ministries of Foreign Affairs, who have

to respond appropriately in various situations,

ranging from the management of political crisis

to the service of people requiring dispatching in

different countries.

347

Anthopoulos L., Gerogiannis V., Fitsilis P. and Kameas A. (2010).

TRAINING IN PROFILING, NEGOTIATION AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT - Using an Immersive and Adaptive Environment.

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Computer Supported Education, pages 347-352

DOI: 10.5220/0002859803470352

 SciTePress

 Similar challenges face also other professionals,

such as security officers (e.g. policemen who

have to negotiate with foreign security

authorities in third countries or to talk with and

secure evidence about suspects for terrorism) and

executives of international companies who have

to negotiate about selling products in foreign

countries.

 Serve contemporary challenges concerning i)

foreign affairs by improving skills of diplomatic

staff in doing negotiations abroad), ii) virtual

diplomacy by improving diplomatic efficiency in

operating in virtual worlds (these worlds already

exist in social networks such as the Second Life,

the FaceBook and the mySpace environment),

iii) security by improving security staff in

terrorism prediction and avoidance and iv)

external trade by offering tools that support

European companies in international trade.

All of the above target groups are examples of

professionals which have to strengthen their skills in

negotiation and crisis management in unfamiliar

environments. Such skills can hardly be learnt

through the practices of a traditional formal

education system, which, by its nature, can only

involve trainees in third person experiences of short

duration. For example, diplomats study and analyze

episodes of international diplomacy and use them as

reference cases upon which they accumulate their

experience. Security officers usually watch their

colleagues apply in practice the principles of

psychology and effective communication they have

learnt during their training and learn by evaluating

these outcomes. Commercial representatives analyze

data about their clients or competitors and usually

learn negotiation skills “the hard way”. In all these

cases, the cost to be paid for any kind of failure (i.e.

breach of protocol, ignorance of culture, cultural

clash, inability to negotiate effectively with

criminals, inadequate profiling of competitors, etc)

is high and more than often it cannot be tolerated.

The first section presents the principles of the

potential information system. The next section

combines various technologies required for the

development of this system. The final section

summarizes on the contribution and the outcomes of

this system.

2 INFORMATION SYSTEM’S

PRINCIPLES

We propose an adaptive and immersive information

system to deal with the improvement of professional

skills on negotiation and crisis management, which

for the purposes of this paper is called the

NEGOTIATOR. Its principles can be summarized to

the following: (a) Authentic experiences’ provision.

Such experiences allow learners to transfer

knowledge from formal education to practice, and so

provide opportunities for meaningful learning

(Grabinger, 1994). Authentic learning activities are

based on the hypothesis that learning outcomes will

be enhanced if the activities students engage in more

directly reflect contexts of their actual practice

(Dewey, 1966).

(b) Socio-constructive: Jonassen (1999) argues that

the inclusion of cases in a socio-constructivist

learning environment provides learners with access

to experiences that they have not previously

encountered. Furthermore a case-based approach

which combines engagement with meaningful real-

world tasks and expert coaching can provide deeper

insights into processes and practices (Jonassen et.

al., 1993). Experts differ from novices in that they

have a richer base of knowledge, are able to

recognize and analyze patterns, and are fluent in

applying knowledge and solving problems in

practical situations (Rubin and Alvermann, 1990).

descriptions of a pragmatic activity, event, or

problem, drawn from the real world of professional

practice. They provide models of practice to learners

and novice practitioners. They seek to engage the

learner in the context of a real situation. Case-studies

can support authentic learning experiences by

presenting episodes of real professional practice.

Research has provided evidence that case-based

learning promotes key meta-cognitive skills,

including cognitive elaboration, error management,

reflection, self-regulation, and transfer of knowledge

(Carroll & Rosson 2005).

(d) Multimedia training: Multimedia training

case-studies intrinsically posses a great potential for

higher professional training because they can be

used to situate the content by highlighting situations

from authentic professional settings, promote

cognitive flexibility by exposing novices to the ill-

structured nature of the case, and finally, they

encourage reflection.

(e) Collaborative learning: the NEGOTIATOR

can be an e-learning environment deeply grounded

in the socio-constructive pedagogical stream

(Sancho, Fuentes-Fernández and Fernández-Manjón,

2007), (Vygotsky, 1978). In NEGOTIATOR, active

and collaborative learning procedures can take place

in the scenario (case study) of a virtual world

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presented in the format of a 3D videogame.

NEGOTIATOR will take the learners (represented

by avatars) into a futurist case-study where they will

have to solve a mission, working in collaboration

with other learners inside a team. In this context,

learners gain knowledge during Problem Solving

Procedures and Collaboration procedures.

Therefore, NEGOTIATOR can combine the

Problem Based Learning (PBL) (Savery and Duffy,

1996) and the Computer Supported Collaborative

Learning (CSCL) (Koschman, 1994) approaches in a

framework that uses a multiplayer role videogame as

the delivery format.

An implicit assumption in collaborative learning

is that learners learn one from another. Therefore,

the way in which learners are grouped has a strong

impact on the results of the learning process. A

positive learning experience might turn into a

negative one depending on the group composition.

Even so, for CSCL and PBL to be effective, the

learners need some guidance through the different

stages. In lack of adequate guidance and help,

students may easily lose focus and get frustrated

(He, Kinshuk, and Patel, 2002). This means a

considerable increase of the workload for teachers.

They not only have to change their role from

knowledge transmitters to some sort of expert co-

learners who give hints and guidance but, moreover,

they also have to track the progress of a number of

small learners’ groups.

The NEGOTIATOR system can address these

pedagogical concepts by means of an adaptation

model that will rely on Vermunt’s conception and

classification of learning styles (Vermunt, 1992).

The Vermunt’s “Inventory of Learning Styles” will

be implemented to distinguish the learners that need

a more intensive guidance through the learning

process, from those who are more capable of driving

alone their own learning experience. By grouping

learners, we presume that the most autonomous and

capable learners will assume part of the tutor’s job in

leading and guiding the group. At the same time, the

effectiveness of the collaboration process within a

team will improve by joining tutors with

complementary learning strategies. For this purpose,

the learning strategies in NEGOTIATOR can be

implemented by using de-facto standards for

educational modelling (such as the IMS-LD

specification (IMS Global Consortium, 2005). The

main objective will be to support a high-level of

adaptation of the instructional strategies to the

learning styles as well as to support collaborative

approaches to learning.

3 TECHNOLOGIES COMBINED

This section presents the state-of-the-art (SOTA)

technologies relevant to technology enhanced

learning area that are combined in the

NEGOTIATOR: a) Ontologies and semantic

integration; b) Technology-enhanced learning; c)

Virtual Learning and Collaborative Environments;

d) E-learning system architectures; e) Discovering

Similarity in Social Networks using Graph Mining;

and f) Text Mining

3.1 Ontologies and Semantic

Integration

Currently, there are two major standardization

efforts in the ontology domain, carried out by IEEE

and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The

former is concerned with a standard for upper

ontology, and due to its general approach is likely to

have only a limited impact. The proposal of W3C

and its ontology task group concerns the ontology

language OWL (Web Ontology Language), which is

the evolution of DAML+OIL. Both the OWL and

the DAML+OIL are based on a branch of logics

called Description Logics (DL). These logics are a

subset of First Order Logic (FOL) that are well

suited to expressing terminology and instance

information, with efficient and decidable inference

characteristics. The OWL language provides support

for merging of ontologies, through the use of

language features which enable importing other

ontologies and enable expression of conceptual

equivalence and disjunction. This establishes distinct

ontology development, refinement and re-use.

3.2 Technology Enhanced Learning

The NEGOTIATOR can incorporate the experiences

and the outcomes of various research projects such

as the KALEIDOSCOPE (http://www.noe-

kaleidoscope.org) results on using ICT to support

learning processes; the ProLearn

(http://www.prolearn-project.org) integrates the key

areas of research most relevant to professional

learning; the iClass (http://www.iclass.info) that

developed the Self-Regulated Personalised Learning

Model; and the Integrated Project ELeGI

(http://www.elegi.org) promotes learning as a

knowledge construction process that combines

experiential, contextualized and collaborative

approaches in a personalized and adaptive way.

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3.3 Virtual Learning and Collaborative

Environments

People used to have virtual experiences without the

involvement of technology: watching a film, reading

a book, listening to music, or being caught up in a

reverie or a conversation. What gives such virtual

experiences this quality of immersion? Four

interrelated factors have been defined to measure

virtual experience (Heim, 1993): interest,

involvement, imagination, and interaction. However,

Virtual Reality (VR) is strongly interrelated with

computers and today it has many applications: a)

engineering and urban design, b) training (e.g. flight

simulators), c) health, d) education (Virtual Learning

Environments (VLE) and Virtual Learning and

Collaborating Environments (VLEC)), f)

environmental simulation, g) computer science, h)

robotics, i) gaming etc.

When people transact with virtual environments

and worlds, change occur in how they inhabit the

virtual space (Turkle, 1995); often by constructing

online identities (‘avatars’) that are different –

sometimes dramatically different;

The notion of a learning activity in VLEs refers

to something richer than in individual courseware,

closer to the notion of NEGOTIATOR. The

difference between other constructivist

environments and what virtual environments

potentially offer can be described as making students

not only active, but also actors, i.e. members and

contributors of the social and information space.

3.4 e-Learning System Architectures

The architecture of the information system that can

host the NEGOTIATOR (presented in Fig. 1) will

follow a complete web services structure, with full

abstraction of the end user interfaces from the

resources it uses. The whole architecture will have a

storage unit for all content items, with a heavily

extensible metadata suitable for education, IEEE

LOM (Learning Objects Metadata) variation.

The system can contain a Fedora Commons layer

for storage of the learning objects, small and large in

order to secure: a) the complete independence of the

data objects, not being restricted as to type, size or

scope, b) the preservation and version control

available, c) the collection nature of the data, and

connectiveness of the fox_xml , d) the abstraction of

this content from any of the services, scenarios that

front end / end users applications may involve, e) the

learning scenarios are objects in this system, just the

same as individual learning resources are.

One of the key aspects of the abstraction would be

the web service interfaces to the content and

metadata. Context based search and semantic and

traditional relevance search can be layered onto this,

to provide front end applications with restful

interfaces and other APIs to deliver the content

outwards. These also facilitate faceted browsing of

the content which will aid in the inclusion of content

objects into scenarios.

Overall, the front end can be a range of

applications, but should be based on newer light

technologies such as PHP or Python where possible,

using an easy to use templating & theme concept.

This can facilitate rebranding/repurposing of the

scenarios for different interfaces, be it a desktop

based or mobile web browser, touch screens or other

applications such as immersive 3D environments or

applications on phones and PDAs.

A "curriculum" management interface that

manages the underlying content, metadata and

learning objectives/scenarios is necessary. This

interface can be web based to facilitate easy

management, and structuring.

Different components can be integrated with a

software application supporting the creation of 3D

worlds in the resulted architecture. Some of the

available solutions, with their advantages and

disadvantages are the following:

 Open Croquet (http://www.opencroquet.org/) is

open source and its communication protocol is

available. However, the graphical engine

performs poorly, and it is developed using a very

uncommon programming language (small talks),

which could affect negatively in terms of cost

and time of development.

 Multiverse (http://www.multiverse.net) contains

tools for creating and exporting graphical

elements, and it consists of communication

protocol and interfaces for the interconnection

with databases. However, it is commercial and it

does not offer tools for user collaboration over

documents.

 Project Wonderland (https://lg3d-

wonderland.dev.java.net/) is a novel product, and

it has been developed by Sun under an open

source licence. Its communication protocol is

already implemented, it offers tools documents’

collaboration, and it transacts with various

databases. Moreover, tt uses JMonkey as

graphical engine, a quite mature and stable

engine.

 RealXTend (http://www.realxtend.org) is quite

mature technology, developed on open source

products. It offers the opportunity to integrate the

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virtual worlds with Skype and development can

be based on a Python scripting language. It

is compatible with Second Life and it uses

Ogre3D as graphical engine.

 SecondLife (http://secondlife.com) is a mature

technology and its virtual worlds are populated

with thousands of users. However, it is not a

private network costs for island ownership are

necessary in the existing worlds.

3.5 Discovering Similarity in Social

Networks using Graph Mining

Graph mining algorithms that discover patterns in

social networks can be useful in learning negotiation

skills. Moreover, relationships that exist in social

networks, web sites and documents can be organized

with the use of graphs in order to formulate the

interaction among the various elements. Similarity

analysis can be applied (a) in tree-like structures to

discover similar organizations of components and

(b) in more complicated network structures

(attributed graphs) to find subtrees or subgraphs of

components (e.g., actions) that can be potentially

used in various situations of negotiations.

Traditional methods, as well as more recent

graph indexing methods, focus strictly on matching

graph structure and do not utilize attributes. Other

work focuses mostly on exact matching and will

return no answer when an exact instance of a pattern

does not exist. Some work has been done on inexact

pattern matching in large attributed graphs (e.g., G-

Ray). One way to model the existing knowledge

would be using probabilistic networks that model

interactions among nodes using probabilities.

3.6 Text Mining

Text mining has been studied extensively in

information retrieval (Berry, 2003), (Weiss et al,

2004). The connection between information filtering

and information retrieval has been addressed in

(Belkin and Croft, 1992). Latent semantic indexing

(LSI) (Deerwester, et. al, 1993) is one of the most

popular methods for document dimensionality

reduction that has been used in document similarity

analysis. The probabilistic latent semantic indexing

(PLSI) (Hofmann, 1998) is similar to LSI and

reduces dimensionality using a probabilistic mixture

model. It has been used quite successfully in

document clustering (Hofmann, 1998). Other

researchers have studied methods for mining

association rules in text databases. A nice overview

of text classification is given in (Sebastiani, 2002).

4 EXPECTED OUTCOMES

The outcome of the NEGOTIATOR is expected to

contribute to the faster and more effective

acquisition of knowledge, competences and skills by

the target learner groups, increased productivity

based on richer and more effective knowledge

transfer, as well as to the establishment of more

efficient organizational learning processes. The

NEGOTIATOR can deliver:

 Pedagogical socio-productive framework for

training the target groups in, profiling,

negotiation, crisis management, e-government

and service delivery, virtual and public

diplomacy, and project management.

 A web based training platform, implemented on

open source training platforms (such as Sun

Wonderland Project, Moodle, DSpace etc.) or

with the combination of commercial products

(e.g. the Multiverse )

 A multi-layered ontology encoding knowledge

on negotiation, crisis management, foreign

affairs, law, e-government and service delivery,

virtual and public diplomacy, protocol and

cultural affairs skills.

 A language for describing training scenarios in

the form of scripts.

 A text mining tool to retrieve and deliver data

from web sites and social networks to the

training platform.

 A software engine that generates profiles for

avatars and groups of avatars automatically,

relative to the mining data.

 Educational content and at least three proof-of-

concept training scenarios.

The expected impact of the NEGOTIATOR can be

summarized to the following: (a) the proposition of

an advanced, pedagogically sound system in the

areas of e-learning environments, using gaming and

desktop VR technologies. (b) The enhancement of

both individual and collaborating skills of the

learner-groups by focusing on new demands in

negotiation and crisis management. (c) The

development of diplomatic skills in particular virtual

and public diplomacy, and the support of activities

in virtual spaces where third countries participate

(e.g. the U.S.A., Maldives, etc.).

5 CONCLUSIONS

In this position paper we documented the

TRAINING IN PROFILING, NEGOTIATION AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT - Using an Immersive and Adaptive

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requirements of skills in negotiation and crisis

management by various groups of professionals.

These requirements can be covered with the

application of adaptive and immersive e-learning

environments, which follow major e-learning

principles identified in this paper. We suggested an

information system -called the NEGOTIATOR- that

follows these principles and combines various state-

of-the-art technologies. This information system has

been recently proposed as a project under the last

ICT call of the European FP7, and it is expected –in

case that it will be selected for implementation- to

compose a significant case study for the e-learning

domain.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We have to thank Pillar Sancho Thomas of the

Universidad Complutense de Madrid, for her

contribution on the e-learning domain analysis under

the NEGOTIATOR FP7 proposal preparation, some

of which is contained in this position paper.

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