Semantic representation of digital ink in the classroom learning partner

Abstract

The research presented in this thesis addresses a critical issue in the introduction of new tablet-PC-based educational technology in the classroom: interpretation and semantic representation of digital ink. The teaching paradigm being investigated is that of in-class exercises, which have proven beneficial to student learning. Recent advances in educational technology support such exercises by means of distributed wireless presentation systems. Such systems have proven successful, but are limited in their scope because they rely on digital ink as the communication medium between an instructor and his or her students. The work done in this thesis extends the use of such systems and makes the following contributions towards the creation of a learning partner in the classroom: * an ink interpreter capable of text and arrow interpretation which can rival PRS on multiple choice and true-false questions * a framework for sketch and text interpretation inspired from state of the art research in handwriting and sketch interpretation * an infrastructure necessary for creating in-class exercises as part of Classroom Presenter, interpreting student answers, and aggregating them.