IMS 2016 - First International Workshop on Intelligent Mentoring Systems (IMS 2016)

Linking learning in real and virtual environments: towards intelligent mentoring systems (IMS2016)
Held in conjunction with 13th International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS2016) in Zagreb, Croatia (6 or 7 June 2016)
In the world of professional development and lifelong learning, mentoring has become an important ingredient to assist learners to progress, to transit from one phase into another (e.g. from formal education to on-the-job training). Within digital learning environments, it is timely to provide a new breed of intelligent learning systems that provide mentor-like features to promote learner’s ‘self-actualisation’. Crucial for intelligent mentors will be the ability to help learners connect their learning that is usually acquired through digital resources with the real world, which brings forth the key challenge that the workshop aims to address.
Mentors who are to facilitate self-actualisation require a broad (but may be shallow) understanding of the learner, and the current situation in order to select appropriate pedagogical strategies and respond in a motivational, emotionally-aware way. Accordingly, intelligent Mentoring Systems (IMS) require multi-faceted learner experience modelling mechanisms to get sufficient understanding of the learner, his/her current situation, and relevance to past experiences by the same learner (or by other people). IMS will also need strategies for appropriate interaction with the learners, and to promote reflection and forward planning.
This workshop will make a major step in consolidating effort and shaping a research community by providing a forum that explores:
contextual understanding and broadening the scope of learner modelling (learning attitudes, cultural diversity, gender diversity, experience)
support/scaffolding for metacognitive skills and contextualising self-regulated learning in the real world
integration of long term learner modelling with short-term, session-based learner modelling (macro vs micro level of learner modelling)
methods/models that can be used for behaviour change
appropriate technologies (social spaces, digital media, pervasive systems, e-books/hypertext)
techniques for intelligent support and crowdsourcing wisdom.
Bringing together academics, educational practitioners, and TEL industries, the workshop will address several challenges in these three main themes: technological underpinnings, adding value to learning, and exemplars in domain applications.