Knowledge and object production cascades- the TELOS case Ioan Rosca, PhD. in educational technology telecommunication, computer, information and instructional systems engineer researcher and conceptual architect at LICEF, Teleuniversity, Montréal CE’2006, Antibes, 19 September 2006

Object and knowledge production cascades IE: managing chained procedures involving objects, persons and knowledge, to produce knowledge I Common goals: managing systems involving objects, persons and knowledge, to produce systems involving objects, persons and knowledge, to produce….and so on CE: managing concurrent procedures, involving objects, persons and knowledge, to produce objects d combining planning and emergence in adaptable scenarios a combining persons and objects in managing knowledge f combining technical,semantic and administrative criteria, seeking interoparability b combining sequencing and parallelism in orchestrating concurrence c combining structures and processes in a “4d” systemic vision II Common problems IV TELOS facilitates interoperation at 5 superposed levels: resource aggregation procedure reproduction service distribution knowledge propagation systems production cascades V LORNET manage concurrent research methodology: a recourse to the method interdisciplinary problem space III GEFO pedagogical management of workflows and management of pedagogical workflows model lifecycle: from modeling to orchestration, with metafunctions manage production cascades manage procedure reproduction adapt models by progressive concretization using a semantic layer for matching services IE experimented solutions, interesting for CE e combining analytic and pragmatic approaches in treating complexity CIE SystE SoftE KnowE

I Concurrent Instructional Engineering As engineer of telecommunication, computer, information and instructional systems, I have observed the strong correlation between the management of processes producing knowledge and objects. the concurrent engineering of any system involves a level of knowledge and learning management the development of instructional systems involves concurrent engineering methods The profound cause is the circular tie between acting and knowing: to do you must know, to know- you must learn, to learn you must do etc. I have explored the relationship between semantic and instrumental engineering, in a series of projects (note 1) searching answers for questions like: "With what strategies and tools X should we equip technologists A and methodologists B,… which wish to supply with composition and management methods and instruments Y a public of authors C and managers D,… which organize instructional systems Z, in which a group of assistants E can instruct a group of learners F …so that they obtain an amelioration G of their competences in the knowledge domain H, … necessary to accomplish the performances I in the contexts J- … the global solution being optimal, according to criteria K, verifiable by the methods L".

a Combining persons and objects in managing knowledge Socio-technical systems involve objects (instruments, documents) and human participants; processes involving cooperating persons whose competences (made or not explicit) evolve in contact with support resources- ask for a concurrent semantic engineering Besides “input-output functions”, the systems’ behavior depends on their “state”; humans embody evolving knowledge- their internal transformation being…learning The modification of knowledge is produced by experience or by explicative collaboration (communication, co-action); the explanation is based on the cognitive consonance in assistant- assisted pairs; documents explain asynchronously, representing their author Besides the identification of a concept by its name (using implicitly the natural reference system of the language), we may employ semantic coordinates respective to knowledge domains, used as reference systems The characterization of the rapport vis a vis of an identified concept K (mastery level, qualitative abilities, explicative capacities) defines “competences”C ; their evolution (learning) may be the goal or the means of an activity; The explicitation of competence evolution may orientate the choice of support persons and documents; the optimization of resource allocation is facilitated by the indexation of participants, documents and activities- on a unique knowledge reference system

b Combining sequencing and parallelism in orchestrating concurrenceCombining sequencing and parallelism in orchestrating concurrence The management of concurrent activities requires tools for modeling and orchestrating sequencing and cooperation- in ensembles composed by people and instruments When cooperation has an explicative goal (support, instruction), tools like CSCW, DSS, WFM must be enriched for CSCE (computer supported cooperative explanation): -with a layer for the management of the involved knowledge and of the facilities (services) based on it (advising, resource matching, etc); -with facilities for sharing operations to explain (double command controls, replicated architectures) The modeling and management of long evolutions- like the lifecycle of a system- or that of interlaced processes that compose a complex physiology- resort to meta-procedural aggregation, cascading procedural chains. The process chaining (concurrence) relies on sharing components (and sense), an object produced in a process (or an instructed participant) being usable as instrument/raw material (respectively guide) in another; apart the procedure linking as “phases” of a procedural chain (like in the recursive aggregation of composed resources) we also encounter links between a procedure and the guiding (support) meta-procedure The passage from the modeling of a workflow (flowchart) for a group of concurrent procedures to their orchestration on the base of the model (model enactment) is a meta- process that requires meta-management tools.

c Combining structures and processes in a “4d” systemic vision The CE should approach the concurrence phenomena with a “4d” ontological vision (Note): observing “systems in process”: lifecycles and fluxes Instead of interlacing the design-development cycles of successive versions- typical for reengineering- a longitudinal engineering vision (global in time) pursues the continuous transformation of the system (its life-evolution)Instead of interlacing the design-development cycles of successive versions- typical for reengineering- a longitudinal engineering vision (global in time) pursues the continuous transformation of the system (its life-evolution) Procedural models form an evolving whole with the reality that they represent or influence The model-reality loop can be treated with meta-models, that allow the management of models’ “life mode” The diffusion (propagation, phylogenesis) of knowledge in a community- can be seen as a cascade of explicative processes, but also as a reproductive act of the collective brain’s physiology The reproduction of objects is realized through production cascades (fluxes): a grand- mother system is used for the construction of mother systems that allow the conception of child systems. The (phylo)genetic vision asks the pursue of the circulation (and transformation) of material and cognitive entities along the productive chains.The reproduction of objects is realized through production cascades (fluxes): a grand- mother system is used for the construction of mother systems that allow the conception of child systems. The (phylo)genetic vision asks the pursue of the circulation (and transformation) of material and cognitive entities along the productive chains. We can manage the procedure reproduction with metafunctions edit use meta-model M[C,m] meta-system [C,m,M] target system C model m(C) edit use meta-system [C,m]

d Combining planning and emergence in adaptable scenarios concurrent engineering oscillates between careful planning and emergent decisions. the careful conceptual planning (with the early involvement of the aimed users) seek in CE was also considered in the TELOS vision document; the conceptual architecture is seen not only as a pre-condition of the product but as a part of it, the intellectual capital, less sensitive to technological modification; it have to be, however, continuously modified, reflecting the evolution of the target product’s physiology evolving along with the system it reflects and pilot, the LORNET “use cases” become instruments for management, assistance, demonstration and test the tension between the process emergence (for maximal adaptability) and planning (for maximal coherence) leads to mixed strategies such as: influencing by preparing support aggregates, observing and modeling emergent phenomena and reproducing them, using the models the management based on “functions” stresses on the adaptation of scenarios, through progressive concretization of abstract resources; the choice of concrete resources uses semantic matching services, based on the competence equilibrium around operations with various topologies (executor, assistant, instrument etc)the management based on “functions” stresses on the adaptation of scenarios, through progressive concretization of abstract resources; the choice of concrete resources uses semantic matching services, based on the competence equilibrium around operations with various topologies (executor, assistant, instrument etc)

e Combining analytic and pragmatic approaches in treating complexity The CE analytical orientation to global planning confronts complexity. It can determine calculability bottlenecks (increase the costs of optimization efforts to a prohibitive level). Example. The competence management may encounter problems like: privacy rules, authority and responsibility for evaluations. The cumbersome declaring and updating efforts can bring to the abandon of competence tracking or to the choice of a thick descriptive granulation In such cases we resort to simplifications, according to a "pragmatic" orientation: get the most useful services through the most accessible means; seeking the optimization of the effort/result ratio. Example. A practical solution is the facilitation of the orchestration between the actors determining the evolution of the target system. The “functions” offer services for: information (inspiration,guiding); declaration (traces, annotations, memorization, piloting advise); resource manipulation; partner coordination; matching

f Combining technical, semantic and administrative criteria for facilitating interoperability In the emergent mode, users search resources: semantically pertinent, technically usable, and administratively accessible In the orchestrated mode, designers do the same operations, finding resources to connect aggregate in prepared applications When the services and resources sources are distributed in different systems, concurrence poses interoperability problems In a space open to semantic and technical inter-operation, drawing frontiers for systems and segmenting processes can have administrative justifications (rights, responsibilities). LORNET production cascades (recursive aggregation chains) are segmented on administrative criteria:LORNET production cascades (recursive aggregation chains) are segmented on administrative criteria:

ob2ob1ob3 o1o1o2 p2 1 primary procedure p1 rs ps persons objects operations support resource support person 2 abstract procedure model o1o1 i1i2 is1 o2 i3 as2 a1a2 compose model author Function editor function operations directories abstract actors abstract instruments adapter concretise elements Function adaptor resources repositories person directories knowledge reference system o1 is1 o2 as2 a1a2 ob x rs x ps x 3 model with concretised elements user finds and executes Function executor e1 is1 e2 as2 a1a2 4 secondary procedure based on function execution ob x rs x ps x ob yob z executed operation pxpxpypy analyst Function analyser record react 5 meta-procedure of functional cycle

prepare core analyze exploration explore (use) core compose core prepare LKMS analyze exploration explore LKMS compose LKMS prepare LKMA analyze exploration explore LKMA compose LKMA prepare LKMP compose LKMP 6d LKMP admin 2 technologist 6b LKMS admin 3 designer 6c LKMA admin 4 learner 1 engineers 6a core admin facilitator

Metafunction execution f(1) driven edition procedure Function Editor. designers 1S MetaFun Executor 4 4b 4c 4d 4e 4a Function execution inspire, explain, order execution declare, annotate assist execution control, interface, aggregate resources coordinate, negotiate orchestrate find,match, connect secondary phenomena S Resources. Function executor 2 2a2b2c 2d2e participants Primary phenomena Resources. participants P observe imagine Primary edition procedure Function Editor designers 1 function f(P) generation Spy Demonstrator 1a Meta- Edition MetaFun Editor Engineers 3 observe meta-generation Spy Demonstrator imagine MetaFunction 3a

O O E a state changes for Toeda topology O D E A da e o D E A da e O D E A e O D E A a e O D E A d e O D E A da O D E A O D E A a O D E A d O E e dn c1 c2 ? f2 R b global allocation problem f1

us TELOS agcofiuspu 1 using and extending resources repositories e TELOS e e e e E TEL e 2 modeling, managing, and reproducing processes P S M m m u TELOS tata’ sidis w di dis ua a,r sa us ob sa d,d 3 distributing objects and services 4 e1e3e2 e4 TELOSTELOS n pr ir do fu d ip ed u r,p ac fi us R 4 managing global knowledge evolution a2 S a1 a4a3 delete p1p4 c3c2c1 p3 p5p8p7 p2 p6 TELOS -core LKMS libraryLKMALKMP s1 s2 5 administrating production cascades

TELOS core 1 Kernel LKMS library embedded LKMS LKMA library embLKMA LKMP library Knowledge reference system documents tools handlers and repositories participants directory operations functions library aggregate lib and handlers LKMS handlerLKMP handlerLKMA handler Core modifier and tools embLKMP extend core engin technol External LKMS use LKMS compose LKMA designer Ext LKMA use LKMA compose LKMP learners Ext LKMP Manage LKMP admin facilitators use core compose LKMS Developers. develop researchers analyse 1 specifications system eng. compose 3 Technical Architecture planning evaluation scenario Pedagogical Evaluators techn evaluator evaluate evaluation Test report testing method 2 Conceptual Architecture techn architect. design

Manage concurrent research Coordinating the 6 LORNET teams poses concurrent research problems What could have happened: the recourse to the method (projects aiming at the construction of tools for the management of projects … manageable with the conceived tools); epistemological complications and opportunities for a spiral refinement- created by this circular situation What is happening: some contexts do not favor convergence… Projects that involve a team of experts from various disciplines require a communication language and an orchestration methodology: metaontologies for research contexts as semantic and pragmatic web applications An integrative approach would be necessary, one that would remake the unity of the observation's target, coagulating a model image. In my PhD thesis, I have tried to conceive a model for the (instrumented) explanation phenomena, one that would integrate the multitude of involved aspects, coagulating the observations extracted from a multitude of domains (psychology and cognitive sciences, communication and information sciences, semiotics and multimedia, logics and epistemology, sciences of education, computer telecommunications, theory of negotiation and decision, etc)- each having its own primitives, epistemology, language, paradigms, experience, rituals, models and priorities.An integrative approach would be necessary, one that would remake the unity of the observation's target, coagulating a model image. In my PhD thesis, I have tried to conceive a model for the (instrumented) explanation phenomena, one that would integrate the multitude of involved aspects, coagulating the observations extracted from a multitude of domains (psychology and cognitive sciences, communication and information sciences, semiotics and multimedia, logics and epistemology, sciences of education, computer telecommunications, theory of negotiation and decision, etc)- each having its own primitives, epistemology, language, paradigms, experience, rituals, models and priorities. my presence to the conference is a challenge towards this convergence