In this paper we present an analysis and modeling case study for agent mediated knowledge management in educational environments: Help&Learn, an agent-based peer-to-peer helpdesk system to support extra-class interactions among students and teachers. Help&Learn expands the student's possibility of solving problems, getting involved in a cooperative learning experience that transcends the limits of classrooms. To model Help&Learn, we have used Agent-Object-Relationship Modeling Language (AORML), an UML extension for agent-oriented modeling. The aim of this research is twofold. On the one hand, we aim at exploring Help&Learn's potential to support collaborative learning, discussing its knowledge management strategy. On the other hand, we aim at showing the expressive power and the modeling strengths of AORML.

The Web has revolutionized the way information is delivered to people throughout the world. It did not take long for learning material to be delivered through the Web, by using electronic textbooks. The use of hypertext links gives the learner a lot of freedom to decide on an order in which to study the material. This leads to problems in understanding the textbook, which can be solved by using methods and techniques. In this chapter we describe how the field of educational hypermedia benefits from and . We also show that the information gathered about the learners and their learning process can be used to improve the quality of the electronic textbooks.

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