On the notion of components for intelligent tutoring systems

The concept of software components has received relatively little attention so far by the researchers in the field of AIED. This paper is an attempt to bring more light on this important concept and to describe the benefits that component-based ITSs can bring to the field. Surprisingly enough, there is still no consensus on the notion of component among AIED researchers. There are many open questions and unclear issues. By carefully structuring the description of software components in general, as well as by showing some examples of components for ITS design, the paper presents several important related issues, like functionality of components, their granularity, generality, interoperability, and reusability. Special attention is given to the architectural and communication considerations, as well as to the relation between components and ontologies for ITS design.