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Digital Study Assistants (DSA) aim to support individual learning processes by designing them appropriately and efficiently based on recommendations. In this paper we present a prototype of a DSA for students in higher education of three German universities. The digital data driven DSA is integrated into the local learning management system and consists of recommender modules with a certain kind of recommendation for a specific purpose, e.g., recommending Academic Contacts that fit an expressed academic interest. The modules implemented so far use a wide range of methods: Classic rule-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Neural Networks, that can detect complex features and patterns in large data sets. To evaluate the current prototype of the DSA we used a mixed methods design approach with concurrently collected user data and qualitative data. A first insight in the user data suggests that recommender modules providing personalized recommendations are more likely to be used by students. A focus group discussion with students confirmed these findings with the suggestion to make the DSA more personal, individual, interactive, supportive, and user-friendly. In conclusion we present ideas for the further development of the prototype based on these findings. [For the full proceedings, see ED621108.]

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert