A Common Sense-Based On-Line Assistant for Training Employees

We present a prototype of an on-line assistant to support a training course about workspace safety issues. The application uses a common sense reasoning engine and the Brazilian Open Mind common sense knowledge base, to make inferences about concepts that might be unfamiliar to the students. We explore the use of metaphors and analogies to explain topics, enhancing learning by using similarities to help students associate related topics. We believe that common sense can be used to take into account cultural considerations while helping learners to build analogies. A survey of students showed that they considered analogies useful in the learning process, that the system was helpful in understanding new concepts, and that it helped connect the information searched for with common sense knowledge.