Complex problems usually cannot be solved by individual methods or techniques and require the synergism of more than one of them to be solved. This book presents a number of current efforts that use combinations of methods or techniques to solve complex problems in the areas of sentiment analysis, search in GIS, graph-based social networking, intelligent e-learning systems, data mining and recommendation systems. Most of them are connected with specific applications, whereas the rest are combinations based on principles. Most of the chapters are extended versions of the corresponding papers presented in CIMA-15 Workshop, which took place in conjunction with IEEE ICTAI-15, in November 2015. The rest are invited papers that responded to special call for papers for the book. The book is addressed to researchers and practitioners from academia or industry, who are interested in using combined methods in solving complex problems in the above areas.

This volume includes extended and revised versions of the papers presented at the 4th Workshop on "Combinations of Intelligent Methods and Applications" (CIMA 2014) which was intended to become a forum for exchanging experience and ideas among researchers and practitioners dealing with combinations of different intelligent methods in Artificial Intelligence. The aim is to create integrated or hybrid methods that benefit from each of their components. Some of the existing presented efforts combine soft computing methods (fuzzy logic, neural networks and genetic algorithms). Another stream of efforts integrates case-based reasoning or machine learning with soft-computing methods. Some of the combinations have been more widely explored, like neuro-symbolic methods, neuro-fuzzy methods and methods combining rule-based and case-based reasoning. CIMA 2014 was held in conjunction with the 26th IEEE International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI 2014).

Complex problems usually cannot be solved by individual methods or techniques and require the synergism of more than one of them to be solved. This book presents a number of current efforts that use combinations of methods or techniques to solve complex problems in the areas of sentiment analysis, search in GIS, graph-based social networking, intelligent e-learning systems, data mining and recommendation systems. Most of them are connected with specific applications, whereas the rest are combinations based on principles. Most of the chapters are extended versions of the corresponding papers presented in CIMA-15 Workshop, which took place in conjunction with IEEE ICTAI-15, in November 2015. The rest are invited papers that responded to special call for papers for the book. The book is addressed to researchers and practitioners from academia or industry, who are interested in using combined methods in solving complex problems in the above areas.

This volume includes extended and revised versions of the papers presented at the 4th Workshop on "Combinations of Intelligent Methods and Applications" (CIMA 2014) which was intended to become a forum for exchanging experience and ideas among researchers and practitioners dealing with combinations of different intelligent methods in Artificial Intelligence. The aim is to create integrated or hybrid methods that benefit from each of their components. Some of the existing presented efforts combine soft computing methods (fuzzy logic, neural networks and genetic algorithms). Another stream of efforts integrates case-based reasoning or machine learning with soft-computing methods. Some of the combinations have been more widely explored, like neuro-symbolic methods, neuro-fuzzy methods and methods combining rule-based and case-based reasoning. CIMA 2014 was held in conjunction with the 26th IEEE International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI 2014).

The combination of different intelligent methods is a very active research area in Artificial Intelligence (AI). The aim is to create integrated or hybrid methods that benefit from each of their components. Some of the existing efforts combine soft computing methods either among themselves or with more traditional AI methods such as logic and rules. Another stream of efforts integrates machine learning with soft-computing or traditional AI methods. Yet another integrates agent-based approaches with logic and also non-symbolic approaches. Some of the combinations have been quite important and more extensively used, like neuro-symbolic methods, neuro-fuzzy methods and methods combining rule-based and case-based reasoning. However, there are other combinations that are still under investigation, such as those related to the Semantic Web.

The 2nd Workshop on "Combinations of Intelligent Methods and Applications" (CIMA 2010) was intended to become a forum for exchanging experience and ideas among researchers and practitioners who are dealing with combining intelligent methods either based on first principles or in the context of specific applications. CIMA 2010 was held in conjunction with the 22nd IEEE International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI 2010). Also, a special track was organized in ICTAI 2010, under the same title.

This volume includes revised versions of the papers presented in CIMA 2010 and one of the short papers presented in the corresponding ICTAI 2010 special track. It also includes a paper of the editors as invited."

This book is an edited collection of chapters regarding the integration of digital stories in the classroom, focusing on early childhood and primary education. Storytelling has always been an effective way of teaching all ranges of subjects at all educational levels, especially in early childhood and primary education. Digital storytelling combines the advantages of storytelling and digital tools. Digital stories attract the interest of students and provide them with motives to take part in learning activities in collaboration with their classmates and teachers. They have become a popular resource of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Digital stories can be a valuable tool to educators. However, as is the case with many ICT resources, teachers need practical ideas about how to integrate them in teaching and learning. This book covers a gap in the international bibliography regarding digital storytelling. It discusses teaching scenarios that exploit digital stories in a wide range of subjects in early childhood and primary education. Subjects covered in teaching scenarios discussed in this book include language, time concepts, music, poetry, social tolerance in multicultural societies, mathematics, environmental issues, foreign language learning, healthy nutrition, mythology and geography. Such a diversity of issues concerning integration of digital stories in early childhood and primary education has not been dealt with in other published books until now. The discussed teaching scenarios involve two- and three-dimensional digital stories implemented with the visual programming tools Scratch and Alice. Scratch is implemented by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and enables the creation of two-dimensional multimedia applications. Alice is implemented by Carnegie Mellon and enables the creation of three-dimensional multimedia applications. Both of these tools are available at no charge and are popular in education throughout the world. The created digital stories have been combined with self-assessment e-activities created with JClic to provide further advantages to students. JClic is a free software tool implemented in Spain that enables the creation of interactive assessment activities addressed to early childhood and elementary education. The book is organised into three main parts and consists of ten chapters. The first part consists of two chapters discussing general background issues concerning storytelling, ICT and digital storytelling in education. The second part consists of four chapters discussing teaching scenarios involving early childhood education. The third part consists of four chapters discussing teaching scenarios regarding primary education.