This paper presents a reference architecture known as Virtual Physical Space which can be adapted to build Internet of Things applications in various domains. The close relationship under Cyber-Physical Spaces, Internet of Things and Cyber-Physical-Social Spaces are also discussed. Furthermore, the basic building components of the proposed architecture are presented in the paper.

The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) is closely related to the concepts of Cyber-Physical System (CPS) and Cyber-Physical-Social System (CPSS). A key feature of these technologies is the integration of the virtual and physical world. In this paper, an environment for ambient-oriented modeling called AmbiNet is presented. The environment AmbiNet is implemented as a component of the reference architecture known as Virtual Physical Space (ViPS) that can be adapted for CPSS applications in various domains, for example a smart city, a personal touristic guide, or education. The need for virtualization of things from the physical world in a formal way is also considered. In the paper, the usability of the environment is demonstrated by modeling of services delivered to tourists in an intelligent city. The architecture of ViPS is also briefly described. Furthermore, the virtualization and modeling of spatial aspects through the AmbiNet formalism is demonstrated by an example.

Training in STEM centers is becoming increasingly relevant in order to meet the new educational needs caused mainly by the rapid speed with which new technologies have been entering our lives in recent years. Existing university e-learning systems can enhance the capacity of these centers by providing shared learning material. This paper presents a distributed educational platform that supports sharable usage of teaching material at university and in STEM centers in secondary schools. The architecture of the platform is also presented including two basic components. The university e-learning environment operates as a back-end and the front-end component is located in the STEM center. Furthermore, the implemented prototype of the platform is also discussed in the article. The use of the platform is demonstrated by two educational games. The platform is expanded with four educational robots to increase the attractiveness of the educational process.

The article analysed the main reflections presented by experts from different countries in the area of AI in education, who participated in the round table debate “E-Learning and Enhancing soft skills: Contemporary Models of Education in the era of Artificial Intelligence”. The agenda included three topics: 1) E-learning and enhancing soft skills: contemporary models of education in the era of artificial intelligence; 2) Good practice examples using AI in education for soft skills development; 3) AI – perspectives and challenges of its use in education. The conclusions of the round table lead to the reflection that integrating AI and robots can enhance soft skills development and revolutionize education by creating personalized, efficient, and inclusive learning environments. AI offers benefits like task automation, real-time feedback, and support for diverse needs. However, challenges such as equity, privacy, bias, and ethical concerns must be addressed. Success requires adequate teacher training, a focus on equity and accessibility, ethical considerations, strong data protection, and maintaining human interaction and creativity. By addressing these challenges thoughtfully, education systems can fully harness AI’s potential to improve learning outcomes.

The paper presents a conceptual model and some ideas for realization of the e-learning system in the secondary school that is adaptive to the user knowledge. We propose the algorithm for evaluation of student's cognitions at three levels -- as general mark, as level of subject domain knowledge and as mark of each concept. According to this valuation and the stereotype information, the LMS starts and manages an appropriate training process.