Semantic Web Technologies Applied to e-learning Personalization in <e-aula>

Pilar Sancho (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain)

Iván Martínez (CES Felipe II, Aranjuez, Spain)

Baltasar Fernández-Manjón (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain)

Abstract: Despite the increasing importance gained by e-learning standards in the past few years, and the unquestionable goals reached (mainly regarding interoperability among e-learning contents) current e-learning standards are yet not sufficiently aware of the context of the learner. This means that only a limited support for adaptation regarding individual characteristics is currently being provided. In this article, we propose the use of semantic metadata for Learning Object (LO) contextualization in order to adapt instruction to the learner's cognitive requirements in three different ways: background knowledge, knowledge objectives and the most suitable learning style. In our pilot e-learning platform () the context for LOs is addressed in two different ways: knowledge domain and instructional design. We propose the use of ontologies as the knowledge representation mechanism to allow the delivery of learning material that is relevant to the current situation of the learner.

Keywords: XML, hypermedia systems, multimedia, semantic web, web-based services

Categories: H.3.1, H.3.2, H.3.3, H.3.7, H.5.1