Enhancing e-learning through the merging of e-portfolios, social networks and artificial intelligence

Abstract

The evolution of e-learning platforms is a necessity in a technological world that evolves at an alarming rate. Online students expect such systems to add value to what is currently available while at the same time providing elevated educational content. The merging of three techniques is being proposed in this paper to customise the material being presented to the learner. The techniques under investigation are Social Networks in combination with Web 2.0, electronic Personal Learning Portfolios or e-portfolios and User Profiling techniques from the Artificial Intelligence domain. The practical side of this proposal reflects the personalisation practices being successfully employed in other areas that take advantage of online users patterns, likes, and expressed interests. The idea of applying same practices to enhance the effectiveness and optimise the e-learning experience is both exciting and still in its research infancy. However the prospect of adding value to what is currently offered makes it worth investigating from an academic and pedagogical point of view. This research could potentially initiate an educational phenomenon of blending together independent yet compatible approaches. A learning environment will be proposed and will see the combined application of crowdsourcing via social networks together with personalisation through learner interests. The effectiveness of such an arrangement needs to be studied, measured and analysed, and initial results and interpretations will be presented in this paper. This is the essence of this paper that inevitably carries numerous challenges that need to be addressed. However, the underlying principles and proposed practices promise to deliver an exciting and fruitful prospect that could characterise the future of e-learning.