The challenge of content creation to facilitate personalized eLearning experiences

Abstract

The runtime creation of pedagogically coherent learning content for an individual learner’s needs and preferences is a considerable challenge. By selecting and combining appropriate learning assets into a new learning object such needs and preferences may be accounted for. However, to assure coherence these objects should be consumed within pedagogically meaningful learning activity structures. There are a number of key aspects that need to be addressed in order to perform this kind of personalization, such as the appropriate modelling of the learner’s needs and preferences, representation of pedagogical strategies, representation of learning designs and assets as well as the runtime reconciliation of these elements to produce effective and coherent learning activities. Moreover, preferences that teachers may have about the learner’s studies should also be considered. iClass, an Integrated Project, funded by the European Commission under the auspices of the IST FP6, addresses this challenge with an innovative and ambitious suite of eLearning services. This paper introduces iClass and its objectives.