(725)ENHANCING E-LEARNING THROUGH THE MERGING OF EPORTFOLIOS, SOCIAL NETWORKS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

摘要

The evolution of e-learning platforms is a necessity in a technological world that evolves at analarming rate. Online students expect such systems to add value to what is currently available while atthe same time providing elevated educational content. The merging of three techniques is beingproposed in this paper to customise the material being presented to the learner. The techniques underinvestigation are Social Networks in combination with Web 2.0, electronic Personal Learning Portfoliosor e-portfolios and User Profiling techniques from the Artificial Intelligence domain. The practical sideof this proposal reflects the personalisation practices being successfully employed in other areas thattake advantage of online users patterns, likes, and expressed interests. The idea of applying samepractices to enhance the effectiveness and optimise the e-learning experience is both exciting and stillin its research infancy. However the prospect of adding value to what is currently offered makes itworth investigating from an academic and pedagogical point of view. This research could potentiallyinitiate an educational phenomenon of blending together independent yet compatible approaches. Alearning environment will be proposed and will see the combined application of crowdsourcing viasocial networks together with personalisation through learner interests. The effectiveness of such anarrangement needs to be studied, measured and analysed, and initial results and interpretations willbe presented in this paper. This is the essence of this paper that inevitably carries numerouschallenges that need to be addressed. However, the underlying principles and proposed practicespromise to deliver an exciting and fruitful prospect that could characterise the future of e-learning.