Employing Open Corpus Resources for Personalized eLearning

Abstract

newline Progressively the contours of formal learning are being encroached by digital technologies newlineand resources mostly via the Internet. Digital resources on the Internet have seeped into the newlineconventional learning ecosystem. The Internet forms the largest knowledge repository available. newlineKnowledge coupled with technology is expanding at a blistering pace. There is a huge potential newlinein exploring the publicly available resources on the Internet for supplementing and newlinecomplementing traditional learning. Unfortunately, this massive knowledge repository does not newlineprovide simple mechanisms for locating and utilizing learning objects to meet the learning newlinerequirements. Consequently, there is a need for the design of new and innovative learning newlinetechniques to locate and understand knowledge quickly and efficiently. newlineHarnessing the relevant content on the Internet needs to account for the hurdles imposed by newlinethe copious volumes of learning resources, lack of metadata, and learning object fit with user newlineneeds. Content on the Internet, publicly accessible is developed for different contexts, audiences, newlineand cultural requirements. Learning resources bereft of consistent pedagogy, aesthetics, and newlinechallenges to machine processing due to vagaries of natural language leads to unforeseen newlineproblems. Students left to fend themselves for locating relevant learning objects often get lost in newlinehyperspace, disoriented during information search and often abandon efforts to learn. Another newlineaspect that forms a barrier is the delivery of information by state-of-the-art search engines newlineoblivious to the end user requirements and profiles. Browsing the Internet by students is often newlineineffective due to poor searching, lack of domain knowledge and information filtering skills. newlineObviously, students would benefit from a framework and structuring in their efforts to consume newlineresources from the Internet. With the problem domain residing at the crossroads of education and newlinecomputer science, an interdisciplinary approach is necessitated.