Towards an Ontological Learners' Modelling Approach for Personalised e-Learning

Authors

  • Seyed Ali Hosseini Department of Informatics, School of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
  • Abdel-Rahman H. Tawil School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering, University of East London, London, UK
  • Hossein Jahankhani School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering, University of East London, London, UK
  • Maryam Yarandi School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering, University of East London, London, UK

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v8i2.2476

Keywords:

e-Learning, ontology, personalisation, learner model

Abstract


The rapid advancements in the semantic web technologies has enabled personalised learning based on learnerâ??s characteristics in the learning process. We have implemented a Personalised Adaptive e-Learning system (onto-PAdeL) which uses an ontological approach in design-ing learnersâ?? models. Thus, this paper focuses on describing our approach for modelling learners based on their charac-teristics such as abilities, learning style(s), prior knowledge and preferences. The system uses Item Response Theory (IRT) for calculating learnerâ??s abilities. The learning style can be represented according to different theories, each of which supports personalisation in different ways. We show that using ontologies for learner modelling, in addition to many different benefits, enables reasoning for adaptive learning.

Author Biographies

Seyed Ali Hosseini, Department of Informatics, School of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

Seyed Ali Hosseini is a PhD student at Department of Informatics, School of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Kingâ??s College London, London, UK. He received his MSc. in Web Intelligence from the same university where he is awarded to have the highest performance across the department. He achieved his BSc. in Software Engineering from the School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Westminster, London, UK. His major research interests include Artificial Intelligence, Semantic Web, Ontologies, Logic and Argumentation. He is currently pursuing his PhD thesis in the area of Artificial intelligence and Logic.

Abdel-Rahman H. Tawil, School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering, University of East London, London, UK

Abdel-Rahman Tawil is a senior lecturer at the University of East London. His general area of research is metadata and its role in the integration and interoperation of heterogeneous distributed systems; the enrichment of metadata with quality measures and knowledge from knowledge bases and ontologies to improve semantic interoperability. This includes: - Semantic Web and data Grids. - Integrated application software environments/workbenches, particularly for use in medical applications. - Description logics and their application to database query and integration. - Agent technologies for interoperation (advertising capabilities and managing quality of services). Dr. Tawil has published several research papers in refereed international journals and conferences in semantic and knowledge management, intelligent distributed systems, health informatics, distributed software engineering and service oriented architectures.

Hossein Jahankhani, School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering, University of East London, London, UK

HOSSEIN JAHANKHANI, MSc, PhD, CPhys, MInstP, FHEA obtained his PhD and MSc from University of London. He is currently Senior Lecturer at the School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering at University of East London in Computing and Secure System & Software Development and Coordinator for Master Dissertation. He has more than 50 publications in various journals, conference proceedings and more than 10 extensive reports to various government and private research establishments. His current research focus is on the E-Learning, E-Government, Cyber Crime and Security, E-Health and Wellbeing. He has supervised and advised several PhD students.

Maryam Yarandi, School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering, University of East London, London, UK

Maryam Yarandi is a PhD student at School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering, University of East London, London, UK. She received her M.Sc. in Software Engineering from the Department of Computer Engineering, Sharif University, Tehran, Iran and her B.Sc. in Software Engineering from the Department of Computer Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. She has been a lecturer of computer science and the director of the computing group in Civil Aviation Technology College, Tehran, Iran. Her major research interests include Semantic Web Technologies, Ontologies, Adaptive learning environment, learner modelling. She is currently pursuing her PhD thesis in the area of Ontology Driven Approach for Personalised Adaptive Learning.

Downloads

Published

2013-04-25

How to Cite

Hosseini, S. A., Tawil, A.-R. H., Jahankhani, H., & Yarandi, M. (2013). Towards an Ontological Learners’ Modelling Approach for Personalised e-Learning. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), 8(2), pp. 4–10. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v8i2.2476

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 2 (2013)

Section

Papers