Developing Services for E-Learning Courses Adaptation

Abstract

Modern e-learning systems include a set of complex processes, different elements, services and users’ roles. The users of these systems belong to heterogenic groups considering their characteristics. At the same time, e-learning systems provide various types of learning resources: tutorials, e-books, scientific articles, etc. Each learning resource is specific and has a different way of presentation, content structure, area of study, etc. The number and quantity of education content increases rapidly. In the development of an effective e-learning platform one of the most important requirements is to identify users’ characteristics and then use the obtained information for the creation and realization of educational processes (Aixia & Wang, 2011). Currently, research shows that a majority of educational institutions use the so-called learning management systems (LMS) (Graf, Liu & Kinshuk, 2010; Graf, 2007). These solutions provide a variety of features that enable management of: courses, e-learning activities, e-learning resources, collaboration, etc. LMSs appear to be the best possible solutions for the realization of teaching and learning resources (Barać, 2011; Despotovic, Markovic, Bogdanovic, Barac & Krco, 2012; Graf, Liu & Kinshuk, 2010). LMSs are focused on the support for all processes in e-education (Brusilovsky, 2004; Graf, 2007). The main goal is to enable users to use appropriate services that facilitate the organization of teaching and learning processes. At the same time, communication tools such as forums, chats, wikis, etc. improve interaction during courses realization. However, LMSs deliver the same course content to each student, including the same course organization, resources and services (Brusilovsky & illan, 2007; Graf, Kinshuk & Ives, 2010 ). They do not consider any students’ characteristics, such as: knowledge level, motivation, learning styles, expectations, etc.(Essalmia, Ayeda, Jemnia, Kinshuk & Graf, 2010). Managing courses without taking into account these issues very often results in failure (Dekson & Suresh, 2010).