Use of ontology for reusing web repositories for eLearning

Abstract

eLearning scenario has witnessed a shift from instructional to adaptive learning. The focus is now moving from closed to open scenario. However, learning in such situation relegates to the task of retrieving as the information is largely scattered across the web. Searching such voluminous information is practically infeasible and leads to incomplete or irrelevant results. Hence, a need is felt to automatically integrate the vast pool of information present in varying forms on web. This paper proposes a framework that searches for information semantically across all existing web repositories for a given query. The approach utilizes WSD (word sense disambiguation) algorithm to semantically analyze and expand the query. A personalized knowledge base for learning purpose is subsequently created by deploying agents to compile information from various learning resources. The integrated organization of knowledge provides a single point reference for the posted query. It thus increases the probability of the learner obtaining complete and relevant information from a single reference. This framework therefore allows a learner to concentrate on learning than the searching process thus enhancing the learning experience. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010.