The E-Learning Case

Abstract

Over recent years, the use of computer-based (and Web-based) learning has become increasingly popular. Various E-Learning systems have been developed to provide users with the opportunity to access large quantities of data, often remotely, be part of electronic courses and enjoy facilitations that once could only be part of a traditional classroom, such as communication with other students, or the teacher. However, in many cases, the information in those systems is uniformly presented to all learners, neglecting any potential particularities driven by their human nature like cognitive abilities, learning style, perceptions and affective states. In this respect, research has concentrated on creating E-Learning environments that would integrate existing theories regarding individual differences in such a way as to maximize learning performance through adaptive presentation and navigation support. The personalization factor acts as a barometer to the design quality of such systems and interfaces that positively influence the learning process, academic performance, and satisfaction of learners. In this chapter, we propose a number of human-centred design guidelines for adaptive E-Learning systems that could be considered by researchers and educators in order to create more effective and efficient personalization methods and adaptivity rules to increase the students’ learning experience and comprehension capabilities while interacting with a system.