Historical overview of adaptive e-learning approaches focusing on the underlying pedagogy

Abstract

This paper attempts a historical overview of adaptive e-learning approaches through the lens of a well-known categorization, which distinguishes among the macro-adaptive approach, the aptitude–treatment interaction approach, the micro-adaptive approach, and the constructivist–collaborative approach. Early and more recent examples in each category are presented in order to conclude on similarities and differences among the approaches. The history of adaptive e-learning systems is discussed, and the main conclusion drawn is that, historically, the development of adaptive e-learning systems has followed the trends of education and cognitive science.