Context-Aware Cloud Computing for Personal Learning Environment

Abstract

Virtual learning means to learn from social interactions in a virtual platform that enables people to study anywhere and at any time. Current Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) are normally institution centric and are designed to support formal learning, which do not support lifelong learning. These limitations led to the research of Personal Learning Environments (PLEs), which are learner-centric and provide lifelong access as well as the ability of a user to produce (share) and consume information resources easily. In this research, a context-aware cloud based PLE architecture is proposed, which is driven by a Context-Aware Engine to acquire, filter and interpret context information based on the preferences defined in user profile, where cloud computing is taken as service infrastructure. An illustrative personal learning scenario is investigated to demonstrate the proof of concept implementation. The results show the benefits of the proposed architecture on resource utilisation and user experience.