Preetha Ram

Open social learning communities

With the advent of open education resources, social networking technologies and new pedagogies for online and blended learning, we are in the early stages of a significant disruption in current models of education. The disruption is fueled by a staggering growth in demand. Open Social Learning systems open a new venue for self-motivated learners to access high quality learning materials. In this paper, we describe our vision of open social learning and introduce a cyber-infrastructure that supports a large-scale open social learning community in order to facilitate self-guided learning.

Human centric E-learning and the challenge of cultural localization

The cutting edge of designing for the user experience today is found in the arena of designing for the user’s cultural context {1}, {2}, {3}. This is primarily true because of global expansion of the Internet and Web usage. Brick and mortar businesses have learned to adapt their products to be culturally sensitive. For example, car manufacturers build the same basic platform with different styling and amenities depending on where the vehicle will be sold. To convey an appealing image to potential buyers and readers, publishers translating popular works into many languages usually have different covers designed for different countries: for this reason they aim towards the perception of an object and of its functions. We often differ in the way we experience the world around us. Our experiences differ relative to our primary language, educational practices, work habits, and what makes for an enjoyable experience, whether in what and how we like to play, what sounds that we appreciate, or colors that appeal to us {4}, {5}.