Abstract
Adaptive social network sites (ASNS) are an innovative approach to a web learning experience delivery. They try to solve the main shortcomings of classical social networks—“one-size-fits-all” approach and “lost-in-hyperspace” phenomena—by adapting the learning content and its presentation to needs, goals, thinking styles, and learning styles of every individual learner. This chapter outlines a new approach to automatically detect learners' thinking and learning styles, and takes into account that thinking and learning styles may change during the learning process in unexpected and unpredictable ways. The approach is based on the Felder learning styles model and Hermann thinking styles model.
TopThis section is organized in three subsections; firstly, the general context of the educational social networks is briefly introduced. Secondly, we focus on the thinking style. We conclude with learning styles models.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Adaptive Hypermedia Systems: Adaptive hypermedia systems (AHS) build a model of goals, preferences, and knowledge of the individual user and use this throughout the interaction for adaptation to the needs of user, making it possible to deliver “personalised” views or versions of a hypermedia document without requiring programming by the author(s).
Learning Style: Learning style discusses learners’ personal differences in preferences to receive and process information during instruction. It influences students’ motivation and technology use. Individual learning styles should be considered by teachers and other education practitioners when designing and implementing classroom activities utilizing social networking sites. Preparing a learning environment that reflects students’ needs is essential in improving their academic performance.
Thinking Style: Thinking style refers to the way a person’s natural predisposition in processing information embodying the qualities of thinking processes as well as types of thinking. Understanding of a person’s thinking style is important in all areas of social dealings. Models of thinking styles are varied, some of which are concerned with thinker’s personality traits, and others were interested in answering the question of how a thinker receives, processes, and align experiences, whereas others were focused on the sensory perceptual medium most preferable to a thinker when receiving, processing and aligning experiences. These models are: Carl Jung, Kolb, Dunn and Dunn thinking style model, Myers Briggs type indicator (MBTI) model, McCarthy, Honey and Mumford, Felder Silverman, Sternberg model, and Herrmann model.
Adaptive Social Network: Adaptive learning system is a process where learning contents are delivered to learners adaptively, namely, the appropriate contents are delivered to the learners in an appropriate way at an appropriate time based on the learners’ needs, knowledge, preferences, and other characteristics. Adaptive social network is a process where connections are made among like-minded learners, so they can achieve learning goals via communication and interaction with each other by sharing knowledge, skills, abilities, and materials.