Integrating learning services in the cloud: an approach that benefits both systems and learning

Abstract

Currently there is an increasing trend to implement functionalities that allow for the development of applications based on Cloud computing. In education there are high expectations for Learning Management Systems since they can be powerful tools to foster more effective collaboration within a virtual classroom. Tools can also be integrated with these systems that can provide assistance to students on any topic covered in class through the proliferation and popularity of publicly available Web APIs. However, generally most students and teachers still face technological barriers to access these resources and integrate them into their educational systems. This paper discusses an effort to overcome this problem by proposing a method of resource access through linked data, which is explicitly defined with semantic annotations related to the learning environment. Doing so, we are able to decorate the Cloud providers API's, thus providing easy integration into learning applications and important benefits for learning. The effectiveness of our approach has been measured and evaluated through usability methods and cognitive load theory principles.