Lightlore: An Adaptation Framework for Design and Development of xAPI-Based Adaptive Context-Aware Learning Environments

Abstract

The age of pervasive computing has initiated a boom in the development of adaptive context-aware learning environments (ACALEs), i.e., systems that are capable of detecting a learner’s context and providing adaptive learning services based on this context. Many of the existing educational systems were developed as standalone applications for specific or a small range of adaptive educational scenarios. It would be extremely helpful for developers and educators to have a unified framework that provides an infrastructure for the development of ACALEs. In this study, we propose Lightlore—an adaptation framework that enables the development of different types of ACELEs for a wide range of learning scenarios in formal and informal settings. We first used scenario-based design (SBD) as the design methodology for creating a conceptual model of Lightlore. Educational scenarios were adopted from the results of a previous literature review. We then developed a proof-of-concept implementation of Lightlore, with a hypermedia system for learning data structures that uses the adaptation service of Lightlore. This implementation is essentially an adaptation infrastructure and a programming API for creating new (or transforming existing) adaptive and context-aware educational services. It exploits the experience API (xAPI), a modern e-learning standard and learning record store, thus making coupling with existing learning environments easier. We expect that diverse types of users will benefit from using Lightlore, such as learners, educators, learning environment developers, and researchers on educational technologies.