Active Learning by Personalization: Lessons Learnt from Research in Conceptual Content Management

In this paper we argue that the potential of e-learning systems for active and autonomous knowledge acquisition and use can be substantially enhanced by exploiting the personalization capabilities of concept-oriented content management. Content and implementation personalization are essential services provided by research-oriented content management systems. Personalized concept understanding as well as concept-oriented content acquisition and use are key to most learning situations. Therefore, learning and research systems should cooperate with the common goal of exchanging and sharing content and enabling processes which transparently span system boundaries. In this paper, we discuss how personalization can be used to enhance both, autonomous learning activities and research-oriented workflows. Personalization and content coupling technologies are at the heart of one of our operational web-based application systems, the Warburg Electronic Library. This system is successfully used in a number of research as well as learning projects, during which advantages of joint research and learning systems have been identified.