An ontology-based expert locator system in a Web 2.0-oriented personal learning environment

Personal Learning Environments (PLE) are set up by learners using a dynamic and growing set of Web 2.0 tools which, together, foster a rich knowledge, highly personalized and collaborative environment. While there is a lot of ongoing work and successes in developing the Web 2.0 technologies, the issues of how to leverage on PLE to truly foster a co-learning environment and how to identify "experts" (or more knowledgeable people) in PLEs have not been explored so far. Invariably, as in any learning communities, different levels of expertise (and experience) exist in a community. Novice learners often lack the needed knowledge and experience in configuring their most effective PLEs. Successful and easy location of experts can not only improve learning processes and also enhance the quality of the environment for all learners. This paper presents an ontology-based expert locator framework for supporting personal learning in a Web 2.0 environment.