Enhancing Virtual Learning Communities by Finding Quality Learning Content and Trustworthy Collaborators

Abstract

Virtual learning communities encourage members to learn and contribute knowledge. However, knowledge sharing requires mutual-trust collaboration between learners and contribution of quality knowledge. This task cannot be accomplished by simply storing learning content into repositories. It requires a mechanism to help learners find relevant learning content as well as knowledgeable collaborators to work with. In this paper, we present a peer-to-peer based social network to enhance the quality of e-learning regarding knowledge sharing in virtual learning communities. From the technical aspect, we will present advanced semantic search mechanism for finding quality content and trustworthy collaborators. From the social point of view, we will address how to support trustworthy social network to encourage learners to share. Results of this research demonstrate that applying such mechanism to knowledge sharing do improve the quality of e-learning in virtual learning communities.