Sessions
April 9-12, 2008
Montréal, Québec, Canada

Sessions: Abstract

Interactive and customizable learning environment for various users needs – Danish German Virtual Museum Project   go to paper

Jonas Granlie, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Kay Macquarrie, University of Applied Sciences Kiel, Germany
http://www.vimu.info

Virtual Museums face diverse target groups, reaching from young to old, with varying Internet literacy and learning styles. How does one serve these diverse needs efficiently on one platform? How can we implement an accessible learning environment which can be customised to different learning styles? The approach chosen in this project is to provide two basic features: target group profiles and user customization. Target group profiles indicate the different aims that various users have when accessing the Web site. In addition, users themselves are able to tailor the site according to personal learning styles and needs: visually or textually oriented users are able to configure their view of the Museum with a bias towards textual or multimedia material.

From an information technology point of view, the overall task has been to provide the infrastructure needed to enable and preferably enhance the intended features, while getting in the way as little as possible between the content and the visitor. The resulting Web of interconnected information resources and subjects significant to this application both invokes curiosity and provides the visitor with a highly intuitive way of acquiring knowledge.

Session: Personalization [Technology]

Keywords: target groups, personalization, usability, accessibility, topic maps, semantic Web