3rd International Workshop on Social and Personal Computing for Web-Supported Learning Communities SPeL 2010

The workshop follows the previous SPeL 2008 and SPeL 2009 workshops, held in conjunction with the SAINT 2008 conference and WI/IAT 2009 conference respectively. The general topic of the workshop is the social and personal computing for web-supported learning communities. This year, the workshop focuses on social and intelligent systems in education, with particular interest on aspects related to data, information, and knowledge within such systems.

Web-based learning is moving from centralized, institution-based systems to a decentralized and informal creation and sharing of knowledge. Social software (e.g., blogs, wikis, podcasts, and media-sharing services) is increasingly being used for e-learning purposes, helping to create novel learning experiences and knowledge. In the world of pervasive Internet, learners are also evolving: the so-called “digital natives” want to be in constant communication with their peers, they expect an individualized instruction and a personalized learning environment, which automatically adapt to their individual needs.

Social learning is based on creating and sharing information and knowledge within the learning community and personalized learning can only take place if enough data about learners (e.g., their behavior, actions, characteristics, and so on) have been gathered and correctly analyzed and interpreted. For both social and personalized learning, the role of data, information, and knowledge is essential. In this context, the workshop addresses the challenges of social and personal computing in Web-supported learning communities, focusing on aspects related to acquiring and managing data, information, and knowledge. Its aim is to provide a forum for discussing new trends and initiatives in this area, including research about the planning, development, application, and evaluation of intelligent e-learning systems, where people can learn together in a personalized way through social interaction with other learn