User Modeling for Language Learning in Facebook

The rise of Facebook presents new challenges for matching users with content of their preferences. In this way, the educational aspect of Facebook is accentuated. In order to emphasize the educational usage of Facebook, we implemented an educational application, which is addressed to Greek users who want to learn the Conditionals grammatical structure in Filipino and vice versa. Given that educational applications are targeted to a heterogeneous group of people, user adaptation and individualization are promoted. Hence, we incorporated a student modeling component, which retrieves data from the users Facebook profile and from a preliminary test to create a personalized learning profile. Furthermore, the system provides advice to each user, adapted to his/her knowledge level. To illustrate the modeling component, we presented a prototype Facebook application. Finally, this study indicates that the wider adoption of Facebook as an educational tool can further benefit from the user modeling component.