A new report authored by academics at the University of Southampton's School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) proposes using Semantic Web Technologies to link higher and further education learning and teaching repositories in the UK. The 'Semantic Technologies in Learning and Teaching Report' also calls for the technology to be used now. It was written for the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).
Semantic Technologies are designed to extend the capabilities of information on the web and link information in meaningful ways. The authors of the report believe that these capabilities can address higher and further education challenges, such as student retention, curriculum alignment and support for critical thinking.
The report, which distinguishes between soft semantic technologies, like topic maps and Web 2.0 applications, and hard semantic technologies like RDF (Resource Description Framework), identified over 36 tools which are relevant to the education sector. The surveyed tools can be classified as: tools for collaborative authoring and annotation; searching and matching; repositories and infrastructural technologies for linked data and semantic enrichment.
The researchers recommend that by evolving and disseminating deeper understandings of the potential for Semantic Technologies across the education sector, JISC can work with its stakeholders to establish and develop good practice. This is expected to enhance the value of its investment in innovation and infrastructure in this sector.
The report sets out a roadmap for developing the identified tools for use in education, with an overall objective of the emergence of a linked data field across UK higher education and further education institutions.
The report was produced as part of the SEMTECH project.
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