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Aug 16, 2024
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Aug 31, 2025
Published
Oct 27, 2025
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Abstract

Smart learning environments (SLE) have been greatly enhanced lately by the adoption of cutting-edge technologies such as Internet-of-Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Cloud Computing and Learning Analytics among others. Huge amounts of heterogeneous data are being exchanged between numerous devices, sensors and “things” used by students, educators and educational institutions. This heterogeneity hinders seamless communication among different systems pertaining to SLE. A smart campus is an example of a smart learning environment involving different systems such as smart learning management system, personalized learning, e-learning, assessment, smart classroom and smart library system among others. These systems often need to collaborate to enhance the teaching and learning process. To allow seamless communication among these systems, semantic interoperability has to be tackled by the adoption of a shared common data model. Ontologies are viewed as a potential way to ensure semantic interoperability. Several ontologies exist in the smart learning domain. However, none of them represents a smart learning environment for an IoT-enabled smart campus. This paper presents a semantic model entitled SmartLearningOnto that aims to model different aspects of a smart learning environment in a smart campus. The proposed ontology facilitates exchange of data among several systems in a smart campus by defining the concepts related to smart learning in an appropriate way. Furthermore, it infers new knowledge to enrich the learning experience of learners. SPARQL queries have been used to answer competency questions. Furthermore, several metrics along with expert evaluation have been used to evaluate SmartLearningOnto.

Keywords

Internet-of-Things Smart Learning Environment Smart Learning IoT Semantic Interoperability Ontology

Article Details

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How to Cite
Nagowah, S., Ben Sta, H., & Gobin-Rahimbux, B. (2025). Conceptual Knowledge Representation: a semantic model for Smart Learning Environments in an IoT-enabled Smart Campus. Journal of E-Learning and Knowledge Society, 21(2), 44-60. https://doi.org/10.20368/1971-8829/1136004

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