Foreign language learning environment built on web 2.0 technologies

Modern educational approaches and the widespread use of new technologies, as well as the adoption of social software services in our daily lives, require new e-education approaches. Web 2.0 technologies and services represent promising learning tools that support information sharing, communication, networking and collaboration, which transcend time and space, linking individuals in various and vast groups of networked participants. Also, tools and services must be easy to integrate and adapt to the specific needs of various learning settings. These advantages, paired with greater flexibility and lower costs for developing countries have motivated research to support second language learning and training. The prototype implementation presented in this work is based on the Liferay platform, which incorporates various social network tools and subject domain applications in a very flexible way that promotes learning communities and closed learning groups. Preliminary findings from both the development and usage points of views are promising. This paper outlines system requirements, discusses the development process and provides an overview of its usage for different groups of users.