Julio R. Ribon

Virtual learning communities: unsolved troubles

Virtual learning communities are defined as groups where multiple organizations share learning resources and make collaborative learning activities. The Learning Management Systems (LMS) are technological platforms that allow the realization of these spaces in a cooperative cloud of e-learning. In the present paper it is highlighted that despite the fact that organizations agree to cooperate with each other, to develop virtual learning communities, the generation of these spaces are not common, for this reason the paper raises the Ho hypothesis: The LMS present inability to cooperating to generate virtual learning communities that are developed among multiple organizations. The main objective in the present work is to corroborate the hypothesis raised, for which the problem is described and also to review the state of the art is made, noticing that it appears recurrently. Besides, the degree of fitness in current LMS is valued, verifying if they possess functionalities in their architectures to enable communities in a cooperative cloud of e-learning. This paper is useful for organizations that want to develop cooperative learning tasks for their members (students, teachers, directors) given that it identifies functional requirements that LMS must attend in order to make such communities possible. In this paper the problem is divided in variables that facilitate its comprehension and allow validating the hypothesis raised.

Joint degrees in e-learning environments

Information and communication technologies offer a great opportunity for the development of joint degrees between organizations. In these spaces of cooperative knowledge, each organization contributes with their partners providing learning resources that they offer to students and teachers. Each organization manages their resources and students. However, there is a problem. The Learning Management Systems (LMS) that gives support to the development of the joint degrees have not been conceived to allow multiple spaces of cooperation, which is generating technological isolation. One of the reasons is the lack of knowledge of the joint degrees framework in e-learning environments. The purpose of this document is, first to contribute to the solution of the problem, describing a conceptual model that allows understanding of these cooperative spaces. Second, being useful during the design and development of cooperative e-learning activities and finally to serve as a reference for the design of the new LMS and the adaptation of the present ones.

Grid of Learning Resources in E-learning Communities

Virtual Learning Communities allow organizations to be more cooperative during training activities via the Internet, with the provision of their learning resource. However, today, such techniques are not being implemented optimally and efficiently. In this paper we present a description of the problems that would face the generation of the grid of learning resources. Currently little is known about the problems that prevent the formation of virtual learning communities, so, this work is important for community members (directors, teachers, researchers and practitioners) because it offers a conceptual framework that helps understand these scenarios and can provide useful design requirements when generating learning services (Grid of Learning Resources). We also propose an experience in which virtual learning communities have been integrated in Cartagena (Colombia) obtaining an alternative solution to the current problems.

Solving technological isolation to build virtual learning communities

Educational institutions may form virtual learning communities by cooperating with others to develop online academic activities. In the cloud, communities make up a grid of expertise, which is built with the learning resources that each organization shares with other pairs. Currently little is known about the problems that prevent the formation of the grid of Expertise in Virtual Learning Communities. Such techniques are not being implemented optimally and efficiently. In this paper we present a description of these problems. This work is important for community members (directors, teachers, researchers and practitioners) because it offers a conceptual framework that helps understand these scenarios and can provide useful design requirements when generating learning services for the community. We also propose an experience implemented at the University of Cartagena (Colombia) in which virtual learning communities have been integrated obtaining an alternative solution to the current problems. We believe that the result of this experience could solve the technological isolation to build communities efficiently and optimally.

Abadam: A Security Model To Databases Access Using Mobile Agents

This article analyze aspects related to the mobile agents and security problems these entail, presenting a model access to databases that allow in a high degree to improve the response times in the network and to create a security model that collaborates with user’s authentication process. The proposed model has denominated ABADAM (Access to Databases using Mobile Agents), ABADAM was implemented using: the Java programming language, API Aglets and MS-SQL Server. ABADAM offers a high level of security to protect the database server from malicious agents attacks, allowing access to the valid agents only. The security is based fundamentally on the authentication or identification process of agents that arrive to the server, this process will be able to detect non-valid agents and it will eliminate when considering them malicious agents. In addition if some ill-disposed user created a mobile agent with login and password valid will not be able to make the authentication when it will not be carrying the credential that credits it as a reliable agent and it would be destroyed immediately.