María José Casany Guerrero

Adapting LMS Architecture to the SOA: An Architectural Approach

Service oriented approaches (SOA) are currently used to develop new software-as-a-service applications, but they can also be used in the reengineering of existing legacy systems, such as Learning Management Systems (LMS). The introduction of a SOA to reengineer current LMS can provide LMS with the ability to deliver internal functions as services as well as the ability to integrate external applications as services. This paper presents an architectural approach to adapt the Moodle LMS to the SOA and some important issues involved in the adaptation are analyzed. Taking into account interoperability specifications, all SOA to LMS adaptation drawbacks are solved by the application of the new architecture.

SOA Initiatives for eLearning: A Moodle Case

Mobile learning applications introduce a new degree of ubiquitousness in the learning process. There is a new generation of ICT-powered mobile learning experiences that exist in isolated contexts: experiences limited to small learning communities. These rising mobile learning experiences appear while web-based learning, specially Learning Management Systems (LMS), are consolidated and widely adopted by learning institutions, teachers and learners. The innovation techniques breeding in the experimental world of mobile learning need to be translated into the mainstream echosystems. Mobile learning is not intended to replace e-learning or web based learning, but to extend it. So, mobile learning applications need to be integrated somehow in the web-based LMS. To do so is needed to address interoperability issues on both ends: the LMS and the mobile application. Web Services and Service Oriented Architecture offer a standarized and effective way to achieve interoperability between systems. This paper presents an architecture that allows a two-way interoperability between LMS and Mobile Applications: access LMS contents from the mobile device, and to be able to embed part of the mobile applications inside the LMS framework. This architecture incorporates elements from famous interoperability standards (IMS LTI and OKI) and has been validated with two projects related to the Open Source LMS Moodle.

Google analytics for time behavior measurement in Moodle

The shift to e-learning and online education requires new and different approaches for tracking student performance and behavior. Moodle is currently the leading virtual learning environment in Spain, and a lot of different plugins have appeared to complement the lack of native tools to track the learning process in all its aspects. However, none of these take the temporal dimension as a possible behavior measurement into consideration. In this case study, a new technical and statistical approach to time tracking of students in Moodle will be discussed, so that time as a behavioral aspect can be considered in further assessments. Furthermore, this approach could not only be applied to Moodle, but to all other online virtual learning environments.

The effects of massiveness on the participation in social technologies: a MOOC in secondary education

This paper presents a research conducted in a secondary education context where social and web 2.0 technologies and MOOC methodologies were involved. Considering that many researchers placed social and web 2.0 technologies as beneficial in the classroom in relation to the development of specific competences, the aim of the research was to test the MOOC methodology as an enhancer of participation and interaction in the use of such technologies. The research was conducted among more than 300 Spanish students in order to describe the positive or negative effects of massiveness in social participation. In this aspect, two courses were conducted under the same social structure and methodology in order to be contrasted. One of the courses considered as the control group had 18% of the students enrolled. The other course was considered as the massified group and had 82% of the students enrolled, and therefore, considered as the MOOC. In relation to the analysis of both courses, a quantitative methodology has been used in order to carry out a descriptive approach. Regarding a quantitative point of view, the results of the research conclude that the experience of incorporating a MOOC in a secondary education environment is positive with regard to the integration and participation in social technologies.