Hugo Rego, Instituto Politécnico de Viseu - Portugal e-learning solution implementation → contribute to education success Effective complement or alternative to presential classes Synchronous and asynchronous collaboration Share resources and messages Allow real time interaction between students and teachers

1. e-Learning Platforms Implementation
on a Virtual Campus Project
A Polytechnic Institution Case
Hugo Rego
Tiago Moreira
Francísco García
University of Salamanca

2. Summary
Introduction
Context
Platform Implementation
Conclusions
Future Work

3. Introduction
e-Learning First Appearance in Portugal
Training Systems on enterprises
Education → appeared as small pilot projects
Virtual Campus Project, e-U
Infrastructure component
Wireless component
Content component
Institutional Portal and Virtual Academic Services
E-learning
Make e-learning gain a national importance
All higher-education institutions have to implement it
This case reports to implementation
Polytechnic Institute with about 7500 users
Located on an interior region

4. Context
Quantity DescriptionItems
76Wireless Access Points
Teachers (IT Courses) ± 30; Students (IT Courses) ± 300; IT
Technicians 8; IT Specialists 5
333Expert
Employees (IT area)20Advanced
Employees, Teachers, Students± 7147Basic
Users
1Studio and Video Conferencing
Rooms
25IT Labs
8Auditorium rooms
10Multimedia Labs
Building Structures
0E-learning Tools
Macromedia, Adobe, Corel, Microsoft Tools.223Authoring Tools
WindowsPer computerOperative Systems
Software
Headphones. Microphones, Webcams223Multimedia equipment
102Laptops
971Desktop PCs
Hardware

5. Context
E-Learning Services
Continuous formation on Mathematics Web site
Bibliography
Classes Sumaries
Events and news management
Courses Information
Grades review
Departments’ Web pages
Classes’ Web pages
Teachers’ Web pages
Information about E-learning
e-U Project E-learning Web page

6. Context
Project goal to our institution → use e-learning
Mean to seek/catch new audiences for polytechnic education
Show the public what is taught in these type of institutions
Way of spreading and sharing information and knowledge
So it is imperative
Define an e-learning plan
Define strategies
Choose best e-learning solution

7. Platform Implementation
Nowadays → several e-learning platforms and tools
Commercial and open source/freeware
Difficulty on choosing the best solution to fit our needs
Open Source/Freeware Solutions
Lack of / few documentation
Maintenance
Support
Extensibility of the platform
Cost of licensing
Installation
Maintenance
Commercial Platforms
Problems
Important decision factor
Users Know-how Users IT skills

8. Platform Implementation
e-learning solution implementation → contribute to education success
Effective complement or alternative to presential classes
Synchronous and asynchronous collaboration
Share resources and messages
Allow real time interaction between students and teachers
Institution wants a solution based on technology that allows
Expansibility of functionalities
High level of availability
Integrate, Import and Export data from existent systems
To implement the e-U Project e-learning component we propose
Flexible implementation process → divided in the following great phases
Inquiries about the necessities of the Polytechnic Institute community
Initial phase → Identify available e-learning techniques, tools and software
Development/Acquisition Phase
Production phase → contents are inserted in the platforms
Evaluation phase
Focus on the strategy followed to choose platforms and tools

9. Platform Implementation
Chronogram
e-Learning current approaches
Necessities Inquiries
Platform Usage Monitoring
Sensitization
17 18 19 20 21 22 2313 14 15 167 8 9 10 11
Decision about future solutions
Impact Evaluation
Integration of e-learning
component on courses
curriculum
Production phase
e-U Project post-certification strategy
Certify Platform
Training
Platform Customization
Software installation
Technological platform licensing
e-U Project certification strategy
Planning
Survey & Planning
2412654321Months

10. Platform Implementation
Survey & Planning - Current Approaches
Accessibility
XXXXXXXLOs and other types of content Mng.
Content Authoring and Editing
Resources Management
XXTracking users
Admin. workflows quality & functio.
XProduce reports
XXDatabase Access mechanisms
Student Manage. / Monitor. tools
Administrative
XXXXXXXXCourses and Resources adaptability
XXXXXXXXStudents previous knowledge
XChoose Interface Language
XInterface Costum. and personaliz.
Adaptation and Personalization
XXXXExtensibility
(6)(6)(1)(1), (2)(1), (6)(1), (2), (3),
(4), (5)
(6), (1)(1), (2), (3)Standards and specs compliance
Interoperability/integration
Technical Aspects
.LRNSakaiMoodleATutorAngelIntraLearnWebCTBB
Open SourceComercial
Platforms
Tools/Features
SCORM - (1); IMS - (2); AICC - (3); LRN - (4); Section 508 - (5); Some IMS Specifications - (6)

11. Platform Implementation
Survey & Planning - Current Approaches
XXXXXXXLO Search and Indexation
File upload/download mechanisms
XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
Resources Management
Evaluation of quality of resources
Learning Objects Sharing/Reuse
Student Portfolios
XXXXStudent Communities
Groupwork
Collaborative
Documentation
NoneNoneNoneNoneHighHighHighHighCosts
XXXXInquiries
Tests
Self Assessments
Evaluation
Email
XXXXWhiteboard
XChat
Forum
Communication
.LRNSakaiMoodleATutorAngelIntraLearnWebCTBB
Open SourceComercial
Platforms
Tools/Features

12. Platform Implementation
Survey & Planning - Current Approaches
ReloadAuthoring & Packaging
Tiki CMS/Groupware (aka TikiWiki)Help & e-learning/Web design
Open Source
iLife '06Apple Packages
Macromedia Breeze Presenter & Training Higher Education Edition
Macromedia Director MX 2004 (Mac/Windows)
Macromedia Authorware 7.0 (Windows) English
Macromedia Captivate 1.0 (Windows) English
Help & e-learning
Adobe Photoshop CS2 (Education version)Digital Imaging
Commercial
ProductTypeSolution
Authoring & Annotation Tools

13. Platform Implementation
Survey & Planning - e-Learning Framework Paradigm

14. Platform Implementation
Certification Strategy
On this phase
Noticed the users had no experience on e-learning environments
Acquire an e-learning platform with consistent functionalities
Wider spectrum of implementation
Applied to several other educational institutions with success
Minimal number of errors
Users can acquire knowledge and get familiarized with e-learning
Adopting this kind of platform we can benefit
From all the engineering project already made for other national institutions
Access to all the information, documentation and events
Making easier the beginning of the process
Regarding the certification process we must cover
e-U Project objectives
Short Implementation Time due to Project Financing
Set of requirements for certification
Conformance with the level A directives of Accessibility on Web 1.0 contents
Support of Portuguese language and provide information in foreign languages
Assure data interoperability through SCORM 1.2 compliance

15. Platform Implementation
Certification Strategy – e-Learning Platforms Analysis Criteria
Functionalities of the platformFunctionalities
Usability of the platformUsability
Licensing meritLicensing
Availability of the source codeSource Code
Integrability with other applicationsIntegrability
Quality of the support and maintenance of the platformSupport & Maintenance
5%Execution TimeExecution Time
20%Price of solutionPrice
20%Execution staff allocatedExecution Team
Documentation providedDocumentation
Level of Conformance of the web contentAccessibility
Takes care of the assessment issuesEvaluation
Takes care of the communications tools provided by the platformCommunication
Takes care of issues regarding the management the resources like creation editing and authoringResources Management
Takes care of issues regarding the management of the platformAdministrative
Takes care of issues regarding user personalization, adaptation and customizationAdaptation and Personalization
The standards and specifications that the platform supports.Standards and specs compliance
Takes into account some technical aspects that should be considered regarding the platforms
flexibility
Technical Aspects
55%
Technical Merit
WeightDescriptionCriteria/Factors

16. Platform Implementation
Certification Strategy – e-Learning Platforms Evaluation Grid Example
Platform B
Platform D
Platform C
Platform A
Support&Maintenance(10%)
Integrability(20%)
SourceCode(5%)
Functionalities(25%)
Usability(25%)
Licensing(15%)
Total
ExecutionTime(5%-1)
Price(20%-4)
ExecutionTeam(20%-4)
Technical Merit (55% - 11)
Platforms
Evaluation → Scale 0 to 20

17. Platform Implementation
Post-Certification Strategy
Before the end of the first year of usage of the platform
Analyse the impact of the platform
Choose the strategy to follow
The analysis we consider
Collection of data and statistics of the platforms’ usage
Inquiries to measure the users level of satisfaction
After the analysis the e-learning solution should be revised
3 scenarios
Continue with the current platform
Start looking or develop a new one
Combine different solutions
Taking into account these scenarios
We have been developing an e-learning platform AHKME in a PhD context
Combine with an open source/freeware solution

18. AHKME PLATFORM

19. Platform Implementation
Post-Certification Strategy
Communication Tools
Collaborative Tools
Evaluation Tools
Ecommerce Tools
Accessibility Mechan.
.LRN
Moodle
Sakai
ATutor

20. Conclusions
In projects like Virtual Campus
Consider the implementation context
In a first phase → Choose a reliable platform
low percentage of errors
Wide implementation level
Gradually aim for the development of a platform → Best fits your needs
The paradigm of analysing an e-learning system deals with many factors
Know the e-learning systems and tools to analyse
Make the choice regarding the architecture of the system you want to implement
In a real scenario
Consider the environment and factors regarding the implementation
Define the criteria and its weights for selection of platforms an tools
Consider context and project management factors unlike on an empirical analysis
Accessibility → Make the system accessible to everyone
The system should support several languages
Native language
Information in foreign languages – preferentially English and optionally French or Spanish.
So, analysing and choosing an e-learning system requires
Planning
Knowing very well the variables and factors that influences the decision

21. Future Work
Ending the Platform Certification
Implementing Post-Certification Strategy
Sensitization process
Beginning of the Production phase
Continue AHKME e-learning Platform development