multiskan / moocs

Massive Online Open Courses J2EE Project

Moocs

Massive Online Open Courses J2EE Project

1. Intro This document summarizes the targeted platform requirements.

2. What is a course? It is a structured aggregation of video recordings (lectures), reading course materials, assignments, quizzes and exams, in a specific thematic. It has prerequisites and learning outcomes that should be clearly stated. A course is set on at least three weeks. Its resources appear gradually for learners on a preset chronology.

3. Platform users Trainers, Universities, Learners and Committee members… The Trainer can basically submit a course. He can also update its content and structure at any time according to the feedback of different users of the platform. The trainer also keeps an eye on assignments and quizzes results of the learners following his courses. The trainer can submit s course in his own name or under the auspices of an authorized University. A Learner can voluntarily enroll in order to follow a course. By doing so, he will have access to course lectures, quizzes and examination. He will granted access to discussion space where he can collaborate with other learners and even ask live questions to the Trainer. He will earn badges for the advancements he makes. And if he succeeds in the final examination, he will be delivered a certificate of achievement. A Learner is also asked for feedback. In fact, he can respond to surveys aimed at improving the services offered by the platform. Committee members are responsible for universities and trainers authorization. They also take care of courses content validation and launch targeted surveys to maintain the overall quality of the delivered services.

4. Enrollments As we said earlier, anyone can join the platform as a Learner. He must at least provide an email and a password so that he can be identified by the platform. Later, he will be asked for further information including a profile picture. A Trainer, however, while going through the same process as the Learner in the beginning, will be asked for a resume and wait for demand to be validated. In other words, everyone can apply for a Trainer membership in the platform and they will be given access to a space where they can follow their membership status. But only those whose applications are accepted by the committee members will be authorized to operate as trainers. The platform signs contracts with universities and this is always done out of the platform. The Admin then registers an account for the university which will be used by the latter to designate their trusted trainers which will be later contacted by the platform via email and membership will be granted for them automatically. The committee must at least have 3 permanent members. Their accounts are created and activated by the platform administrator. Trainers with a certain standing can enrich the committee. Such a decision has to be voted by committee members. The Admin is then notified and thereafter grants required privileges to the Trainer.

5. Surveys, Quizzes and Exam edition Multiple choice questions are the foundation of traditional surveying. They allow the respondent to choose one or multiple options from a list of possible answers. When it comes to the platform that we want to build, this technique is not only used for surveys but also for quizzes and exams. The questions may be accompanied with pictures and code snippets in the case of exams and quizzes. The need for an easy to use generic tool to generate multiple choice questions is an undeniable fact as it will be used by committee members and trainers. It must be seamlessly embedded within the platform. Lately, quizzes/exams and surveys will be answered by targeted audience and their results are to be stored for further analysis.

6. Course submission First of all, the Trainer submits the course’s idea supported by a short descriptive video and a meaningful poster. He also sets the course under a particular topic (ex: Server side development) and tags it with keywords in order to enable efficient and even faceted search hereafter. Then he sets prerequisites and learning outcomes. The course’s idea is submitted for first approval by the committee. If only one member approves the idea, the course accepted for edition. The Trainer who submitted the course then gets notified of the result. Editing a course consists in setting its chapters and associating each one of them with learning outcomes. The Trainer is required to associate with each one of these educational recourses consisting at least of a presentation and a video lecture where he goes through its content. It is highly recommended to include a quiz to check learners’ understanding. However, a final exam has to conclude the course. It is possible for the course editor to attach a badge with a chapter so that it can be gained by learners if their score is height enough. By the way, considered as trophies, achievement certifications and badges adorn the Learner’s profile. Once edited, the course is submitted for final validation and same rules apply as for its idea validation.

7. Interactivity The interaction between learner and trainer happens by means of live chat and discussion in course group. The Trainer schedules live chat sessions with its followers at its convenience. Learners get notified of scheduled sessions and express their will to participate. In the course discussion group, it is always possible for a learner to post a topic that may be a question or whatever. Other learners and even the Trainer can take part in this discussion. In addition, learners can post comments and rate on course resources: video lectures and reading materials. Besides notifications, all interactions between trainers and committee members is done via emails.