Needs Analysis and Requirements Definition

The creators of teaching materials continue to experience unnecessary difficulties in: the documentation of the teaching strategies used in or with any materials; the establishment and the adherence to the prescribed procedures in order to assure the consistency of that documentation;

the selection of the elements of a complete unit of learning, in order to allow the creation of new units of learning [2]. Some popular LD Tools, used by authors of UoLs include RELOAD [3], CopperAuthor [4], aLFanet [5], MOT [6], LAMS [7]. Some of these tools require much more front-loading of skills before useful results can be achieved and others require some level of technical skills. Griffiths provides a discussion on the various types of tools, and a diagram which places them on a quadrant of two axes: close to/distant from the specification and general purpose/specialized [8]. The RELOAD, CopperAuthor and aLFanet are Tools close to specification with a general purpose. The MOT and LAMS stand in the fourth quadrant quite distant from the specification and are with a general purpose. A big gap emerges in the Tools that are Distant from the Specification and with a Specific Purpose. It is clear that the authors need high level tools to understand the Specification, and exactly the tools that are specialized for a particular pedagogic context will be easier and faster to use.

The analysis of these LD Tools exposes some drawbacks:

� The RELOAD and CopperAuthor require some level of a technical knowledge to edit correctly the various fields.

� The extended functionality of MOT and LAMS supports the more general process of learning design that requires more time and user’s attention to learn, setup, control and navigate the tools.

� End-user download, installation and maintenance procedures that waste time require system administrator’s attention. � The adaptation of these LD Tools for

specific learning processes and exact pedagogic experiences can be a challenge. � There are difficulties in integrating LD

Tools with the Learning Management Systems.

The LDT requirement specification, defined at a different level of details in the context of needs, is the following:

� Functional: A tool that allows creation of a UoL, template-based LD Tool with best practice scenarios, a tool that supports authors giving them the basics of LD theory;

� Operational: a web-based LD Tool with a client/server architecture, with end user

installation and maintenance-free, easily to be integrated with other e-learning platforms, that generates MS Word file and IMS LD content package;

� Management/organizational: tools and services of ATutor are used.

� Technological: for an easy integration in ATutor, the LDT has to be developed in an object-oriented PHP language, JavaScript, with MySQL Database communications, http/ftp protocols used.

� Standards-based: used EML and LD IMS Specification level A, used SCORM e- learning content.

The problems, which the LD Tool solves, are the following: 1) The LDT provides a template for authors/teachers who don’t understand LD and guides them through the UoL design process. The template solution has been chosen because it is: a way of making things simpler and faster to the authors, a way to be focused on the pedagogical issues and not on the technical ones, a way to produce a practical UoL, instead of a full understanding of IMS LD, a way of disseminating IMS LD into the authoring community [9].

2) The LDT proposes a full documentation of the lesson plans in a purely presentable context as it generates MS Word file. The simplicity of the MS Word environment provides interface features which can help the authors to make sense of a UoL taxonomy. This in turn allows the authors to view, edit and evaluate LDs. 3) The LDT generates reusable IMS LD Content Package with an instructional content, resources for a given learning activity and the description of how those resources may be organized for the best instructional effect.

3. A Methodology of the Design and

Development Process

The design methodology includes two aspects: (1) a conceptual modeling based on pedagogy concepts of Educational Modeling Language (EML) and the IMS Learning Design Specification and (2) a software development and integration which comprises of an object- oriented approach, a Unified Development Process (UDP), a Use Case Analysis, the Unified Modeling Language as well as a client- server architecture solution.

3.1. A Conceptual Modeling

The design and the development of the education is an incremental process which

follows systematically the stages of analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation. The instrumentation differs for each stage, depending on the specific goals, settings, and actors that play a role during that stage.

In the analysis phase, a concrete educational problem (use case) is analyzed, usually by talking to the various stakeholders. What matters here, is that the analysis results of the didactical scenario is captured in a narrative, often based on a checklist. The narrative then is cast in the form of a UML activity diagram in order to add more color to the analysis. This is the first design step.

The UML activity diagram then forms the basis for an XML document instance that conforms to the LD specification. This is the second design step.

This document instance subsequently forms the basis for the development of the actual content (resources) in the development phase.

The content package with both the resources and the learning design are then evaluated [2].

3.2. Software Implementation and

Integration

The UDP is used as the main development strategy, relying on the incremental process model [10]. In the project, the UDP is chosen because: it is planned and managed; it is predictable; it accommodates the changes to the requirements with la ess disruption; it is based on evolving executable prototypes; it is risk- driven. The UDP consists of four phases: Inception, Elaboration, Construction, and Transition. The main stages, which are iterated through each increment, are: iteration planning, requirements capturing, analysis and design, implementation, test and prepare release.