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WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on INFORMATION SCIENCE and APPLICATIONSHrvoje JerkovicPrototype framework for integration of digital repository systems withe-learning platformsHRVOJE JERKOVICIT DepartmentZagreb School of Economics and ManagementJordanovac 110, ZagrebCROATIAhrvoje@zsem.hr https://hr.linkedin.com/in/hjerkovic/enAbstract: Modern repository platforms like Dspace, ePrints or FEDORA (Flexible and Extensible DigitalObject and Repository Architecture) are information systems and frameworks for handling digital objects. Theyare rich with various features so they might serve as much better interactive storage than internal LMS(Learning Management System) storage used by LSM like Blackboard or Moodle. This paper analyzes featuresof commonly used repository platforms as possible storage solution for e-learning digital objects and tools. Weexplain our experiences while creating integrated framework system for commonly used LMS with commonlyused repository platforms. Comparison analysis of existing repository platforms is made with focus on featuresnecessary for effective integration with LMS and similar e-learning systems. Prototype application was createdto demonstrated key features and benefits of integrated solution.Key-Words: - repository platforms, learning management systems, API, integration, e-learning tools, prototypeapplicationpolicy so this might enable various joint e-learningactivities among educational institutions.Current LMS platforms with options for buildingplugins or building blocks for extendedfunctionalities could be significantly extended withoptions allowed by RP.This could allow creation of number ofadditional applications which could enable editing,sharing, reusing and other options upon DO withability to publish them afterwards on chosen coursesor as joint scientific contribution in any RP.DO in RP are usually stored with all richmetadata about structure and resources of the DO.Usually this is tiresome part for the person thatsubmits publication of any sort. All metadata fieldsare usually filled manually.LMS usually doesn’t store data with metadataoptions and usually they have quite weekcapabilities regarding metadata options in general.RP on other hand are all about metadata andadditional options and functionalities that couldenrich user experience with DO. Convenientcircumstance is that LMS holds already majority ofinformation which needs to be stored as metadata: User information about teachers andstudents – fetch from authorization system (like1 IntroductionLMS have various tools based on advanced Webtechnologies, but often poor repositories for learningobjects (LO). Basic problem is how to enable simpleaccess to materials stored in various repositorieswith options to create, edit, share, collaborate andintegrate them in their own courses or on any LMS.On other hand, repository platforms are enablingusers content management for academic purposes(storage and exchange of scientific content types)but they also have potential to serve for e-learningpurposes. Repository platforms (RP) are advancedinformation systems for handling digital objects(DO) and as such they could significantly extendfunctionalities of LMS.2 Why LMS-RP integrationLMS-RP integration might enable collaborationnot only on institutional level. RP are usually part ofsome federated network so they have tools foraccess control, metadata or whole record exchange.If LMS and RP are integrated than each coursecontent could actually be collection of DO stored inRP. Sharing of those DO across federated networkof DO could be enabled or disabled by institutionsE-ISSN: 2224-3402167Volume 12, 2015
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on INFORMATION SCIENCE and APPLICATIONSLDAP) or SIS (Student Information Systems) of theinstitution. Course and department data – informationabout those options is already stored in structure ofthe LMS while courses are created, structured incategories and described.Having such a rich sources of information any DOgenerated in LMS-RP environment can be describedwith all that information that can be pulled eitherfrom LMS or other systems like SIS. Which meansthat users in LMS-RP systems are actually LMSusers with ability to access federated networks ofRP content with LMS credentials. That way theircontributions could be tracked across network andtheir access could be uniquely identified.easy integrations of new services and resources withdivers customization capabilities [4].Variety of new kinds of tools and services existtoday. Many educators are adopting new approachfrom the LMS course space towards PersonalLearning Environments (PLE). But PLE ischaracterized by its absence of structure. This isprovided by open standards and mashup techniqueswhich are becoming increasingly important becausethey allow effective integration of content or servicein modern web environment [5].Main final goal is to define framework forintegration which could allow easy access to RP ofany kind from LMS environment for the purpose ofsearching, creating, editing, sharing and integratingDO in different types of LMS and similar e-learningsystems. Another goal is to have friendly userinterface which will enable usage of not only LObut also assest, which are smaller content units fromwhich LO is consisted of.Key questions is: are current platforms in(theoretical propositions or practical solutions)useful, or capable, for realizing integration betweene-learning solutions and RP?3 LMS integration capabilitiesLMS integration with other systems like SIS hasbeen common way of communicating user data andaccess control on LMS courses. It is usually fairlylimited type of integration because it is used toaccess basic information in SIS (students,professors, TAs, departments, courses,) in order toreplicate same user database state inside LMS. Butwhat about content?Blackboard and Moodle LMS are following IMSGlobal standard for LTI (Learning ToolsInteroperability) [1] in order to integrate contentfrom providers like McGraw and Pearson or toallow access to full courses or activities from remotesystems (other LMS installations or any other LMSLTI consumer compliant software). LTI is standardway of integrating rich learning applications (oftenremotely hosted and provided through third-partyservices) with platforms like LMS, learning portals,or other educational environments [2]. This is alsopowerful way to integrate LMS with cloud servicesin order to achieve collaborative and interactivefeatures that often lack inside LMS environment.Integration with Google Docs is good example ofthat too [3].API on both LMS are offering access to contentand tools inside LMS environment and they arefrequently used to create plugins (in Moodle) orbuilding blocks (in Blackboard) environment whichare extending standard functionalities.These are usually ways LMS can be accessed butthis does not mean they are offering ideal modern elearning environment. We must keep on mind thate-learning is continuously evolving and must beready to integrate new paradigms and consider thestudent as the center of the process. This shift willmean changing the tools currently used, giving wayto other tools that take into account various ways ofE-ISSN: 2224-3402Hrvoje Jerkovic4 Current researchCurrent body of research, partly already cited inprevious chapter, is focused on effectively achievingthis integration with realization of PLE withoutfeeling of confinement by LMS and its limitingstructure. This is explained in [5] where attempt ismade to create service-oriented virtual learningenvironment.Evolvement of LMS with Mash-Up PLE isexplained in [4]. Integration of course items fromLMS (Moodle) into RP (Dspace) is attempted in [6]where authors explain about design of acompetences based teaching model supported in theintegration of repositories and LMS platforms.Authors in [7] went step further and proposedintegration not only with LMS but also withdifferent libraries and students assessment systems.Also what is obvious from current research onthis topic that there is ever growing need to integrateLearning Object Repositories (LOR) with Federatedmetadata search engines over the Cloudinfrastructure [8]. Learning objects (LO) are nothingbut properly described DO with educationalmetadata defined by SCORM (Sharable ContentObject Reference Model) [9] and RP systems arefrequently used as LOR. Research shows thatmajority of high quality LO are actually stored ininstitutional LMS [10].168Volume 12, 2015
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on INFORMATION SCIENCE and APPLICATIONS 5 Learning Object RepositoriesObject-oriented thinking has spawned thecreation of small, reusable educational chunks ofdigital information that educators and trainers canarchive or use while building courses. Those chunksare LO and they are usually stored in RP which inthis case has function of LOR since its storing LO[11]. 5.1 LO benefits5.2 LOR integration requirementsIn case LOR should effectively serve as support forLMS following main options should be enabled:E-ISSN: 2224-3402 Search (data, assets and metadata)CRUD (Create, Retrieve, Update, Delete)over LO and assetsReusing and versioning of LO,Publishing optionsCreating compound LOExchange of LO among other repositories(metadata or full LO),Ability to expose LO to internal andexternal services for presentation andtransformation (dissemination) of LO,Ability to create custom data models forhandling LO structure, data, resource mapsand metadata.5.3 Analysis of repository projects andsoftware solutionsRepository projects listed here might effectivelysupplement LMS lack of DO managementcapabilities. Table 1. shows main projects in fieldof LOR and main LOR networks. Projects areanalyzed by ability to adapt to integration featureslisted in previous chapter. Legend: N- notsupported, Y – supported, empty – data nnexions is example of project which enablesview and share of educational material made ofsmall chunks of knowledge called modules that canbe organized as courses, books, reports, etc. Anyonemay view or contribute: authors create andcollaborate, instructors rapidly build and sharecustom collections, and learners can find andexplore content [15].169Volume 12, 2015PermissionsYYLLLPublishYYYExchange offull eY YN NY YN NY YY YY YY YY YN NY YL LY LY YY YEdit (API)LLYYYLYYLYYYYYYMetadatasearchRich APIAlfrescoCONTENTdmConnexions and RhaptosDigital aryIslandora (Fedora Drupal)InvenioMyCoreOpen RepositorySobekCM/GreenstoneZentityEdNA (Dspace)GLOBELearning RegistryMERLOTMIT OCWNC LOROpen Educational ResourcesDelete (API)Repository softwarePROJECTSCreate (API)Table 1. Repository solutions featuresRepositories andfederated networksUsually LOR use "compound digital object"design which aggregates one or more content items(assets) into LO. Content items can be of any formatand can either be stored locally, or externally withURI reference of the LO [13]. This is case withadvanced RP used for LOR like FEDORA [12].This means that content inside LMS could bereferenced from any local or external LOR which isusually not possible with LMS repositories.LO contains description metadata about itself butalso about every asset in LO. This is LO metadataand it also enables discovery of LO. This is usefulfor sharing of metadata across networks ofrepositories and searching through federatednetworks of LOR. LO can also store different typesof metadata for same object so same LO can be partof different federated networks which can perhapsrelay on different metadata.LO metadata doesn’t have to be onlydescriptional, it can also contain explanation aboutstructure of the LO which is necessary in case LOcontains larger number of items. Structuring DO canalso help in accessing items inside LOprogrammatically which is enabled throughdifferent API.LO can also contain one or many servicedefinitions for different operations with LO. s defines an "interface" which lists theoperations that are supported but does not defineexactly how each operation is performed [13] soprogrammer can have free will on how to implementservice.This enables proper storage or creation of morecomplex e-learning or scholarly LO [14]. Ifintegrated with LMS it is clear how this optionscould enrich current procedures for building pluginsand building blocks in LMS but also enhance LMSitself.Hrvoje JerkovicYLLYYYYLYYLYYYYY
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on INFORMATION SCIENCE and APPLICATIONSAriadne Foundation created GLOBE (GlobalLearning Objects Brokering Exchange). GLOBE isa “one-stop-shop for learning resource brokerorganizations, each of them managing and/orfederating one or more learning object repositories.GLOBE makes a suite of online services and toolsavailable to its members for the exchange oflearning resources, and is set up as a worldwideOpen Community”[16]. Ariadne LOR is full of richfunctionalities like enable discovery and adding ofnew repositories, federated search, semiautomatically generation of metadata (SAMGLproject) of LO, decomposition of complex objects tobasic LO but also composition of complex objectsfrom smaller ones.When we talk about repositories we need tomention one of the most important institutions hereOAI (Open Archives Initiative). Most used opensource bibliography repository software systemslike Dspace, ePrints and FEDORA are fullysupporting all recommendation from OAI in theirimplementations [17]. In 2009. institutions that areleading development of FEDORA and Dspacecreated joint organization called DuraSpace.DuraSpace is promoting innovations in field ofstorage and reuse of DO with emphasis on solutionsbased on open source and cloud technologies.Different other repository solutions andsupporting protocols are listed in 0. and assessedaccording to their own current documentation.5.4 Repository projects analysis nalities but in limited way. For exampleLearning registry is supporting compound objectsbut only in form of fetching “slices” of compoundobject, so GET function is the only functionsupported upon “slices” of compound object [18].Very word “slices” signifies step out from usuallynaming supported by OAI-ORE (OAI Object Reuseand Exchange) protocol which aggregates, resourcesand resources maps which is not same as defined inSCORM for example. So in similar way otherrepositories have provided their own limitedfunctionalities upon compound objects with theirown semantics.Some repositories do not support OAI-ORE butit can be supported through plugins, Alfresco isexample of such repositories.6 Integration proposalTested repository projects could serve for LMSLOR integration purposes. 0. shows schema forproposed integration.E-ISSN: 2224-3402Hrvoje JerkovicFigure 1. LMS-LOR integration schemaInteraction is based on three key parts of thesystem: LMS, LOR and Registry of E-learning toolswhich can serve as application repository forvarious tools for e-learning. LMS holds informationabout users and courses and it’s used for servingcached LO and tools from repositories on courses.Each user (student/professor) contribution is savedin LOR so LMS is not used as primary storage forLO delivery. LMS only refers to LOR where allobjects are stored.API – LO enables editing environment forcreating LO which can be embedded in LMS.From Registry of E-tools developers can extractinformation from LOR about various LO and buildapplications and tools. Applications could then bepublished in Registry of E-learning tools for globalusage.7 Prototype of LMS-LOR integrationPrototype application framework is created todemonstrate weather proposed framework isfeasible. This application is result of two years ofdevelopment and researching in this field. It wascreated as C# WPF application with addition of PHPand Java programming in order to build uponcurrent features of RP and LMS. That was neededto overcome problems with current API-s andlimited integration capabilities of various RP andLMS.170Volume 12, 2015
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on INFORMATION SCIENCE and APPLICATIONSMetadata extraction and mappingOur prototype application allows user storing ofdifferent documents to and from any OAI (OpenArchive Initiative) supported repository like one in0. Difference between for example GoogleDocs orSharePoint repositories and OAI based repositoriesis that OAI repositories relay on proper metadata tostore DO in order to support additional importantfunctionalities – exchange of metadata or whole DOwith other repositories, and also sharing, publishing,archiving, federated search and integration withother system through different API. Also theserepositories are open source and widely used asbibliography records and DO repository whichmakes them ideal choice for integration with elearning tools.Hrvoje Jerkovic7.1Figure 3. Form with extracted metadata fromdocument before deposition of LO in LOR7.2Searching and CRUD over repositoriesOur prototype application supports adding allmain OAI repositories in configuration – Dspace,FEDORA and Eprints. User can be connected onone or more repositories with ability createfederated search based on any DC metadata (DublinCore metadata schema).Adding of freely searchable OAI repositories isalso available, user only has to have account openedwith repository and active subscription on chosencategories. Example shows how users can define listof repositories or even only categories fromrepositories which can be added to application. 0.demonstrates not only searching across custom setof categories in chosen list of repositories acrossmetadata fields but also availability to downloadavailable disseminations of stored documents incase user has proper permissions.OAI-PMH protocol (OAI- Protocol for MetadataHarvesting) was basis of implementation and weused it to extract necessary metadata, but it can beused also be used to facilitate exchange andsynchronization of metadata harvested betweenrepositories.OAI-ORE protocol, which allows many otherdisseminations of DO through ReM (ResourceMaps) of objects was used for extraction of fullobject and its assets with all correspondinginformation about structure, metadata and relationsof assets in DO.Figure 2. Example of OAI repositoryAccordingly, we have created automaticrecognition of MS Word, Power Point or Excel filesmetadata when uploading in application. User hasoption to change that metadata and then store it inany of supported OAI repository. Metadata is storedin standard Dublin Core record but user haveoptions to store it also in LOM (Learning ObjectMetadata) or any other format.Before depositing DO to repository user hasability to change extracted metadata from document(0.). Extraction of existing metadata in document issupported for all mentioned Microsoft types ofdocuments.E-ISSN: 2224-3402171Volume 12, 2015
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on INFORMATION SCIENCE and APPLICATIONSHrvoje JerkovicFigure 6. DO editor prototypeFigure 4. Searching repositoriesFrom DO editor user can also search otherpublicly available services, fetch results as objectsof that search and insert them into DO editor.Classical example of Google Images and Flickrservices are shown in 0. Other available servicescould be added in similar way.With CRUD (Create, Retrieve, Update, Delete)permissions over given repository or individualcollection inside repository user can add or deletecollections, categories or DO in repository directlyfrom application. 0. shows connection on threedifferent repositories: Dspace (OAI type ofrepository), Google Docs and FEDORA (OAI typeof repository). We achieved support for GoogleDocs but metadata support is not present since it’snot supported.Figure 7. Integration other web services (Googleand Flickr search)Key idea is to create editing environment whichuser (professor or student) usually uses whilecreating new DO (weather that is lesson, article,book chapter, seminar, professional paper, project oranything else). And in that environment user willneed: results from web searches by using classicalweb search services or scientific article search,results from scientific databases of articles (fetchfrom LOR repositories), and existing objects fromcourses (fetch from LMS).DO which is created that way could be easilyintegrated in any LMS. We created additionalfunctionality for FEDORA repository which enablespreservation of relative links while storing DO inFEDORA repository which enables showing ofwhole HTML document and not only file. That waymore complex DO could be created in form of miniweb sites that could be embedded in LMS (0).Figure 5. CRUD features over repository7.3 DO editorDO editor is prototype of HTML editingapplications that could be connected on proposedframework application. It demonstrates ability toedit and create DO (in our case rich text format(RTF) and HTML files) from different local usermaterials, from other repositories or from the weband storing of such objects in any chosen repositoryas new DO. 0. Shows DO in the background withopened option for storing DO in any of therepositories on which user is currently connected.E-ISSN: 2224-3402172Volume 12, 2015
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on INFORMATION SCIENCE and APPLICATIONSIndividual parts of the DO can be fetch andedited (DO assets) and new version of DO could beintegrated into one or several LMS courses withpreservation of previous versions.Hrvoje Jerkovic8.2 Editing Moodle objects and toolsSame options are achieved for Moodle as forBlackboard but we have added several newfunctionalities since Moodle is open source LMS sowe were able to modify existing scripts and addseveral of our own to achieve new functionalities.User can use his Moodle account to connect tohis Moodle courses and tools through ourapplication (in same way as on Blackboard).We have implemented control for Assignmenttool for grading assignments in Moodle and alsoview of Grade center with ability to perform fastgradingwithcommentingonindividualassignments. In our prototype application user canfetch all assignments from Moodle for all studentsand store them on his desktop with single drag-dropaction in form of one DO with all metadata fromMoodle. Or they can be graded directly withoutstoring on users’ computer.Example in 0. shows fetching of students Wordassignmentswhichusers submittedoverassignments tool in Moodle and also individualstudent metadata data extracted from Moodle whilestoring assignment (Figure 10.).Figure 8. DO in FEDORA8 Managing LMS activitiesWe have achieved integration of our demoapplication with two frequently used LMS(Blackboard and Moodle) and demonstrated howregular user (professor) can use our application topreform actions (grading) in Blackboard or Moodleover LO (assignments) stored in those LMS. In ourcase LO could also be any output/input in LMS(students’ submission or professors’ grade). Latterwe’ll explain benefits of such approach.8. 1 Editing Blackboard objects and toolsProfessor can use his own instructor Blackboardaccount to connect to his courses on Blackboardthrough our application. He can that fetch DO fromdifferent courses as well as from different tools(announcements, assignments and tests forexample). User can view grades from BlackboardGrade Center and transfer them to DO editor andstore them in any of his repositories on which he iscurrently connected (0.).Figure 10. Editing Moodle assignmentAfter reviewing professor can grade all assignmentsdirectly from application (0.)Figure 9. Grading in BlackboardE-ISSN: 2224-3402Figure 11. Grading Moodle assignment173Volume 12, 2015
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on INFORMATION SCIENCE and APPLICATIONSAfter grading professor can deposit students’assignments in any of his LOR. LO is stored with allrelevant metadata from Moodle.For example each usage of LMS tool assignmentgenerates LO with full description (category of thecourse, course name, name of the assignment, nameof the lesson, professors and students names).Since repositories also store in LO all data abouteach resources, therefore mechanisms could be builtwhich would allow creation of registries ofapplications which could function over federatednetwork of LO. FEDORA is example of platformthat supports creation of such mechanisms throughit’s API as described in [19].This could enable, for example, listing of allcontributions of students from certain tool(discussion or assignment), from all courses andstudies and even from variety of different LSM withsophisticated filtering options (by success, grade,topics, year, courses, professors which taught courseetc.) – which is rich metadata contained in LMS.In future versions of applications we would befocused on implementing OAI-ORE protocoloptions which would allow searching through eachobjects ReM (Resource Maps); individual assets ofeach LO. This would enable viewing of allapplications that integrate certain DO fromrepository and also map of all other DO and assetsused to create DO.DO editor with integrated search could integrateall publicly available services in creation process.Individual assets of DO could be edited in DOeditor and new versions of DO published on one ormore LMS which have object embedded.Proof of concept for all this options isdemonstrated within our prototype application.8.4 Grading workflowFirst we created automated extraction of relevantmetadata from Moodle and assign it to all individualDO produced with single tool (in this caseAssignments tool). After that we enabled transfer ofDO with all metadata to user computer or any givenrepository on which user is connected. So this way itis possible to create automated description andstorage of all students’ contributions from any LMStool (discussions, group projects, test, assignments,essays etc.) into any repository.Professor can edit grade information given tostudents at any time. Current state of Moodle GradeCenter which is shown to students momentarilyreflects situation in application. Which means thatgrade that is given through application can be viewsby students in Moodle immediately.This approach enables direct control over one ormore LMS and also individual control over toolsand content in LMS with ability to fetch all relevantLMS and student metadata for storage in one ormore repositories.8.5 Custom DO from LMSWhile storing DO from LMS (e.g. assignments),custom metadata format can be applied beforetransferring DO in repository.This concept allows better management of dataand connection of additional services in the future.For example student’s assignments could beextracted from Word documents with LMSmetadata and stored in repository with full text andcustom LMS metadata search enabled. This wouldallow universities to have control over all contentever created in any e-learning applicationsynchronized with repositories, with very specificcustom filtering enables. We have to keep on mindthat current workflows would not have to change inanyway in order to achieve this.9.1 LO SerializationDifferent LMS and LOR systems should haveagreement on semantics and different types of dataand metadata naming otherwise it’s would n offers solution to that problem.Serialization is the process of converting anobject into a stream of bytes in order to store theobject or transmit it to memory, a database, or a file.Its main purpose is to save the state of an object inorder to be able to recreate it when needed. Thereverse process is called deserialization. Usage ofserialization in PLE e-learning environments isalready explored by some researchers [20].OAI-ORE is one of the repository protocols thatimplement serialization in ATOM and RDF. Incombination with powerful API supported by9 Benefits of proposed solutionDescribed approach enables development ofgrading applications for fast grading and depositionof grades and students contributions from any Elearning application into LOR.In proposed platform LO is stored with allmetadata about structure and resources of LO takenfrom e-learning application connected with system.E-ISSN: 2224-3402Hrvoje Jerkovic174Volume 12, 2015
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on INFORMATION SCIENCE and APPLICATIONSrepository applications could use different LO inLOR more effectively. Serialization would enable: creation of persisting objectsWhich enables keeping of identical model of LO inboth systems (LMS and LOR) independent ofinternal system data structure. This also means thatSCORM Sequencing and Navigation could be mucheasier implemented in LMS [21]. creation of methods for RPC (remoteprocedure call) over web services likeSOAP or REST.By using this option data fields in LMS and LOstored in LOR could be used by different webservices without usage of LMS application server. Creation of methods for fast update ofchanges in DOLO states like graded, not-graded, submitted, notsubmitted etc. and other used in SCORM could bemuch easily implemented in LMS and LOR.[2]G. Stylianakis, N. Moumoutzis, P. Arapi,M. Mylonakis, and S. Christodoulakis,"COLearn and open discovery space portalalignment: A case of enriching openlearning infrastructures with collaborativelearning capabilities," in Interactive MobileCommunication Technologies and Learning(IMCL), 2014 International Conference on,2014, pp. 252-256.[3]N. Galanis, M. Alier, M. J. Casany, E.Mayol, and C. Severance, "TSUGI: aframework for building PHP-based learningtools," in Proceedings of the SecondInternational Conference on TechnologicalEcosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality,2014, pp. 409-413.[4]M. Á. Conde, F. J. García-Peñalvo, M. J.Rodríguez-Conde, M. Alier, M. J. Casany,and J. Piguillem, "An evolving LearningManagement System for new educationalenvironments using 2.0 tools," InteractiveLearning Environments, vol. 22, pp. 188204, 2014.[5]M. Á. Con
used repository platforms. Comparison analysis of existing repository platforms is made with focus on features necessary for effective integration with LMS and similar e-learning systems. Prototype application was created to demonstrated key features and benefits of integrated solution.
