Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
novice users will know what to do without any
guidance from the instructor.
The second stage of initialization aims at setting
up the user's learning workspace. This involves
retrieving the user's access level to menus, tools,
options and learning material. The service assigned
for that purpose is called “Profile Activator” and
it is responsible for presenting the user with only
what he needs to see or what the instructor has
permitted him to see.
The final stage of initialization sets up the learn-
ing material assigned to the learner, which may
include course presentations, project assignments
and multiple choice tests. The course outline is
always visible to the learner and all other windows
appear on top of that. This three stage procedure
is repeated each time a user enters the platform.
A very similar procedure is followed with the
instructors. When a user identified as an instructor
enters the platform, the instructor “Profile Activa-
tor” service retrieves all the available information
needed and forwards it to the corresponding ser-
vices. One of these is the “Course Configuration”
service which provides the instructor with options
like course description, course outline, learners
and groups admitted to the course, etc. The “User
and Groups Configuration” service provides
the learner with information about a user, like
place of living, email address, full name, mother
language, groups involved and courses taken.
All these can change with the click of a mouse
button. This service is also responsible for setting
up the user - group access to tools and resources
for a specified course. The “Assignments” ser-
vice allows the instructor to assign to learners or
groups projects and exercises. All the delivered
assignments are presented to the instructor for
manual correction and evaluation. Finally, there
is the “Test Creation” service for creating mul-
tiple choice tests and assigning them to learners.
This service communicates with the “Grade” and
“Statistics” service.
An administrator is a user with the same privi-
leges as the instructor. This special user category
can do exactly what an instructor can; in addition
he is eligible for two extra functions. When an
administrator user enters the platform, both the
instructor and the administrator “Profile Activator”
services are loaded. Together with these services,
two other services are loaded, the “Database Con-
figurator” and “Session Recording” services. The
former is responsible for connecting the platform
with a compatible learning material repository.
The latter is monitoring system configuration.
The instructor/administrator can choose what
users or groups are going to be monitored and
for how long.
Platform Installation and Deployment
Diplek is intended to be installed in both orga-
nizational-educational environments and home
environments. In the first case, a server is needed to
host the platforms database where the educational
material and user data are stored. This database
can be made available through the Internet so
that the client workstations can connect to it from
any point in the world. This kind of installation
is suitable for schools and universities, where
learners are divided into classes and each class
is assigned to a group of instructors. Each user
(learner & instructor) can connect to the platform
through a local area network or through the In-
ternet. Each client workstation needs to have a
Diplek client installed in order for the platform
to function properly.
In the second case, where Diplek is installed in
a home environment, the users' workstation acts
both as a client and a server. That means that the
platform is installed locally and can serve users
connected to that workstation only. This kind of
installation is suitable for users who cannot gain
access to permanent network connectivity.
Diplek comes with an automated configura-
tion utility that helps the system administrator to
an easy platform installation. The configuration
utility is responsible for setting up the database
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