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Computer Assisted Assessment within a Virtual Learning EnvironmentG6DDIS MSc Dissertation

Author: Jonathan Marshall ID:1937840

The University of Nottingham

The School of Computer Science

& Information Technology

Computer Assisted Assessment within a Virtual

Learning Environment

G6DDIS MSc Dissertation

5th September 2004

Project supervisor: Elizabeth BrownAuthor: Jonathan Marshall


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Author: Jonathan Marshall ID:1937840 2

Submitted September 2004, in partial fulfilment of

the conditions of the award of the degree M.Sc. in I.T.

Jonathan Marshall

School of Computer Science and Information Technology

University of Nottingham

I hereby declare that this dissertation is all my own work, except as indicated in the

text:

Signature ______________________

Date _____/_____/_____


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Abstract

A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is an Information Technology tool to assist

traditional classroom based teaching and learning. VLEs are commercially available, but

the license to use these is becoming increasingly expensive, and would be costprohibitive to use on a small scale. This project has focused on developing a VLE to

assist teaching students studying computing courses within the Further Education sector.

The system is tailored specifically to meet the requirements of both the tutors and

students. Computer Assisted Learning has been integrated within the VLE to provide a

method for formatively assessing learning throughout the duration of the taught courses.

The results from the assessments are computed allowing timely feedback to be provided

in graphical and tabular format. Furthermore, two channels of communication have been

provided as a discussion forum and online form to improve interactions between the

tutors and students, and among students. The VLE also allows submission of assignments

via an uploading procedure to a data repository. Learning resources are also available for

students to download and print out. Usability testing has been conducted to measure

users satisfaction, efficiency and effectiveness of the developed system. On the basis of

this study, practical implications of utilising a VLE within education were discussed, and

what constitutes an effective VLE was also suggested.


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Acknowledgement

My unreserved thanks to my supervisor for this project, Elizabeth Brown who has

stimulated my intellectual curiosity and inspired me to develop this work.

I am grateful for the financial support contributed towards my course fees provided by

my employer Broxtowe College of Further Education, and to my line manager Barbara

Mercer for the many alterations she made to my teaching timetable to accommodate

lecture times, without her help this MSc course would not have been possible.

I wish to thank my parents Margaret and Keith, and my parents in-law Yao-hsin and Yu-

Lan, without their help with my newborn child, Jasmine, this dissertation would not have

been possible; my gratitude towards all family members cannot be measured or

estimated. Their emotional support and love provided me with the strength to face all the

difficulties encountered during the last two years of study.

I cannot end my acknowledgement without mentioning my wife, Mei-I, who over the

years we have been together, has had a profound influence and unwavering confidence in

my abilities, without her support I would have never completed this qualification. I thank

her for her tolerance and patience for the many hours that I have spent studying; I strive

to grow and taste a fraction of her academic success; here words are but empty symbols

of inexpressible feeling.


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Table of contents

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................ 8

WHAT IS A VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT (VLE)?............................................................................ 9What constitutes a VLE?..................................................................................................................... 10What does a VLE do?.......................................................................................................................... 11

History ................................................................................................................................................ 13 Comparison to the traditional classroom ........................................................................................... 14Social Environment............................................................................................................................. 14Social Interaction................................................................................................................................ 15Online Learning.................................................................................................................................. 15

ASSESSMENT ............................................................................................................................................ 16Multiple choice questions.................................................................................................................... 18

MOTIVATION FOR THIS STUDY .................................................................................................................. 20Rationale............................................................................................................................................. 21 What is the problem that is being solved; ........................................................................................... 26Student motivation .............................................................................................................................. 28

SYSTEMS ANALYSIS .............................................................................................................................. 29

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE MODELS ......................................................................................... 30Model Comparison.............................................................................................................................. 30

REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................................... 33Student Profile .................................................................................................................................... 33Student requirements .......................................................................................................................... 35System administrator requirements..................................................................................................... 36Tutor requirements.............................................................................................................................. 37System requirements ........................................................................................................................... 38

SYSTEM SPECIFICATION ............................................................................................................................ 40DATA FLOW DIAGRAMS ........................................................................................................................... 41

Context Data Flow Diagram VLE (Figure 3) .................................................................................. 43Level 1 DFD (Figure 4) ................................................................................................................... 44 Login/Logout Level 2 (Child Diagram) DFD (Figure 5) ................................................................. 45

Add/Read Message - Level 2 DFD (Figure 6) .................................................................................... 45 Add/Read Message - Level 2 DFD (Figure 6) .................................................................................... 46Create/Take Assessments Level 2 DFD (Figure 7) .......................................................................... 46Create/Take Assessments Level 2 DFD (Figure 7) .......................................................................... 47Generate Results Level 2 DFD (Figure 8) ....................................................................................... 48View Learning Materials Level 2 DFD (Figure 9) .......................................................................... 48View Learning Materials Level 2 DFD (Figure 9) .......................................................................... 49Upload Assignment Level 2 DFD (Figure 10) ................................................................................. 50

Input/Edit Personal Details Level 2 DFD (Figure 11) .................................................................... 50Input/Edit Personal Details Level 2 DFD (Figure 11) .................................................................... 51

ENTITY RELATIONSHIP MODELLING...................................................................................................... 52PLANNING ................................................................................................................................................ 54SOLUTION OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................... 54

Interface Design.................................................................................................................................. 54 Screen design layout ........................................................................................................................... 57System Flowchart................................................................................................................................ 60

Prototype............................................................................................................................................. 65 Database design.................................................................................................................................. 65

IMPLEMENTATION................................................................................................................................ 69

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SOFTWARE....................................................................................................... 71Programming Languages.................................................................................................................... 72 Programming...................................................................................................................................... 77


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VLE Files ............................................................................................................................................ 79Problems encountered ........................................................................................................................ 81

EVALUATION........................................................................................................................................... 81

TESTING THE VLE WITH DIFFERENT AND ENVIRONMENTS ....................................................................... 84Usability testing. ................................................................................................................................. 85

STATISTICAL SURVEYS OF USER EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRES

.............................................................. 90Statistical analyses.............................................................................................................................. 91IMPROVEMENTS ........................................................................................................................................ 92

DISCUSSION.............................................................................................................................................. 94

THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS ......................................................................................... 94LIMITATIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 95HOW DOES THIS VLE COMPARE TO EXISTING SYSTEMS?.......................................................................... 95FUTURE DIRECTION .................................................................................................................................. 96

CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................... 97

REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................... 98

BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................... 103

APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................................... 105

APPENDIX 1 - SCHEME OF WORK........................................................................................................... 105APPENDIX 2 SCREEN DESIGN .............................................................................................................. 106APPENDIX 3 - VLE PROGRAM LISTINGS ................................................................................................ 116

Styles/styles.css (Cascading Style Sheet source code) ...................................................................... 116index.php (source code) .................................................................................................................... 117topheader.php (source code)............................................................................................................. 118leftnav.php (source code).................................................................................................................. 120

footer.php (source code) ................................................................................................................... 125 template.php (source code) ............................................................................................................... 126

subjectselection.php (source code) ................................................................................................... 126Assessment/assessmentChoice.php (source code)............................................................................. 127

Assessment/assessment.php (source code)........................................................................................ 128 dbConnect.php (source code) ........................................................................................................... 132Login/login.php (source code) .......................................................................................................... 132 Login/logoff.php (source code) ......................................................................................................... 132 LearningResources/SoW.php ............................................................................................................ 133 ContactForm/ContactForm.php (source Code)................................................................................ 134StudentDetails/personalDetails.php (source code)........................................................................... 137StudentDetails/accountFunctions.php .............................................................................................. 140StudentDetails/createAccount.php.................................................................................................... 141StudentDetails/results.php ................................................................................................................ 143StudentDetails/resultGraph.php ....................................................................................................... 144StudentDetails/submitWork.php........................................................................................................ 145StudentDetails/validateRTF.php....................................................................................................... 147

AboutMe/timetable.php..................................................................................................................... 149 AboutMe/personalProfile.php........................................................................................................... 151 AboutMe/cv.php................................................................................................................................ 152

APPENDIX 4 - TEST DATA ...................................................................................................................... 155APPENDIX 5 - USABILITY QUESTIONNAIRE ............................................................................................ 157

Part 1 Functionality.......................................................................................................................... 157Part 2 User Input .............................................................................................................................. 157Part 3 System Output ........................................................................................................................ 157Part 4 User Guidance and Help ....................................................................................................... 158 Part 5 Consistency............................................................................................................................ 158


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Part 6 Flexibility............................................................................................................................... 159 Part 7 Error Correction/Handling and Robustness.......................................................................... 159 Part 8 Overall System Usability........................................................................................................ 160

APPENDIX 6 - HISTOGRAM OF USABILITY QUESTIONS ............................................................................ 161


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Introduction

The use of Information Technology (I.T.) within educational environments has

significantly increased since the arrival of the personal computer. I.T. has been used to

enhance teaching and learning within the classroom environment. It has been the rapid

expansion in the use of the Internet that has led to a new era in collaborative and

interactive learning that is dynamic and not restrained by geographical location (Ma,

Vogel, and Wagner, 2000). I.T. has affected all aspects of education not just teaching and

learning. Patalong (2003) identifies that recently there has been major transformations

throughout most stages of education, moving from talk and chalk tradition classroom

teaching to student centred, autonomous learning. There has been a large increase in the

student population which has also more diverse, and the significant reduction in the cost

of computing technology has seen a huge increase in the use of IT.

This project investigates how a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) may improve

teaching and learning, and identifies which aspects are most beneficial to students.

Furthermore, a VLE will be developed to be employed as a learning aid for students

within the Further Education environment. The Internet will provide a platform to deliver

the VLE as it has many benefits over stand-alone applications that are discussed later infurther detail. The main consideration being that the Internet is a cost effective

distribution method, but pedagogically, it is important that there is dynamic interaction

between the real and virtual learning environments (VLE) for quality student learning to

occur.

The term Online delivery refers to distributing learning materials over the Internet and

provides the opportunity to increase both the quantity and quality of interaction between

tutor and student and among students, and improve access to education and training. But

a critical success factor is the pragmatic access to I.T. such as equal access to computers

and the Internet for all tutors and students. Lo Choi Yuet Ngor (2001) states that the

Internet is widely available in educational establishments around the world offering new

and diverse possibilities for delivery and communications,and provides learners with a


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more flexible approach to learningat times and places to suit their lifestyle. Online

delivery also helps to reduce the cost and improve the cost-effectiveness of education. It

also empowers learners to improve their knowledge and to learn more quickly, by

accelerating the adoption of new information and new programs (ibid.).

For the student, an online learning environment is a convenient way of accessing a range

of material related with a course of study. Since the vast majority of all of the

asynchronous components of a typical course of study the study materials, the

administrative information and the exchanges between academic staff and students are

today electronic, an online VLE offers no more than a logical modular structure into

which these components can be fitted (Maccoll, 2001).

What is a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)?

Since the rapid growth of the Internet in the early 1990s, many new software tools and

products have been developed to take advantage of its numerous benefits. Since the mid-

1990s the education community has seen the emergence of software products categorised

as VLEs that aim to support teaching and learning activities and these have harnessed

the potential of the Internet for their delivery (Virtual Learning Environments, n.d.).

A VLE is a teaching and learning tool designed to enhance the learning experience by the

inclusion of computers and the Internet in the learning process. To access the VLE users

are required to register their personal details and are assigned a student ID. The tutor has

additional user rights to create, upload and modify curriculum content and track student

performance.

The main components many commercial VLE software packages include curriculum

mapping which involves dividing the curriculum into manageable sections that can be

delivered and assessed, also they include monitoring students performance, online


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support, and electronic communication (e-mail, threaded discussion forums, and Internet

links to outside curriculum resources).

What constitutes a VLE?

A textbook cannot be considered a learning environment. But, reading a book, attending a

lecture, discussing thoughts with other students, writing an assignment for the tutor, do

constitute a learning environment. Similarly, a set of static Web pages does not constitute

a VLE unless there is social interaction about or around the information provided. Social

interaction may be described as synchronous (e.g. discussion forums, chat rooms etc.)

versus asynchronous (e.g. electronic mail, bulletin boards) communication, between one-

to-one, one-to-many or many-to-many, and can use several mediums; text-based, audio

and video, and also includes indirect communication such as sharing files, although it canbe difficult to maintain data integrity when providing simultaneous write access to a file

(Dillenbourg, 2000).

Online interactions between students and tutors form the basis of an effective VLE and

offer the user a variety of communication and information presentation, and assessment

tools through the convenience of a conventional Web browser interface. Implementation

requires the use of a programming language that supports the generation of dynamic Web

pages from a server-side database that stores information and maintains user state and be

accessed via a standard Web server. Many educational institutions would benefit from the

advantages offered by a VLE provided over the network to support their teaching and

learning activities.Creating online resources that are motivating, interesting, intuitive and

educationally sound requires considerable expertise, and is time consuming and therefore

costly. Effective VLEs should allow tutors to create content-rich resources rapidly and

without the need to learn many new technical skills.A typical Web-based VLE should

provide an integrated set of information management tools, which facilitates easy upload

of learning materials and offer a consistent interface which may be customised by the

user to suit their requirements.


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Dillenbourg (2000) suggest that the principal components of a VLE should allow the

following features:

Mapping of the syllabus into convenient elements that can be easily assessed and

recorded;

Monitoring of student activity and accomplishment against the elements of the

syllabus;

Support of online learning, including access to learning resources, assessment and

guidance;

Online support from the tutor and peer group using asynchronous or synchronous

communication methods;

Other general communications, including email, discussion forums, bulletin

boards and chat rooms;

Links to other information systems, both internally and externally on the Internet.

What does a VLE do?

The principle functions that a successful VLE needs to provide are controlled access to

learning materials that have been mapped to the subject specification that may be

separately assessed and recorded. Student activity and achievement requires tracking

against the subject to direct, guide and monitor learner progress. Immediate guidance oflearning and assessment procedures to provide a mode of communication between the

learner, the tutor and other learning support specialists thus providing direct support and

feedback for learners, as well as peer-group communications- this helps to build a sense

of group identity and community of interest. Also, a VLE would benefit from having

links to administrative systems, thus reducing the change of data being redundant by

unnecessary duplication. The features of a good VLE is shown in Table 1.


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Features Examples

Communication between tutors and

students

E-mail, discussion boards and virtual

chat facilities which support various

types of communication: synchronous

and asynchronous, one-to-one, one-

to-many and many-to-many.

Self-assessment and summative

assessment

multiple-choice assessment with

automated marking and immediate

feedback

Delivery of learning resources and

materials

Through the provision of learning and

teaching materials, images and video

clips, links to other Web resources,

online discussion and assessment

activities.

Shared work group areas Allows designated groups of students

to upload and share files as well as

communicate with each other.

Support for students Could take the form ofcommunication with tutors or other

students, provision of supporting

materials such as course information

and Frequently Asked Questions.

Student tools Individual student Web pages, drop

boxes for the upload of course-work,

electronic diaries and calendars.

Management and tracking of

students

Usernames and passwords to ensure

that only registered students can

access the course; analysis of

assessment undertaken by students or

their use of materials within the VLE.


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Consistent and customisable look

and feel

A standard user interface that is easy

for students to understand and use.

Courses can be individualised with

colours, graphics and logos but the

essential mode of use remains

constant.

Navigation structure Structured delivery of information

supported by a standard navigation

toolbar. Most VLE software assumes

that students will work their way

through linear sequences of

instructional material. Others are

more flexible and will accommodate

alternative information structures,

e.g. multi-path case studies.

Table 1 Features of an effective VLE, resource from Virtual Learning

Environments (n.d.)

History

Dillenbourg (2000) mentions that the history of educational technology illustrates that

new technology (television, computers, hypertexts, multimedia, Internet, and virtual

reality) raise a wave of naive expectations regarding to the intrinsic effects of these

technologies. Still every medium has some specificity, but this specificity can only

expressed in terms of potential effects. A medium affords specific types of interactions:

computers enable individualised instruction but not all software is individualised,

computers are able to analyse the learner behaviour, to manipulate interactive models, but

most programmes do not perform this function.

As Maccoll (2001) stated that VLEs began to appear in the second half of the 1990s.

They were initially client software and not delivered via the Web. As the software needs


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to reach a wider audience the Web has gradually become the dominant delivery platform

due to the fact that it can be served and viewed on any platform connected to the Internet.

As the uptake in VLE has increased, it is proving less difficult providing networked

personal computers with Web browsers than it is providing the same computers with

specialised client software. However, one of the main advantages in developing courses

on the Web is the ability to hyperlink resources stored locally on an Intranet or externally

on the Internet.

Comparison to the traditional classroom

It is important to ask the question of whether computer-based learning is more effective

than learning in a conventional classroom. This question is deemed irrelevant for the vast

majority of those, who view technologies as a tool to assist the tutor and not as substitute(Dillenbourg, 2000).When comparing computer-based learning and the conventional

teaching method, we do not measure the inherent effectiveness of humans against

computers, but the quality of two learning methods as implemented by two techniques.

The conventional physical learning environment generally integrates courses, resources

such as libraries, laboratories, formal communication (question and answers, notice

boards) and informal communication, an administration (largely paper based) process etc,

where similarly, a VLE integrates a variety of tools supporting similar functions to those

that exist in the physical environment: information, communication, collaboration,

learning and management.

Social Environment

Hiltz, Coppola, Rotter and Turoff (2000) state that the instructional aspect of a VLE

refers to providing study materials and learning resources via the Internet that is relevant

to the pedagogical theories from educational research. Whereas, the interactive aspect of

a VLE refers to the opportunity for the students to be actively involved with online

collaborative (group) learning e.g. case studies, group discussions using forums, instant

messages, or chat rooms. In addition, students may use e-mail for one-to-one

communications between tutors and students, for seeking advice, clarifications, and

asking individual questions. The interactive aspect is pertinent to group interaction/social


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theories from social psychology and sociology. Understanding students perceptions and

skills within these two aspects is considered essential in assessing students readiness

toward online courses.

Social Interaction

Dillenbourg (2000) identifies the first obvious opportunity of virtual learning

environments is that they support social interaction, in many ways: synchronous versus

asynchronous, text-based versus audio or video, one-to-one versus one-to-many. Again,

these affordances define potential effects, not actual ones. For instance, we often

encounter tutors who believe that, since their students use e-mail, they will start to ask

frequent and intelligent questions. However, this is rarely the case as most email

conversation is about the management of learning (finding resources, negotiatingdeadlines, asking for an appointments etc.). The same applies to educational forums, in

which it is very difficult to sustain the flow of messages. The problem is not due to the

technology, but to the educational context. Students will not start communicating with the

tutor for the sake of communication.

Online Learning

It is relatively easy for students to submit assignments electronically and sit tests or

assessments online; this has led to many educational institutions exploiting the positive

aspects of computing technology to provide their courses online to relieve tutors from the

time related aspects of marking.

Initial computer-based learning programs tended to be electronic books that did not meet

the original claims of interaction or user-centred learning. Technology is now

commonplace which allows authors to design and produce teaching materials which

offers the learner a choice of learning methods and routes, implementing a range of

audio, visual, and text materials, and opportunities to interact meaningfully with the

content, unfortunately the resulting course materials are often prohibitively time

consuming to prepare, and require considerable educational design expertise.Sharing

computer-based teaching material within groups is difficult to achieve, although the

Internet, and CD-ROMs overcome interoperability problems in sharing computer-based


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data, but it is the quality of teaching material is a the major concern. Students that are

familiar with using online learning tend to rely heavily on the Internet for their research,

rather than using books, journal articles, encyclopaedias etc., this can have an adverse

affect on the final quality of their work as materials published on the Internet are not

regulated for quality.

On-line courses using a resource-based model have an underlying aim of learning how to

learn; which encourage knowledge management skills such as selecting and searching for

information which helps the learners discover how and where to find answers and

understand solutions, and to transform and present ideas. The Internet provides both the

cause and an ideal means for doing this.

Therefore, contemporary approaches to teaching and learning are dominated by the

importance of interactivity in the learning process, the requirement for knowledge

management skills and the capacity for team working, and the trend towards resource-

based rather than packaged learning.

Assessment

Each subject area will have a self assessment associated with it, which will enable the

students to monitor their learning progress and provide an opportunity for formative

feedback relating to the areas of knowledge that require further work (Patalong, 2003). At

the end of each assessment, hyperlinks to Web pages will be provided to those questions

that were answered incorrectly to promote students knowledge in the area of difficulty.

Additionally, suggestions on how to search for the particular subject area will be made

available for students who were still unsure, and as a final stage, answers to the

incorrectly answered questions will be provided at the end of the assessment with

statistical feedback, thus allowing students to monitor their progress. An opportunity for

reassessment will be provided for the formative assessments, but this will be provided

before the answers are given to encourage the students to research the answers by

themselves. Assessment will be online, multiple-choice questions, which will be

automatically marked and graded by the VLE. It is not intended that these assessments


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will replace face-to-face teaching; the objective is for them to supplement teaching and

provide the students opportunity to consolidate the learning that has taken place within

the conventional classroom.

Black and William (1998) use the term Assessment as referring to the group of

activities undertaken by both tutors and students in assessing themselves, providing both

grades and feedback to modify teaching. They consider assessment to be Formative

when the evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching to meet the students needs. It is

generally accepted that summative assessment is a tool with the primary objective of

grading the student.

Recently, Farrell and Leung (2004) suggests that assessment plays a critical role in the

educational process as both a means of grading and supplying valuable feedback to the

student. The embracing of technology as an integral part of the delivery of education has

increased the availability of effective assessment tools to be utilised by the student,

encouraging self-assessment at all stages of the learning experience. It is accepted

wisdom that testing for the purpose of feedback should be a routine part of the ongoing

classroom activity rather than an interruption. Traditionally both formative and

summative methods of assessment have been reliant on the tutor to supply the feedback.

With the ever-increasing demand on the tutors time unintentional delays in supplying

feedback to the student can occur to the disadvantage of both the student and the tutor. To

maximise the effect and value of the feedback it must be instantaneous, which is an

inherent characteristic of online assessment tools due to the nature of the encompassing

technology. The formative assessment feedback cycle should occur early in the learning

experience and often for the duration of the subject.

Moreover, Sclater and Howie (2003) categorise assessment into three types

1. Credit weighted (summative) assessment which may be either formal

examinations or continuous assessment;

2. Self (formative) assessment which may be authenticated self-assessment or

anonymous self-assessment;


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3. Diagnostic assessment; enabling a student and/or tutor to evaluate the students

knowledge by pre-testing before the course is commenced or post-testing in order

to evaluate the effectiveness of the learning.

Therefore, the system developed in this study will use an innovative approach to a Web

based self-assessment tool based on the traditional multiple choice questions format. The

generated students score is designed to reflect their understanding of the reviewed topic.

Additionally, the aforementioned three types of assessment will be integrated into the

system.

Multiple choice questions

Farrell and Leung (2004) argue that multiple choice questions are extensively employed

in education for both a formative and summative assessment. The acceptance and use ofmultiple choice questions as an assessment tool can be attributed to their ability to assess

broad fields of learning in a compact system whilst being quick to assess and provides

reasonable feedback to the students with minimal associated costs. Computer Assisted

Assessment (CAA) is most commonly associated with multiple-choice questions, due to

the fact that it is relatively easy to adopt the multiple choice questions format to the

digital environment, and also having the appeal of being able to produce fully integrated,

automated tests.

On completion of the multiple choice questions test the resulting score with the identified

correct answers is instantaneously provided as feedback. The incorrect answers are also

identified with a brief explanation. It is also possible to guide the student to the

appropriate source for further study. This method is effective but is dependent on the

student answering the questions honestly, without guessing. The resulting data will be

recorded directly to a database. It is advantageous to collect the data using this method as

the technology is ideal for collecting and analysing raw data.

Marking open-ended questions

Computers can easily assess and grade closed type questions; the responses being closed

and therefore restricted to a finite answer limiting the possible responses. Open-ended


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However, Bull and Danson (2004) suggest that there is a certain amount of scepticism

about the ability of multiple-choice questions to test anything more than fundamental

understanding, and that multiple choice questions assess declarative knowledge, usually

by the least demanding process of recognition.

As a system that assesses open-ended questions would be beyond the scope of this project

it was decided that a system that allows assessment by multiple choice questions would

be more suitable. Other functionality could be provided to allow the collection of

assessments that contain open-ended questions; this could be implemented by allowing

students to upload assignments to a data store.

Motivation for this studyThe reason behind selecting a project of this nature is to assist with my present

employment. I currently work as an I.T. Lecturer within Further Education and for

several years used HTML to create static Web pages to deliver online materials to the

students. The initial motivation for using the Internet to distribute resources is that many

of the students do not keep (or fail to file) printed materials from lessons. Organising the

lesson content allows the students to access all materials used throughout the duration of

the course, and reduces the need for printing duplicate materials. I have found this

method successful and wanted to further develop the use of the Internet to assist teaching

and learning.

Futhermore, my teaching is very focused towards summative assessment methods with

less regard to formative assessment. Therefore, utilising a VLE that incorporates online

assessment enables the students to undertake more formative assessments, and thus

provide both parties with valuable feedback. The feedback would enable the content of

the course to be adapted to suit the needs of the students, and provide a predictive

indication of future achievement.


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Rationale

The motivation to employ Information and Learning Technologies (ILT) is not to cover

more material within the duration of the course, but to engage students with significant

intellectually learning resources to assist them in achieving higher levels of learning, and

thus enhanced results.

As McCray (2000) mentioned the potential of ILT as an effective alternative medium by

which to carry out some of the activities undertaken in the conventional classroom

setting, especially content delivery. Some of the activities can be successfully transferred

outside the physical classroom releasing valuable class time that may be reallocated to

more beneficial learning activities to improve the overall learning outcomes.

Benefits

Using a VLE to assist teaching within Further Education would provide many tangible

benefits to both the students and tutor.Some of the reported benefits of the use of ILT

within teaching and learning include improved cognitive learning processes and enhanced

educational outcomes.

Winn (2002) found that research into the educational effectiveness of VLEs shows that,under the right environment, it can have a positive impact on students of varying ages,

studying a wide variety of subjects. The learning activities within a VLE are important

components of the course and they promote learning and move students towards the

programme objectives.

Reported benefits (Inglis, 1999) to Students of using a VLE:

Remote access to learning materials;

Allow electronic submission of work, reducing the need for paper wastage;

Real-time communications allowing peer support and additional tutor support;

Discussion forum provides a reference for students who may be encountering

similar problems;


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Can monitor performance from both the online testing and summative results

posted by tutor;

Timesavings - Reduced search time, less travel time to fetch or deliver materials.

Improving access to education and training Internet provides access (anytime

and any place) to information that might have been mislaid;

Scheduling flexibility - Allows organisation of own time and inclinations with

respect to educational interaction;

Improved communication - Increased access to tutors and fellow students outside

of the classroom;

More ways to contribute and achieve better grades - Improved opportunities to

contribute knowledge to the benefit of the group which is not limited to in-class

discussion;

Anonymity - Ability to comment anonymously without the scrutiny of direct face-

to-face communication.

Reported benefits for Tutors and educational establishments:

Improving the quality of teaching, learning and services - online delivery allows

the increase of both the quantity and quality of interaction between tutor and

student and among students;

Long term time savings - Reduced time to compile materials due to a higher level

of reusability and sharing of learning materials;

Better teaching quality a more structured approach to classroom delivery has a

direct impact on the quality of teaching;

Improved student performance based on a greater personal choice; which also

leads to better teaching evaluations;

Scheduling flexibility - The opportunity to interact and help engage students

without the rigidity imposed by conventional class scheduling; Better student response - Students perceive a higher teaching quality;

Reducing the (long-term) costs of education;

Improving the cost-effectiveness of education;

Empowering learners to know more and learn faster.


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Benefits to tutor(s):

Allow easy distribution of materials;

Provides a simple method to formatively test;

Improved motivation as students performance can be monitored.

A VLE is used to enhance (rather than replace) conventional teaching, so the students

will therefore receive more input than they did when they only had a traditional

information skills session. Patalong (2003) suggests that by imposing exam conditions for

the Computer Assisted Assessment (CAA), academic staff indicated to students that the

ability to retrieve, evaluate and provide a considered answer is a serious exercise.

More than this, Dillenbourg (2000) states that as the students can easily retrieve more

information from a larger variety of information sources via the Internet, although this

does not guarantee effectiveness of learning.This affordance differentiates Web-based

environments from previous systems. The effectiveness depends upon the way the

designer take advantage of this opportunity, which raises two questions for the designer

of VLE content:

1. How to address the problems concerning quality control and difficulty to findinformation; either to pre-select information by gathering the information

considered as relevant, or to provide access to the Web but to demonstrate how to

search for information and be critical with selection;

2. What role does the designer allocate to information access in the learning

process? There is a risk that designers confuse setting up a learning environment

and providing access to information. The risk of simple knowledge transmission

is quite high if one looks at University Web sites, but it is not present at primary

school level.

CAA allows automation of the marking process and more instantaneous results; marks

(statistics and/or graphically) being automatically displayed to students immediately upon

completing the assessment (Jacobsen & Kremer, 2000).


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Disadvantages

Patalong (2003) highlights the concerns about academic honesty; online assessment

should only count for a small portion of the overall course grade. Unless direct measures

are implemented to prevent communication between students, online assessment is bettersuited to formative assessment that does not contribute to the final course grade.

Summative assessment needs to have more rigorous control measures to eliminate people

from seeking assistance, Zhang (2002) mentions about mixing the questions up

randomly, to prevent students communicating electronically by referring to question

numbers or having the same questions as those on their neighbours screens. The

assessment can be password protected so that it could not be accessed beforehand. On

arrival to the assessment room students can present some form of identity and complete

attendance forms, once these have been complete and are ready to begin the test, the

password was may be released. Soon as everyone has begun the test, the password for the

test can be changed, to prevent anyone trying to text message via mobile phone the first

password to friends for assistance. Also, students should be prevented from leaving the

room until the password had been changed.

There is the problem of combining online assessment with a discussion forum, the

students undertaking the assessment could use the discussion forum to distribute the

answers. Methods to combat this problem would be either to prevent access to the

discussion forum whilst undertaking the assessment, which does not prevent the students

from using other external discussion forums, or to randomise the order of the questions.

The second method is preferred providing that the students are not aware of this measure,

as it provides a minor barrier that is easy to implement. But this is the main reason for not

using a system of this nature for important summative assessments.

Lee (2002) states one of the chief advantages of using Web-based teaching is that it

provides real-time information, and many processes of communication and collaboration

between students and tutors are increasingly computer-based. From the students

viewpoint, perhaps the most significant and detrimental factors to the success of a VLEs


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are stress, association with the use of technology, and dissatisfaction towards the

technology itself. It is suggested that the success of any VLE depends on the level of

computing skills and attitudes of students. Students with anxiety towards new

technologies or are less prepared for computer use are most likely to experience

difficulties in a VLE.

As a result, Brace-Govan (2003) attempts to look at how it is possible for the tutor to

monitor and gauge educational activity within discussion forums. It was found that it is

difficult to monitor students communications in a text-based discussion forum,

especially if an online discussion is successful and has significant contributions.Rovai

(2000, p. 290 in Brace-Govan) argue, online instructors must deliberately structure

interactions to overcome the potential lack of social presence and noted how critical

timing is in this.

In addition, Zhaos (2003) empirical studies show that there are a few common problems

that online students have encountered with VLEs, which include:

Technical problems, including limitations with bandwidth, problems with browser

software, etc.;

Inaccessible instructors- it is not always possible to coincide online activities; Lack of relevant and/or comprehensive online course materials;

Reduced intimacy associated with face-to-face traditional delivery methods in

classrooms;

The feedback received was delayed;

Reduced interactivity and interaction with the tutor;

Tutors inability to monitor prompts from students;

Course contents and assessments remains unchanged to suit the different learning

style;

Online students needs are different;

Undertaking a generic approach without considering appropriate learning design

in the application of information technologies.


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Dillenbourg (2000) mentions that the Internet is growing exponentially and it provides

tutors and students with unlimited access to vast quantities of information. This offers

many advantages but also some negative issues that often go unconsidered. The quality of

information is unchecked; there is often no validity assessment to determine the accuracy

of the published information. Theremay also be an overflow of information making it

difficult to locate relevant information. Unless a specific Internet filter is used, students

may encounter pages that contradict the taught ethical and moral values. The information

on the Internet is unstructured, there is a distinct lack of meta-information (e.g. the

author, if the source is reliable, the period the information remains valid, whether this

version is the latest etc.), and the Internet has become a large unorganised file repository.

The semantic Web movement has evolved to combat many of the weaknesses of the

Internet and to provide an inherit structure to its content.

The problem that needs to be addressed

This project needs to include several features that are apparent in many commercially

available VLEs: A detailed VLE comparison has been extensively examined by Eduserv

chest (2003). The features need to allow communication between all users of the system,

asynchronous communication implemented as email, and synchronous communication

implemented as a discussion forum. It is preferable to provide a form to enable users to

email the tutor, although this does not allow a copy of the email to be saved as

conventional email systems (i.e. the sent items folder), it does have the benefit of

providing instant communication (rather than having to open their own personal Web-

based email account) which would encourage students to ask more questions. A copy of

the message would be appended to the reply, which minimises this drawback. The

mailto html command was discarded due to the fact that not all users have an

operational default mail application.

Learning materials also should be distributed as Web pages that can be viewed, saved to

the local hard disks or printed out. As the materials are displayed as HTML, Cascading

Style Sheets will be utilised to control the dimensions of the displayed output, this also

minimises the effort required to change the style of the site. Creating hyperlinks to word-


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processed documents or even Adobes Portable Document Format (pdf) is uncomplicated

but usually results in longer download times and increased network traffic, which may

result in unacceptable waiting times if students are accessing the materials

simultaneously. Learning materials have previously been organised according to an

outline scheme of the course; this is displayed as a table showing the week number,

theoretical content of the lesson, practical tasks including assessments, and downloadable

resources (Appendix 1).

In order to monitor students progress informal formative assessment will be provided,

these are undertaken whilst logged into their account allowing results to be computed and

immediate feedback provided. The results will be retained for progress monitoring, and

be displayed both graphically and in tabular form. Jacobsen and Kremer (2000) state that

a VLE needs to provide useful statistical and graphical summaries of individual

assessments, current course grades and group results. This information is useful for tutors

in analysing student learning and to gauge the effectiveness of individual assessment

questions.The online assessment will be composed of closed questions in the form of

multiple-choice questions. If open question answers are required then the students can

download a Rich Text File from the Learning Resources area, complete the questions and

then submit the work by uploading the document from the local machine to a data store in

the VLE.

As the VLE will contain personal details about the users a certain level of access security

is required to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. A secure login with a username

and password text field (the characters being replaced by a symbol) will be sufficient. If

the user forgets their password then an email facility will provide a reminder to prevent

the user from being locked out from the system.

It is also important to consider other non-functional aspects to the VLE, Zhao (2003)

states that there are four requirements that are important in providing quality online

teaching and learning courses; these being effectiveness, technological infrastructure to

support adequate access, student and academic satisfaction.


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Although effectiveness is difficult to quantify, is may be measured with usability testing.

It would also be beneficial to gather opinions of users after they have been using the VLE

for a short period of time and adapt the VLE to suit their needs.

Student satisfaction depends upon many variables within the physical (and virtual)

learning environments; these include the quality of the course, adequate interaction with

the tutor and appropriate peer collaboration, and appropriate service from I.T. technical

support. Both asynchronous (e-mail) and synchronous (discussion forum)

communications between students and tutors, and amongst students, are central to online

learning in VLEs; well-timed feedback, whether from tutors or peers are vital to the

success of learning, including learning online.

It is essential to consider the benefits of either buying commercially available software or

whether to develop the VLE in-house. Ellaway, Dewhurst, and Cumming (2003) identify

some of arguments for using a commercially available VLE, these include: known

purchase price as opposed to development costs of creating in-house which may be

considerable more that first estimated, an ensured level of interoperability between

known and reduced redundancy as it is likely that standard systems will be upgraded and

developed in the future. Also, applied pedagogy, good practice and experience are easier

to share between users of the same brand of VLE. The reasons for developing a VLE in-

house include: matching the needs of the individual educational institution, maintaining

control of the design and development process, and preserving in-house knowledge and

expertise.

Student motivation

The role of tutors working within education is to provide students with the necessary

knowledge whether theoretical, practical or technical to equip them with the skills

beneficial in their future careers. De Lange, Suwardy, and Mavondo (2002) demonstrate

that student satisfaction with using a VLE for this knowledge transfer is significantly


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linked with the provision of: lecture notes, discussion forums, on-line assessment and

other tools including discussion forums and video summaries.

Moreover, Becta ICT Research (n.d.) points out that disaffected and less confident

students may be motivated by encouraging them to join in online discussions to share

ideas, which ultimately helps to improve the quality of their work and to allows them to

voice an opinion, whereas this might not happen in the traditional setting. A VLE

encourages self-study and helps foster a higher level of learning, enabling students to

engage in online discussions and improve their written communicative skills.

Systems Analysis

Before developing the system, the hardware and software requirements had to be

analysed to ensure that there are sufficient resources to allow the production of the

required software. After checking the University resources and available free trail

versions of software downloaded from the Internet, it was decided that no additional

hardware or software would need to be purchased.

Correct planning and preparation is an essential first stage to any software-programming

project. This becomes more complex with a larger project involving multiple teammembers. One of the initial activities is to look at the skills base of the people involved

with the project; this is straightforward exercise with a single team member.

The project then was decomposed, breaking the work into activities and identify tangible

milestones (dates/targets) and deliverables associated with each of the activities. The

main tasks of a software development project being as follows:

Project planning & feasibility study;

Systems analysis, requirements definition/gathering;

Systems design describes desired features in detail, including screen layouts;

business rules, process diagrams, etc.;

Finalise design;


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Prototype/interface design;

Development/coding;

Testing; checks for errors, bugs and interoperability, user interface refinement;

Maintenance throughout the rest of the software's life: changes, correction,

additions etc.

System Development Life Cycle Models

After the initial project planning stage it was important to select a suitable design model,

this then would allow the project plan to be revised to a higher degree of accuracy, and

enable a more detailed schedule to be produced. Five suitable models as Catholic

University of America (1999) suggest are introduced and compared below:

Model Comparison

Waterfall Model

The waterfall lifecycle model (Fig. 1) is the most straightforward and controlled of the

models considered. The software development is a series of ordered processes. Once a

process is completed, the changes can only be made through a formal process. It is best

suited for large projects where requirements are known, stable and understood. Its

weaknesses include inflexibility for change, length of time before anything usable by the

customer is produced and the implied requirement to complete every process correctly

the first time.

Incremental Model

The incremental lifecycle model produces some results to the customer sooner. The

initial processes of system requirements & feasibility, software requirements and generaldesign are performed in sequence. A partitioning into increments then occurs, where a

number of different development efforts are identified. It is suitable for large projects

with requirements that are known. It is the best choice when early release of some parts

of the software is beneficial. When requirements are known and understood, but are not


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stable, it is a logical choice because later releases can incorporate changes that surface

during the earlier development efforts

Evolutionary Model

The evolutionary lifecycle model applies in sequential aspects of the waterfall model, but

adds the evolution or the discovery of requirements. The system requirements &

feasibility and software requirements processes are not performed once for the entire

project, but they are revised at the start of each cycle to incorporate the latest

requirements. This is the preferable lifecycle model when requirements are not fully

known. Benefits include the early delivery of some functions and the early testing of

some assumptions before the entire system is built around them. The major weakness of

this model is related to the inability to plan in detail at the outset of the project. Because

the requirements are not fully known, inaccurate estimating and less than optimal

architecture are possible. The predominately sequential nature of this lifecycle makes it

not particularly rapid or cost efficient for complex systems.

Spiral Model

If the processes within the cycles of the spiral model were drawn in a cascading fashion

like the waterfall, the standard processes from requirements & feasibility through

operation & maintenance would fall in the same order and would be performed in

sequence, just as in the waterfall model. While all projects have some risks, not all

require extensive use of risk resolving techniques such as prototyping, simulation,

benchmarking, administering user questionnaires, etc. The main benefit of the spiral

model is in controlling project risks, preventing inadequate or unusable software from

being built. The shortcomings of the spiral are that the additional processes are not as

well defined as the standard processes, and there are not as many methods, techniques

and tools to support them.

It was decided to use a variation to the waterfall model (Fig. 2), the model is simple to

understand and implement, it is a proven technique that allows relatively straightforward

planning, and is still commonly used for software development. The variation called the


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Prototyping b model (due to it physical shape) is essentially a waterfall model that

allows a prototype to be built in sequence with the actual system. This model shows some

inherent flaws, as the results from the prototype do not feed into the system development.

This was addressed and the prototype was built in close conjunction to the system.

Needs

Planning

Analysis

Design

Implementation

System

Waterfall model

Figure 1 Waterfall model

Needs

Planning

Analysis

Design

Implementation

Prototype

Design

Implementation

System

Prototyping b model

Figure 2 Prototyping b model


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Requirements analysis

Several methods were used to gather the requirements of the project

Informal discussions with the target audience

Observation of students using the current Web pages Comparison of existing VLEs.

Student Profile

The main users of this VLE will be post-compulsory education students that are both

male and female and aged between 16 21 years and are studying either an Intermediate

(level 2) GNVQ (General National Vocational Qualification) or AVCE (Advanced

Vocational Certificate of Education, level 3) at Broxtowe College of Further Education.

Other users will be students over 21 years and are studying towards a HNC or HND

(Higher National Certificate/Diploma) in Computing, and to a lesser extent, part-time

students that are studying a short course in the evening, with an age range between 20 to

those that have retired. The majority of these students have previous computing

experience and all have used the Internet in some capacity.

There will also be users of this system that are visually impaired; ranging from one

student that is completely without sight, those that are colour blind, those that may suffer

from disabilities preventing them from reading or comprehending text properly (for

example dyslexia), and others that may not be able to read small text (which affects a

large segment of the population).

It is important that all designers of interfaces for the Internet are aware about the

importance of making websites accessible, aiding visually impaired users and the HTML

guidelines to creating universally acceptable design solutions.

There is commercially available software to help the visually impaired to use the Internet,

but the success of these still depend upon good interface design concepts. Poor design is

the biggest impediment for visually impaired users accessing and using websites.


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Browsers and tools developed for disabled people read the source code of the Web page

and then render it providing speech or other (e.g. Braille) output. If the Web page is

poorly constructed the alternate browser will encounter difficulties with interpretation

and prevent the Web page from making sense to the user.

Using standard HTML syntax helps to avoid important errors that may appear in the

source code. Syntax errors prevent interpretation of the source code by alternate browsers

and make it difficult to the user to take in the information. A validation service is

available from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which allows the HTML of the

Web page to be externally checked by opening an image hyperlink that connects to the

service. This will be placed on every page to ensure that the source code conforms to this

standard.

The use of tables requires extra care due to the way that table cells and rows are actually

constructed in the source code; it is important that the source code interpreter extracts the

information in logical order which makes grammatical sense. For example, it is

preferable for text to be placed in vertical columns instead of a row, which may create

confusion due to the source code first displaying the cells in a row before reading the

second column cell.

Visually impaired users are often unable to see images; they rely upon descriptions

associated with them. Alternative text (ALT) tags for images and TITLE tag for other

elements are essential to allow all elements of the page to be described.

Graphics intensive Web interfaces are good for the able sighted Internet user but the

visually impaired person has little or no ability to fully understand the message

communicated by graphics, even when using an ALT tags. Using a reduced amount of

graphics reduces download time for all users and is less distracting and stressful on the

eye and makes the site more accessible for the visually impaired.


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Therefore, the VLE should not use an abundance of graphics and should ensure that

hyperlinks are text based, rather than image based. Where images are required then

alternative text should be provided to describe the image. The VLE will need to be

validated using the software that Broxtowe College currently distributes to the visually

impaired student (JAWS for Windows), and the usability tested with a visually impaired

student.

Student requirements

Sclater and Howie (2003) state that theprimary requirement for all users of VLE system

is that it is intuitive to operate and requires no formal training, although it is assumed that

users will have a preliminary knowledge in the use of computers.The system will bedelivered through a standard Web browser and therefore users with special needs should

find that data is as accessible as that on regular Web pages. If the subject is of a highly

visual nature, it is not always appropriate to provide non-visual alternatives for learners

with visual impairment. However, modern text recognition technologies and speech

synthesis are available that are compatible with Web browsers.

As a result, Sclater and Howie (2003) identify requirements that VLE users expect when

using the CAA:

Be able to view all available assessments;

Be granted access to earlier results;

Receive email reminders about times, dates and locations of assessments in

advance;

Be allowed to continue from the point where they left unfinished assessments;

Points for each question should be clearly identified;

All questions should be answered before completing the assessment;

Results should be computed and displayed instantaneously;

Grades should be allowed to be combined with marks from other assessments;

Grades can be compared with group averages or ranked;

Assessment questions, responses with correct answers can be printed out;


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Operating instructions are clear and easy accessible from all locations within the

VLE;

Time taken, and if applicable, times remaining are clearly visible;

Students can revisit and adjust answers to questions before submission;

Regular saving of responses throughout assessments rather that at the end of the

test;

Submissions which are late require a reason and automatically provides an email

warning.

System administrator requirements

The VLE will be accessible via a typical free to download platform-independent Web

browser software without the use of additional plug-ins (software that extends the

capabilities of the Web browser). It also will be backwardly compatible so that learning

material will be available for those with earlier versions of Web browsers (Dalziel &

Gazzard, 1999). All assessments and personal data will only be made available to users

who have the relevant access permissions, and these users will be assured that no

unauthorised persons will be able to access personal details held on a server.Time-

consuming and convoluted login procedures would discourage adoption of the system,therefore a username and password should be a sufficient level of security considering

the sensitivity of personal details that will be stored on the server. A reliable network is

crucial for the effective use of online assessment and a VLE. It would be appropriate to

allow records to be updated continuously during the session rather than once at the end,

this prevents assessment data being lost if the network fails, and would allow the student

to continue from where the session ended.

Sclater and Howie (2003) also state that systems administratorsexpect that new software

should have the following requirements:

Easy to install on the server, with a clear installation guide;

Multi-platform and operate on both Windows and UNIX operating systems;


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Control the number of attempts taken at the assessment;

Can inspect results of all assessments taken by a student;

View mean and average assessment scores;

Time taken to complete each assessment can be seen for both individuals and

overall average for all students;

Allow the results tables to be ordered in a variety of ways;

Marks displayable as grades and percentages;

All attempts at assessments can be viewed;

Individual and overall group responses to questions can be viewed;

Results can be viewed per group to identify weak areas;

Grades can be computed over a series of assessments;

Results of different groups can be compared;

Group performance in different subject areas can be compared;

Results can be exported to statistical analysis software (e.g. SPSS) or

spreadsheets;

Allow a hard copy of the results table to be printed.

System requirements

Ellaway, Dewhurst, and Cumming (2003) describe that the database is an essential tool

for a complex software application. It is at the centre of the VLE and is the basis from

which everything is built upon. Therefore, it is essential to carefully design the

architecture, to ensure fast and efficient access, processing, data retrieval, and robust

security. The database must be flexible to be modified to meet changing conditions and

be capable to be integrated with other systems to communicate information, such as

student records systems, and possibly with other VLEs. The database requires a highlevel of normalisation to facilitate this.

In addition, Becta ICT Research (n.d.) suggest that most VLEs utilise Web-based

architectures and are often accessed at the client level via a Web browser served over the

local area network (LAN); this reduces the necessity for users to have high-bandwidth


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Internet connections. LAN infrastructures are often robust and reliable which is crucial

for a VLE if the local implementation is to be successful. Some VLEs require specific

versions of browsers to be used; this is restrictive as it may limit users wishing to access

the VLE from home, although it is worth noting that the majority of Web users operate

Internet Explorer. Some particular type of course material, especially multimedia may

also require a plug-in to be downloaded from the software distributor or a media player to

view the content.

Becta ICT Research (n.d.) indicates that a VLE should include most of the following

features:

The VLE should be available to students from wherever they can obtain access to

a computer connected to the Internet;

Information about the syllabus, student and (non personal) staff information,

course related notices, and associated documentation, together with clear

descriptions to facilitate location and retrieval of information;

An intuitive collection of synchronous and asynchronous communication tools,

including threaded message discussion forums and virtual chat rooms;

Group areas that include collaborative tools, which enable sharing of documents

and notes; Designated areas for external Internet links, with include brief descriptions to

prevent users from having to follow the links to discover their content;

A variety of tools for assessing learning, ranging from automated multiple-choice

questions to a virtual space for depositing exercises or assignments;

A range of organisational tools for the student, including a calendar and a simple

Web page generator to create a home page.

From the comparison of existing VLEs the following technical requirements are

recommended. This study was necessary to ensure that the developed system would be a

feasible option for current students.


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Client side computers requirements

Processor (CPU) from 233 MHZ with minimum 64 MB RAM (corresponding,

analogous requirements for Apple Macintosh).

Minimum 56kbps modem. Screen resolution of minimum 800x600 pixels.

Operating system:

o Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, Linux, Unix.

o Apple Macintosh OS 8 or later.

Internet Explorer: from version 5.0 or Netscape: from version 7.01, Safari,

Mozilla etc.

Web server requirements

Unix or Windows system.

Suitable Web server.

A SQL Database.

Internet connection upload speed of 1Mbps.

Substantial (preferably hardware) firewall.

Server class computer a higher specification would allow a faster response to

client requests.

System specification

Once all of the requirements have been gathered the formal specification may be

constructed. This specification is moderately basic but encapsulates most of the user

requirements. A test suite can then be designed at a later date to measure if the softwaremeets the specification and user requirements, thus producing a high quality solution.

The final software should allow:

The creation of a new user account;

Secure login facility using a password and username;


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Access to learning resources;

Online assessments;

View previous and current assessment results;

Asynchronous (email) communication with the tutor;

Synchronous (discussion forum) with the tutor and other users;

View and edit personal information;

View timetable for tutors availability;

Scalability to an estimated hundreds possibly thousands of accesses per week;

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