Dynamic content synchronization between learning management systems over limited bandwidth network

Abstract

Well-designed instructional material is equally important for successful e-Learning implementation. Teachers and instructors play a major role in terms of designing and building learning content. In one respect, it requires costs in terms of effort, time and experience. In other respects, a good learning content is likely a result of recurring revisions as a result of teaching experience as well as evaluating student activities. In the case of higher educational institutions (HEI) in developing countries (such as Indonesia), resource sharing in many aspects is highly recommended effort against high cost and redundant works, e-Learning is no exception. Sharing and re-using e-Learning content on particular subject between Learning Management Systems (LMS) can be one of the methods. In addition, collaborative teaching may cause a content develops gradually while conducting content sharing. Thus, the capability of synchronizing the content between LMS is necessary. On the other hand, typical e-Learning implementation might not be appropriate due to the concerns of network infrastructure in developing countries. In some areas, the network has less bandwidth and even frequent disconnections. This paper introduces a novel method of sharing e-Learning content between distributed Learning Management Systems by using dynamic content synchronization. This method also suites the need of course sharing which supports collaborative teaching activity. Moreover, this approach is designed to address the needs of content sharing in areas with network infrastructure limitation in terms of bandwidth and availability.

Lecturer Based Supportive Tool Development and Approaches for Learning Material Sharing under Bandwidth Limitation

“…Unidirectional Synchronizations is the novel method proposed by Roy et al [5]. The aim of the proposed method is to solve the lack of learning materials shared from an experienced HEI The similarity of the mentioned three related works, resides in their lack of solution to the pre-existing conditions like: lecturers have different assigned courses in several HEIs where there is a variety of installed and used LMSs [5], [13], [14].…”

“…For this specific research purposes we were targeting Moodle Web Services as sample LMS because Moodle LMS's are widely used among HEIs in Indonesia and Japan [5].…”

“…Bandwidth limitations problems are well known in the Bandwidth Gap, which has brought difficulties to the use of LMS to support academic activities since lecturers required an Internet connection to create a learning material [5], [8], [9].…”

“…Without a reliable internet connection in developing countries like Indonesia, the use of LMS to enrich learning materials will remain ineffective [5]. The download index from Netindex.com locates Indonesia in the 142th position worldwide and according to Akamai, the average Internet connection speed in Indonesia is 2.4 Mbps, which is located in the 93rd position in the worldwide rank [6], [7].…”

Analysis and Improvement of a Robust User Authentication Framework for Ubiquitous Sensor Networks

“…Obviously, sensor nodes can be easily and quickly deployed in any environment, and these sensor nodes can offer economically viable, real-time monitoring solutions [1]. Currently the wireless sensor network is not only being used to monitor and analyze information about the environment but also being used for more dynamic systems [2,3]. These dynamic systems have to be capable of handling those changing situations, commonly called context changes, detected by means of sensors.…”