Unisuite: An innovative integrated suite for delivering synchronous and asynchronous online education

Abstract

Unisuite is an integrated suite of applications for the creation and management of e-learning. It consists of three stateof-the-art stand-alone entities, Unibook, Uniboard and UniPM, which communicate via smart interfaces. In this paper, the technical characteristics of Unisuite are presented. The technological and operational innovations are analyzed and potential extensions and improvements are presented.

Evaluating Web 2.0 technologies in higher education using students' perceptions and performance

“…The Two-Layered i-SERF Framework (Source: Karvounidis et al, 2013) Evaluating Web 2.0 technologies 581…”

“…As mentioned in the Introduction, the technological infrastructure that has been used to carry out the pilot implementation consists of two platforms, namely of Unibook and Uniboard (Chimos et al, 2013).…”

“…Even though the incorporation of Web 2.0 tools in education has been the focus of numerous studies in the literature, either focusing on individual components of social networking in educational settings such as blogs and wikis (Divitini, Haugalokken, & Morken, 2005), or operationally partnered with pedagogy and context in a Web 2.0 learning framework (Bower, Hedberg, & Kuswara, 2009;Glud, Buus, Ryberg, Georgsen, & Davidsen, 2010;Wan, 2010), an evaluation and regulation mechanism is still non-existing. There exists a framework that combines all the aforementioned elements, the i-SERF (integrated Self-Evaluated and Regulated Framework), which covers synchronous and asynchronous education focusing on teaching and learning in higher education (Karvounidis, Chimos, Bersimis, & Douligeris, 2013). i-SERF is a twolayered framework which incorporates in one layer a partnership of the Web 2.0 technologies, pedagogy and content, taking into account various elements of the existing frameworks, while in its second layer it offers as a new element the means of a self-evaluating, selffed and regulation mechanism.…”

“…To fulfil the above goals, Web 2.0 tools are evaluated both as stand‐alone entities as well as regarding their cross‐operability and integration (confluence) to synergistic contributions towards the enhancement of student learning. The students' experiences on Web 2.0 have been captured through the deployment of the i‐SERF framework, within a university IT (Information Technology) course lifetime and using a relatively newly introduced system consisting of the platforms Unibook and Uniboard (Chimos, Karvounidis, Douligeris, Bersimis, & Mpasios, ), which consolidate most of the Web 2.0 features and support technology‐based synchronous and asynchronous learning. Unibook is the result of the coupling between Moodle 2.0, one of the most well‐known and broadly used Learning Management Systems (LMS), and a Synchronous Distance Learning application, namely the BigBlueButton (bbb), via a smart Application Programming Interface.…”