Towards a Multi-Vendor Mobile Learning Management System

Abstract The paper presents Porta-bile, a project under development in our University that intends to investigate the use of mobile computing technologies to support the learning processes in an educational context. The project focuses on the technological aspects of mobile learning, and on their integration with e-Learning systems, and more generally, with the information systems of the academic institutions. The project has its foundations in the availability of significant experience on e-learning real processes, and on the availability of the source code of an e-learning system developed in previous projects at the University of Trento and presently in production at the Economics school, and of the newer platform for the whole University of Trento that gathers the experience obtained in the past. 1. Introduction In this paper we will present Porta-bile, a portal for mobile learning that is under development at our University. The main goal of the project is to experiment m-learning technologies in real learning processes taking place at a University. The use of ICTs for learning has been studied in various ways, but in the recent years quick advance of mobile technologies a new term has appeared – mobile learning. Mobile learning is a field which combines two very promising areas – mobile computing and e-learning. Mobile learning is intended as any form of learning and teaching that use mobile devices (like cellular phones, Personal digital assistants (PDA), smart-phones, tablet PC etc.) in a mobile environment. On the other side of mobile learning, we have e-learning, i.e., every educational process assisted by computers through the use of networks, and Internet in particular. M-learning is often considered as the future of learning, or as an integral part of any other form of educational process in the future. A mobile learning educational process can be considered as any learning and teaching activity that is possible through mobile tools or in settings where mobile equipment is available. In the first part of this paper, we shall briefly overview the state of research in the m-learning field. In fact, ass m-learning is quite a new domain, there is a lot of work and research that is presently going on. People are trying to understand: • Which learning models can help obtaining better learning processes when communication is mediated by mobile devices, and how the student mobility affects her/his learning process . • How it is possible to evaluate efficiency and effectiveness of learning processes based upon mobile technologies, given the physical limitation of mobile devices. • Which services are useful for mobile devices, and which is the enabling technology that can affect the wide diffusion of mobile learning. In the second part of the paper we shall discuss our approach to the problem: we intend to develop methodologies and tools for the design, the analysis and the prototyping of services for mobile computing. The coupling of advanced technologies, like the ones involved in mobile computing, with learning and assessment models represents an advanced point of research. We will propose a system that will integrate a traditional Learning management system with extensions that allow to face with infomobility, thus allowing users of a LMS to interact with the other actors through the use of mobile devices. This integration will be realized with web services technology, in order to be free from platform, operating systems and development framework constraints. The objective will be pursued through: • Adoption of a well tested e -learning platform adapted to the usage of mobile devices • Implementation of mobile computing services by using widespread mobile devices, on the client side, and web services on the server side. • Study of learning models linked to mobile technologies, in order to understand in which way the use of limited devices impact the learning processes • Design and development of Learning Objects suited to mobile learning, together with services for evaluating their effectiveness • Experimentation of prototypes built in real learning processes Another interesting aspect of the project is the experimentation of the integration between the two most used development frameworks for web application available on the market today, i.e., SUN J2EE and Microsoft .NET. The core of the Learning management system is in fact built on J2EE and java-related technologies, while the mobile extensions will be built on .NET framework. The interaction between the two will be granted once again by web services technology. We want to deeply test the most branded advantage of the web services technology, i.e. interoperability between platforms.