A Proposal for a Web Service-based Architecture to Support the Enhancement Of Units of Learning

This paper proposes an architecture based on Web services to support the enactment of ‘units of learning’ (e.g. a course, a lesson, a lab practice) modeled in accordance with an Educational Modeling Language (EML). These languages enable the modeling of instructional practices following a process-based approach, similar to a workflow language. Therefore, the units of learning involve the entities and dependencies that participate during instruction, namely: actors (e.g. learners, tutors), data, applications and services, tasks, process, etc. An important part of such units is made up by the learning environments where existing services and applications are integrated. This paper is concerned with the description of an architecture that involves Web services ideas and specifications to satisfy the requirements of this modeling, focusing mainly on the provision of the learning environments.