The e-Learning systems are one of the areas that have proven their own importance in promoting the use of IT technologies in academia environment. However, the growing need for such systems requires the adoption of a quality design approach based on a recognized quality frameworks and standards comprising sets of well defined criteria. This paper investigates the existing quality frameworks (SC...

Learning Objects (LO) are theoretically based on granular, reusable chunks of information. In this paper the authors argues that LOs should consist of more than just content, i.e. they should include pre-knowledge questions on the basis of the concept of the advanced organizer; of self-evaluation questions (assessment) and finally of appropriate metadata. The used metadata concept must be based...

The Software Factory described in this paper is an organizational structure specialized in the production of educational materials based on software components according to educational specifications and externally-defined by the end-users requirements (Learners, Tutors, University, Instructional Designers, etc.). The Software Factory applies manufacturing techniques and principles of Domain En...

A learning object is a small, stand-alone, mediated content resource that can be reused in multiple instructional contexts. In this article, we describe our approach to design, develop, and validate Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) compliant learning objects for undergraduate computer science education. We discuss the advantages of a learning object approach, including positive ...

The integration of interaction and simulation in elearning systems represents a milestone in educational research and supports the student’s learning process in innumerable ways. Nevertheless, current standards do not provide appropriate mechanisms to treat simulations as learning objects, which makes their integration into e-learning systems a hard task. This work proposes an architecture as e...

This paper introduces a new set of compact interactive simulations developed for the constructive learning of computer networks concepts. These simulations, which compose a virtual laboratory implemented as portable Java applets, have been created by combining EJS (Easy Java Simulations) with the KivaNS API. Furthermore, in this work, the skills and motivation level acquired by the students are...

Education sustained by Information and Communication Technologies needs adapted tools to support the teaching and learning process. Pedagogical theories must guide teaching contents development, and the tools used must attend specific requirements. This paper describes the Cognitive Flexibility Theory and the development of a tool to enable the on-line creation and edition of educational hyperm...

Much have been said about metadata which is “data about data” used for classification and retrieval of information. However, metadata is not created by itself. This paper will present the design, interface and implementation of our own metadata tool called Metadata Management System, MMS that was developed to facilitate the creation, maintenance and storage of metadata. This metadata tool suppo...

Collaborative e-learning has a set of characteristics which requires interaction and negotiation among learners and teachers. It also needs support to achieve high-level requirements for learning content and systems such as accessibility, reusability, interoperability and adaptability. The focus of this paper is to investigate three commonly used standards in e-learning which are: SCORM, IMS-LD...

The aim of this contribution is to present the work that the Universidad Industrial de Santander is currently carrying out through the institutional project named ProSPETIC, designed to give support to academic programs using ICTs. The development is based on principles of the instructional engineering considering methods for the design, development and planning of learning systems distribution...