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The design and implementation of e-Learning platforms is essential for the development and future of information and communication technologies in knowledge management in the teaching/learning process. Universities and companies require a methodology for developing versatile and flexible e-Learning applications that are, at the same time, capable of storing the large volumes of information required by these educational processes and efficiently conveying this information to their users. However, each year the e-learning’s market is in growing development with the new needs (OUBAHSSI et al., 2006). System providers of e-learning must adapt their offerings to the new needs and technological developments. Certainly, the arrival of these tools and training systems online on the training market is accompanied by a variety of proposals to meet specific needs. One consequence of this diversity was the move of the research questions from the field of design of these systems to the analysis of their uses. This research direction has led to several comparative studies (Ecoutin, 2000) which showed that they are developed with different technologies and suffer from a series of deficiencies. Among the deficiencies described in the literature (Oubahssi, 2005) we found that these systems do not cover the full cycle of the ODL (Open distance learning), they adopt their own approach to management training, they offer features that are not interoperable, low flexible and low configurable by users and they suffer from a lack in implemented educational models Studies were conducted to overcome these deficiencies and the results can be organized into two research areas:
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Reengineering of educational and functional needs of existing systems.
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Adaptability, reusability and interoperability of existing systems.
These studies operate on existing platforms (Moodle, Claroline, WebCT...) and proceed by re-engineering process to enhance their capabilities as needed, or implement a new pedagogical approach. Reusability, adaptability of functionality and interoperability are far less discussed topics in the field of CSES, because of their multidisciplinary nature.
In these areas of research two new directions have emerged. The first adopts the component approach to ensure the reuse of business components in other environments (OUBAHSSI et al., 2007). While the second provides craft solutions to enrich the educational model by providing tools for teaching screenwriting based on model driven engineering (Caron, 2006; Laforcade et al., 2007; Caron et al., 2005). These studies led us firstly to see, that researchers still had as target the existing platforms, so specific production environments. Therefore, adaptable solutions to different environmental executions were out of the context of this research. And secondly, to implement these solutions require that the aspects of openness, adaptability, and evolution of applications must be taken into account in the design. Therefore, we must always act on models without forgetting the investment cost caused by the redevelopment and adaptation of existing as well as new business components. So, it’s necessary to change the programming methodologies of these environments and adopt model-driven Engineering (Evan, 2003; BLANC, 2005) in the e-learning systems development process.