CORBA-based Runtime Environments for Standardized Distributed Learning Architectures

Luis Anido Rifón
University of Vigo, Spain

[email protected]

Martín Llamas Nistal
University of Vigo, Spain

[email protected]

Manuel J. Fernández Iglesias
University of Vigo, Spain

[email protected]

Manuel Caeiro Rodríguez
University of Vigo, Spain

[email protected]

Juan M. Santos Gago
University of Vigo, Spain

[email protected]

Judith Rodríguez Estévez
University of Vigo, Spain

[email protected]

 

Abstract

The learning technology standardization process is taking the lead role in the research efforts into computer-based education. Institutions like the IEEE or the US Department of Defense have set up committees to deliver recommendations and specifications on this area to provide interoperability between different educational systems. The first part of this paper shows an up-to-date survey on this field. In the second part we present our contribution to this area: a distributed architecture to develop interoperable educational frameworks over a CORBA domain interface. Our system aims at the standardization the development process of distributed educational environments from reusable software components. We focus our attention on the runtime environment, which is responsible for contents delivering, student tracking and course routing.

Keywords: Learning Technology Standardization, Architectures for Distributed Learning, CORBA, Software Interfaces,