Proposed Project Description

Nowadays the usage of online learning platforms are becoming more prevalent, therefore an optimized and convenient system is very much in need to accommodate the needs of students and teachers that can make them rely less on third party software to conduct their class. The proposed system is similar to an existing learning management system which is the SmartUMS Version 3 (SmartV3), except with more functionalities added to it. Hence, this will decrease the need for installing more apps or software for students and lecturers as well as allowing them to easily keep track of their schoolwork which can enhance their online learning experience. Furthermore, it will have the same characteristics as a typical learning management system which includes documentation of the user's information, tasks automation, deadline tracker, personal organizer, and so on.

The new system is able to allow students and lecturers to post and obtain materials as well as notifying users of messages, updates and events. Besides that, this system has the grammar and plagiarism checker as a feature for both students and lecturers to use. Lastly, it can also perform instant messaging and video conference along with an easy access to the Students Information System (SMP).

Motivation

As of now, many lecturers and students are using third party apps for their academic work such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft team and many more. While these apps can help lecturers and students in various ways in conducting online learning, it can be tedious for students to keep track of every single app they have to use. The current learning system, SmartV3 is not optimized to its full potential to accommodate several needs for various type of academic work. Hence, we believe the platform can be improved to make online learning more effective and efficient for lecturers and students.

Plan of Work

First of all, a various of useful and new ideas related to real-world problems are provided by the group members. The team leader delegates the responsibilities to the members in order to complete the proposed project description, plan of work and product ownership. For the second milestone, the members have to discuss and choose the most suitable development methodology for the proposed system. The members have to provide evidence to support and explain the selected development methodology by reviewing the past researches. The activity flowchart is built to describe the operation of the proposed system. Next, the members have to choose the requirements elicitation techniques and select the modelling of the requirements in the third milestone. Lastly, they have to propose the conceptual design of the system according to the requirements.

Functional Features

Posting and Obtaining Materials :

This functionality is as simple as allowing students to obtain materials and submit assignments whereas lecturers can post course materials in their respective courses. Materials would include lecture notes, class recordings as well as quizzes and tests of the course.

Machine learning techniques can be applied to this functionality to automatically provide additional readings as materials through online sources based on the current course for students. The machine learning algorithm will look through posted materials from lecturers and supply relevant materials aligned with the course syllabus.

Notify Users of Messages and Events :

This feature allow students to keep track of their deadlines as well as other important activities such as meetings by notifying them via emails or pop up notifications.

Instant Messaging:

This feature allows users to send direct messages to a single person or to a group of people. Once the users have registered for the same section of the course, the system will provide the suggestion of joining a group chat with the relevant lecturer and students. It is time-saving and convenient if certain users accept the suggestion. They can also create messaging groups manually and directly by adding themselves into a group chat via the system. Since the users are using the institutional email, it enables the lecturers to identify the students easily because their full names will be shown when they are staying in a group. It avoids outsiders or irrelevant people to join. Thus, the users can communicate with each other easily and reliably.

Video Conference:

An online meeting can also be conducted easily by adding the user’s email into the meeting room created. The video recording feature will be provided, and the system will remind or suggest the users to proceed with this feature. By having the video conference, the feedback can get incorporated, and questions can be answered immediately.

Easy Access to SMP from the SmartV4 Platform:

This function allows students to access the Student Information System (SMP) trouble-free. Building accessibility in Smartv4 is a social inclusion act that removes obstacles and provides a great experience for all users. An easy access to SMP allows new students or even parents to effortlessly browse the website. They also do not need to worry about personal information being leaked because it is secured and is not a fake website.

Qualitative Properties

Confidentiality of student information:

It is important to protect student's personal information from disclosure. Personal information can only be seen by admins of the platform as well as students themselves

Reduce time to perform tasks:

Time to perform tasks can be reduced by having an instant connection to the Student Information System, which will prevent unnecessary actions such as manually enrolling into each course every new semester or when filling in personal information.

Easy and intuitive experience:

An easy to use system gives a positive experience towards the users as well as enables users to use the system with minimum effort to receive maximum desired outcome. Accessibility, visual aesthetic and ease of use of the system will be taken into consideration for the satisfaction of users.

Low bandwidth pages:

Creating pages of our system with minimal pictures and videos can help users with low-bandwidth access the system. Since some students are only using mobile data as their internet, creating pages with minimal design can help these users save their mobile data. In addition, minimal design pages can increase load up speed of the page.

A Quick Recap

Functionality

Posting and obtaining materials .
Notify users of messages and events (meetings, deadlines, new materials).
Instant messaging.
Video conference.
An easy access to SMP from the smartv3 platform.

Qualitative Properties

Confidentiality of student information.
Reduce time to perform tasks.
Easy and intuitive experience.
Low bandwidth pages.