The OpenACS e-learning infrastructure

Dr. Rafael A. Calvo, Electrical and Information Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW Australia, 2006. Email: rafa@ee.usyd.edu.au.

Ernie Ghiglione, Electrical and Information Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW Australia, 2006. Email ErnieG@ee.usyd.edu.au. 

Robert A. Ellis, Institute for Teaching and Learning, The University of Sydney, NSW Australia, 2006, Email: r.ellis@itl.usyd.edu.au.

Keywords

Learning Management System, Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Software Engineering, Object Oriented Architectures.

Abstract

We describe the OpenACS web application framework and dotLRN, its Learning and Community Management System. dotLRN is an ongoing open source project to deliver a complete course and community management infrastructure that is scalable, robust, extendable and complies to open standards such as SCORM. The software, which is currently used to deliver online courses and collaboration tools at a number of major universities, is based on the OpenACS platform that implements an object oriented data model on a relational database. dotLRN includes functionalities for the school portal, student and class management, calendars, forums, file sharing, etc. In this paper we discuss the architecture, the history, and the future of the OpenACS/dotLRN system. We also provide five case studies of institutions adopting it.