Synchronization of learning management systems with store-and-forward communication using ship to support e-Learning at rural islands

Abstract

One of the challenges for the people who live in the rural islands of the developing countries is the lack of access to education. Although ICT (Information and Communication Technology) is increasingly regarded as an essential tool to support learning activities in rural areas, the availability of telecommunication infrastructure in such areas is still problematic, primarily because of high implementation cost and low revenue. This study aimed to develop an e-Learning model for the community in the rural islands which utilize ship to deliver to and receive data from the island using store-and-forward communication technique over a transient long-range wireless link established when the ship is at a certain distance from the island. Here we focused on the design of a synchronization method between databases of multiple learning management systems (LMS) between the ship and the island. The design has been implemented and tested using Moodle installed on low-power Raspberry Pi computers. The result showed that our design is suitable to be used in such requirements, hence making it a feasible solution to support ICT-based learning for the people in rural islands.